Teachers and homeschooling families! Are you looking for activities for the first week of school? I can’t wait to share these ideas with you! Use one of these activities for the first week of school with ages 4-10 to help break the ice and welcome back each student back to school. As a former teacher myself, these are some of my all-time favorites!
RELATED: If you plan to homeschool preschool, you must start the day with a Breakfast Invitation. Breakfast Invitations are simple open-ended activities that begin the day with play and learning.
- What should you do during the first week of school?
- 3 favorite back-to-school read alouds
- 5 Back to School Activities
- 1. Find Someone Who Game
- 2. Bead and Button Tree Creating a Learning at Home Community
- 3. Things we Enjoy Mural a Back to School Activity to Celebrate Individuals
- 4. Jewel the Name
- 5. Color Name Chart
- Empower your child with skills to thrive.
- FAQ
What should you do during the first week of school?
Spend the first week of school working on procedures and routines. I always say it’s okay if the first week of school is a little more boring than the rest. Practicing these will help children know what is expected and how the classroom environment works. Taking the time for procedures in the first few weeks of school allows more flexibility as the school year progresses.
The first week of school activities should also celebrate and honor the children that make up the classroom.
Take these ideas and the time during the first week of school to celebrate the individuals you are about to help learn. This is a welcomed way to ease back into everything, one piece of the puzzle at a time.
Use these activities with our back to school booklist for a great start to the new school year!
RELATED: Want to break the ice? Your class will enjoy these 80 Would You Rather Questions for Kids.
3 favorite back-to-school read alouds
Here are three books I read to my class as a teacher and enjoy reading to my boys before the start of the new school year.
Mae’s First Day of School
This is your book if a child is reluctant to return to school. It helps them feel less alone, knowing other children are shy on the first day.
First Day Jitters
Your child’s teacher may have this one, so remind your child not to spoil the ending if they see it in the classroom. A funny twist to the end. A must-read!
Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun
Another favorite! This book shares how to stick up for what you enjoy and help others in need. Five stars for Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun.
Beautiful Oops!
This is a fantastic book to help remind children that mistakes can turn into beautiful thing. I like to read this book to children in the preschool-second grade.
5 Back to School Activities
These 5 back to school activities can be used in a classroom or homeschooling environment. Introduce these activities in between procedures and routines to help kids get moving thier body and chatting with classmates to practice social skills.
1. Find Someone Who Game
This is a classic first week of school activity where the kids find someone with the attributes listed.
This game can be used at home by asking and adding the names of family members, face-timing grandparents, or learning more about the extended family or neighbors. Names can be listed more than once.
Younger children can have this read to them. You may only do three daily with children rather than the entire sheet at a time.
Older children are encouraged to write the name of family members in each box. You can place the names on small index cards or write on painter’s tape across the table to reference spelling.
2. Bead and Button Tree: Creating a Learning at Home Community
This activity for the first week back to school comes from my friend Kristen @adayofplayandwonder. Kristen is an excellent resource for preschool and early learning ideas. Be sure to check her out on Instagram!
Here, the boys created a community learning at-home classroom tree. This art provocation worked fine motor skills, encouraged creativity, and displayed how our different styles create a diverse learning environment.
Supplies
- Bead Set
- Pipe cleaners
- A flower vase or transparent container
3. Things we Enjoy Mural: a Back to School Activity to Celebrate Individuals
I have three boys, and each child is very different. Where they enjoy playing with similar toys at home, their learning styles and true loves are slightly different.
Making a mural of favorite things, or a vision board is a great activity to welcome the new school year. It helps us all.
Here, we used Happily Ever Elephants, Family Book Club to make these vision boards inspire a growth mindset.
Supplies:
- Large white paper
- Magazines
- Scissors
- Glue
4. Jewel the Name
This activity invites children to decorate their names as they look closer at the lines and curves of letters. Use this activity and these 10 letter recognition activities with your class.
This back-to-school activity is a great art idea that kids enjoy.
Here, children are not only encouraged to dive in seeing their names but are also exploring how letters are made from lines and curves. You can see how we explore this further here in this preschool alphabet activity.
I listed craft gems because we bought a pack to add to our art cart. However, you can also use pasta, pom poms, beads, or even pennies! Think about what you may already own and start there.
Supplies:
- Craft Gems – small parts
- Glue
RELATED: I also have a thing for name recognition and created a list of 15 name activities for kids here.
5. Color Name Chart
Let’s take a closer look at the letters in our name. Here is my friend Kristen @adayofplayandwonder again with a closer look at the letters in our names. You can add close family members if you teach at home this year.
Ways to use these name strips:
- Write one letter on each color in the paint strip.
- Begin to stack the names from the least amount of letters to the greatest.
- See if you can spot the same letters that are in multiple names. Are there any names that have the same beginning sound or letter? How about the end of the name? Are the names alike? Can you spot any differences in each name? Let’s count out the syllables.
- Keep the names at the writing table to encourage using them for free play.
- Write a short story on dry-erase board, inserting the name strips to change the characters.
Leave these names up for the first few weeks of school! You will find many more ways to use them as the curriculum unfolds.
Supplies:
- Paint Swatches
- Permanent marker
Now you have some fun activities for the first week of school! Wishing everyone a fun, enjoyable school year with lots of learning through play.
Empower your child with skills to thrive.
24 low-prep activities and relatable conversation starters that equip kids for life.
- Order the easy-to-follow activity cards.
- Build the foundation for social-emotional learning.
- Notice a shift in self-confidence and self-regulation as you and your child implement what you practice.
FAQ
Spend the first week of school working on procedures and routines. Scale everything down to practice walking together in the hall, where to find the bathroom, how to put books back on the shelf, and where folders go. I always say it’s okay if the first week of school is a little more boring than the rest. Practicing these will help children know what is expected and how the classroom environment works. Taking the time for procedures in the first few weeks of school allows more flexibility as the school year progresses.
Use a child’s name in a first lesson with your class. Names are important, and names hold personal meaning to your child. Your child will perk up when they see that the letters in front of them are the letters in their name! Here are 15 name activities for kids to get ideas started.
Each school has its homework policy. If your child struggles at home, reach out to the teacher and see what accommodations can be made.
