Apple Bucket, Banana Bucket1. Set out two buckets, one with a picture of an apple and one with a picture of a banana, and give every child one block.2. One at a time, children drop their block into the bucket for the fruit they like better.3. Tip out each bucket and line up its blocks, the two rows side by side.4. Count each row together and ask which row is longer. Tomorrow the buckets ask about two new things.Players: 4 to 20. Time: 5 min. Props: two buckets, two pictures and a block for each child. Noise: medium. First day: yes.
A Block for Every Name1. Sit in a circle with a basket of big blocks in the middle, one block for each child. 2. The teacher says a child's name. That child picks a block, and the class says "Hello, Mia." 3. Mia sets her block on the tower, or beside it if the tower looks wobbly. 4. When every child has added a block, count the blocks together. That is how many friends came today. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 5 min. Props: a big block for each child. Noise: medium. First day: yes.
The Drum Calls Each Name to the Rug1. The children wait at the tables or along the wall. The teacher sits on the rug with a drum. 2. Tap the drum once for each part of a name and say it: "Mi-a." Mia walks to the rug and sits down. 3. The children already on the rug say each new name along with the drum. 4. When everyone is sitting, tap all the names once more, quickly, around the circle. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 4 min. Props: a drum. Noise: medium. First day: yes.
Hello in the Mirror1. Sit in a circle with a hand mirror that cannot break. 2. The teacher looks into it and says "Hello, me. I am Ms. Park." 3. Pass the mirror. Each child looks in and says hello to themselves by name, or just smiles at the mirror. 4. After each turn the class waves at that child and says the name. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 4 min. Props: a child-safe hand mirror. Noise: quiet. First day: yes.
Show all 24 games (21 more)
Name songs and chants, continued
Mia Came to School Today1. Sit in a circle. The teacher sings to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell": "Mia came to school, Mia came to school, hi-ho, we're glad you're here, Mia came to school." 2. Mia waves, or just smiles, while her verse is sung. 3. The children join in on "hi-ho" and clap. 4. Sing a verse for every child, going around the circle so that each one can see their turn coming. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 5 min. Props: none. Noise: medium. First day: yes.
Mia Leads the Parade1. The children line up behind the teacher, who taps a slow beat on a drum. 2. March around the room. After a few steps the teacher calls: "Mia leads the parade." 3. Mia walks to the front, the class says "Follow Mia", and the line marches on behind her. 4. Call a new leader every few steps. A child who would rather not lead waves from their place, and the class says that name too. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 5 min. Props: a drum or a pan to tap. Noise: loud. First day: yes.
Ring the Bell, Say Your Name1. Sit in a circle. The teacher rings a small bell once and says "I am" and their own name. 2. Pass the bell. Each child rings it once and says their name, or rings it and lets the teacher say it. 3. After every ring the class answers in a whisper: "Hello, Mia." 4. When the bell comes back to the teacher, ring it three times for the whole class. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 4 min. Props: a small hand bell. Noise: medium. First day: yes.
This Is the Way We Wave to Mia1. Stand in a circle. The teacher sings to the nursery tune "Mulberry Bush": "This is the way we wave to Mia, wave to Mia, wave to Mia. This is the way we wave to Mia, on our first day of school." 2. Everyone waves at Mia while they sing. 3. Mia picks the next greeting by showing it: a clap, a bow, a wiggle or a thumbs-up. 4. Sing the next child's verse with that greeting. Stop after five or six children and sing the rest tomorrow. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 4 min. Props: none. Noise: loud. First day: yes.
Questions answered all together 6
Moo for Yes, Quack for No1. Sit in a circle. Practice the two answers together: a long "moo" means yes and a quick "quack" means no. 2. The teacher asks a yes-or-no question, and everybody answers at once. A child may nod or shake their head instead. 3. Questions to use: "Do you like bananas?" "Do you like splashing in puddles?" "Have you ever ridden on a bus?" "Do you like peas?" "Do you like building with blocks?" "Is blue a color you like?" "Have you ever fed ducks?" "Do you like bubbles?" 4. After each question the teacher says what came back, such as lots of moos for bubbles. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 3 min. Props: none. Noise: loud. First day: yes.
