The first week of school after winter break can be difficult as everyone tries to get back into the school routine. It can often feel like the first day of school all over again, with students returning after having two weeks or more off. However, it doesn’t have to feel like a repeat of the start of the school year! With the right activities and a bit of planning, you can ensure a smooth transition back into learning. In this post, you’ll find a variety of fun and engaging classroom activities to help make the first week back to school both enjoyable and productive.
Review Classroom Rules and Procedures
When returning from winter break, it is important to treat it like the beginning of the year. It is almost like a fresh start. Getting back into the swing of things after 2+ weeks off of school can be difficult for both students and teachers. So first, give yourself and your students grace that first week of school! This is the perfect time to get back slowly, but also find meaningful ways to do so.
You want the rest of the school year to go smoothly and to get back into the normal routine, so spending that first week back reviewing important rules and procedures is a perfect way to make sure you get off on the right foot in the new year.
It is important to review the classroom procedures and rules. One way to do that is to play “Your Teacher Says“. This is similar to “Simon Says“. You can tell your students different things to do in the classroom. If it is a rule or behavior they should follow, then they should do it. Students should stay still if it is a behavior they should not do.
This is a playful yet purposeful way to check whether students remember what’s expected in the classroom. It helps to bring structure back into their daily routine while providing an opportunity to move around and engage in kinesthetic learning. You can also use this opportunity to go over any new expectations you might want to introduce for the remainder of the year.
Here are some examples of different behaviors you could say:
- Clean up your work area
- Sit with a friend and take turns reading quietly
- Walk around with open scissors
- Sit with your back to your teacher
- Leave the cap off your glue stick
- Line up quietly in a straight line
This activity is included in our First Week of School resources. You do not need the cards, but if you want them then click on the grade level you need:
“Let’s Chat!” Cards
During that first week back to school, your students will want to talk to each other. Rather than fight all the noise and chatter, I think it’s a great time to embrace your students wanting to visit with one another.
These cards include questions like:
- What do you hope to do this year?
- What was your favorite part about winter break?
- Did you play any games over break?
- What did you read over break?
- What was something special you ate during break?
- What was a gift you gave someone else?
- What movies did you watch over break?
To use these cards, give each student one. Then, play music and students will walk around the classroom. Stop the music and students find someone close to them. They read the card and answer and then they trade cards. Repeat as many times as you wish.
This is included in our Back From Winter Break Pack.
Click here to purchase on TPT.
Snowman Craft
This little craftivity is my absolute favorite activity for returning back to school. They are a great activity for your January bulletin board too! There are different prompts students respond to on the snowman. They write about their favorite memory of winter break and draw a matching picture. They also write about who they saw, one word to describe their winter break, 3 things they did over winter break, and 3 words to describe their words.
This is included in our Back From Winter Break Pack.
Click here to purchase on TPT.
Winter Break Booklet
Another great way for students to share what they did over winter break is with this winter break booklet. This booklet is perfect for independent work or morning work during the first week back.
The booklet includes:
- My Favorite Parts of Winter Break
- Top 5 Winter Break Activities
- Find A Friend: students find a friend in the classroom who did the different things listed (examples: read a book, celebrated a holiday, helped cook dinner, baked cookies, etc.)
- Reflections on the past year
- Goal Setting For The New Year: Set new goals for the new year or the rest of the school year
- Writing Prompts about New Year’s Eve, holiday celebrations, and my favorite memory
This is included in our Back From Winter Break Pack.
Click here to purchase on TPT.
Winter Picture Books To Read
Imagone cozying up with a winter-themed picture book for some quiet time with your students. Then, imagine them writing to a writing prompt that matches the book. You can! We have a full list of winter-themed picture books to read and writing prompts to go along with each one! This is a great way to incorporate some creative writing into your first week of school of the new year and with some themed reading!
Here’s a list of our favorite winter books:
- The Snow Globe Family
- Sneezy The Snowman
- There Was A Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow
- Snowmen At Night
- So Much Snow
- Winter Is Here
- The Giving Snowman
- How To Catch A Snowman
- Do Frogs Drink Hot Chocolate?
