I’ve learned that the first day matters, and you want to choose your activities for the first day of school carefully. So I’m going to give you LOTS of choices – enough to plan activities for the first WEEK of school!

This post is all about amazing activities on the first day of school. Read on for games for the first day of school, group activities for the first day of school, games for the first day of school, and crafts for the first day of school!

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Jump to…

• Group Activities
• Craft Activities
• Games
• Read Aloud Books

Group Activities On The First Day Of School

The class discussions and activities on the first day of school can be especially important to set the tone for your classroom community. We want to make every child feel safe in their new classroom space. These group activities for the first day of school can help build a feeling of trust and responsibility among students.

First Day Feelings

Talking about our feelings on the first day of school can be especially helpful for students. Starting a new school year is a lot to process! It’s always a good idea to have some activities on the first day of school that help students express and accept whatever they are feeling.

On an anchor chart, write or draw some different feelings (happy, nervous, excited, sad, etc.). Lead your class in a discussion about how feelings are normal and everyone’s feelings are different. (“First Day Jitters” and “A Tiger Tail” are two great book choices to read with this activity. Read below for more book suggestions.)

Give every student a sticky note to write their name and let them put the sticky note on the anchor chart next to the feeling that they most identify with. (This anchor chart template is available here in my TPT store.)

Class Promise

One of my favorite activities for the first week of school is to create a class promise together. Lead your students in a discussion about what a great class should look like, sound like, and feel like. Collect all of their ideas on an anchor chart.

Then you can select the ones you want to go on the class promise. Have children decorate a handprint, heart, or cutout person of themselves to go around the class promise, sealing everyone’s pledge to one another.

(The book “I Promise”, listed below, is a great companion to this activity!)

We Want To Learn!

Amidst all these beginning of the year activities, we also want to get our students excited to learn! Grab an anchor chart and some colorful markers and start sharing with your students some amazing things they’re going to learn this year. You can share photos of fun activities from past years or share with them skills that you will help them master! I recommend including PE and arts in your discussion to include students who don’t feel as confident academically.

Then have each student think about something they’re excited to learn! Put all of these ideas down on an anchor chart (or two, if you have a big class) and post them in the classroom to keep your students motivated all year long! (This anchor chart template is available here in my TPT store.)

Get To Know Your Teacher

One of the most important things to do on the first day of school is to make sure students get to know YOU! Students are most likely having thoughts like “What will my new teacher be like?” and “Will my teacher like me? Will I like my teacher?”.

You can share pieces of your life with your students in a variety of ways, but one of my favorite ways is through a heart map.

Draw a big heart on an anchor chart or butcher paper and divide it into sections. In each section, draw or write something that is important to you! Some examples might be: my dog, my sisters, my students, reading, swimming, etc. This will give students insight into who you are and help them feel more connected to you! (This anchor chart template is available here in my TPT store.)

If you want all these anchor chart templates and lesson plans, you can check out the First Week Activity Bundle here!

Craft Activities On the First Day of School

Crafts might just be my favorite activities on the first day of school. Students love a good art project, and they are such a fun way to celebrate the beginning of the year!

They are also the perfect opportunity to introduce classroom and art supplies. Here are a few crafts for the first day of school that your students will absolutely love!

Letter To My Teacher

This is one of those fun activities for the first day of school that could work in any elementary grade. Students will love that they get to share things with their teacher on the first day of school. (This craft template is available here in my TPT store.)

Heart Map

This craft for the first day of school is a great companion activity to Get To Know the Teacher, listed above. It gives the students a chance to share about themselves, get to know each other, and get to know you! A great celebration of individuality. (This craft template is available here in my TPT store.)

Reach for the Stars

If you are looking for a gorgeous bulletin board for the first week of school, look no further! These celebrate the goals that students have, and they look amazing in the classroom. (This craft template is available here in my TPT store.)

Name Bookmarks

One of my favorite activities on the first day of school! Students love coloring in their bookmarks, and it's a great task to have as students first come in or if you have some time to fill at the end of a lesson. (This craft template is available here in my TPT store.)

Materials Flipbook

This has become one of our staple activities for the first day of school since the pandemic. Until we are all free of these masks, I will keep on doing this one! (This craft template is available here in my TPT store.)

Classroom Rules

This a super low-prep project that students will still adore. You can take this craft for the first day of school up a notch by laminating the finished bookmarks so that students can keep theirs all year long! (This craft template is available here in my TPT store.)

Want templates of all these Back to School activities, plus even more? I have that available for you right here in the Classroom Community Megabundle!

