Week One School Activities
Are you after some ideas for games and activities in your classroom for the start of the year?
Particularly when you need something to fill in time before programs officially begin, or just simply have some fun getting to know your class….
Big Wind Blows - have the class stand in a circle. The teacher says a statement, if the child has done that, then they swap places with another child e.g you can ride a skateboard, has two sisters, went on a plane, like to read, doesn’t like chocolate, shares a bedroom, name starts with s, been to another country….
Provide the class with lego or playdough – children create something they did in the holidays using the materials provided and then must write a descriptive sentence about it. Include a gallery walk so the class can check out everyones creations
Take a ‘My first day of year ___’ photo of each of your students to print and display on the welcome board
Read books like; My Teacher Is A Monster, I Don’t Want To Go To School, Old Friends New Friends by Andrew Daddo, Monster School Rules, Our Class Is A Family, A Letter From Your Teacher On The First Day Of School
Rose/Thorn – students are seated in a circle and say something good that happened in the holidays and something not so good
Two truths and one lie – this can be played across several days, where each child must come up with two facts about themselves that is true and one that is made up. The class have to vote which one they think is the lie
Create a find-a-word with all student’s names that they must find
One child is chosen to sit out the front with the back to the class. The teacher points to someone who says ‘good morning’ and the person out the front must decide who said it
Minute To Win It games are fun for the first week back just make sure you set expectations of behaviour
An Escape Room is a good one to see how the class work together in teams
Have students complete an All About Me sheet and display it in the classroom
Create their own desk or tub label
Silent ball
Hold circle time each morning as a getting-to-know-you activity
Create class rules together. Keep it simple and stick to a maximum of five rules. Revise school expectations
Discuss – things I can solve myself, things I need a friend for, things I need a teacher for and the difference between big problem/little problem
You can find other Back To School Blog posts here;
What games do you like to use in your classroom in the first week of the term? We would love it if you joined the conversation and left a comment below.