- Snow
Check out this blog post for a list of writing prompts tailored to each of these winter-themed picture books.
Build Classroom Community
This first week back to school after a long break is the perfect opportunity to build classroom community. You spent so long at the beginning of the year doing so, so let’s not lose it after the holiday break! Here are a few different winter-themed “get to know you” activities to incorporate into your first week back:
- Snowball Toss: Write different winter-themed questions on different sheets of paper, crumple them up into “snowballs”, and have students toss them around the classroom. Then, each student grabs a “snowball”, opens it up, and reads and answers the question. Then, repeat!
- Different questions to write on the papers:
- Do you like hot chocolate?
- What was your favorite thing you did over your winter break?
- Would you rather go sledding or ice skating?
- Do you like cold weather or hot weather more?
- Would you rather go to the beach or the mountains?
- Have you ever been skiing?
- Different questions to write on the papers:
- Collaborative Snowman Art: Put students into small groups. Give each group a large piece of paper (think anchor chart paper). Each group must collaborate and work together to create a snowman using different supplies, like cotton balls, construction paper, buttons, markers, etc. They must work together to design the snowman’s face, hat, scarf, etc.
- Friendship Chain: Have students write one kind thing about a classmate on paper strips. Then, connect the strips to form a paper chain. Hang your friendship chain around the classroom to symbolize how they are all connected as a classroom community.
Winter-Themed Stem Activities
Incorporating some fun winter-themed Stem activities into your first week back after winter break is another great way to build classroom community. They can help rebuild and strengthen peer relationships. After a long break, your students may feel a bit sluggish or disconnected from the typical school day routine. Incorporating STEM activities is a great back from winter break activity because they are hands-on, interactive, and can capture your students’ interests quickly!
Here are a few different STEM activities to try in your classroom:
- Build A Snowflake: Give students toothpicks and marshmallows and ask them to design and build their own snowflakes. Talke about symmetry and challenge them to make a symmetrical snowflake. This is also a great opportunity to teach about how real snowflakes form.
- Ice Cube Melting Experiment: Have students predict and test which materials will melt an ice cube the fastest. Some different materials to use is salt, warm water, sugar, oil, etc. Students can record observations and discuss which liquids melted the ice cube fastest.
- Snowball Launcher Challenge: Challenge your students to create their own snowball launcher. Use materials like rubber bands, plastic spoons, paper cups, and craft sticks. Use cotton balls as the “snowballs” and see how far they can launch them.
- Penguin Balancing Act: Give students small penguins or paper penguins. The challenge is to build a stable iceberg that can hold as many penguins as possible without tipping over. Challenge students to try different materials like blocks, magnatiles, snap cubes, etc.
- Skating Rink: Set up different surfaces like wax paper, sandpaper, and fabric to represent a skating rink. Give students small toys (think small Matchbox cars or Hot Wheels) to test which surfaces allow their car to slide the farthest, like ice skating. This is a great time to teach about friction!
Math Review Games
If you want to review math skills from the first half of the school year, incorporating fun games into your first week back is a great way to do that! I love to use our independent math games to practice past math skills and use as review. They are games but against yourself! Students can play when they are ready; rather than waiting for a partner to join. Using these games serves as a great refresher for past math skills. Our independent games come in these different skills:
- Addition
- Subtraction
- Number Sense
- Place Value
- Telling Time
- Shapes
You can get the bundle of all the games to use for the whole year too!
Click here to purchase on TPT.
Click here to purchase on Missing Tooth Grins.
The first week back after winter break is a unique opportunity for you and your students to reset and refocus. Incorporating a mix of classroom community activities, winter-themed crafts, STEM challenges, and academic review games can make the transition much smoother and more enjoyable.
By thoughtfully planning engaging and meaningful activities, you can ensure your students re-enter the classroom feeling motivated, connected, and ready to tackle the second half of the school year with enthusiasm.
Make sure to check out the resources mentioned in this post for even more ideas and activities to help kick-start the new year:
- First Week of Kindergarten
- First Week of First Grade
- First Week of Second Grade
- Back From Winter Break Pack
- Independent Math Games Bundle
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