Energizers and other exercises you can use
Before going through the content of this lesson, please watch the introductory video below.
Hi there! Before we start this lesson, I would like you to think about the following question: “What do polar bears and great teachers have in common? They both know how to break the ice!”.
Before continuing, please pause this video for a few minutes and access the link you can find just below the video box.
Welcome back!
Well, we almost started with an energizer. If we would have been in an online synchronous class filled with teachers, there would be a great chance that, by asking this question, participants’ attention and participation would increase, by them trying to figure out the best answer. Generally, when we think of energizers we can think of something physical, but exercises that train the brain are as good, depending on the time of day, the dynamic of the lesson and so on.
We prepared for you a useful list of energizers and dynamic exercises:
Up, down, left, right:
Ask participants to stand up and to follow your instructions, by turning their head in one of the following directions: up (look at the ceiling), down (look at their feet), left (turn head to the left), right (turn head to the right). Say the words in a random order and keep an alert rhythm.
After a while, tell participants that you will change the meaning of the word: up will mean looking down, and down will mean looking up. Continue the exercise with these new meanings - it will now become fun.
“I have never”:
Start with a sentence, e.g. “I have never eaten ice cream in the morning”. The students that have done this, should do an action (e.g. stand up, or raise their hand, or - if everybody is keeping their cameras off - put their cameras on). From the ones that did the action, ask another student to start another sentence “I have never…”. You can also use variations, such as “I drink tea every day”. Stop whenever you feel everybody got the chance to participate, one way or another.
“I like very much”:
Ask students to think about something they like very much. Then, one by one, they say their sentence, and the other students should show (thumbs up / horizontal / down, or another way) how much they like that thing as well.
Show a drawing:
Ask students to draw something on a piece of paper, such as a symbol for themselves, their favourite hero, etc. Then, all at once, ask them to show their drawings. You can make a printscreen with all papers. You can also ask a few of them to explain what they drew. This could be a good exercise for inviting students to turn on their cameras.
Dynamic tutorial:
Find a YouTube video with a movement that all students can learn - How does an astronaut walk? How did Michael Jackson walk backwards? Invite all students to mime the movement.
Bring an object:
Ask students to quickly identify in the room and bring / show a yellow object. Then, change the colour: Bring something… red. Blue. Black. Something you need to throw away. Your favourite toy. Etc. Variations: instead of bringing, you can ask students to touch that kind of object. You can also ask students to propose actions of this type.
Solving riddles:
Give students an enigma or a logical problem they should solve. It can be one that they can solve by themselves, or (even better) one they can ask questions about, and you can answer with YES or NO, or let them know if they are near or far from the solution.
Rhymes:
Ask students to make rhymes. It can be an exercise from improvisation theatre, such as this one: You start with 2 lines: ‘What’s a “this” without a “that” / What’s a dog without a cat.’ The first student that participates, turns the last 2 words around, and should add something that rhymes, e.g.: ‘What’s a cat without a dog / What’s a pond without a frog.’ And so on. Ask students to be quick and don’t think too much. You can use it in writing, in the chat, or verbally, by students tagging each other (naming the next student which should talk).
Word connection exercises:
You start by saying a word, and ask for other 2 words that students think about related to your word. After 2 students say their words, you choose your favourite word from the 2. The student that said that word has to continue, his word will have to bring 2 options from 2 different students. He/she chooses their favourite word, and so on.
“If I would be a …. I would be …”:
Prepare a series of questions related to your students: if they would be a flower, an animal, a song, a superhero, what/who would they be? Ask the question in the chat and invite them to answer in the chat as well. You can also ask a few students to explain: “Why a dandelion?”, “Why a dog?”, “Why Superman?”.
“Where would you go?”:
Prepare a map of your country / the world and ask students to point where they would go on holidays (if they would have no budget limit).