Pull a Thing, Hear a Question1. Put six things in a cloth bag: a spoon, a toy dog, a crayon, a ball, a small book and a sock. 2. A child pulls one thing out without looking. Each thing has its question: the spoon asks "What do you like to eat?", the dog "Which animal do you like?", the crayon "What color do you like?", the ball "What do you like to play?", the book "Which story do you like?" and the sock "What do you wear when it is cold?" 3. Everyone who wants to answers at once, out loud. 4. The teacher repeats two answers they heard, and the bag goes to the next child. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 5 min. Props: a cloth bag with six small things. Noise: loud. First day: yes.
Show Me What You Like to Do1. Everyone stands with room to move. 2. The teacher asks something the children answer by acting it out, all at once: "What do you like to do outside?" 3. More questions: "What do you like to do in the rain?" "What do you do at the playground?" "What do you do with a ball?" "How does your favorite animal move?" 4. After each one the teacher says what they see, such as Mia swinging and Ben digging. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 4 min. Props: none. Noise: loud. First day: yes.
Show Me With Your Face1. Sit where everyone can see the teacher's face. 2. The teacher says "Show me your face when" and names something. Everyone makes the face at once. 3. Lines to use: "you eat ice cream", "you smell a flower", "you see a puppy", "it is time to wake up", "you taste a lemon", "you hear thunder", "you blow out candles", "you find a lost toy". 4. The teacher makes each face too and names one or two children whose faces they can see. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 3 min. Props: none. Noise: medium. First day: yes.
This Much or This Much1. Show the two answers: arms stretched wide means "this much", and two fingers nearly touching means "only this much". 2. The teacher asks how much the children like something, and everyone shows an answer at once. 3. Things to ask about: rain, carrots, loud music, dogs, snow, pancakes, swings, naps, mud, singing. 4. The teacher shows an answer too, and the class looks around at all the arms before the next one. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 3 min. Props: none. Noise: quiet. First day: yes.
Whisper It to Your Hands1. The teacher asks one question: "What is your favorite animal?" 2. Each child cups both hands and whispers the answer into them, like a secret. 3. Count to three together. On three, everyone opens their hands toward the middle and says the answer out loud, or keeps it a secret. 4. The teacher names three answers they caught and asks the next question. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 3 min. Props: none. Noise: loud. First day: yes.
Counting games for the first day 6
Apple Bucket, Banana Bucket1. Set out two buckets, one with a picture of an apple and one with a picture of a banana, and give every child one block. 2. One at a time, children drop their block into the bucket for the fruit they like better. 3. Tip out each bucket and line up its blocks, the two rows side by side. 4. Count each row together and ask which row is longer. Tomorrow the buckets ask about two new things. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 5 min. Props: two buckets, two pictures and a block for each child. Noise: medium. First day: yes.
Baby Steps and Giant Steps to the Door1. Everyone stands in a row at the edge of the rug, facing the door. 2. Walk to the door in tiny baby steps, counting every step aloud together. The teacher remembers the number. 3. Go back and cross again in giant steps, counting again. 4. Say the two numbers and ask which was more. Guess first, then cross once more on tiptoe. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 4 min. Props: none. Noise: loud. First day: yes.
Clap How Old You Are1. The teacher asks: "Who is three?" The threes stand up. 2. Everyone claps three times for them, counting the claps aloud, and the threes sit down. 3. Do the same for the fours and the fives. 4. Last, everyone holds up their own number on their fingers and shows it to a neighbor. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 3 min. Props: none. Noise: loud. First day: yes.
Feet In, Count the Shoes1. Sit in a circle with legs straight, so that every shoe points to the middle. 2. The teacher walks around the inside and points at each shoe while everyone counts aloud. 3. Ask how many shoes there were. Then count again, one number for each child. 4. Say both numbers once more: two shoes for every friend. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 4 min. Props: none. Noise: medium. First day: yes.
Is There a Cup for Everyone?1. Before snack, stack cups on the table, a few too few on purpose. 2. Ask the children whether there is a cup for everyone. Hands up for yes, hands on heads for no. 3. Pass the cups around the circle, one each, until they run out. 4. Count the children with no cup, fetch that many more together, and hand them out one by one. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 4 min. Props: cups, a few fewer than there are children. Noise: medium. First day: yes.
Pockets or No Pockets1. Everyone stands up and checks their clothes for pockets. 2. Children with a pocket walk to one side of the rug, and children with none walk to the other. 3. Each side makes a line. The two lines stand side by side, and everyone counts each line aloud. 4. Ask which line is longer, then sort again another way: stripes or no stripes. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 4 min. Props: none. Noise: medium. First day: yes.
