When it’s time for a brand new school year, you know what that means: starting fresh and learning about a whole different set of students. Of course it takes time to foster relationships with your new students, but starting the year off right by learning some key things about who they are and what they enjoy can make a huge difference in the way your classroom community comes together. This post will share getting to know you questions, activities, and games that will spark interest and grow relationships from day one.

Table Topics
Giving students choice in questions for informal conversation is a great way to make sure that everyone feels comfortable. I often change-up seats throughout the semester, and table topics help different groups of students to break the ice and bond prior to academic activities, think-pair-share, and other work together. Each of my table topics slides gives a handful of conversation starters so that discussion can flow according to interest and comfort-level.
For less than the price of coffee, you can purchase 200 done-for-you table topic conversation starters so that you don’t have to spend time putting this together.
Getting to Know You Questions: Funny
Here are some lighthearted questions to ask your students that will get the conversation started:
- What’s the strangest place you’ve ever fallen asleep?
- What’s your go-to dance move?
- What’s the worst fashion or hair decision you’ve ever made?
- What’s the weirdest snack you like to eat?
- If you had to make a house of food, what food would it be?
- What terrible gift have you received that you had to keep?
- What fictional TV family is your real-life family most similar to?
- What’s your favorite cheesy love song?
- Does your family have any weird traditions?
- If you could talk to any one species of animal, what would it be?
- What is your favorite day of the year?
- What do you miss the most about kindergarten?
- Would you rather live at Disney World or Sea World? Why?
- What’s the weirdest thing in your backpack/purse right now?
- If you could have a theme song that played when you entered a room, what would it be?
Getting to Know You Bingo
Bingo is a great way to get to know your students that is inclusive of everyone. Even the quieter kids will want to play and get involved!
Simply fill in blank bingo cards with general phrases that might cover a majority of your students. Make copies and then have students talk with each other to try and fill in the sheet to get a bingo or a blackout.
Here are some phrases you can add to your bingo card:
- Favorite food is pizza
- Has had a broken bone
- Knows how to play an instrument
- Has an older brother
- Has pierced ears
- Can curl their tongue
- Is left handed
- Has dyed their hair
- Has a pet that is not a cat or dog
- Went camping last summer
Getting to Know You Activities
There are so many great getting to know you activities out there but you really want ones that are going to keep your students engaged. Here are a few:
- Two Truths, One Lie – each person tells two truths and a lie about themselves. The group has to figure out which one is the false statement
- Jenga Questions – on a Jenga game, write getting to know you questions on the blocks. Each student takes turns pulling a block and answering the question.
- Introduce Your Selfie – Create a class presentation all about your students! This one requires a little work on their part, but the end result is amazing. Check out the full resource here.
Getting to Know You Questions for Students
As a teacher, you want to learn as much as you can to best help learners succeed in your classroom.
Here are some questions to ask about student learning styles and academic preferences:
- What is your favorite subject and why?
- What do you like to do after school?
- What is your favorite way to learn: talking with others, listening, or reading?
- Would you rather do schoolwork by yourself or as a group?
- What is one thing you’d like to do better as a student this year?
- Do you consider yourself shy or outgoing? Why?
- What career(s) would you like to pursue? Give at least one career.
- What do you like the least about school?
- What is your best study advice?
- What has been your favorite school project?
- Who is a teacher that has had a positive impact on you?
- Do you prefer it to be quiet while working or do you need some background noise or music?
- What is your favorite out of these classes: gym, art, music, etc?
- Name something you learned last year that has stuck with you until now.
- Do you prefer being on a computer or using pencil and paper?
Getting to Know You Icebreakers
Allowing students to get up and moving in order to get to know each other is a fun way to break the ice. Here are some easy activities they’re sure to enjoy:
- Blobs and Lines – give your students a prompt and let them get organized accordingly. For example:
- Line up (lines): in chronological order of birthdays, distance they live from school, height, number of hours spent on their phone last week, etc.
- Blob up (groups): type of morning transportation (bus, car, walked, etc.), allergies, toothpaste preference, introvert/extrovert, morning person/night person, etc.
- Sit Down If…: Have all of your students stand up and start asking quirky yes/no questions. Students sit down if they can answer yes to the question. The last one standing is the winner.
Getting to Know You Form
This is a common way for teachers to get to know their students on the first day of school. Students fill in a form asking basic information questions such as who do they live with, what activities do they participate in, and what their favorite book is, for example.
You can also start a routine from day one of utilizing a Daily (or weekly) Google Form Check-In that allows students to share how they are feeling that day. I have created 180 days worth of unique Google Forms for you and your students to use to build rapport and grow trust with your students.
