There are some excellent ESL ice-breakers and also some terrible ones. Hopefully the ones on this list are some of your favourites. Here are some things to look for when choosing what to do on the first day of class with your students: Choose activities that require low risk. For example, have students talk 1-1 with each other instead of in front of the entire class of students they may not know that well. They require students to mingle and get to know at least a few of their classmates. They don't require students to divulge very personal information. Things like hometown, hobbies, favourite foods are ideal. Things like religion and political opinions or family situation are not. They're fun! Nobody likes doing cheesy, lame ESL ice breaker activities so make sure they're fun, and also that they give students a reason to talk to each other.