40 Teacher-Inspired Ideas for the First Day of School Activities
The first day of school can be an exciting time for teachers and students, but it can be an anxious time, too. What can you do to make sure your students (and you!) feel at home in the classroom on that first day?
Here are some teacher-inspired first-day-of-school activities for primary school children that teachers can use in their classrooms this back-to-school season.
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Do you wonder what to do with your students on the first day of school? The first day of elementary school is an exciting and nerve-wracking time for both students and parents. It marks the beginning of a new adventure as children explore new ideas, make new friends, and learn to navigate their ever-growing independence.
No matter how prepared a student or teacher may feel, it’s normal to have some butterflies in your stomach on the big day. With the right attitude and preparation, however, the first day of any grade in elementary school can be a wonderful experience that sets the tone for a successful year full of growth and exploration.
How can teachers help students transition from a summer at home to school on the first day of a new year? Check out these fun first-day-of-school activities to help students get to know one another and make it the best first day! You can use these fun activities in your lesson plans during the first week of school!
40 First Day of School Activities
Here are 40 surefire tips for making your first day back to school successful! Scroll to the comments for even more ideas!
Read First Day Jitters by Julie Danneburg
First Day Jitters is a great book to break the ice with your students. There are several activities for the first-day jitters book.
To make it extra special, serve Jitter Juice! Then, have students write YOU a letter with ideas on why you shouldn’t be nervous. It’ll get a few kids thinking about their jitters, and maybe they can help each other, too!
This is an excellent way for students to reflect on their feelings about the first school day and make meaningful connections with the text.
Do a classroom or school tour
Show your kiddos where all the classroom supplies are and help them know what areas are for them and for you only. Are students new to the school?
Take them around the whole school and show them where the bathrooms, the gym, the cafeteria, etc. Teach them the computer lab rules and lunchtime procedures. This is a great opportunity for new students to get to know their new school.
If your social studies standards include learning about maps, this is also a good time to lay a foundation for classroom and school maps.
Create a Scavenger Hunt
Take it a step further and create a scavenger hunt for students. Creating a scavenger hunt as a first day of school activity is an excellent way to engage students and break the ice on day one.
Create questions or tasks related to the classroom, school, or surrounding area, and have students work independently or in teams to find the answers.
Make a picture keepsake
Don’t forget this one! Take a picture of each student on their first day back to school, then take one on the last day of school. Turn it into a keepsake at the end of the year.
Better yet, let students draw a self-portrait on the first day and then again on the last day. Compare! They might have changed, and their drawing skills will surely have, too!
One-on-one time
One key first-day-of-school activity that I always make a point of doing is spending a few minutes one-on-one with each student. Get to know them, introduce yourself, giggle, and encourage them. Making that personal connection on the first day is so important! You may get teacher inspiration and insights into your students that you can use all year!
As you meet with each student, take along a clipboard or sticky notes. Jot down a few memorable notes about the student. At the end of the day, gather these notes together. Reflect on your class as a whole. What makes each student unique? How can they be an integral part of your class?
Take it a step further and turn these notes into words of encouragement. Write on students’ desks and leave a note about what you love about each student.
Back to School Craft
Are you ready for some downtime at the end of the first day?
You might need some, too! This is one of my favorite activities for the first day of school.
It allows the kids to wind down and still be productive. In this Back-to-School Bus Craftivity Flap Book students tell about themselves, review the rules, reflect on their day, and think about being a good classmate.
It makes a fun keepsake, too. Parents will thank you!
Teacher Q&A
Have fun with this one in a couple of different ways. Sit in a circle with your students and let them ask you questions like: What’s your favorite food? Color? Animal? Candy? Etc.
Or, make a quiz and see if they can guess the answers to these questions.
It’s a great way for your students to know more about you, a very important person in their day.
Start Your Community Circle
This is also a great opportunity to establish a community circle routine. Using a community circle in the classroom is an effective way to foster empathy and collaboration among students. A community circle creates a safe, non-threatening space for students to discuss their ideas and feelings with each other.