Find your match 5
Big One Finds Little One1. Gather pairs of things in two sizes: a big spoon and a small spoon, a big block and a small block, a big ball and a small ball, a big teddy and a small teddy. 2. Give each child one thing. Hold it up and look around. 3. Walk to the child who holds the same thing in the other size, and sit down together. 4. Each pair shows its two things, and the class says "big" and "little" as they are held up. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 4 min. Props: pairs of things in two sizes. Noise: medium. First day: yes.
One Dot, Two Dots, Three Dots1. Make cards with one, two or three big dots, and give one to each child. 2. Count your own dots with a finger. The teacher helps anyone who asks. 3. The teacher calls "Find the same." Walk to the children whose cards have as many dots as yours. 4. Each group holds up that many fingers and stamps that many times. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 4 min. Props: dot cards, one for each child. Noise: medium. First day: yes.
Same Shape, Stand Together1. Cut big circles, squares and triangles from paper, and hand one to each child to hold. 2. Play music. The children dance with their shapes held high. 3. When the music stops, find the children holding the same shape and stand together. 4. Each group says its shape. Then everyone trades shapes with a friend and dances again. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 4 min. Props: paper shapes and music. Noise: loud. First day: yes.
Sit With Your Color1. Put a basket of scarves or paper squares in four colors on the rug. 2. Each child picks the color they like best. 3. The teacher points to four places and gives each one a color. Children carry their scarf to their color's place and sit down together. 4. Each group waves its scarves and says its color, and the teacher says the names in the group. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 4 min. Props: scarves or paper squares in four colors. Noise: medium. First day: yes.
Sticker Twins1. Use stickers that come two to a picture. Each child picks one and puts it on their own shirt. 2. Play quiet music while the children walk and look at each other's stickers. 3. When you find the child with the same picture, stand together and wave both hands. 4. The teacher comes to each pair and says both names and the picture they share. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 4 min. Props: stickers, two of each picture, and music. Noise: medium. First day: yes.
How this list was compiled: Written on 2026-10-14 for a teacher opening the first circle times of a preschool class of 4 to 20 children aged three to five. The games and their steps are our own wording, and the verses, questions and lines printed inside the steps are our own. Nothing is read by a child, every game takes five minutes or less, and each one has a way to join without speaking. Nobody is out, nobody is touched, no game has a winner, and no question asks about family, money, health or beliefs. Shoes stay on, and nothing is worn or shared on a head or a face. "First day: yes" means that no child has to know another child's name; it is true of every game here. Two verses are sung to traditional tunes, read on 2026-10-14 at Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Farmer_in_the_Dell (a singing game and nursery rhyme, Roud Folk Song Index 6306, with the line "Hi-ho, the derry-o") and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_We_Go_Round_the_Mulberry_Bush (an English nursery rhyme and singing game, Roud 7882, also titled "Mulberry Bush"). The words sung to them here are ours. Player ranges, minutes and the age band are planning estimates, not measurements, and nothing here claims to follow a curriculum. Licence: own work
How it works
These icebreaker games for preschoolers fit a first circle time: name songs, questions answered with a moo or a face, counting games and matches to find.
Read the full guide
An icebreaker game preschool classes can play on day one
Start with a name song. In Mia Came to School Today the class sings one verse for each child to a tune it already knows, and the child only has to wave. Name songs and chants holds seven.
Icebreaker questions for preschoolers
Moo for Yes, Quack for No prints eight questions, such as "Do you like splashing in puddles?", and Show Me With Your Face asks for a lemon face. See Questions answered all together.
Questions and answers
What are good icebreaker name games for preschool?
A Block for Every Name builds a tower with one block for each child, and in The Drum Calls Each Name to the Rug children come to the circle as the drum taps their name. Both are preschool games to learn names.
Is there a first day of preschool icebreaker math game?
Yes, six. In Apple Bucket, Banana Bucket each child drops a block into the bucket for the fruit they like better, and the class lines up the blocks and counts which row is longer.
What is a quick icebreaker for preschoolers?
Whisper It to Your Hands: children whisper a favorite animal into cupped hands, then say it out loud together on three. It is one of 5 quick kid icebreakers here that take three minutes.
Do preschoolers have to talk in these games?
No. Every game has a way to join without speaking: a wave, a ring of the bell, a face, a block in a bucket. The teacher says the name for any child who would rather not.