The first week of school sets the tone for the entire year. While traditional icebreakers have their place, why not kick off the school year with activities that combine social connection with hands-on STEAM learning? Enter Ozobot – the tiny programmable robot that’s about to transform your back-to-school routine into an unforgettable adventure.
These seven innovative icebreaker activities will help your students get to know each other while diving straight into coding, problem-solving, and creative thinking. Best of all, they work whether you’re using Ozobot’s simple Color Codes or the more advanced Blockly programming interface.
🤖 Activity 1: Ozobot “All About Me” Maze
Transform introductions into an interactive journey! Students design personal mazes using Color Codes or Blockly programming, creating checkpoints where their Ozobot pauses to “learn” something new about them.
How it works: At each turn in their maze, students place a card or drawing sharing personal details – favorite foods, hobbies, family facts, or summer memories. As the Ozobot navigates the maze, classmates follow along, discovering fun facts about their new friend.
Why it works: This activity combines storytelling with spatial reasoning and gives naturally shy students a structured way to share about themselves. Plus, watching the bot navigate their creation gives students immediate feedback on their programming choices.
🤝 Activity 2: “Find a Friend” Color Code Game
Turn your classroom into a giant connection network! This large-scale activity helps students discover unexpected commonalities while practicing collaborative problem-solving.
Set up: Create multiple intersecting paths on a large poster or use Color Code Magnets on your whiteboard. Each path represents different interests, experiences, or traits – “loves pizza,” “has a pet,” “plays a sport,” “enjoys reading,” etc.
The magic happens: Students program their Ozobots to follow paths that match their interests. When bots meet at intersection points, those students have found a shared interest and can start a conversation! It’s like a social media algorithm, but with tiny robots and real face-to-face connections.
🎯 Activity 3: Name That Bot!
Give your Ozobots personality while students practice both programming and presentation skills.
The challenge: Using Blockly, students program their Ozobot to “introduce itself” with a custom name and three fun facts about its programmer. They can use speech bubbles, printed signs, or even recorded audio to give their bot a voice.
The twist: After all bots perform their introductions, challenge the class to match each bot with its programmer based on the shared facts. This creates natural discussion starters and helps students remember details about their classmates.
🧠 Activity 4: Two Truths and a Lie (Bot Edition)
Breathe new life into this classic icebreaker with a STEAM twist that gets everyone thinking critically.
Programming challenge: Students create a track with three stopping points, each marked with different color codes. At each stop, they place a statement about themselves – two true, one false. Their Ozobot follows the track, pausing at each statement.
Class engagement: As the bot travels, classmates observe and discuss, trying to identify the lie. This activity naturally leads to follow-up questions and stories, helping students connect over shared experiences while practicing logical reasoning.
🚀 Activity 5: “Back-to-School Botstacle Course”
Combine team building with practical classroom orientation in this collaborative challenge.
Course design: Working in small teams, students build an obstacle course representing different classroom routines – library corner, lunch line, supply station, quiet reading area, collaboration zone, and more.
Educational integration: As teams program their Ozobot to navigate the course, they narrate what each stop represents and discuss the expectations for that area. This transforms routine rule-setting into an engaging, student-led exploration of classroom culture.
Teamwork bonus: Students must communicate effectively to successfully program their bot’s path, building collaboration skills from day one.
🗺️ Activity 6: “My Summer in a Map”
Help students transition from summer mode to school mode by celebrating their experiences in an interactive format.
Memory mapping: Students create Ozobot tracks that represent their summer journey – whether that’s a family vacation, a staycation adventure, summer camp, or time with friends and family. Each stop along the track represents a different memory.
Storytelling integration: As their Ozobot travels the path, students share stories about each stop, supported by drawings, photos, or artifacts. This gives every student a chance to be heard while practicing narrative skills and sequencing.
✍️ Activity 7: Classroom Expectations Journey
Turn rule-setting into an interactive exploration that students help create and own.
Collaborative setup: On a large poster or floor mat, display your classroom expectations. Students take turns programming their Ozobot to visit each expectation and explain what it looks like in action.
Student ownership: When students program the journey to each expectation themselves, they’re more invested in understanding and following them.
For beginners: Start with Color Code activities that require minimal programming knowledge. Students can focus on creativity and connection while learning basic cause-and-effect relationships.
For experienced coders: Challenge students to incorporate loops, conditionals, and variables into their icebreaker programs, adding layers of complexity that showcase their growing skills.
Need more inspiration? Check out Ozobot Classroom for ready-made lessons that complement these icebreaker activities. You’ll find similar activities and extensions that can help you build on the momentum these introductory experiences create.
Assessment opportunities: While these are icebreakers, they’re also rich opportunities for formative assessment. Observe how students approach problems, collaborate, and communicate their thinking.
The Bigger Picture
These activities do more than break the ice – they establish your classroom as a place where technology serves human connection, where creativity meets logic, and where every student’s voice matters. By starting the year with Ozobot, you’re showing students that learning in your classroom will be hands-on, collaborative, and joyfully challenging.
Your students will leave these activities with new friendships, confidence in their problem-solving abilities, and excitement about what’s coming next. More importantly, they’ll understand that in your classroom, learning is an adventure they’ll navigate together.
Ready to roll into an amazing school year? Your tiny robot companions are waiting to help you build a classroom community like no other.