Community circles allow for a greater understanding and appreciation of different perspectives, which can help reduce conflict in the classroom. Creating an environment where all students are respected makes learning more meaningful and engaging.
Community circles also provide opportunities for teachers to guide conversations by introducing topics and raising questions that will help strengthen relationships. In this way, students are encouraged to think critically and find creative solutions to problems together.
Need some community-building question ideas? I’ve got 67 for you!
Make a classroom cheer
Who doesn’t love a good team cheer? Sit down with your students and brainstorm a catchy classroom cheer you can use throughout the year. This is a great team-building activity!
Discuss the Student’s and Teacher’s Roles in the Classroom
Do you know what your students expect out of the year? Do they? Have them do an activity with them to list their own personal goals for the school year.
This blog post has some great anchor charts that show how students define good friends, their role as students, a teacher’s role, and their parent’s role. It’s a great starting point for a discussion about classroom expectations.
Build community with a Class Mission Statement
Make a mission statement or class pledge/promise, and recite this each morning. Making a class mission statement aligns well with student goal-setting.
Once students define who they are as a community, they can set goals that align with the mission statement.
Create Name Labels or Name Tags
Make name cards for desks, lockers, or cubbies. Let students write their own names and decorate a border around them. Then, laminate, and voila!
Each desk or cubbie has a personal touch. At the end of the year, you could even add name tags to students’ portfolios.
Beach Ball Ice Breaker
Take a permanent marker and write questions on a beach ball. Sit in a circle with your students and toss the beach ball to each other. Each time students catch the ball, they answer any of the questions visible, then toss it to someone else.
It’s a fun way for students to get to know each other and you!
Survey Students
Create a blank bar graph on chart paper, or better yet, create a horizontal and vertical bar graph. Use it throughout the day and week to survey students about various favorite things. Give each student a sticky note. As a question, have groups of students place their sticky notes in the correct columns.
Your students will love the interactiveness of sticky notes and placing them on chart paper! This is a cheat sheet for getting to know your students better, AND you can weave in some math skill work, too! Teachers will learn about important ideas about their students, too!
When I was a kid, I loved filling out little surveys that asked me all about myself! Besides the standard questions about their hobbies, siblings, or summers, don’t forget to ask some silly questions to make it extra fun!
Rules and Procedures and Classroom Routines
While you’re busy making this the most fun first day ever for your students, don’t forget the rules and classroom procedures.
Don’t skip this.
It is an essential part of ensuring your school year runs smoothly. Knowing what is expected of them is of great benefit to your students—and let’s be honest with you as well!
Party! Party! Party!
How exciting is the first day of school? Exciting enough for a welcome-back party!
No, really! Why wait until the end of the year?
Serve baked goods, orange or apple juice (or jitter juice! See #1), bananas, and grapes.
Include circle time to share summer stories and dance those jitters away!
Eat lunch with your students
Consider eating lunch with your students. Especially on the first day, showing your kids that your class is “family.”
Read aloud – a lot!
Reading out loud to your students often instills a lifelong love of reading in their hearts.
Choose quality books that take their nervousness away, make them laugh, or build their self-esteem and team spirit.
Don’t be afraid of classics with harder-to-understand language. Kids can fill in the gaps; it builds their vocabulary, and when the storyline is riveting, they will get it.
The first day back at school is a great time to relax and read to your students.
Create a welcome swag-bag
You love free gifts. I love free gifts. I don’t think many people wouldn’t love a free gift. Do you want to know who loves them the most? Your students!
Create a little welcome bag with treats and gifts for each student. Give it to them right after greeting them at the door!
Or, give each student a gift at the end of the day to congratulate them on a great first day. If your classroom has a theme, you might want to consider a gift that matches that theme!
Greet Students at the Door
Adults love to feel important and to know that they are seen. So do kids! Your students want to know they aren’t invisible to you.
So, first things first: Greet your students at the door. Meet them at their eye level and let them know you are excited to be their teacher. Introduce yourself, learn their name, and make this a positive start of their day.
