On the first day of school to create a warm atmosphere, ask your students to introduce themselves to you and everyone else. Have the students stand in a circle and individually introduce themselves, saying their name and an adjective that begins with the first letter of their name.
To add some spice to the game, ask the student to say the names and adjectives of all of students preceding him. This will ensure that the students are remembering each other's names.
This is a great game for a group of students with whom you'd like to foster a community. Ask your students to stand in a circle and with their left hand take the hand of someone near them, then with their right hand take the hand of someone else; make sure no one is holding hands with the person next to them. Ask the students to untangle themselves, without letting go of the other person's hand, to form a circle.
To make this game a bit more challenging, ask students not to speak to one another. You can also make it a competition by having two groups complete the same task and see who can finish first.
This game is excellent for psychology classes or criminal law classes so that you may examine the way someone behaves when he or she is lying. It can be used for other classes as a way to gain more information about your students and peers.
Ask each student to think up two true things about themselves and one lie. Go around the class, and ask each student to say their truths and a lie; it is up to the class to figure out which statement was the lie. For a criminal studies or psychology class, discuss why the class determined which was the lie by the way the person is standing, sitting or other body language cues. Make sure you participate yourself to make the activity even more fun and expose yourself to the students.