"Get Ready to Build ___Grade Memories!" Bulletin Board Idea  This is a great beginning of the year bulletin board idea! Parents will love thinking about the memories their children will have with you. And children ...

First day of school  Read the book 'Possum goes to school'. Then tell children that a possum came into the school and we are going on a possum hunt to find it. Take the children ...

First Day of Kinder books - The Kissing Hand and Spot Goes To School  I have used the book 'The Kissing Hand' by Audrey Penn on the first day of Kinder for the last few years. During the day I get each child to do a hand ...

Teachers are People Too  At the begining of the year I take in 6 things that tell the children something about me.
Last year it was a photo of my family, my two dogs leads, a ...

Classroom Team Building Web - We Are All One  As an introduction activity, I get out a ball of string and ask the children to sit in a circle. I start off the game by introducing myself and telling ...

Activities for First Day of Prep  Some ideas for teachers of Prep on "That First morning of the First Day!"

This worked very well for me in my first year at prep last year after many,...

Parent 'Homework'  Each year I send home a question sheet for the parents.

It gives the parents an opportunity to write down things they want me to know about their child,...

Back to School Activities 2  VENN DIAGRAM

I love to have the students interview each other using a Venn diagram graphic organizer.

I give them a list of questions to get them ...

Back to School Activities 1  Use the heading - "We All Fit In"

This is a cooperative game for one of the first days of school. It is called "We All Fit In".

This is one of my ...

Circle of Friends Back to School Activity  On the first day of school I give each child a picture of a boy/girl to colour. We use colours for clothes to match the school uniform and I take a photo ...

Welcome Letters to Students  In the week before school returns I write to each of my students welcoming them to my class, telling a little about what I have done in the holidays and ...

Letter writing to former teacher   A great writing activity for the first few days is to have students brainstorm some of the things they learned last year. Choose 2/3 highlights then write ...

Getting to know you - Circle Fun  One way for students to get to know each other better on the first day is a drama game that involves a little action! This game has children hearing each ...

days of the week concept book  I am using the Days of the Week concept book for the first week of Kindergarten this year - our school is starting Kindy on the Monday.

Just before ...

Peer Interviews  I used this activity for a group of children who remained at school instead of attending camp as a get to know you activity.

Each student is required ...

Name Acrostic Poem  Provide each child with a template of their name. They complete an acrostic poem describing themselves using each letter from their name.

MY NAME MAP  Read the story Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. Complete a discussion about names. This is a great way to get to know each other in a new classroom.

I ...

We are all different and that's ok  After reading the story Chrysanthemum (Kevin Henkes) I give each student an outline of their name.

I place different decorations on their tables such ...

Journal Writing  One of the first pieces of writing that I get the children to do is write down two or three questions to ask about me.

The class love this. I answer ...

Book covers  This back to school art activity would look great once finished and can be used to cover children’s investigations work books.

Ask children to draw ...

Friendship Bracelet  I did this activity for the first time last year and the children really loved it. At the end of the morning session, the children made a friendship bracelet ...

junior kindergarten teacher  Second semester always has a rough start. Everyone has been away for an extended period, winter is still ahead of us. It's not always conducive to go ...

Great Resources for Back to School  Chrysanthemum - By Kevin Henkes

The Important Book - By Margaret Wise Brown

The Kissing Hand - By Audrey Penn

All books can be purchased from ...

Back to School Activities 3  Animal Introductions...

On the first day of school, I pass out animal stickers to the students. I make sure that the stickers are given out in pairs ...