Why not do this every day for the remainder of the school year?
Create a Puzzle
Kids love puzzles! It’s a great community-building activity that encourages creativity and cooperation.
I love using this Community Building Puzzle on the first day of school. I leave a puzzle piece on each student’s desk first thing in the morning. As students enter, they find a seat, write their name on their puzzle pieces, and decorate it.
Create your own giant puzzle pieces, or save time and sanity and get this one.
Students can color the whole piece or decorate the borders. They can write their name or list their favorite things. The possibilities are endless!
After they finish decorating, you can sit in circle time or have students sit at their desks. Use the pieces to introduce yourselves to each other and/or glue all of the pieces together and post it to a bulletin board labeled “A Perfect Fit…For a Perfect Year!”
Find Someone Who . . .
It’s a classic icebreaker game! Make a list of characteristics/experiences your students might have in common.
Think of “Find someone who has the same color hair as you,” or “Find someone who has the same kind of pet.”
Don’t overthink it, but make it fun.
Students walk around the room, list in hand, and find other students who will have something in common with them. They write the name of the person they found next to the question.
It’s easy, it’s fun, and it’s a great community-building activity.
Read The Kissing Hand Book
You cannot miss this one if you teach a lower elementary class, such as Kindergarten or First Grader!
For example, have your students trace their hands (they might need you to do that!) and cut it out. Glue a heart in the palm of the paper hand and fold the fingers down (but don’t glue the fingers!).
Teach your students “I love you” in sign language & give them a note with a chocolate kiss at the end of the day.
Ensure your kids take this “kissing hand” back home that same day to show their loved ones.
Ask Parents to Get Involved
We often ask students to write about themselves, but what about asking the parents to write something about their children?
You will receive insight into your children’s personalities that will help individualize your attention, care, and understanding of each student.
Use GoNoodle for Brain Breaks
Hey, teacher! (Hey, what?) Are you ready? (For what?) To pop! (Pop what?) Pop See Ko! I love GoNoodle. Chances are, your students love it, too. If not, they will!
It is the silliest, goofiest way to keep your students active and giggling. Just pull up YouTube, get them out of their chairs, and shake off the jitters (and sugar… if you had a welcome back party or allowed them to eat the candy you just put in that welcome swag bag above).
Social Contract
This activity is fun for upper elementary or middle schoolers and helps establish classroom management expectations.
Create four posters with one question on each. The questions should be something like:
- How do I want to be treated by the teacher?
- How do I want to be treated by other students?
- How do I treat the teacher?
- How do we solve conflicts?
Have each student write answers to each question on a sticky note and place the notes on the poster. Once everyone has placed a sticky note on each poster, break the classroom into four groups. One group for each poster. Each group will then sort the sticky notes into commonality. The group will agree on and write the best answers (multiple) on the poster.
Display the four posters in a prominent place and tell your students that this is the Social Contract of the class. It’s a great way to build community and set boundaries. Your students will love it because they helped set the rules. It will give a sense of ownership and understanding of others, too.
Getting to Know You Small Group Craftivity
Break your students into small groups for a fun craftivity that will help them build community and treat others with kindness.
Each group has paper shapes that each student can cut out and decorate. On each shape, write sentences for the students to complete.
Start the sentences with things like “I feel appreciated when…” or “I feel ___ when ___”. You can find a fun example already prepared for you here.
When I grow Up
What are your students’ dreams? What are their hopes beyond the first or last day of school? Do they want to be doctors, astronauts, or Lego designers?
Ask them!
You can utilize a “When I grow up, I want to be ___” or “When I grow up, I want to ___” in various ways.
Make it part of a giant puzzle (see # 2) or an icebreaker (see #3).
You can use it as a calm-down activity in circle time or at their desks. Ask each student and listen to their answers. Their dreams might surprise you!
Read The Name Jar
Students love this book and will talk about it throughout the year. You can make a fun assignment from this, too. Have your students go home and find out how they got their names. It’s a fun, investigative activity they can do with their families.
After they find out how they got their name, have them write about it. It makes an excellent first writing assignment for the year.
