[Source Your Therapy Source]

Copyright, 2010, Your Therapy Source and Margaret Rice. Reprinted with the express permission of the author as appeared on the YourTherapySource blog

Some of you have already started the school year and some of you will begin over the next few weeks. Get to know your new students with these 5 ice breaker ideas:

1. Write a letter to your students telling them about yourself. Perhaps let them know your favorite food, color, movie and more. Tell them about a summer vacation you took. Tell them your favorite things to do outdoors and your favorite type of exercise. Explain to them some of the things that you use or will do during therapy sessions. Request that the student write you back answering some questions that you have asked. Some examples would be: What did you do over the summer? What are your goals for therapy? What is your favorite way to exercise? If the school year has already started just start off the therapy session with a quick interview of each other.
2. Happy and Healthy Hands. Have each student trace around one hand on a piece of the same color paper. On the hand, write different things that make the student happy and healthy. Hang the hands on the wall. Have the children go around the room. Do wall push ups on different sets of hands. Can you guess whose hands matches whose print?
3. Getting to Know You Charades. Have the student’s act out their favorite things in different categories. For example, some categories could be favorite sport, favorite book and favorite outdoor activity.
4. Motor Match Up. Create a matching set of cards with various movements such as crawling, dancing, jumping, walking and marching. Pass out one card to each student. The students must move around the room and find the other student moving the same way that they are. Once the pair is matched up they introduce themselves.
5. Silly Name Game. Stand in a circle. Pick one student to go first. This student says his/her name and adds a movement (i.e. shakes head yes). The next student says the first students name and shakes head yes, then introduces himself adding a movement (i.e. claps hands). The third student says student #1’s name and shakes head yes, then says student #2’s name and claps hands. Student three then says his own name and adds a movement. Keep going around the circle.

Featured Author: Margaret Rice, PT owner of Your Therapy Source
Special Thanks to Margaret Rice, PT, and Your Therapy Source for providing an article for our website.
Margaret Rice PT, has authored two books on pediatric group therapy, 25 Instant Sensory Motor Group Activities and Sensory Motor Group Activities from A to Z
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She can also be reached by email at: [email protected].