Back to school activities make the beginning of the school year go smoothly for everyone! Build a sense of community and reward positive behavior with these ideas.
Fun Back to School Activities for Teachers
There are many moving parts to starting the school year in elementary school. This post includes ideas for creating a positive classroom community, managing the classroom and student behavior, and keeping belongings and lessons organized.
In addition, you must have the most enticing arts, crafts, math, and literacy activities for a new school year! These back to school tips and fun activities will make the upcoming school year a success.
Back to School Activities to Build Classroom Community
Building a sense of community and friendship is vital in the classroom. Fun-filler back to school activities create a sense of community you desire—for example, activities such as social-emotional learning, self-assessment, and listening activities. During the first few weeks of school, spending time building the classroom community will reap tremendous benefits all year round.
- When kids start their first day back to school, they must prepare for the year. Therefore, these back to school activities for responsibility, goal setting, and conflict resolution can help. Kids will feel proud showing off their responsibility super kid tie!
- Teaching kids to be kind at the start of the school year can have a powerful impact on them. This kindness unit includes back to school activities that will promote social-emotional learning, such as a kindness calendar.
- Getting to know one another during the first few weeks of school helps to build the classroom community. Playing a round of snowball fight is perfect for this!
- Building a sense of community in a class should be a top priority. For example, these friend wanted ads build community during back to school activities.
- During the first week of school, create an inclusive and caring atmosphere with these community building activities. Kids will feel closer to their classmates, creating friendships that will last the year.
- Introduce kids to student self-assessment this year. Not only will it make the first few weeks back to school easier, but it will also make the rest of the year better than ever as kids take ownership for their learning.
- Start the first weeks of school off right by promoting positive behavior. ThisYes David! activity encourages kids to make good choices.
- Listening activities are great for back to school time. Not only will these listening activities prepare kids for a successful year of school, but they’ll also have a lot of fun doing them!
Educational Back to School Activities & Ideas
Start the year off with a little bit of fun, and a whole lot of learning. For instance, focus on activities that are educational, but also include a fun factor. Such educational activities that focus on Math, Reading, or Writing could also include arts, crafts, games, or physical activity. Here are a few ideas.
- Friend Bingo is a enjoyable way to calm back to school jitters and get kids moving. No matter what age they are, kids will enjoy getting to know their classmates while playing this game. Click Here to download the free New Friend Scavenger Hunt activity!
- There are so many things to share when coming back to school. Pick a Stick is a fun, educational game to play with kids during the first week of school.
- Making these back to school photo frames with kids is a great way to start the school year. Not only will kids have fun, but parents will also appreciate this adorable memento.
- When kids come back to school, it’s important to get to know them. All About Me is a fantastic writing prompt that will help teachers get to know who is in their classrooms this year.
- First day jitters are normal. This emoji writing activity can help kids cope with those scary emotions!
Back to School Classroom Management Ideas
Starting the year off right with classroom rules and procedures is also important. There are so many fun ways to take classroom management to the next level, helping to set precedence during the first few weeks of school.
Arrange desks, consider flexible seating, create classroom jobs and rules, and create incentives and rewards – these are just a few classroom management ideas you could use for a fantastic school year.
- Deciding on a set ofclass rules is important to include in the first week of back to school activities. Involve the kids in deciding some of the rules so that they feel responsible for them.
- The class schedule can change from year to year. In order to help kids be prepared for the next activity, theseclass schedule cardsare ideal to use.
- Back to school activities should definitely include implementingclass jobs! In fact, kids will be excited to get a job for the day or week, helping them feel responsible and proud of their classroom space.
- How should a classroom be set up for back-to-school time? Thesedesk arrangementsmake it easy to start the school year off right.
- There are so many seating options available outside the traditional desks and tables usually found in a classroom. Flexible seating can transform a classroom for the better.
- Back to school night kicks off your back to school activities, so prepare early. This back-to-school night pamphletwill help introduce the teacher to parents, giving them the information they need for the school year.
