25 Practical TEFL Warmers and Fillers

A good warmer can set the tone for your lesson, break the ice, and get students thinking in English right from the start. A well-chosen filler can keep energy up, bridge gaps, or save a lesson when your plan runs short.

There’s no strict distinction between warmers and fillers – most of the activities here can work as either, depending on when and why you use them. A warmer can also double as a quick revision of a previous lesson if you want to reinforce a theme, grammar point, or vocabulary set. Or it can simply be something fun and fresh to get students talking and thinking in English.

Many of these activities also adapt well for online lessons – just change the format slightly to suit a virtual classroom.

I’ll explain what warmers and fillers are, when and how to use them, and what to keep in mind when choosing one. Then I’ll share 25 of my favourite activities – practical, low-prep ideas I’ve used in real classrooms with all kinds of learners.

What Are Warmers?

A warmer is a short, engaging activity at the beginning of a lesson to get students participating, thinking in English, and comfortable speaking. It helps wake up the class, builds rapport, and prepares them for the language work ahead.

What Are Fillers?

A filler is a flexible activity you can drop in at any point – to fill a few spare minutes at the end of a lesson, regain focus if an activity ends early, or change the pace of a lesson. The best fillers are quick, adaptable, and require little to no prep.

For more ideas that need minimal planning, see 10 TEFL Activities with Little Preparation.

How Long Should Warmers and Fillers Be?

Both warmers and fillers should ideally last about 5–10 minutes maximum – long enough to engage students, but short enough not to overshadow the main lesson. Choose activities that are flexible, so you can run them for just a couple of minutes if needed or let them develop a little longer if time allows. Keep an eye on the energy of the group and don’t be afraid to stop while the activity is still lively.

Things to Keep in Mind

• Your students’ age and level. Younger learners may prefer more physical or silly games; adults may prefer discussion-based activities.
• Their cultural background. Avoid topics or humour that might cause discomfort.
• How well students know each other. Icebreakers work best in new groups; creative debates or roleplays suit familiar groups.
• Your lesson aim. You can tie a warmer or filler to your topic or grammar focus – or just use it to get students speaking and smiling.
• Inclusivity. Be mindful of students with hearing, mobility, or sensory needs, and choose activities that everyone can participate in comfortably.

For more on managing classroom dynamics, see How to Stay in Control of a Large Class. And for help tying activities into lesson goals, check out How to Plan a TEFL Lesson.

What if My Students Don’t Like Games?

Not all students enjoy games – some see them as childish, unproductive, or uncomfortable. If your class isn’t responding well to game-based warmers and fillers, try choosing activities that feel more purposeful and less competitive.

Options include:

• Discussion-based activities (e.g., “Three Positive Things” or “Tea or Coffee Person”)
• Short writing tasks (e.g., “Genre Writing” or “Parts of Speech Narrative”)
• Brainstorming or problem-solving (e.g., “Where in the World?” or “Categories”)
• Controlled language practice disguised as a warmer (e.g. Dream Questions and Narrative Tenses)

(You’ll find these activities described in the list below.)

Listen to your students’ feedback and adjust the tone and type of activities to fit their preferences and personalities.

Warmers and Fillers That Work

Here are 25 tried-and-tested activities, with something to suit almost any group or situation.

Forks vs Spoons

Students debate in pairs or groups: which is better? You can substitute any two random items – cats vs dogs, tea vs coffee.

Three Positive Things

Students think of three positive things that happened to them this week, then share them at random with the class. Builds rapport and positivity.

Guess the Famous Person

Each student wears a photo (or the name) of a celebrity on their back. They walk around asking yes/no questions to figure out who they are. Good for describing people and forming questions.

Minimal Pairs Race

Write several pairs of minimal pairs (e.g. ship/sheep, cat/cut) on the board. Divide the class into two teams and have one player from each team come up to the board. Read out a sentence that contains one word from a minimal pair. The first to circle or erase the correct word wins a point for their team. Rotate players and continue with new sentences.

Where in the World?

Students brainstorm cultural aspects (food, clothes, famous people, animals, etc.) of a given continent, country or region and discuss.

Think of Three Things

Students think of three things in their kitchen/bin/bag/head/etc. and talk about them, or explain why they are there. Fun and unpredictable.

