Fast Friends: Ice Breaker Activity for In-Person and Online Modalities

Fast Friends is a two-part icebreaker designed to help students move beyond surface-level introductions and begin building social trust and psychological safety. Students first organize a shared meal with a small group. During the next class meeting, they eat together while discussing selected questions from the closeness-generating inventory, which gradually increases opportunities for reciprocal self-disclosure. By combining structured conversation with commensality, Fast Friends gives students an experience of how vulnerability and shared eating can support connection and a psychologically safe classroom climate. The activity can be used in in-person or online settings and can be repeated later in the semester to deepen group connection.