Young kids just entering kindergarten might find the overall experience scary and awful. As a teacher, you must help them adjust and realize that it is not all that bad. You want them to stay put instead of whining about going back to their parents or going back home.
The only way to do this is by carefully preparing fun activities to do on the first day of school. These will not only help students and teachers get familiar with each other, but they might just as well enable the students to really like you!Â
Let’s take a look at what you can incorporate into the first day of kindergarten.
Great First Day of Kindergarten Activities
Below is a list of some of the best kindergarten activities that can make the first day less nerve-wracking for students. We hope you will like them too!
Personalizing the classroom is the easiest and best way to help kids get familiar with the classroom, their teacher, and fellow students.
Gather some paper, crayons, markers, stickers, quotes, or any other fun stuff that can be used to decorate a classroom.
Each child can pick what they like or simply let their imagination flow on a small piece of paper. Once everyone has something ready to decorate the classroom with, you can start putting them up. Use thumbtacks and glue to pin each child’s creation to soft boards, walls, and shelves.
Kids can even get crafty and do some origami for their classroom.
Everyone gets to personalize the classroom, and the kids will instantly feel like they are more at home.
It will also definitely start up a healthy competition in which each student wants to come up with something better to decorate the classroom. This is also a great way to bring out every kid’s crafty side!
To read up more on this and other fun activities you can introduce, go to ProdigyGame.com.
Another fun activity you can do on the first day of kindergarten is to design some name tags.
These could be plain and boring, black and white printouts, or you could do something a little more fun!
You could use a template to print some fun, colorful tags that students can fill out later, or you could let the kids get crafty as they devise their own tags.
In the process, you could also teach each kid how to properly write their names. Once ready, the kids can pin them up on their clothes to be identified more easily.Â
It is also a great way to help the students get acquainted with their teacher and other kids. Everyone will be able to find out each other’s names as they say it out loud once the tags are ready.
Tags also help you, as a teacher, be able to learn the names of all the new kids.
If you are a kindergarten teacher, you are someone who adores little kids.
And, what could be the best way to show your love apart from gifting some cute things to the new lot?
When it comes to preparing gifts for kindergarten kids, the possibilities are endless. You could get some candy, snacks, or even some stationary.
Puzzles, playdough kits, posters, or baskets that can be decorated and put up in the classroom – the list is never-ending.
Whatever you choose to gift them on the first day, it is best to make sure the gifts are either all unique or exactly similar to each other. This will rule out kids demanding each other’s gifts and will also make them appreciate the teacher more.
They will also feel loved since they will start believing they are all equals in their teacher’s eyes. You could also play a fun game before handing out the gifts.Â
Rules are very important, and you must state them out before the entire classroom turns into a mess.
The first day of school is definitely the best day to help students understand that there is a set of rules they must adhere to in the classroom. You could also help them understand that they could receive some form of punishment if they fail to follow the rules.
You can assure them they will be warned a couple of times before that happens. This is a great way to help induce discipline.
As for rules, you must teach kids that they are supposed to greet each other and their teacher every morning.
No one must talk in class or during a lesson. They should always form a queue, and they should sit in their respective positions or a semi-circle in the classroom.
You could also tell them that lying, backbiting, or harming other kids or their property has consequences as well. It is also a great idea to ask them to come up with their issues to the teacher instead of finding ways to resolve them on their own.
The most basic activity any teacher introduces on the first day of kindergarten is most probably coloring.
You can prepare printouts or coloring books plus some crayons to start this activity.
The tricky part is teaching the kids how they are supposed to color, that is, within the lines, and also how they are supposed to hold a crayon. You can teach this to them individually or show basic steps to all of them in one go.Â
Be sure to monitor them and see if some kids need help. You can also start teaching them the names of colors and also the colors of some basic things like the grass is supposed to be green, the sky is supposed to be blue, and the sun should be yellow.Â
We found this and other cool ideas on KindergartenChaos.com. Make sure to check it out!
New kindergarten kids need to be taught alphabets and letters since they probably have no clue.
As the teacher, you need to help them be able to write and pronounce them correctly.
You could simply start by using cards to help the kids visually identify letters and numbers. Make sure you speak out the correct pronunciation and also ensure that each child can follow.