They’ll learn and appreciate their name, plus the names of their classmates—another tremendous community-building activity.
Who Goes Where?
This one is really important and cannot be skipped. Before school begins, ensure parents know to show up with their kids on the first day of school. They can help with what we call the “who’s going where?” sheet.
It helps you know which students will be picked up by their parents, which students ride the school bus, and which students stay for after-school care (and who will pick them up later).
Each student has their own card. For students with parents picking them up right away, take their picture with the parent. For bus riders, take their picture with a bus sign and the student. For after-school care, take a picture of the student, the parent who will pick them up, and the school mascot.
Later, all the pictures are added to cards, laminated, and attached to a binder ring to hang by the door. If students have different pickup days, you can write that on the back of the card as needed.
This is a great help in remembering who belongs to whom and keeps your students safe!
Two Truths and a Lie
This is a fun icebreaker game to play. Have each student think of three “facts” about themselves they want to share with the class. Two of these “facts” must be true, and one must be a lie.
The rest of the class has to guess which one is the lie. Prepare for some off-the-wall answers and lots of laughter. This is also a great way to learn fun facts about your students!
What I Really Want to Learn
Make a poster with the words “What I really want to learn” at the top. Have each student write something on it that they would love to learn during the school year.
It’s a great insight into their hobbies and interests. Use the ideas from the list as random activities and lessons throughout the year.
Summer Postcards
Before school starts, get a list of your students as soon as possible. Over the summer, send each student postcards.
Tell them how excited you are to meet them on the first day of school. Write them silly things about what you’re doing over the summer.
Make it adventurous or funny. Above all, make them feel valued before they even meet you.
Just Like Me
This is a fun icebreaker to play. Have the entire class sit in a large circle or oval. One student stands and tells the class something that they did over the summer (or over the weekend, if you play this at different times during the year) like “I flew on an airplane,” or “I went to the beach.”
If any other student (or you!) did the same thing, they get to stand up and enthusiastically say “Just like me!” Then, the next student stands and says something. The game continues until every student has a chance to tell something they did.
Human Bingo – Find Someone Who Activity
Another great way to change up the get-to-know-you icebreaker. Make bingo boards with activity or characteristic squares. Each square should say something like “Flew on an airplane,” “plays the piano,” “plays soccer,” etc.
This activity is also called Find Someone Who.
Give each student a bingo card. They go around the room to find other students that fit the square’s description. When they find someone, they write their name over the square.
The first student to fill the whole board wins a prize like a homework pass or something similar.
Kindness Quilt
This is a craft your students will treasure throughout the year. Give each student a square of fabric they can decorate. Have them write kind messages and color their squares.
When they finish, take the squares and have them sewn together into a quilt. Hang the quilt up in the room as a kindness reminder. Your students will love that they helped create something beautiful for the class.
Self Portrait
On the first day of school, have your students draw self-portraits. Make it fun or silly with googly eyes or yarn for hair.
However, if they want to draw themselves, let them. Hang them up in the hallway as part of a large poster that introduces them as your students.
Dear Me Letter
Ask your students to write a letter to themselves. Have them write about what they are looking forward to for the year, or what they might be nervous about, or how they feel.
Keep the letters and return them to the students on the last day of the year. They’ll be amazed at how much their handwriting improved and how much they’ve grown during the year.
Do a STEM Challenge
Kickstart your science lessons with engaging team-building activities and STEM challenges right from day one of the new school year.
These STEM challenges foster cooperative learning and ignite curiosity and critical thinking, setting the stage for an exciting and immersive learning experience for your new class.
Encourage your Grade Level Team
Be a team encourager! Put together a small gift for everyone on your teaching team (or the whole school staff). Include a note wishing them the greatest year ever.
Create a Small Booklet
Teach students to create a small booklet from a piece of paper. Have them jot down things they want to remember from the first day of school.
Don’t forget you on the first day of class!
This one’s for you. If you haven’t already done so, go to your classroom well before school starts, organize your desk, pour yourself that coffee, and put all that dark chocolate in your drawer.
