Community Building Puzzle Activity for Back-to-School
This Community Building Puzzle is a great activity to engage students in working together at the beginning of the year or any time you need to build community in your elementary classroom. Use it on the first day of school to keep students busy while you greet parents and new students. Are you looking for back to school ideas? This is one cooperative learning project that I always do on the first day of school.
How to Make Your Own Community Building Puzzle by Hand
Earlier in my teaching career, I used a poster board and drew and cut apart puzzle pieces. I would calculate the rows and columns (30 kids is a 6×5 grid, 24 kids is 6×4, etc.) and calculate the space for each square to make them about even. I drew lines in pencil and circles on the sides to make it look like a puzzle piece.
Prior to the start of school, I cut out the pieces and outlined the pieces in black Sharpie. The outlining is optional, I just liked the look of it.
Printable Community Building Puzzle Already Done For you
Several years ago, I created a digital copy of the below puzzle pieces that I print and reuse every year. Having a digital copy significantly cuts down on my prep time! It also makes a cuter classroom bulletin board to display!
How I Use the Community Building Puzzle at the Beginning of the school year
On the first day of school, I lay a puzzle piece down on each table as well as a box of crayons. As students come into the room, they find a seat. I don’t assign seats on the first day or even the first week.
If you do assign seats, you can write students’ names on the pieces and have students find their seats as they come into the room. I find that having an activity like this one at students’ desks allows me to stand at the door, greet parents and new students, and give students a quiet activity at their seats.
Students color their puzzle pieces. I save the pieces until later in the day. After lunch or near the end of the day I get the pieces out and students actively put the pieces together.
Take a look at this blog post about the First Week of Second Grade to see some of the puzzle building in action as well as other activities I plan for the beginning of the year.
How I Prepare the Printable Puzzle Pieces
The Community Building Puzzle pieces are designed to be printed and cut out from one 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper. I choose to cut out the pieces for my students before the beginning of the year.
Why?
My goal for the activity is to keep students busy at the beginning of the day and to have a fun activity for later in the day. It is not to practice their skill with scissors. Plus, I’m kind of a perfectionist and since the puzzle will be on display, I want the cut lines to look good.
I sometimes draw a thick black line around all the pieces. I’m not sure why other than I like how it looks!
One way to make the puzzle assembly easier for students is to write an M or an F (or B / G) on the back of the boy or girl pieces. When you’re ready for students to assemble the pieces, divide students into two groups.
Another tip is to indicate directionality on the pieces so that students write their names in the correct orientation if you don’t write students’ names for them.
Cute Sayings that Go Along with the Community Building Puzzle
If you are creating a bulletin board out of the community-building puzzle, post some cute sayings with it! Here are a few suggestions!
- E pluribus Unum – One out of many
- Perfect Fit
- Everyone is a PIECE of our classroom family
- Everyone is an important PIECE of the puzzle
- We’re all different but as a team, we fit together
- Your place is here
- Our class is complete when everyone is together
- Parts of a bigger puzzle
- We are all uniquely placed in this classroom
- You are the missing piece to our class
- Better together
- Piece by piece we are a masterpiece!
- A piece of my heart is in this class
- Without you… the puzzle isn’t complete…
- Puzzling it out – one piece at a time – takes teamwork
- You are part of the whole picture.
- Without you we wouldn’t be complete.
- Building ___ grade piece by piece.
- Growing in ___ grade piece by piece.
- You are an important piece of our class
Where to Purchase the Community Building Puzzle
You can purchase the Community Building Puzzle on my website or on
Here are a few more back-to-school crafts that might interest you.
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Goal Setting Craftivity$3.75 -
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Jessica BOschen
Jessica is a teacher, homeschool parent, and entrepreneur. She shares her passion for teaching and education on What I Have Learned. Jessica has 16 years of experience teaching elementary school and currently homeschools her two middle and high school boys. She enjoys scaffolding learning for students, focusing on helping our most challenging learners achieve success in all academic areas.