Games for First Day of School

Here are some games for first day of school ideas to get your students moving around, having fun, and getting to know each other!

Name Games:

Name games are always one of the best beginning of the year activities. These are some extra fun ways to help your students start learning each other’s names (and to help you learn them too!)

• Name Movements: Students stand in a circle and take turns saying their name with a big movement to go with it. The rest of the class repeats the student’s name along with their movement. For example, I might say “Ms. Laura!” while I jumped up with my arms in the air. Then all the students would repeat “Ms. Laura!” while jumping up with their arms in the air. For shy students, it can be helpful to give them the choice to do a simple wave with their name if they don’t want to do a big movement.

• Name Alliteration: Students sit in a circle and take turns saying their name and one thing they like that starts with the same sound as their name. So I might start and say “I’m Ms. Laura and I like lollipops.” (or something that starts with “L”) and everyone else in the class says back “She’s Ms. Laura and she likes lollipops.” If you have older kids, you can challenge them at the end to say everyone’s name and what they liked! It’s a fun challenge for the teacher to try to remember, too!

• Welcome Train: This is one of the best games for the first day of school if you teach younger children. As each child’s name is called, they come from their circle spot to line up in the train. Once every name has been called, go around the room singing the last verse several times. You can also do this as a rap if you don’t want to sing!

“The welcome train is coming 
Get on board! Choo- Choo 
The welcome train is coming 
Get on board! Choo-Choo 

Welcome to (child's name) 
Get on board! Choo-choo

Welcome to (child's name) 
Get on board! Choo-choo

Welcome to (child's name) 
Get on board! Choo-choo

Etc.

The welcome train is coming 
Get on board! Choo- Choo 
The welcome train is coming 
Get on board! Choo-Choo”

• Good Morning Song: Children start sitting in a circle. The whole class sings as children are prompted to greet the child sitting next to them.

(Sing to the tune of “Make New Friends, But Keep the Old”)

“Good morning (child's name)

How are you?

Shake hands with (child's name) next to you.”

You can substitute “shake hands” with “high five” or “bump elbows”.

Warm Breeze Blows:

Stand in a big circle. The teacher says “A warm breeze blows for anyone who _____” and names something. For example, you could say “has a dog” or “has a little sister” or “likes french fries”.

Any student who agrees with the statement has to run into the center and try to find a new spot in the circle.

It can be extra fun to say phrases that apply to all the students, like “is starting first grade today”. Then they all have to run around and switch places! If you have older students, you could eventually let them be the leaders and say the prompts.

Friend Scavenger Hunt:

Make a checklist for students that includes items like “A classmate who has two younger siblings” or “Someone who has the same favorite color as you” or “Someone who went to a different school for kindergarten than you”.

Students then go around the classroom trying to find a student’s name to write next to every item on the list. This gets them walking around, meeting new people, and talking to each other!

I'm offering the Find a Friend Scavenger Hunt for free right here!

Books for the First Day of School

Of course, one of my favorite things to do on the first day of school is to read specially chosen books to my class. There are so many wonderful choices that talk about first day hopes, fears, and expectations. Here are the books for the first day of school that you cannot skip!

Our Class Needs You: This is a beautiful children's book for welcoming every child, celebrating differences, and building classroom community. It talks about how every student has their own talents and interests, and each one is needed in the classroom.

A Tiger Tail: A funny book about a girl who wakes up with a tiger tail on the first day of school! She’s worried about what the other kids will think about her, but when she gets to school she realizes that everyone has differences they might feel self-conscious about!

King of Kindergarten: A wonderful celebration of starting kindergarten with a positive attitude and ready to learn!

First Day Jitters: A funny story that teaches students that everyone gets nervous on the first day of school – teachers too!

 All Are Welcome Here: A beautiful book that sets a tone of community and inclusion. A must-read for every classroom.

Our Class Is A Family: Another great story to build inclusion and set an expectation of classroom community.

I Promise: This story teaches children that their commitment to do their best and to make good choices is important.

A Letter From Your Teacher: A teacher shares her hopes and dreams for the school year in a letter to her class.

For even more book recommendations, you can check out my blog post all about the best books for the first week of school.

I hope you now have lots of fun ideas for activities on the first day of school!

What is your favorite thing to do with students on the first day of school?
xoxo
Laura

Resources For You:

Articles For You:

First Week Of School Activities – You Can Even Do These Virtually!

Goal Setting With Kids: 7 Tips For Teachers

Best Read Aloud Books for the First Day of School

5 Easy and Engaging Inquiry Activities For Kindergarten, Year 1, and Year 2

Welcome to Back to School Made Easy Guaranteed!