This blog post about my favorite Teacher School Supplies will give you a few more ideas to add to your teacher area!
Walk through the school to get a feel for the school climate and meet the people you will be working with this year.
Smile
Last but not least, Smile! Be a positive you. Be approachable, laugh, and enjoy yourself!
EVEN More Back-to-School Ideas and Activities
Are you looking for more back-to-school ideas? Here are a few more:
- 9 Ways to Start the Year Off Right
- Five Things to Keep in Mind on the First Day of School
- Cooperative Learning Activities for the First Day of School
- 3 Tips to Get Ready for Back to School
- Teacher School Supplies You Can’t Live Without
- 80 Sponge Activities: A Teacher’s Guide to Making Every Minute Count
- Virtual Icebreakers for Distance Learning
- Create a School Time Capsule
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I always sing a song with the kids’ name.
I always have the kids draw a self -portrait! They do one mid year and end of year too. Love to see how they “change”!
I always take a First day of First Grade picture with a frame I made. At the end f the year, it shows how much each kiddo has grown!
Every year on the first day of school I have my students write a letter to themselves. I call this, Dear Younger Me. The students write about their personal and academic goals, fears, dreams, hopes for their 8th grade year and beyond, and one thing they want to learn during the course of the year. At the end of the year, I let them read their letter to see how they have changed. I also encourage them to write a new letter as freshman so they will have some time to reflect as a senior.
I always do some sort of personality test with my kids! They love it and I learn a lot about them fast!
Community building activities!
I’m moving from 1st to 5th grade this year, so I’m sure my first day of school will look different, but I want to make it fun and silly so we may do some selfie photos that we will then put with a “Facebook” page poster we will hang on the wall.
i always try to learn at least a quarter of my students’ names on the first day. i know i won’t get all of them, but it at least shows them that i’m committed to learning their names and that it’s important to me to do so.
I always read a picture book 🙂
One thing I always do on the first day of school is read the book First Day Jitters and then make Jitter Juice!
The first day of school I read “First Day Jitters”.
Then we discuss the book, write down all our fears then ball the paper up and throw our fears away.
I always leave out something easy, fun and interesting for the kids to do at an assigned seat. Then I call them to morning meeting to begin our everyday routine starting with a fun introductions game and get to know you games.
I always give a tour of the school, originating from our classroom so the students know how to get places from our room!
One thing we always do is brainstorm a T-chart of what their job is and what my job is. We refer back to this quite often, especially when they have stated my job is to teach and their job is to learn. Thank you.
I always do the poster activity where you ask students questions like, “What do you hope to learn in 5th grade?” and “What does your teacher need to do to help you be successful?” and they write their answers on post-its they place on the posters. I keep them up all year, and use the poster with the question, “What should kids in our class be doing to make sure class runs as smoothly as possible?” to make a class rules chart that everyone signs as a contract.
On the first day, I teach my students about the Warm Fuzzies (our whole-class incentive to encourage kindness and positive role models), and we practice being kind to each other. It’s so sweet to see my new friends helping each other and playing collaboratively.
This year, I’m moving to a new school, so I’m doing a read-aloud of a book about how to prepare your teacher for the first day of school. They’ll have to “teach” me the procedures and whereabouts in the classroom, making sure that I know where the bathrooms are, and how to line up for lunch, etc. I think I’ll use it even when I’ve been at the school for a few years! Getting my students to take responsibility and ownership of our routines, procedures, and rules. I’m excited!
First Day of school is the best. We read “First Day Jitters”. We have the kids introduce themselves. We play fun games to let everyone loosen up. We introduce some rules of the class. But most important we have fun on the first day.
As a first year teacher, I think I would do a get to know you bingo where students find people who have done something in the bingot card and have them sign it.
I always make sure my students get to know each other and know that they are welcome and accepted on the first day!
We always go over the bathroom procedures ~ we don’t ever want an accident!
We spend the first day putting supplies away and doing a play doh activity. I also use this day to act out and teach the basics of my classroom procedures and an introduction to whole brain teaching.
