Name and a move3 minutes. Stand beside your desks or in a circle. The first student says their name and makes one move with it, such as a wave, a spin or a stomp. Everyone repeats the name and the move together. Go around until every name has had its move.
Backward name2 minutes. Work out how your first name sounds backward: Noah becomes Haon, Ella becomes Alle. Say it to a neighbor, who says it back. Then the teacher reads 5 names backward from the class list, and the class calls out whose they are.
Four around you2 minutes. Learn the names of the students in front of you, behind you and on each side. You have 1 minute to ask. Then the teacher points to a student, and the neighbors on all four sides say that name together. Play until 8 students have been named.
Initial groups2 minutes. Stand up and find everyone whose first name starts with the same letter as yours. Each group stands together, says its letter and then each name. Anyone who is the only one with their letter joins the teacher. Which letter has the biggest group?
Letter stand1 minute. The teacher calls a letter. Stand up if it is anywhere in your first name, look around at who else is standing and sit down. Call E, A, R, S and N. Then try Z, Q and X and see who stands.
Longest name, shortest name2 minutes. Count the letters in your first name and show the number on your fingers. Look around for someone with the same number. Find the longest first name in the room and the shortest, and spell both aloud together. Then do it with last names.
Name a row2 minutes. A volunteer stands and tries to name every student in one row, front to back. Each right name gets a wave from its owner. A missed name is said aloud by its owner, and the volunteer says it back. The row picks the next volunteer and the next row.
Name and a food2 minutes. Each student says their name and a food that starts with the same letter: Maya, mango; Ben, bagel. Go down one row at a time, and the row helps anyone who is stuck. At the end the teacher calls out a food, and the class answers with the name.
Name and a move3 minutes. Stand beside your desks or in a circle. The first student says their name and makes one move with it, such as a wave, a spin or a stomp. Everyone repeats the name and the move together. Go around until every name has had its move.
Name chain3 minutes. Work in rows of about 5. The first student says their name. The second says the first name and adds their own, and so on down the row, so the last student says all 5. Then the row says the whole chain backward together.
Name lightning2 minutes. Say your first name in seat order, one after another, as fast as the class can go without talking over anyone. Time the whole class. Run it again from the last seat to the first and try to beat the time. A name nobody could hear adds a second.
Name on the beat2 minutes. Start a slow beat as a class: two pats on your knees, then two claps. Row by row, each student says their own name on the claps. The second time around, say the name of the person who comes after you. If the beat speeds up, stop and start it again slower.
Name pass2 minutes. Stand in a circle. Round 1: point to someone, who says their own name and points on. Round 2: say the name of the person you point to. If the name is wrong, they tell you the right one and you say it back. Nobody is out.
Name train3 minutes. One child is the engine and walks to a classmate's seat. The engine says: my name is Sam, what is yours? The class says hello to the new name, and that child joins on behind without holding on. After 5 or 6 cars, a new engine starts a new train.
Roll call question2 minutes. Take attendance with a question. When your name is called, answer with a favorite of the kind the teacher asks for: a breakfast, an animal, a game. Listen for anyone who gives your answer. A student who would rather say here says here.
Say it my way3 minutes. Go down the rows. Each student says their first name the way it should be said, or the name they like to be called. The class says it back once, the same way. The teacher repeats any name that is new to them until its owner nods.
Twos, fours, eights3 minutes. Find a partner and learn each other's name. Each pair joins another pair, and everyone in the four says all four names. Fours join into eights and do it again. Anyone who forgets a name asks for it, and that is the point.
Whisper roll call2 minutes. The teacher whispers a name from the class list. That student stands without a word, gives a small wave and stays standing. The room has to be quiet enough to catch the next name. When everyone is up, sit down together on a count of 3.
Get to know you 6
Answer on your fingers2 minutes. The teacher asks questions that have a number for an answer: how many pets, how many brothers and sisters, how many years at this school, what score out of 10 the summer gets. Show your answer on your fingers and look around the room for a match. No one is asked to explain an answer.
Birthday months2 minutes. The teacher calls the months in order, starting with this one. Stand when you hear your birthday month and look at who is standing with you. The class counts the people standing each time. Which month has the most birthdays in this room, and which has none?
Introduce your neighbor3 minutes. Turn to the student beside you. Find out their name and one thing they like to do when school is out. After 1 minute, 6 pairs introduce each other to the class: this is Leo, and he builds model boats. The other pairs introduce each other to the pair behind them.
Name your table3 minutes. Each table or row has 2 minutes to agree on a team name that everyone at it accepts. Names from films, games and sports teams are not allowed. One student says the name to the class, and the others say their own first names after it. The teacher uses the table names for the rest of the day.
Our class clap3 minutes. Invent a clap that belongs to this class alone. Take a first part from one side of the room, such as 2 slow claps, a middle part from the other side and an ending from the teacher. Put the three together and practice it 4 times. Use it whenever the class has something to celebrate.