- Decide which classroom jobs to include this school year. In anticipation of that, here are 14 of the most helpful classroom jobs that kids will love.
- Back to school time is the perfect time to try something new in the classroom. Teach kids sign language to help make classroom management so much easier!
22. Plan for success with thesestudent certificate, hat, and tag awards. These awards acknowledge kids for all of the hard work they do.
- Back to school classroom management isn’t just about individual behavior… it’s also about the class as a whole! Theseclass incentive chartswill have kids working together!
- Stop spending money on treasure box fillers and start the school year off with class reward coupons. They will encourage kids to work towards their goals. Use these rewards to encourage kids to follow the rules, complete their classroom jobs, and complete assignments.
- Setting clear expectations for classroom behavior will help start the year off right. Use a clip chart and notes hometo provide feedback to kids and parents.
- Manage student blurting during the first few weeks of back to school time. It’s easy with these guaranteed ways to stop student blurting, including Talkin’ Tokens.
- This year’s back to school activities should include classroom management skills, such as thesefast finisher activity cards. These cards help kids on task and learning when they finish an activity before the rest of the class.
- A quick note home communicates with parents about student behavior. These quick notes promote positive student behavior during back to school and after.
Back to School Ideas for Organization
The school year flows more easily when you tame the chaos of the materials beforehand! These classroom organization ideas will help declutter the classroom, making it easier to find supplies, make lessons, arrange parent volunteers, and more! A little bit of organization goes a long way during back to school time.
- Organize plans and help kids have a successful year. This editable planner is one way for kids (and adults) to stay organized each day with the most important notes and words to learn that week.
- Make sure to organize your classroom library with a clear method that students can easily adopt. For inspiration, read One Sharp Bunch’s ideas on how she uses bins and labels.
- Setting goals is a priority during back to school activities. This goal and data binderwill help kids set goals and encourage them to accomplish these objectives.
- Get ready for a fun year by setting upparent volunteers. Back to school activities and classroom management are so much easier when you have an extra set of hands to help.
- Guided Reading can sometimes be a jumble, so make your plan in advance. Here is a great method for organizing your guided reading block.
- A back to school checklist is a must for an organized and successful school year. For example, this classroom prep checklistwill ensure everything gets done for the start of the school year.
- Too much clutter in the classroom? Well, fix it with a little bit of organization! This back to school teacher toolbox will make clutter a thing of the past.
- Post-its are a staple item in any classroom. Combine post-its with classroom organization with this free back to school printable. Use it to plan lessons, homework assignments and more.
- Need books? Fill your shelves with these ideas, and learn more about how to organize your bookshelves.
- Make the classroom library a goal this year. As inspiration, look at this classroom library checkout system that includes snapping a photo to help keep any classroom library in tip-top shape.
- Finally, make sure you’re ready for parent conferences. More importantly, give parents a heads-up about grades before report cards. How do you do that? Check out these tips for classroom mailboxes.
Classroom Resources for Back to School
Back to School Social-Emotional Learning Resource
Thisback to school social emotional learning resourceis the perfect companion to your start of school lesson plans. It includes mini-lesson ideas and engaging activities that build connections in the classroom and teach important social and emotional skills to children during the most important time of the year.
Themind+heart SEL back to school resourceand activities will support kids as they learn to be positive members of the classroom community, develop self-awareness, build new relationships, and act with kindness and empathy.
Get Your FREE SEL Back-to-School Sample Resource!
You can try out the Back to School SEL resource by downloading this freebie today. It includes a self-portrait activity, classroom contract planning templates, and a book response writing prompt.
Just click the image below to sign up!
The Ultimate Classroom Management Toolkit
Find all your classroom essentials with the Classroom Management bundle. It includes 8 engaging resources (many included in this post) that kids will love!
More Ideas for Back to School
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Classroom Management Strategies
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