Back To School Activities You Should Do The First Week Of School

The first week of school sets the tone for the rest of the school year. It’s like making a first impression; you want to start off on the right foot. So, I’ve compiled a list of back-to-school activities you should do during the first week of school.

Kick off the first week of school with these back-to-school activities your class will love!

Ready to get your school year off to a great start?

When I’m planning for the best first week of school, I am looking for back-to-school activities that get kids excited about coming back to school, help build the classroom community, and introduce procedures. It’s a win if an activity does at least one of those things, and these back-to-school activities do. Let’s check them out!

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Why is the first day of school important?

The first day of school is your chance to make your students want to come back. It’s when we establish that they’re safe, loved, and wanted in your classroom. The first day is all about building excitement, positive energy, and community.

What should teachers do on the first day of school?

On the first day of school, there are only three absolute must-dos. Make sure each kid feels loved, gets fed, and returns home safely. Do your best to make sure they want to come back the next day. If those things happen, you’ve had a fantastic first day, regardless of any bloopers along the way.

These back-to-school activities are great for the first day of school.

These back-to-school activities all focus on building excitement, creating community, and getting the kids home safely. Remember, the first day of school is all about making your students want to come back. Don’t worry about any academics yet!

Make back-to-school headbands.

There’s always a bit of chaos on the first day of school, but when it comes to transportation, there’s no room for a mistake. On the first day, in the morning, confirm everyone’s method of transportation. Check your paperwork and ask your kids. That way, there is time to call home if anyone isn’t sure or tells you something different than what you expected.

Tip: Making back-to-school headbands or bracelets is an easy way to keep it straight at dismissal time. I love using color coding to make it easy to tell which kids go where at a glance: car riders, bus riders, after-school students, etc.

Decorate name tents.

Names are an important part of our identities. So, it’s important to start using them as soon as possible, and if you’re like me, it takes a little while to connect 20+ new faces with their names. Name tents are easy to see and make it easier to get everyone’s name correct.

Tip: Decorating name tents also gives you an opportunity to go over your procedures for using art supplies.

Kids love games, and “Me Too” is a great way to start getting your students to connect with new friends. Ask your class a few simple questions each day and have several students share their answers.

❤️ What’s your favorite hobby?

🧡 What’s your favorite show/movie/book?

💛 Who is your favorite singer?

As students share their answers, their classmates say, “Me too!” and move to join them if they have the same answer. Repeat the game with a new question to help your students find similarities and form new friendships.

Tip: This is a perfect opportunity to model walking, not running, and using indoor voices.

Read a back-to-school picture book to your class.

The first week is all about building classroom community and encouraging successful school behaviors. Books are great tools for modeling those concepts. These books talk about school behavior, back-to-school feelings, and friendship. Plus, they’re colorful, engaging, and fun to read! Here’s a list of some of the best back-to-school books for the first week of school that I’ve found. You’ll definitely want to add some of these fantastic reads to your classroom library!

Tip: Picture books can be a great tool for transitioning into an activity or topic. Try using a read-aloud to transition into establishing your classroom rules.

Unless you teach kindergarten, most of your students are probably familiar with the school already, but there’s usually at least one new student. Taking your class on a back-to-school tour is a great way to review important locations around the school. You might even be able to introduce your students to important staff members like the lunchroom staff and the media specialist if they’re available.

Tip: Go ahead and introduce your hallway procedures as you go around the school.

What about the rest of the week? What should teachers do during the first week of school?

The first week of school continues to build on the first day’s introduction of school rules, classroom community, and expectations. You’ll want to continue getting to know your students and establishing a classroom community, but it’s also important to start introducing your routines and procedures throughout the first week. By the end of the week, your students should have a pretty solid idea of what’s expected of them.

Try these back-to-school activities in the first week of school.

So, how do you keep the excitement going, continue building a positive classroom community, and establish clear expectations? Using read-alouds, art projects, and team-building challenges is a great place to start! Check out activities and see which ones you want to use throughout the first week of school!

Create an all-about-me craftivity.

All about me crafts are a great way to encourage your students to introduce themselves to their classmates. They can also be an easy way to get some student work up on your bulletin boards. Plus, they make a nice keepsake for parents.

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This lap book is perfect for young students who aren’t quite independent writers yet. The finished lapbooks make a great back-to-school display or a fun item to send home.

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Tip: Introduce your procedures for scissors and glue as your students create their all-about-me craft.

Try some team-building challenges.

Stem activities, minute-to-win-in games, and team-building challenges are all fun activities for the first week of school. Whatever activities you pick, make sure they’re focused on team-building and not on individual competition. The point is to build collaboration and connection between your kiddos.

Tip: If you’re not sure where to begin, these team-building ideas can get you started.

Review your classroom expectations.

As you start introducing activities, introduce, model, and practice your expectations for behaviors, procedures, and routines. Introduce the expectation, demonstrate the behavior or procedure, and then have a student model it.

Thumbs up – Thumbs down can be a great way to clarify expectations too. Give some examples or demonstrate the procedure. Have your students give a thumbs up or a thumbs down if they think the expectations were met or not. Then, discuss what was done well and what needs to be fixed. Remember, the last demonstration should be a correct example because that’s what we want to stick with our students.

What back-to-school activities did I forget? Did I include your favorite activity for the first week of school?

Hopefully, you enjoyed this post, and maybe you even found a new back-to-school activity to try. If I missed anything that you think should be on this list, let me know in the comments!

Want the back-to-school activities from this blog post?

Want the free first-day headbands to use in your classroom? Simply enter your personal email below. (Many schools block outside emails with attachments.) I’ll send you the FREE headbands to use with your kids on the first day of school.