Pick a corner3 minutes. Give each corner of the room one answer to a question, such as how you got to school today: bus, car, on foot, some other way. Everyone walks to their corner and says hello to whoever is there. Ask 2 more questions with 4 answers each, such as a favorite season.
Meet your teacher 3
Guess about your teacher2 minutes. The teacher asks number questions about themselves: how many years I have taught, how many pets I have, how many states I have lived in. Show a guess on your fingers. The teacher says higher or lower until the class gets there. Finish with one question the class chooses.
One question for the teacher3 minutes. Each table agrees on one question to ask the teacher about this year: do we get homework, where do we eat lunch, will we go on a trip. One student from each table asks it, and the teacher answers in one sentence. No table may repeat a question.
Test the teacher3 minutes. After the name games, the teacher walks from seat to seat and tries to name every student without help. The class keeps score on its fingers: one for each name missed. A student whose name is missed says it once more. The teacher tries again before the last bell to beat that score.
Learn the room 6
Back to your seat1 minute. Everyone stands and walks one slow lap of the room. On the teacher's signal, go and stand behind your own chair without checking a name tag. Then look left and right and say the names of your neighbors.
Beat your quiet time2 minutes. Learn the teacher's signal for quiet, such as a raised hand. Chat with a neighbor until the signal comes, then stop, face the front and raise your own hand. The teacher counts the seconds until the room is silent. The class gets 3 tries to beat its first time.
Fastest quiet line3 minutes. Practice lining up at the door. The teacher explains the order once, says go and times the class until the line is straight and silent. Sit down, then do it again to beat the time. Running or a bumped desk adds 5 seconds.
How many of us?1 minute. Without counting, guess how many students are in the room and keep the number in your head. Then count off aloud from the first seat to the last, each student saying one number. Whoever guessed right stands and takes a bow. The teacher writes the number on the board.
Point to it1 minute. The teacher names places in the room that everyone will need: the pencil sharpener, the tray where finished work goes, the classroom library, the door used in a fire drill. Point to each one as fast as you can. Anything that half the class cannot find gets a visit.
Touch three, come back2 minutes. The teacher names 3 things in the room, such as the sink, the bookshelf and the supply bin. Walk to each one, touch it and sit down again before the timer runs out. Walking only, in any order. Second round: 3 new things, and nobody may follow a friend.
Before the last bell 4
Name riddle2 minutes. The teacher gives clues about a first name in the room: it has 3 letters, it starts with S, it rhymes with jam. Point to its owner when you know. That student stands and, with the teacher's help, gives the clues for the next name.
Name the next in line3 minutes. Use this one to line up or to pack up. The teacher names the first student. That student goes to the door and names anyone still seated, who goes next and names another. Nobody may name the person who sits beside them. A forgotten name gets a hint from the class.
One thing to tell at home1 minute. Someone at home will ask how the first day went. Think of one true thing you will say: something you did, someone you met or something that surprised you. Tell it to a neighbor in one sentence. Three volunteers tell the class.
Three goodbyes1 minute. Before you leave, say goodbye by name to 3 classmates you did not know this morning. Each one answers with your name. If either of you has forgotten, ask, and say the name twice.
How it works
A first day of school brain break has to work with a class that has no routines yet and a teacher who is still learning names. These 36 need no supplies, and 17 of them are name games.
Read the full guide
Name games before anything else
Name games holds 17 ways to hear every name before lunch. Start with Say it my way: each student says their name as it should be said, and the class says it back. Name lightning and Roll call question work from the seats.
Breaks that double as the first routines
Learn the room turns the morning's rules into movement. Point to it finds the pencil sharpener and the fire drill door. Beat your quiet time runs the signal for silence against a clock, and Fastest quiet line does the same for lining up. These first day of school brain breaks leave a class knowing where things are.
Let any student say pass in a name game. A name said by a neighbor still gets heard.
Before the last bell holds four for the end of the day. Three goodbyes sends everyone out the door saying three new names.
Questions and answers
What is a good brain break idea for the first day of school?
Name and a move. Each student says their name and makes one move with it, such as a wave or a stomp, and the class repeats both. It takes 3 minutes, needs nothing, and nobody has to know a classmate yet.
What are good name games for the first day of school?
Name and a food, Name lightning and Letter stand suit a room of strangers: each asks for a student's own name and little else. Name chain and Name a row are harder and fit the afternoon, once every name has been heard.
How do you learn students' names on the first day?
Hear each name several times in different games, then test yourself. Four around you and Whisper roll call repeat the names. In Test the teacher, you name every student while the class counts the misses on its fingers.
Do these work for middle school on the first day?
Most do. Twos, fours, eights, Backward name, Name riddle, Pick a corner and One question for the teacher ask for no silliness. Name train is written for kindergarten and first grade.