7 Helpful Tips on How to Blog Like a Boss

The post 21 Amazing Ideas For Activities On The First Day Of School appeared first on Love Grows Learning.

Growth mindset has taken the world by storm, and it definitely has a place in the classroom. Today I’m sharing some of my favorite growth mindset kids activities that you can use with your students. By creating a growth mindset classroom and weaving growth mindset activities for kids into our school day, we are helping build a foundation of self esteem and success for our students.

Read on for some fun and meaningful growth mindset for kids activities ideas!

Looking for some pre-planned, low-prep activities? Check out the Growth Mindset Curriculum!

Growth Mindset For Students

What is growth mindset anyway? If you’re not familiar with growth mindset, here is a brief overview. It explores the idea that some of us have a “fixed mindset”, which means we believe our abilities are a certain way and that there’s not much we can do about it. And others have a “growth mindset”, which means they believe that they have the capacity to learn and grow and get better at just about anything.

Carol Dweck has led the way with research about growth mindset. But she says there’s a lot more to it than just putting in effort to show improvement.  While perseverance is certainly a trademark of growth mindset work, it’s also about embracing and even enjoying challenges, rather than shying away from them.

But you’re probably wondering, “How does this relate to my students?” Researchers are highly interested in the impact growth mindset can have on students in the classroom. Don’t we want our students to be excited to challenge themselves, enthusiastic about learning new things, and perseverant through difficult stages of growth? Heck yes, we do! And growth mindset can help all of those things.

(Want more info about growth mindset? Check out this podcast episode with Carol Dweck.)

Growth Mindset Classroom

As teachers, we want to think about how we can incorporate growth mindset classroom activities throughout the school year. Back to school season is a perfect time to start, but you can do these activities really any time of year and they will still be very effective.

And luckily, there are a number of very fun ways to weave in these growth mindset for kids activities! Crafts, full-class activities, read alouds, and anchor charts are some of my favorites. You can get a full list of my favorite growth mindset read alouds here.

Here are some engaging and fun activities for growth mindset you can try in your classroom this year! 

Growth Mindset For Kids Activities

1. Fixed Vs. Growth Mindset Anchor Chart

Teaching your students the vocabulary to help them understand a “fixed mindset” versus a “growth mindset” is the perfect place to start. I love that this anchor chart has examples of both kinds of language, so that students get a clear idea of these different ways of thinking.

A fun way to make this a full-class activity is to read the statements out loud and have the students decide which side they should go on.

A great read aloud to pair with this activity is Your Fantastic Elastic Brain.

2. YET Crown

This cute crown comes with an adorable poem printed on it to help remind students that just because they aren’t there yet, doesn’t mean they won’t get there! 

Crowns are always a hit in my classroom! Students will love decorating these fun crowns as they set goals for things they can’t do yet.

3. Growth Mindset Bulletin Board

Creating a growth mindset bulletin board can be a great activity to do with your whole class. You can give them “fixed mindset” statement and let them brainstorm how to flip them into “growth mindset” statements! 

Plus, the bulletin board then serves as a long-term visual reminder for students about the importance of using their growth mindset.

4. Setting Goals Craft

Setting goals is great growth mindset practice for our students. It helps them feel in charge of their learning, and it makes difficulties feel more expected. This craft is great because it reminds your students that not all goals come easy. Sometimes we make goals that will take more time and effort, and that’s okay!

5. YET Anchor Chart

The word “yet” can be so powerful for your students! It’s a great way to flip moments of frustration into positive light. You can make the word “yet” a common phrase in your classroom. Whenever someone is struggling with something, remind them “You just can’t do it yet.” 

This anchor chart helps students brainstorm things that they want to achieve, and adding the word “yet” makes these goals feel far more attainable!

A great read aloud to pair with this activity is The Magical Yet.

6. Flip that Mindset Craft

Help your students practice turning negative thoughts to positive ones with this fun craft. Students paste the “fixed mindset” statements to the gray side of the brain, and then find the flipped statement to paste on the “growth mindset” side of the brain!

7. Positive Messages Fortune Teller

The messages we tell ourselves matter a lot. In fact, a lot of growth mindset activities and books for students are centered around messaging. Are we telling ourselves things from a “fixed mindset” perspective? Or a “growth mindset” perspective?

This fortune teller is full of encouraging growth mindset messages for students to use when they feel stuck. They can do it with a friend, or just use it themselves whenever they need some words of encouragement.

