Who's the best liar?!
This icebreaker activity requires hardly any preparation and can be hilarious fun. It's not only suitable for a new class but can also be played when there's a new student getting introduced to a class.
How to play: Give your students about five minutes to write down two truths and one lie about themselves. It usually helps to provide these three "facts" about yourself. You can be as outrageous and/or detailed with your lie (or truths) as you like and as you are comfortable with your students. For example:
- My nickname in school was Loopie.
- I love camping.
- I was never in Paris.
Now your students or the group of learners have to guess which one's the lie. These facts, especially the truths, can create a fun discussion and as the activity is aimed at people getting to know one another, you may want to allow follow-up questions and let any chat evolve.
Possible adaptation: This activity can be adapted into a little quiz-like game on pretty much any topic. Instead of creating two truths and a lie about themselves, players have to come up with two true and one false fact; for example, about a music or historical figure, about a country or geographical location, or a biology or physics theme. In doing so, students will practice their knowledge in two ways: 1) they create a set of facts themselves and 2) they have to make a decision on other people's facts.