Three icebreaker activities that will build connections within your club

Kickstart your Code Club by using an icebreaker activity! Let us guide you through three icebreakers and how they can help your creators to connect, collaborate, and feel comfortable learning together.

Young people at Linton-on-Ouse Primary School and Nursery getting started at their Code Club.

What is the best way to start your Code Club? There will never be one right answer that will fit everyone: the way you run your sessions will depend on the unique needs of your attendees, their ages, and interests.

But what about those scenarios where you have been thrown a curveball? A new club member is joining, or your creators have all rushed in, and they’re bouncing off the walls! This is where you might want to consider an icebreaker activity.

What is an icebreaker?

An icebreaker is a short activity that takes up to 15 minutes to complete. They can be used at the start of your Code Club session to help everyone get to know each other and warm up. Icebreakers are also a good way to disconnect from whatever activity your creators have come from and turn their focus to Code Club. We recommend choosing an unplugged activity for this.

Let’s explore three icebreaker activities and how they could benefit your Code Club.

New to the club

First up is ‘introduce a teammate’. This icebreaker is excellent for welcoming any newcomers to your Code Club. Led by the creators, it gives them an opportunity to get to know each other in a fun way.

This icebreaker is a low-pressure activity to encourage communication, help new members quickly gain a sense of belonging, and develop public speaking skills, especially in quieter creators. It’s even more of a challenge if creators already know each other: what new facts can they share?

Creating a positive learning environment

Do your creators regularly come charging into the room, buzzing with excitement? Of course they do, and you’re keen to channel this energy into your session, but how do you go about creating a positive learning environment?

The icebreaker ‘robot maze’, works to ease your creators into the session by immediately focusing their energy on an exciting task, as they learn the importance of of being specific when creating their code.

There’s so much flexibility with our icebreaker activities. Why not encourage calm by making this an individual activity. Each creator can try out their instructions on the robot one at a time, getting their brains into gear as they link their learning to the coding project or content you are planning to cover in the session.

Mixing things up

You can use ‘the low-tech social network’ icebreaker to encourage young creators to get to know each other. Creators who regularly attend Code Club may find themselves sitting with the same people at each session.

This icebreaker presents the perfect opportunity to help your creators connect by finding similarities with one another. By encouraging them to chat to lots of different creators, you can build cooperation and teamwork skills to use further down the line.

Check out all of our unplugged activities and try one of these icebreakers in your next Code Club session!