8. Growth Mindset Conversation Dice

This is a fun way to get your students talking and thinking about growth mindset in the classroom. These dice have different questions and conversation starters about growth mindset topics. Put students in pairs or groups and let them chat about these different ideas!

9. Easy or Hard Craft

Sometimes your students forget how much learning they’ve already conquered! Do they remember how long it took them to learn to walk? Or to master their ABCs? And now those things are second nature to them! 

This growth mindset craft helps us look back at things that are now easy, and look forward to things that currently feel hard. But with practice and perseverance, those hard things will one day be easy!

10. Growth Mindset Coloring Pages

These growth mindset coloring sheets are so fun! While I wouldn’t use these just on their own, I do think they would be a great addition to some of these other activities. These would be handy to sprinkle in throughout the year to keep growth mindset phrases fresh and familiar.

Growth Mindset Classroom Activities

Hopefully, this has given you some great ideas for getting started with growth mindset in your classroom! These growth mindset for kids activities are so important for helping your students have a positive mindset and believe in their ability to learn. 

And do you know what one of the biggest factors is in your students’ success with growth mindset? 

Their teacher’s growth mindset! If we believe they can grow and learn, they are way more likely to!

If you’re looking for more support, check out my Growth Mindset Curriculum.

Which of these activities are you going to try first? Tell me in the comments!
xoxo 
Laura

Resources For You:

Articles For You:

15 Growth Mindset Kids Books Every Teacher Needs To Have In Their Library

9 Amazing Ideas to Teach the Importance of Social Emotional Learning in Your Classroom

Back To School Crafts You Need To Try This Year

The post 10 Growth Mindset For Kids Activities Your Students Will Love appeared first on Love Grows Learning.

Coming up with your classroom routines and procedures can feel daunting! But actually knowing how to teach them is even more important. Your classroom routines and procedures will do you no good if your students can’t understand and remember them. Well, I want to show you that you can teach them in ways that are memorable but also tons of fun!

This post is all about the best ways to teach your classroom routine and procedures!

This product may contain affiliate links. I make a small commission on products purchased through these links.

The Importance of Classroom Routines

It’s no secret that classroom routines are an extremely important part of starting off the school year. In fact, I definitely spend the first month focused on teaching classroom routine and procedures and rules before I focus on teaching academics!

On top of that, experienced teachers know that they need to keep returning to and practicing those classroom routines and procedures all year long. I definitely know the feeling of realizing my students have completely forgotten the expectations we set at the beginning of the year!

Therefore, it is so important to help reinforce those habits many times throughout the schoolyear. The more often you can slip in a review of a classroom routine and procedures, the less time you’ll have to spend correcting behavior later on.

All of that means that it’s very helpful to have a bunch of great procedure and routines activities ready to go for all year long! And today I’m sharing lots of fun ways to teach these crucial classroom routines. Of course, we know that students learn best when the activities are hands-on, visual, and highly engaging. So I’ve gathered together 5 ideas that will make sure your students are having fun while mastering all of their classroom routines and procedures.

1. Classroom Routine and Procedures Visuals

Providing clear visuals that students can refer to every single day is such a helpful way to reinforce your classroom routine and procedures. There are so many gorgeous classroom decor ideas out there to give you lots of inspiration for how you could do this in your own classroom!

For example, some teachers have special classroom routine and procedures bulletin boards that are a big and obvious reminder of classroom expectations:

In addition, many teachers have a classroom schedule posted that changes to show the flow of each day. I love assigning a “schedule reader” each week as one of our classroom jobs – my students absolutely love having this job:

Some of the most importance classroom routines elementary students need to know can be made into individual cues. It can be really helpful for certain students to have these posted on their desk or in a personal folder:

2. Classroom Routine and Procedures Anchor Charts

We definitely can’t leave out anchor charts when we’re teaching classroom routines and procedures! The reason I love anchor charts and posters so much is that you create these together as a class. This is important because it can really help students feel that they have input and ownership with their classroom routine procedures.

Not only that, but they can be posted in the classroom as reminders for as long you need them! Also, anchor charts are a really helpful way to remind students of a certain classroom routine or procedure that they need practice with part-way through the school year.

Here are some fun examples of classroom routines elementary school teachers have taught using anchor charts:

Classroom Procedures for Materials:

Classroom Rules for the Rug

Classroom Morning Routine

Clean Desk

Classroom Map

If you’re looking for more anchor chart templates you can use this year for your rules and routines, check out the Rules and Routines activity bundle here!

3. Classroom Routines Crafts

If you’re worried that teaching your classroom routine and procedures is going to be boring, then you should definitely consider trying some crafts!

