By adding a scavenger hunt game to your socialization, you can create a classroom activity in which students can get to know each other. Ask students to write five facts about themselves on a piece of paper and turn it in. Prepare a scavenger hunt list, with one fact from each student listed, and hand a copy to each student. Instruct your students to move around the room, interviewing each other, until they write the name of the student for whom the interesting fact is true. Use this activity to convince your students to talk to each other and learn things about each other that they can use as conversation starters later.
Getting-to-know-you games can bring your class together and let students learn about each other. Give a large stack of items to each student, such as pennies or small candies, and arrange your class in a circle on the floor. Go first, to demonstrate the game, by saying, “Once upon a time I…” and then state some interesting fact about yourself. Explain that any student who has not done the same thing has to give one item to you. Go around the room, with the winner being the individual with the most items at the end of the class. Use the activity to spend time getting to know each other and sharing interesting facts.
Many students suffer from anxiety at the thought of making new friends, but you can help them avoid this problem by giving them a head start. Pair up your students in groups of two, and instruct them to spend time talking to each other and getting as much information from each other as they can. Give them enough time to share information -- say, 10 or 15 minutes. Once they have their information, instruct each student to stand and introduce their “new friend,” using the facts they obtained from their time together. Use this activity to give students a chance to socialize, without the anxiety that comes with initiating a friendship, because you are initiating it for them.
Socialization includes forging friendships with peers, but it also includes learning to communicate with other groups of people. Schedule a field trip to a place where students can spend time with people who are not their direct peers, such as a local nursing home, where kids can spend time with older individuals or to the school lunchroom to meet and talk to the lunch staff members who prepare their meals. Use this activity to give students a chance to meet and talk to people with whom they normally may not think to spend time.