Activities for the First Days of School

Lessons for the Start of Kindergarten and Grade One

Aug 26, 2009

The first day of school is quickly approaching or may have begun for some teachers. Here are a few wonderful lessons that can fill the week in Kindergarten or Grade One.

When starting a new year many teachers plan "getting to know you" activities especially for the first week of school. This is the best way to help a child learn the names of classmates, create friendships and feel welcomed in the new classroom. Here are some ideas for getting to know you activities and a wonderful lesson about coming to school and leaving a caregiver at home.

Decorating the Classroom for the Students

Here are some ideas to help make a child feel comfortable and welcomed in the new classroom:

Batch of Cookies Classroom Door Bulletin: This is a great way to begin the week with this cookie activity. Cover the classroom door wtith red paper. On the top of the paper, tape the sentence "Another Batch of Smart Cookies" in black letters. Tape foil to the red paper to make a cookie sheet. Cut out brown circles, with a black marker make dots for chocolate chips and print each child's name on each circle. Tape onto foil. This is a great way for a teacher to learn the names of his or her students and can also be used when having the students line up.

Name Plate for Cubby: Decorating the child's cubby with his or her name is important for welcoming the child and classroom management. Teachers can either print each child's name on decorative name plates or on teacher notepad paper found in many creative shapes. Some teachers like to stay with a theme. So in keeping with the cookie bulletin board, teachers can buy cookie pad of paper to print names.

Names on Desks or Tables: Whether the classroom has tables or desks, it is important to place nametags for students. This will help a child find his or her place quickly and will feel at ease knowing exactly where he or she sits everyday. Creating a routine is really important during the first weeks of school.

"Getting to Know You" Songs

"Willaby Wallaby" is a great song to sing with children. Take each students picture and glue it on to an index card or name plate with the child's name printed underneath. Using these cards sing the song:

A teacher can use this activity during Calendar Time to look for the Student of the Day who will complete the daily calendar routine.

In keeping with the cookie theme from above, a teacher can have another activity by making paper cookies with each students name printed on each. A teacher can then sing the "Who Stole the Cookie From the Cookie Jar" song. This is a great way for students to know all the names and later can become an activity during centre time.

(Teacher holds up student's name on cookie) "stole the cookie from the cookie".

First Day Activity

The first book read to the children needs to be The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn [Child & Family Press, 1993]. This is a beautiful book about a baby raccoon leaving Mom to attend school. The baby raccoon is really nervous about leaving Mom and she comes up with a touching way to show her baby she is always with him.

There are many great activities to last a few days using this book. One activity is a Kissing Hand poem from a teacher named Sande in Seattle.

Photocopy the poem at the top of a piece of paper and make teach child's handprint with paint of the paper. A teacher can also trace each child's hand as well. Then paint a small heart on each hand or if tracing, draw a heart and have each child colour it red. This is a great activity for a child to take home at the end of the first day of school.

Beginning school is a very exciting time for a teacher and student. By making the room welcoming for each student with his or her name on the desk, cubby and bulletin board will help a child feel welcomed. Planning fun activities will be another good way to intorduce students to one another and to develop friendships to last the entire school year.

The copyright of the article Activities for the First Days of School in Curricula/Lesson Plans is owned by Jackie Parsons. Permission to republish Activities for the First Days of School in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.