An online quiz / contest:
Find a platform on which you can start a quiz. Make it in the form of a contest. Accuracy of answers will show who won - some platforms calculate how fast the players answer, as well, and the winner is the one who answered right the fastest. Tip: ask someone to suggest a suitable platform (you can also ask students).
Shared story:
A classic improvisation exercise is making up a story together, each person adding a sentence to it. Give an introduction to the story, and then invite a student to continue. One of the ways you can start is “Once upon a time, in a land far away, 5 people got together to solve all the world’s problems. Everything seemed easy, until one day one of the people saw on the horizon…”. Then, you name a student that has to continue.
Your role then will be to stop that student at a random word and ask another student to continue exactly where the previous student stopped. To increase difficulty (or make it fun), you can add a certain word that needs to be used, or extract a letter (that should not be used anymore), or invite students to make the story with rhyming lines.
Online scavenger hunt:
Prepare a list of things you want your students to search for. You can ask students to split in breakout rooms or solve the tasks altogether. A possible list could be composed of the following ideas:
- Find a GIF for each strong emotion that you can feel during a school day;
- Make a list of the the year of birth of all group members - find the most popular song from each of those years;
- Find out the number of brothers and sisters all the members of the group have;
- For each member of the group, find a celebrity that looks like them;
- Choose a famous painting - each group has to recreate it by using objects in their house (they can also include pets or family members);
- Group members have to think what cake ingredients they have at home, pick a cake recipe and take a photo with all ingredients each of them can bring.
If time is limited, you can give them the challenges one by one, in different moments.
What we have in common:
Send students to breakout rooms of 2-4 people. Give them 3 minutes to list as many things as possible that they have in common. When time is up, everyone is back and counts how many things they found. The group that found the most things in common wins. Next, you can send them to breakout rooms and ask them to list things they don’t like - the ones that apply to all members of the group.
YES or NO:
Students are invited to have 2 scraps of paper - on one they write YES and on one they write NO. You start by saying something about yourself, for example: I know how to ride a bike, I have a dog, I saw a movie this week. Everyone holds up one paper, depending on if they share the same characteristic or not. You can, at some point, choose a random student and ask them to share something about themselves, and it can go on like that, with different students involved.
Variation: it can be done as a voting/debate type of exercise, students stating their opinion related to a specific thing.
Zoom bombing:
This is an energizer that helps release tension. Invite students to act as thought they are ruining a Zoom meeting, “Zoom bombing” it, interrupting and doing whatever they feel like. All at once, for 30 seconds, allow them to create chaos. Don’t forget to ask them to unmute themselves and leave their volume on. After this type of exercise, they might be able to concentrate better.
I wish my dog/cat could:
Invite students to take a piece of paper, and for 3 minutes to write as many answers as possible to the question “I wish my dog/cat could…”. They don’t need to have a pet in order to answer this. After the time is up, you can invite a few of them to share, or write in chat their favourite answer. You can invite students to leave their cameras and microphones on, because it is an activity that generates laughter and creates a dynamic atmosphere.
Object pitch:
Prepare a list of photos, or a PowerPoint presentation, with random objects. Invite students, one by one, to pitch the objects that come next, convincing the other students of the utility of that object (as they would want to sell it). Each student has 30 seconds to pitch one object, and then you suddenly move to the next random object and the next random student. In the end, you can ask students which pitch they liked best. The exercise encourages imagination and spontaneity, pushing students to think outside the box.
My life is like…:
Ask students to think of an object around them, and write it in the chat. After all students wrote their words, give them some time to choose one favourite word and complete the sentence with some adjectives and a reason why: “My life is like [that object], …”. Everyone says their sentence and explains it, or the first students share with everyone and the others are invited to write it in the chat.
Reflection time:
- Which is your favourite energizer (from the list above, but not only) and why?
- Read these lists with icebreaker questions - prepare your own list of favourite questions and a method to ask these questions at the beginning of the lesson in order to start the conversation: