After a refreshing, happy, and joyous summer, what do teachers crave? A planned, calm, and enjoyable back to school season of course! The first week of school is jam-packed with so many different activities that it can be hard to figure out where to begin! Do not fret! I am here to help!
Keep It Simple and Purposeful
Planning your first week of school can feel overwhelming. With numerous tasks to accomplish, such as teaching class rules, practicing routines, introducing centers, and building a classroom community, it is essential to keep your lesson plans simple, predictable, and flexible.
Some of the best ways to structure your first week of school activities include:
- Repeating routines daily so that students feel secure and confident
- Alternating high-energy and calm activities (like playing a game followed by a read aloud)
- Including social skills lessons like taking turns, working with a partner, or listening respectfully
Each activity you choose should serve a purpose: building classroom culture, teaching procedures, or getting to know your students. And don’t forget, you do not need a perfect first week! You just need to make sure your students feel safe.
Fun First Day Of School Activities
The first day of school is the big day you have been preparing for. My biggest goals for the first day of school are simple: learn their names, make sure everyone eats, goes to the bathroom, and gets home safely! If anything else happens that day, I call it a win! Here are some of my favorite activities for the first day of school.
Name Crowns
Learning names of my new students is the top priority for day one, except for the basic needs of course and getting them home correctly! Instead of name tags, use name crowns! The name crowns are a great activity for students to practice spelling their own names and for practicing fine motor skills with coloring and cutting. They are definitely more fun than a boring name tag that you stick on their shirt. Who wouldn’t love to wear a crown for a day? Plus, on the bands include different skills like writing their first and last name, coloring in the vowels in their name, writing how many letters are in their name, writing their letters in alphabetical order, etc.
You can grab these name crowns in our TPT shop or on Missing Tooth Grins.
School Scavenger Hunt
Another important first day activity is to show your students around the school. Even if you are teaching first or second grade and they went to the same school the year before, it is still important. Students may forget where places are or you might have brand new students. Plus, while you are touring the school, you can discuss important rules and procedures for walking in the hall, the quicker way to get from point a to point b, etc.
A great way to tour the school is to make it more fun with some gingerbread men riddles. Begin by reading The Gingerbread Man Loose In The School. Then, walk around the school to find the gingerbread men with the riddles, which will lead your class to the next gingerbread man.
Classroom Scavenger Hunt
During the first days of school, you will want to make sure your students know where everything is in the classroom. I like to give them a classroom scavenger hunt to find everything in the classroom themselves. This way, they are up and moving, conversing with peers, and probably finding other things that are not part of the scavenger hunt too. What are some different things they should be looking for during their scavenger hunt? Where can they find the different school supplies, classroom library, trash can, etc.
The Kissing Hand Activities To Share About First Day Feelings
We all have heard of The Kissing Hand and it wouldn’t be a first day of school without it! Talking and acknowleging our feelings on the first day of school is important. When you know how students are feeling, you can talk to them about those feelings! After reading The Kissing Hand, we talk about our feelings and graph them. There are also extra printables included in this free download, like a playdough mat and a handprint poem (which makes a great keepsake for parents!).
Easy Morning Work For The First Week Of School
Morning work during the first week of school should be simple, engaging, and require little direction. Think coloring pages, name writing practice, or fine motor tasks with playdough mats. These activities help settle students while you manage supplies, paperwork, and taking attendance and lunchcount.
Our playdough mats are in each grade level’s first week of school pack. There are two different versions for each so you can switch it up. This is one of my favorite things to incorporate during the first week of school because playdough is calming and also keeps hands busy.
Icebreaker Games That Actually Work
Building relationships with your students is one of the most important parts of the beginning of the school year. It is important to include different kinds of activities that allow you to get to know them in different ways. And for them to get to know you too! Here are some first day of school games to get to know your students this school year.
Musical Chairs
Icebreaker games are essential during the first few days to help students feel comfortable. One of my favoites is “Musical Chairs” Get to Know You Game” where students answer a fun question every time the music stops. It is just like Musical Chairs, but without someone “losing”. Instead of having to sit out, the person without a chair to sit in has to draw a card and answer a question about themselves. You can do this activity without our resource too!
Here are some example questions for Musical Chairs:
- Who was your teacher last year?
- What is your favorite sport?
- What was your favorite thing you did this summer?
- What is your favorite thing to eat for dinner?
- What ice cream flavor is your favorite?
Tip: You can participate too so that your students can learn about their new teacher!
Would You Rather?
This active game is very easy to prep! Would You Rather is also part of our first week packs. However, you can do this on your own without our resource! Hang a 1 or 2 in two different corners and then ask your students a “would you rather” question. They must go to the number that they would rather do.
Here are some examples for “would you rather questions”:
- Would you rather ride the bus or walk to school?
