What are some fun activities I can do on the First Day of School?

Aug 23

The First Day is full of routines and procedures and rules, so how do we keep it from getting boring (for the kids AND US)?

We bring in the fun stuff. :)

I’m talking games, activities, craft-ivities… all of those things you dream about on the first day of school!

So how do you decide the fun activities to mix into your day (because we all have admin that want to make sure we are using every minute wisely, right)? I recommend thinking through the 3 C’s.

Objectives for FUN on the First Day of School

Connection - Use fun activities as a great time to teach and practice social routines in a non-threatening environment - taking turns, using social clues when we are interacting with each other, getting to know each other, etc. This is also a great time to explain expectations and model them before playing any games or doing any activities. For instance, how will students know when it is their turn to talk in your classroom? In some games, I like to use a talking prop like a squishy ball to help students know when it's their turn as well as know to look at whoever has that prop to practice listening.
Community - Fun activities are a GREAT way of building connections in your classroom. Choose games and activities that are designed to help students get to know and build connections with each other and you. Throughout the first week (and rest of the year) try to provide Ice Breakers and opportunities where they can discover similarities they share with one another student (and you).
Comfort - Build in a mix of activities to create spaces for students with different strengths to have a chance to shine. Think about the learning styles you learned in college and try to include those in your activities. Is there a listening element (read aloud), a movement activity (kinesthetic), or an art opportunity (visual) mixed into your first day or week?

So let’s get to some ideas!

Fun & Easy activities for Back to School

Clumping

For this game, students start by standing around the room. Then the teacher says “Clump by (category)” and students start making huddles (or “clumps”) that fit. For example, if the teacher says “Clump by birthday month”, students try to find all of their peers that were born in the same month as them (i.e. all of the August birthdays will try to find each other to form an August Clump). Once everyone has stopped moving, you can go around the room and have a leader from each clump share their answer.

Other clumping options:

favorite type of pizza
number of siblings
way you get to school
how many years you have been at this school
favorite sport/hobby to do, etc.

NOTE: It's a good idea to reiterate safe movement, appropriate volume, and how to communicate to each other in kind ways before starting!

Line Order Activity

This is a great game to practice where you line up while also getting to know one another and it is as simple as it sounds! Have students line up based on different prompts.

Some options could include:

height
length of hair
number of siblings
last name alphabetical
first name alphabetical

NOTE: I like to challenge them to try to do this silently as often as I can! If there is a sound, I have them go back to their seats and start over. An option for added challenge is to time them so that it feels more like a game.

Four Corners

To play Four Corners, give a prompt with four answers and have the students walk to the corner that represents their answer.

Here are some examples:

Which place would you rather visit? (Beach, Mountains, Desert, Arctic)
Which is your favorite to read (picture books, chapter books, magazines, graphic novels)
Which would you rather be when you grow up? (Doctor, Zoo Keeper, Author, Astronaut)
Which superpower would you like to have? (invisibility, ability to fly, super speed, super strength)

Would You Rather

This can be played as a whole group using the Cross The Line technique (below), in small groups, or as a partner game (with the same partners the whole time or you could switch partners after each question). The questions can be silly or somewhat serious. The possibilities are endless! Here are a few to get you started:

Would you rather...

build a snowman or sand castle?
Wash the dishes or take out the trash?
Play in the snow or in the rain?
Eat poop that tastes like chocolate or chocolate that tastes like poop? (Too gross? haha. I don't mind leaning into kid humor every once in a while, but if that's not your thing, feel free to skip this one.)

Cross the Line

For this game, place a piece of tape down the center of the room. Have the students stand on one side of it. You will call out a prompt that begins, “Cross the line if you [blank].” After crossing, students stay on whichever side of the line they are now on, facing the line so that they will be prepared to cross again when the next question fits.

Options include: “Cross the line if you…”

ate ice cream this summer
have a sister
have a pet
like to run
have played kickball before

All About Me Page

An All About Me page is exactly as it sounds - some sort of page that has students draw or write about themselves. This is great for a number of reasons:

it can be completed independently,
it doesn’t make students feel stressed,
it can be a useful tool for the class to learn about each other, and
it can be utilized if the teacher needs a minute to get something done.

At the end of the day (or week if it is a more involved page), students can share their pages with a partner, team, or the whole class. They are also a fun option to display somewhere in the class or room.

I will sometimes fill one out as an example and an added way to share about myself with the class.

Read Aloud (and Snack!)

Children of all ages (and adults, let’s be honest) love listening to a good story. It's calming and takes the pressure off the listener. There are so many great options for read-alouds for the first day of school. You can go with an option like Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes, or First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg, or just read a fun story that will make students laugh. I like to pair snacks with Read-Alouds because I find it's hard for students to write or do other tasks while eating. (And snack time during read-alouds prevents gross crumb smudges and unidentifiable sitckies on all of your papers.) So, by doing these together, students can just enjoy listening while keeping busy at the same time.

Check out my FREE Guide to prepping for the First Day of School on the Freebies page!

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