Pick three. That's all you need for the first hour.
The first day belongs to games, not rules. Three quick icebreakers will teach you half the names in the room and build six weeks of goodwill in the first hour. The rules can wait.
Stand in a circle. Each student says their name with a gesture. Class repeats name + gesture. Move on. Three echoes per name = locked in memory.
Write two true things about yourself and one lie. Class guesses which is the lie. Two minutes per student.
Show a photo of a famous person. Class guesses who, then votes on which student they remind them of. Pure bonding fuel.
Arrange the class in a line by birthday, no talking, hand signals only. 90-second silent puzzle.
Paper on forehead, pen in hand. Class draws an animal without looking. Reveal at the same time.
Call directions, class jumps that way. Then reverse: when you say "left," they jump right. Brain-aligned focus warm-up.
Pairs count 1-2-3 alternating. Then replace "1" with clap, "2" with stomp, "3" with jump. Compounding difficulty = compounding laughter.
Class walks around. Random cue calls. Stop, name (shout to closest person), clap, jump, dance. Unpredictability is the engagement.
Circle. Start a clap rhythm. Pass "set, go, [your name]" around. Anyone who drops the beat sits out.
Pairs get a number 1-100. Ninety seconds to convince another pair their number is the luckiest. Daft but revealing.
"Hands up if..." prompts. 12 of them. Quick, revealing, builds invisible threads of "we have stuff in common".
Pick any game. Time it. Write the time and date on the board. Frame the class as record-holders.
Print a class list, tick each name every time you use it on Day 1. Aim for every name once by lunch.