Icebreakers for Middle School Choir to Build Community

It's the start of the school year and it's time for your choir class to start singing!

Except they don't sing. Like, barely at all.

But all the advice you hear it to always sing on the first day! Why aren't my middle school students singing in choir? That's kind of the point of choir, right?

The advice to sing on the first day is great, but it lacks a vital prerequisite for your middle school choir. And that's icebreaker and team building games for your middle school choir class.

Put yourself in the shoes of your new 6th grade middle school choir students. Maybe you had choir in elementary school, maybe you only had their general music class (and they were checked out during those once a week classes). New school, new format of classes, new teachers (sooo many teachers every single day), new kids, it's overwhelming.

Who can you trust? Who do you feel safe around?

Now, choir teachers, it's nothing personal. You're a good teacher. It's just that those middle school students haven't built the trust or learned that your classroom is a safe place to show a vulnerable part of themselves, their voice.

With singing, it's directly tied to their identity. There is no putting down the flute and taking up the trombone, we only get one voice. So, any mistakes or wrong notes feel especially personal.

Solution? The prerequisite to the golden advice of singing on the first day of school - icebreakers and team building.

Building trust, making students feel comfortable around each other is key before you start singing.

Here are some icebreaker activities you can use with your middle school choir students:

1. This or That

Have your choir students stand up and present two options in an "or" statement. One side of the room is one option and the opposite side is the other option. Like, Xbox or Playstation, McDonalds or Chik-Fil-A, Late Night or Early Morning. Students move from one side to the other depending on their preferences.

If a student decides they don't like either option or can't choose, then gently encourage them to pick a side. Or let them stay in the middle. The goal for this ice breaker is to establish commonalities without forcing the kids to talk to each other.

2. Find Someone Who...

I've made this ice breaker game for middle school choir to get students moving and starting to talk to each other, but briefly. Mostly to learn names, this choir ice breaker encourages students to find someone who matches the characteristics on the sheet.

Make the goal everyone completes the whole sheet, see who can finish the fastest, have them complete it in pairs - fit this choir icebreaker to your needs!

3. Partner Interview

Now that we've chipped away at some of the ice, it's time for the students to start learning about each other too. The Partner Interview is great because your choir students get some one-on-one interaction in a structured manner through asking each other questions to fill out their interview sheet.

In my resource, there are a few different questions but the format is still the same. It can be strange talking to someone new, but these partner interviews provide guidance on what to talk about. Keep this activity short, 3-5 minutes. It's an ice breaker, not an in depth actual interview to be somebodies BFF.

Incoporating icebreakers and team building activities in your middle school choir class will help tremendously. Even if things start slow or rocky, don't give up! And if you're like me and think, "Well, I hate doing icebreakers because I'm an introvert so I won't subject my students to icebreakers in their choir class", then I need to politely ask you reconsider immediately because they need some fun activities to get to know each other. Find other icebreakers or team building activities for your middle school choir that align with what you're comfortable with, but please don't avoid icebreakers because of your own opinion.

No, really, I am very quick to put off my introvert aura of "pleeeeease don't talk to me" but I'm an adult who can also get past the discomfort any find the value behind the silly games. So model that willingness for your choir kids too and they will learn to try too.

Anyways, yeah, icebreakers for your middle school choir class. You should do them. Good luck out their, choir friend. 🫡