Postman

Students sit in a circle while you act as the “postman,” delivering written messages between them to create simultaneous written dialogues. Each student writes a short note to another student, folds it, writes the recipient’s name, and hands it to you to deliver. As messages are passed around and replied to, a lively and slightly chaotic web of written conversations develops. You can tell students that some messages may be read aloud at the end to encourage creativity and keep things appropriate.

Tea or Coffee Person

Go around the class asking “Are you a ___ person or a ___ person?” Substitute with anything – cats/dogs, night owl/early bird – and encourage discussion.

Genre Writing

Divide the class into two groups. Each group writes five (or more) silly or creative questions on a topic of their choice, then swaps them with the other group. Each group writes answers to the questions they’ve been given – as seriously or humorously as they like. Finally, each group uses the set of answers to write a short text in a specific genre you assign (e.g. a news article, diary entry, letter, story). At the end, groups can read their texts aloud to the class for a fun comparison.

True or False

Each student writes three sentences about themselves – two true, one false. They mingle, read their sentences to classmates, and try to guess which is false. Great as an icebreaker with a new group.

Two Truths and a Dream

A variation on “True or False”: Students write down two true things about themselves and one thing they wish were true (their “dream”). They then take turns sharing their three statements with the class or in pairs. The other students guess which statement is the dream. This works well for practising present simple and “I wish…” and can spark interesting conversations about students’ goals.

No Connection

Sit the students in a circle. Go round the circle, with each student saying a random word. The word must have no connection to the previous word. If anyone can justify a connection, that student loses a point.

Parts of Speech Narrative

Students work in pairs. Each student secretly thinks about what they did last weekend, then writes down a list of key words to describe it – for example, two nouns, one verb, one adjective, and one adverb (you can adjust the categories). They only write these words, not full sentences, and then hand the list to their partner. The partner reads the list and tries to guess and retell what happened, creating a short narrative based on the clues. Afterwards, the first student confirms how close (or far) they were and can share the real story.

Experts

Students claim to be experts in a random subject and take rapid-fire questions from the class, answering creatively. You can assign the random subjects, or give students a list to choose from.

Present Perfect / Past Simple: Pass the Buck

Students sit in a circle. Everyone writes one thing they’ve done in their life, using present perfect (e.g., “I have run a marathon,”). They then pass their paper to the person on their right. The next student writes two or three past simple questions about the statement (e.g. “Where did you run?” / “Did you win?”) and passes the paper again. The third student imagines and writes short answers to the questions, inventing further details, and passes the paper once more. Finally, the fourth student uses the information to write a short narrative in the first person, combining the details into a story. At the end, the original student gets their paper back, reads the final story aloud, and comments on how close it is to what actually happened.

Find Something Interesting

Students find an item in their wallet or bag and tell the class about it. Can lead to some interesting and random discussions.

Clapping and Booing

One willing volunteer leaves the room. The class chooses an action for them to do (wave, salute, jumping jacks, tap dancing…). When they return, the class claps as they get closer to it and boos as they move away from it. Can they get the volunteer to perform the action?

Alphabet Race

In teams, students race to write a word for each letter of the alphabet on the board or paper – tied to a topic or open-ended.

Word Association Chain

Students take turns saying a word connected to the previous word. Good for revising vocabulary. You can knock out students after one or two mistakes and continue until you have a winner – or just keep playing for fun.

Stand Up If…

Call out statements like “Stand up if you had coffee this morning” or “Stand up if you like rainy days.” Ask follow-up questions to a student each time if you want. Gets everyone moving and learning about each other.

Picture Description Challenge

Show a random photo. Students describe what they see, guess what’s happening, or make up a story.

Roll the Topic

Write six topics on the board, numbered 1-6. Students roll a die and have to talk about that topic for 30 seconds without pausing. Play as a whole class or in groups/teams.

Categories

Name a category (e.g., animals, jobs, things you find in a kitchen). Students take turns quickly naming items in the category without repeating. Continue until you have a winner, or just continue with everyone for fun.

Sentence Scramble

Write a sentence on the board with words in random order. Teams race to unscramble it correctly.

Spot the Difference

Bring two similar pictures with a few differences. Students work in pairs to find all the differences and explain them.

Final Thoughts

Warmers and fillers don’t just “kill time” – they set the tone, build confidence, and make your lessons more memorable. With a little creativity and sensitivity to your students’ needs, you can use these activities to keep energy up and make English fun.

If you’d like more classroom ideas, check out our teaching resources.

What are your favourite warmers and fillers?

Share your favourite activities in the comments below!