Puzzle Finder Ice Breaker Activity | Icebreaker Puzzles

Are you looking for a fun ESL icebreaker activity for kids or adults that’s challenging and will get the students working together and talking? Then Puzzle Finder might be one that you want to consider. Keep on reading for all the details you need to know about how to use these icebreaker puzzles in your classes today.

Puzzle Finder ESL Ice Breaker

Skills: Speaking/listening
Materials Required: puzzle pieces (from an actual puzzle or a cut and laminated image)
Level: High-beginner to Advanced

I love to use ESL ice breakers in my classes. They’re a fun way for students to get to know each other, as well as you. I find that by using icebreakers, the rest of the course goes more smoothly. The atmosphere is friendlier, and students feel like they are part of a cohesive group. Try out this Puzzle Finder ESL ice breaker in your classes.

The objects of this ESL ice breaker activity are both teamwork (to create the puzzle) and a review of common vocabulary. For example, colours, shapes, and common objects. This activity can be adapted for total beginners up to intermediate students. The good news is that your puzzle pieces can be recycled again and again. If you spend time making pieces for different levels of students, you haven’t wasted your time.

Prepare Icebreaker Puzzles Before Class 

Before class, you should either prepare a puzzle with enough pieces for each student to have one or two, or print an image which you cut into the correct number of pieces and laminate. The former is easier, but the latter gives you much more flexibility and you can cut the pieces as large as you like.

Ice Breaker Puzzles During Class

In order for students to put the puzzle together correctly, they will need to be able to describe their piece to others. They do this while mingling and looking for adjacent pieces, as well as listen to others’ descriptions. It’s an excellent way to get students talking to all their classmates.

Teaching Tips for this ESL Ice Breaker

If you are using a ready-made puzzle, a child’s puzzle will have the right combination of large size and a low number of pieces. If you choose your own image, you can print the pieces even larger, making it easier to work together.

To make the task more challenging, have students describe their pieces to one another, rather than show them. To make the task less challenging, have two puzzles (fewer edgeless pieces) or use an image with obvious elements, for example, a picture of a park, rather than a Picasso.

Procedure for Puzzle Finder

1. In advance, get a puzzle with enough pieces for each student to have one or two (so, no 500 piece monster puzzles). You can also print an image (A3 or larger), cut it into the right number of pieces, and laminate it.
2. Give each student a puzzle piece or two. Then instruct them to work together to complete the puzzle. Emphasize that the goals are to talk to everybody in the class, as well as speak only English.
3. According to the level of the students, allow them to show each other the pieces as they work or require them to describe the shape of their piece and the image fragment.

Here’s a Statue of Liberty puzzle that you can use in your classes. Click the link below to get the PDF file:

Statue of Liberty Puzzle

Did you Like this ESL Ice Breaker Activity?

If you found the Puzzle Finder ESL Icebreaker activity useful, then you’re going to love this book: 39 ESL Icebreakers for Teenagers and Adults. There are 38 more icebreakers that are guaranteed to help get your semester started off on the right foot, with students getting more comfortable with each other and also with you.

It’s lesson planning made easy so you can have more time to do the stuff that you really love to do! Drinking a beer with friends, going for a hike, chilling out with some Netflix-whatever! Don’t spend more time planning lessons than necessary.

You can check out the book for yourself on Amazon. It’s available in both print and e-versions. The cheaper electronic copy can be read on any device (smartphone, tablet, Mac, or PC) by downloading the free Kindle reading app. It’s super easy to have top-quality ESL icebreakers at your fingertips anywhere you go.

Are you ready to make your classes even better and save time while planning lessons? Check out 39 ESL Icebreakers for Teenagers and Adults on Amazon today:

Have your Say about Icebreaker Puzzles

What are your thoughts about Puzzle Finder, a fun ESL ice breaker? Did you try it out or do you have some other icebreaker puzzles that you’d like to recommend? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think. We’d love to hear from you.

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Last update on 2025-05-14 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API