I discovered a time capsule activity about 4 years ago. It is a great project and the kids open them at the end of the year and compare first week items. Love this activity. We look at what time capsules are on the very first day.
I always take a 1st day of school picture and measure their height as part of a time capsule sheet, I then do the same thing during the last week of school, so they have a comparison.
I have to do the school and class rules, but after that we all introduce ourselves and do fun introduction-presentation activity (writing, drawing, and presenting).
I always read the First Day Jitters book and serve jitter juice!
One thing I always do on the first day of school is discuss procedures and discuss what students need to be successful at school.
I always do “magic play dough” on the first day of school. Students come in and find a seat and start squishing their play dough. It gives me time with parents or students who are maybe having a hard time or need to talk. As students squish their play dough it starts changing colors and they get excited! I tell them it’s magic play dough and because it turned colors it means we are going to have a magical year!
Where do you get this “magic play dough”? I’d love to try this!
I make a simple play dough recipe and then roll enough balls for each student to have one. I poke a hole in the middle of the ball and carefully put a few drops of food coloring in and then close up the hole by moving the play dough around on top. I try really hard to make sure that no color shows. When the kids start playing with and squishing it, the color moves around and starts making the plain play dough colorful, hence “magic play dough”. Here is a link to a fun poem I include on the little baggie the kids take home the first day. http://susanjonesteaching.com/a-cupcake-for-me/
Enjoy! 🙂
Jitter juice poem and drink
One thing I always do on the first day is teach a mini lesson. I don’t spend the whole period reading the rules but I integrate a little content so the students come away hopefully having learned one new thing related to my subject matter–biology!
This will be my first year, but I plan to read “First Day Jitters” and start the day with morning meeting 🙂
On the first day of school, I play a get to know you game and then go over expectations.
I always do a get to know you activity
Every year we get to introduce ourselves and get to know each other. We also them make an “About Me” book, and go through the rules and procedures.
I always read lots of stories, go over routines, and have lots of fun!
This will be my second year but I am planning to do a beach ball ice breaker. You use an inflatable beach ball with questions written on it with a sharpie. The kids seem to like this fun activity!
Love your blog and TPT products!
Thanks!
This’ll be my 2nd year teaching. I am a special education teacher. I love just giving my students time to explore our classroom on our first day of school. I like to walk around and talk to each one of them and see how they are doing.
We read first day jitters, and tell them about my first day jitters. Followed by playing The Name Game, most of the students already know each other as they came from pre-k together. The students are always surprised that I, the teacher, can have first day jitters as well.
I always read lots of fun books, and go over routines and take their picture.
I always give out tons of hugs and lots of high fives!
One thing I love to do on the first day of school is to bring a bag of items that describe me to my students. I pull things out one at a time and tell them why I put it in there. (Ex: A photo of my family, my gardening gloves, knitting needles, etc.)
We do routines, lockers, and get to know you games. Im working on a nice math song to the tune of a popular song to break the ice!
A few things I always do for BTS are first day selfies , some team building activities, what I want my teacher to know and of course READ!
On the first day of school I like to read First Day Jitters and color an I survived my first day of first grade hat!
I always use my Polaroid camera to take pictures of my students on the first day. At the end of the year, we take another picture to see how much they’ve grown.
I get to my classroom really early and pray over each seat and the little heart that will occupy said seat. I want to start the school year with a blessed classroom and blessed students!
I love to make jitter juice and have them guess what magic secret ingredients I’ve used to make it.
I always take first day of school pictures. Near the last day of school we take an end of the year picture for comparison.
I always do an all about me activity, normally it’s math about me human, but this year I found a science about me on TPT that I can’t wait to try.
One thing I always do on the first day is model the brown bag activity where I share 3 important pieces of me that fit into a bag. Students brainstorm and then take their bags home and come back and begin sharing. Great activity between periods or when students need a break.
On the first day I like to do people Bingo. Each square has a description and students need to find someone who fits that description. It’s great for movement and it helps students get to know all of their classmates!