Are you looking for ideas for welcoming students back to school? Then this blog post is for you! As the new school year begins, there are lots of feelings in the air. You may feel a bit nervous, excited, or even curious about the new mix of students you will be spending the school year with. One thing that can make the transition back to school go smoothly is to have fun engaging activities planned out for your new students. Here are a few ideas for welcoming students back to school.
How Do You Make Back to School Fun?
One way you can make going back to school fun for students is to give them a special gift on the first day of school. The gift does not have to be expensive. You can find a ton of cute back to school gift ideas on Pinterest. Some additional ideas include:
Welcoming Students With A First Day of School Certificate
First day of school certificates are an inexpensive way to welcome your new students! The certificates can be printed on bright paper and handed out to students at the end of the day. They can also be printed on white paper and students can color in their certificates! Students will love taking home their special memento.
First Day of School Button
This is a slightly different take on the first day of school certificate. You can make or order buttons for your students congratulating them on their first day of school. Students will love wearing their new button or placing it on their backpack.
Welcome Students Back to School with a Gift
Welcome to our class gift bags are easy to make and relatively inexpensive. Students love this keepsake item and will be so excited when they receive them. Be sure to make a few extra ones in case you get a new student in the middle of the year. It really is a nice way to welcome students to their new class!
Fun Welcome Back to School Activities
At the start of the school year, you will need to go over the rules and procedures quite a bit. Students will need a lot of practice carrying out the procedures each day. It is nice to break up this practice with fun activities that help build community, focus on following directions, and have high engagement. Here are a few of my favorite ideas for welcoming students back to school!
Read Alouds
The following read alouds are great to use during the first week back at school:
First Day Jitters
First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg- Students love this book and the surprise ending. You can read this book and then survey the students about how they feel about being in first grade. You can then create a class graph about how everyone is feeling about their new grade level.
Our Class is a Family
Our Class is a Family by Shannon Olsen- I always stress to my students that our time together is very special because they are part of our class family. Over the course of the year, we will spend a lot of time together, learning together, and supporting one another. This book works perfectly with spreading that message.
The Kissing Hand
The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn- This book works great for when students are experiencing a bit of separation anxiety. Students really relate to Chester Raccoon and enjoy coming up with their own “kissing hand” tradition that they can give to their parents when they are dropped off at school.
David Goes to School
David Goes to School by David Shannon- You can use this book when introducing classroom rules. The students really get a kick out of David’s actions throughout the story! This is a great book to read before discussing the importance of rules and why we have them. Afterwards, the class can brainstorm rules to make the classroom a safe and productive learning environment.
Chrysanthemum
Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes- This is a great book to teach the importance of kindness. It is also the perfect book to teach that words are not for hurting others. As you read the story aloud, you can have students pass around a large heart cutout made from butcher paper or construction paper. Have students crumple the heart each time a character in the story says something unkind. After the story, have students try to get all the wrinkles out of the paper heart. Students will soon see that they cannot get all the wrinkles out. When you use unkind words, it is kind of like leaving small wrinkles on someone’s heart. If you want to know more about this activity, check out this post by First Grade Wow.
Icebreakers and Games
At the start of the school year, it is important to build relationships with the students and also have them build relationships with one another. Using icebreaker activities and games are a great way to help students build friendships. Here are a few ideas you can use in the classroom:
Tell a Friend…
In this activity, students will walk around and find a different friend to introduce themselves to and share their response. The teacher reads aloud a series of instructions for students to complete. For example, find a friend and tell them the month you were born. Find a friend and tell them how many brothers and sisters you have. Find a friend and tell them your favorite outdoor activity. Not only is this ice breaker highly engaging and helps students learn more about one another, it also does not require any prep!
Name Game- Hickety Pickety Bumblebee
For this activity, you can have students sit in a circle and sing the song. You can select a few students each day during the first week of school. You can also pass a small stuffed animal around the circle so students know when it’s their turn.
Go Noodle
Go Noodle is a great site for engaging and fun brain break activities. Students love the different categories from guided dance, brain exercises, to mindfulness exercises and more! It’s super easy to set up an account and the various brain breaks are guaranteed to become a part of your daily routine!
Welcome Back to School Bulletin Board
First Day of First Grade
One thing you can do on the first day of school is to take a photo of each student. You can use these photos to make a special keepsake about their first day for a memory book. This activity also makes for a great back to school bulletin board. You can also take photos of your students to set up a birthday board or even to show examples of desired behavior. For example, if one of your class expectations is that students re-shelf their classroom library books, you can take a photo of students doing this behavior and put it up in your classroom library.
Family Bulletin Board
You can also ask parents to send in a copy of a family photo and set up a special bulletin board titled “Our Families.” This is a wonderful idea for welcoming students back to school and really helps with students who may be experiencing separation anxiety. Students love having their family on display and enjoy seeing all the other families too. It really makes for a welcoming board!
Student Work Board
Having a board to display student work not only helps create a warm environment, it also helps students feel welcome. When students see their work up in the classroom, they have a sense of ownership of their space and feel pride in their work.
Hopefully you will be able to use a few of these ideas for welcoming students back to school in your classroom! Making students feel welcome will ensure your class has a great start to the new school year. Let me know if you use any of these ideas or have some other favorite activities you use to welcome your students!
You may also enjoy reading:
Creative Ways to Celebrate Birthdays in the Classroom
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