Students absolutely love the opportunity to be creative and artistic. Furthermore, incorporating projects can help students absorb new learning in a hands-on way. I have always found that crafts are one of the best ways to help something really “stick” with students.

Here are some of my favorite crafts for classroom routine and procedures elementary teachers have created:

Classroom Materials Flipbook

Classroom Schedule Booklet

Classroom Rules Quilt

Pencil Poem

For these craft templates plus more, check out my “Classroom Routine and Procedures Craft Templates” product here.

4. Classroom Routine and Procedures Games

Learning and practicing with games is always a good idea. Now I know what you might be thinking… Laura, how can there possibly be a game about routines and procedures? Well, teachers are very good at being able to turn anything into a game!

Still don’t believe me? Here are some fun games to try when teaching and reinforcing your classroom rules and routines:

Find the ____ in the room:

This is a great game for reviewing. First, tell students that you need volunteers to find certain important parts of the room. Then call on students one at a time and then tell them to go touch a specific place in the classroom. Possible instructions could be:

“Where we keep our lunchboxes”

“Where paintbrushes go after they’ve been used”

“Where your pencil goes when it needs to be sharpened”

“Where the bathroom passes are kept”

Students will love being able to get up and roam the classroom to answer your questions! And they’ll get a great review of the classroom routines and procedures you’ve taught them so far.

Timed Test

Get your students hyped up about classroom routines with this fun challenge!

First, choose a routine that you want your students to practice. It might be their morning routine, or lining up for recess, or their steps before dismissal.

Explain to them that you’re going to time them to see if they can beat the record for how quickly it gets done! Make sure you set some rules. For example, no running, no talking, and no bossing others around are some good ones to set.

You can have them try it a few times in a row to get a lot of good practice, or you can do it each day for a week to see if they can improve their time!

Desk Fairy

This is a popular way to help motivate students to keep their table spot and classroom materials neat and tidy.

First, tell your students that sometimes the Desk Fairy comes at night to check to see which students are taking good care of their classroom materials. Sometimes she leaves a little treat for student who are doing a great job!

Then periodically, take a look at your students’ table spots. Sprinkle some glitter on the ones that look neat and tidy to show the Desk Fairy has been there. You can leave little incentives like stickers, pencils, or crayons on the desk for students doing a stellar job.

The Desk Fairy is so useful, because she can visit anytime you think your class needs a little extra motivation to keep their classroom materials neat!

Helpful or Distracting Sort

This game is great for reviewing classroom rules. Write out a bunch of behaviors on sticky notes. For example, “Poking a friend to ask them a question” Or “Calling out to a friend across the room” Or “Raising your hand when you want to speak”.

Then invite students to categorize them into “Helpful” or “Distracting” behavior. You can do this on your whiteboard or on an anchor chart, with two different categories where students can place their sticky notes. 

You can play this game as a whole class looking and deciding together. Or you can make enough for each student to get to place theirs, and then have the class chime in with whether or not they agree with the choice.

5. Classroom Routines and Procedures Books

There are so many wonderful Back To School children’s books, and these can be a wonderful way to help students understand expectations and boundaries. They also allow students to step into someone else’s shoes and generate empathy for the characters and what they are dealing with. This can impact the choices they make in the classroom later on.

These are some books that are great for teaching classroom routines and rules:

What If Everybody Did That?

This book gets students thinking about the effect their choices can have. It helps them see that every action adds up and that what they do matters!

No, David

A sweet book about a little boy who is struggling to learn the rules at school.

What Should Darla Do?

A book that lets the students decide what choice Darla should make to decide the outcome of the story.

We Don’t Eat Our Classmates

A cute story about a dinosaur who keeps accidentally eating her classmates… until she has an experience that teaches her how it feels to be eaten!

The Day the Crayons Quit

In this story, the crayons go on strike because they feel like they are not being treated properly. This is a great book for reinforcing proper use of classroom materials.

Miss Mingo and the Fire Drill

A great book for teaching about the rules of safety and reinforcing your school’s fire drill procedure.

I hope you now have lots of fun ideas to kick off your classroom routine and procedure teaching this year!

What's one fun teaching idea from this post that you're going to try out?
Xoxo
Laura

And don’t forget, you can get your ready-made templates for anchor charts and crafts for teaching classroom routines, rules, and procedures right here!

You May Also Enjoy Reading:

How To Teach Routines and Procedures In a Primary Grade

21 Amazing Ideas For Activities On the First Day of School

Week of Kindness

The post 5 Must-Try Classroom Routine and Procedures Ideas appeared first on Love Grows Learning.