Getting to Know You Game Questions
You can easily turn just about any getting to know you activity into a game. Simply get an inflatable beach ball and write questions all over it. Toss the ball to one of your students and have them pick a question. The next student to get the ball has to answer a different question.
Here are some simple getting to know you questions that you can turn into a game:
- What are your hobbies?
- Do you collect anything?
- What are you passionate about?
- What is your most prized possession?
- What is the greatest accomplishment of your life?
- What is your favorite recent memory?
- Where is the coolest place you’ve ever been?
- What is your favorite food?
- If you could travel anywhere, where would you like to go?
- Who is your hero?
- What is your favorite quote?
- What is the last song you sang out loud?
- Describe your perfect day.
- What is your favorite Olympic game to watch?
- What annoys you? Why?
Getting to Know You Activities for Students
During the first week of school, you likely spend a lot of time getting to know your students and helping them form relationships with each other.
Here are some ways to help students get acquainted as a class and also help you learn more about each student:
Show and Tell – Although this seems like a kindergarten throwback, you can easily ramp up show and tell for older kids as well. Have them bring in a favorite memento or song to share with the class.
Digital Getting to Know You Activity – This no prep activity allows your students to collaborate together on a digital presentation. This activity promotes self-reflection as they introduce themselves on a Google slide.
Check out this fun resource for everything you need to make this happen in your classroom!
Getting to Know You Scavenger Hunt
This activity really helps students to start talking to each other!
Provide everyone with a list of questions that are pretty specific and instruct the class to walk around and strike up a conversation based on the questions. This engages students in communication and interpersonal skills.
Here are some great questions to start off your sheet:
- Have you ever been in a helicopter?
- Were you born overseas?
- Do you have four or more siblings?
- Is your birthday in June?
- Have you been to the top of the Empire State Building?
- Is your favorite color green?
- Can you speak two or more languages fluently?
- Have you ridden on a motorcycle?
- Can you play the guitar?
- Have you ever been stuck in an elevator?
- Have you met anyone famous?
- Do you have a reptile as a pet?
- Are you wearing socks that aren’t black or white?
- Do you like to play soccer?
- Have you read all the Harry Potter books?
- Do you like to watch scary movies?
- Have you ever been sailing?
- Do you suffer from hay fever?
- Have you ever gone swimming in the ocean?
- Can you whistle using two fingers?
- Have you been to Australia?
- Are you left handed?
- Do you have no middle name?
- Can you say the alphabet backwards?
- Do you like Brussels Sprouts?
Getting to Know You Icebreaker Questions
We’ve all been in the room when an awkward icebreaker question is asked and experienced how uncomfortable it is. It’s time to remove the strain and anxiety behind icebreaker questions.
The key is to have some really good, thoughtful getting to know you questions at the ready that your students will love to dive into and be engaged in learning about others.
Here are some of the best icebreaker questions to ask your students:
- If you could donate a million dollars to any charity, what cause would you choose?
- What song or album could you listen to on repeat?
- If you could live in one fictional universe, which one would you choose?
- Name one cool feature you would add to your dream house.
- Describe a time you laughed so hard you thought you would cry, or when you did cry. What was so funny?
- If you could have your own TV show, what would it be about?
- What is one thing you want older generations to know about kids/teenagers today?
- What is your favorite memory with your best friend? (Your best friend can be an animal!)
- What is the best dish you can cook?
- What movie do you think everyone should watch?
- Imagine you discover a beautiful island where you decide to build a new society. What is the first rule you put in place?
- If you could pick 3 animals to put together and create a new animal, which animals would you pick? What would it be called?
- If you had a time machine that could only work once, what point in the past or future would you visit?
- If you had a robot to help you with school, but it could only do one task, what would it do?
- If you could be any emoji, which one would you be?
Getting to Know You Team Building Questions
Team building is all about being a little bit vulnerable in order to get to know someone better. The questions don’t have to be super serious, but they should allow for students to speak about themselves in a way that’s genuine and from the heart.
Here are some great team building questions to ask your students:
- What’s your favorite YouTube channel?
- Which cartoon character do you wish was real?
- If you could ask your favorite celebrity one thing, what would you ask?
- If you were invisible for a day, what would you do?
- If you could invite four famous people to dinner, who would you invite and why?
- If you could be a character in any movie, which one would you choose?
- If you knew you couldn’t fail, what would you do? OR If you knew you would fail, what would you do anyway?
- If you were a teacher, what would you teach?
- Who is your favorite superhero and why?
- How many books did you read this summer?
- How would you spend a rainy day?
- What’s the bravest thing you’ve ever done?
- What’s the first thing you do in the morning?
- What do you think makes a good friend?
- If you were a famous person, what would you be famous for?