- Would you rather eat school lunch or bring your lunch?
- Would you rather sit at the front or back of class?
- Would you rather use a pencil or marker to write?
- Would you rather have recess inside or outside?
- Would you rather have art or P.E. every day?
- Would you rather color with crayons or markers?
- Would you rather be the line leader or the caboose?
For more back to school icebreakers, make sure to check out this blog post: Back To School Icebreakers For Elementary Students
Teach Classroom Rules and Procedures (In A Fun Way!)
Don’t forget to start teaching your classroom expectations right away. Make it interactive with a classroom rules sort or a silly game like “Your Teacher Says” (a fun twist on Simon Says!). These activities reinforce expectations without a lecture. To play, you will say “Your teacher says…” and then either say a wanted behavior or unwanted behavior. For example, if you say “your teacher says sit backwards in your chair”, that would be an unwanted behavior so students would not do it. However, if you say, “your teacher says to sit quietly in your seat” that would be a wanted behavior so students would do it.
In addition to this, during the first few weeks of school it is important to talk to your students about the values of the classroom. Make them apart of it! It is their classroom too! Read different books about friendship, including others, being a good friend, etc. Some of my favorite books for discovering our values are:
One important activity is we will create 3 different values of our classroom. I write them large on anchor chart paper, cut them out, and then divide the class into three groups to color the posters together. We hang these up for the entire year to refer back to when we need reminding of what our agreed values are.
Another activity included in our First Week of School packs is a friendship activity to go along with the book, We Don’t Eat Our Classmates. Students discuss what makes a good friend and create a “friendship lunch”.
Goal Setting Banner
The beginning of the school year is a fresh start for both you and your students. I can be fun to think of a goal to accomplish during the school year. This could be any type of goal, it does not have to be academic. Create a goal setting banner with your students to hang in your classroom. It’s a fun way to simply add some student work to the walls and also remind your students of what they are working toward.
Tips For Meet The Teacher Night
In addition to planning for the first week of school, let’s not forget Meet The Teacher Night! Meet The Teacher Night (or Back To School Night) is a great time to make a first impression on both students and families. Keep things simple and inviting. Set out a station for supply drop-off, share a quick handout with your schedule and contact info, and have a small take-home treat for your students. Here are some quick tips to help you plan:
- Use Ziploc baggies to store papers. One thing caretakers and parents do not want when walking around the school on this night is loose papers. They fall, get lost, etc. Plus, there is always the chance that someone forgets to take the papers and then you have no idea who did not take them home. So, to solve these two problems I put all important papers in a gallon-sized Ziploc bag. I also write the students name on it so that I know who the papers belong to if they leave them in the classroom!
- Don’t forget about siblings. Siblings of all ages will come to Back To School Night. Sometimes these siblings are really little! Parents will want to learn about your classroom and help their student put supplies away, etc. So, instead of chasing around the toddlers, make sure to have a spot in your classroom for the toddlers to go to! It can be really helpful to everyone (yourself included!) if you have a small spot dedicated for these young children to build with blocks, look at books, color, or play with pattern blocks. By providing them with something to do, you eliminate them getting into something you don’t want them to get into! You are also providing the families an opportunity to focus more on what they are there to do!
Don’t forget anything for Meet The Teacher Night with this checklist to help you plan.
Check out this blog post for more tips and tricks for planning a successful Meet The Teacher Night.
Set Up A First Week Of School Bulletin Board
Another fun activity to do during the first week of school is a fun craft to hang on your bulletin board. This All About Me Ice Cream Craft is the perfect addition to your fun activities for the first week. The scoops of ice cream have different writing prompts. You can choose which one your students do or they can choose!
Prompts Included:
- My favorite food
- This year, I hope
- Over the summer,
- My favorite book
- My favorite hobby
- Fun fact about me
- On my sundae, I like
- My family
- My friends
- My favorite color
Don’t have time during the first few days of school for this activity? No big deal! This can be done in any of those first few weeks of school. It is a great activity for bulletin boards during open house or parent teacher conferences.
You can find this activity here: TPT or Missing Tooth Grins
Let’s Plan Your First Week Of School
The first week of school is such an exciting and important time. With the right mix of classroom routines, back to school read alouds, first week of school activities, and simple lesson plans, you will build the strong foundation your students need! Whether you are focusing on social skills, decorating your bulletin board, or preparing for Meet The Teacher Night, know that these early days are a great opportunity to connect with your students and create a classroom environment where they feel safe, welcome, and ready to learn!
Like the activities that are included in this blog post? Check out the links below:
First Week of Kindergarten: TPT or Missing Tooth Grins
First Week of First Grade: TPT or Missing Tooth Grins
First Week of Second Grade: TPT or Missing Tooth Grins
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