You could then take it a step further by introducing worksheets in which they trace out individual alphabets and numbers one by one. Take it slow as they identify each symbol.
Make sure to also teach them that each alphabet has its uppercase and lowercase as well. MissKindergarten.com has some more fun and cool ideas you could use as an activity on the first day of school. Make sure to give it a visit!
Stories are a great, fun way to gain the attention of your kids and make them interested in the class.
Everyone loves a good story, and you could easily use this to teach your kids new words, and they can also let their imagination flow by adding to the story. Quiz them at the end of each story-telling session to ensure they paid attention and understood what the story was about.
Stories can also be used to teach them morals, short poems, alphabets, and even numbers. You can step up your game by introducing names of fruits, vegetables, flowers, animals, or any other thing you would like them to learn.Â
Stories can be made visually entertaining by drawing out parts of them on a board or using a picture book to make it even more fun!
Everyone has something they want to change in their life and keep up with it firmly.
What better way than to start making resolutions and adhering to them as a young kid? And, you, as their teacher, could help them with that!
You should probably first decide whether you want the kids to share their resolutions or you want them to come up with something they promise to adhere to in class. Better yet, you could give them a free choice.
You could ask them one by one what they plan to change or introduce into their lives and how they are going to stick to it. Note these down on small pieces of paper and fill them in a jar. You could also cover up the classroom soft board with their resolutions, which will act as a daily reminder.
By sharing these in class, the kids can then help each other adhere to their promises, and everyone gets to see the progress of each other. This will ensure everyone strives to fulfill their resolution as a healthy competition will be induced.
Some other similar great ideas can be found on scholastic.com.
Nursery rhymes and poems are every teacher’s favorite.
Students love to sing while the teacher loves that they have a fun way to teach them various things, including alphabets, numbers, and other similar variants. The kids can also dance along, prance about, and sign out various gestures and signs to make it even more fun!
This also teaches them unity as they sing and make gestures at the same time.
You could ask them to sing along to a recording of the poem, or you could ask them to sing it along with you. An even better idea is to ask them to repeat every sentence of the poem after you.
By doing so, they are not only able to pronounce words correctly, but they also learn the poem.Â
You could also keep a small session afterward to help explain what is going on in the poem and whether there is some moral to it. You could also use this time to help explain the meanings of new words present in the poem.
Do check out RootsAndWingsKindergarten.com to find out more about other activities you could do on the first day of kindergarten.
Labels are yet another great way to teach kids about different parts of different things, like the body.
You can use charts with drawings or use smaller printouts that each child can individually label. Use stick-on labels, glue, or markers to label out everything. For smaller prints, labels can be premade, and the students simply have to stick these on.Â
This will also teach kids how the glue is supposed to be used. In turn, this will teach them finger control and how much they are supposed to use.
Each child could also be given their separate bottle, and you could challenge them to use it wisely. The kid whose bottle lasts the longest could be gifted something later on.
For printables, cool ideas, and other similar activities, you should visit KeepingMyKiddoBusy.com.Â
What Supplies Are Needed For These Activities?
So, you now have a list of all the fun activities you want to do on the first day of kindergarten with your kids. Once you decide upon the cool activities you want to engage in with your kids, you would also want to make sure that your classroom will be well equipped to perform these on the first day.
It is best to stock up on stationery like crayons, paper, glue, thumbtacks, stickers, or other things your activities will require. You also need to be ready with the suitable printouts and worksheets that are going to be required in class. Placards, books, and charts should also be within reach. You would also like to have gifts ready, and it is not a bad idea to have candy and snacks in stock as well.Â
School background. Various school supplies on a desktop, copy space, top view
For poems and stories, you might want to have a sound system that can be plugged into your smartphone for audio. Keeping name tags ready is also a great idea. You should also have sensory items like playdough, some educational toys, and maybe even slime to keep the kids entertained.Â
If you plan on playing games like I-spy, Simon says, or something similar, it is best to evaluate beforehand if those games might require some tools or materials for playing.Â
Being prepared and ready with the correct tools on the first day of kindergarten is going to save you a lot of hassle. It will also ensure that the day goes on smoothly, the activities are fully enjoyable, and everyone has a great time. Learning and fun should go hand in hand if you want kids to look forward to each day at school!
Conclusion
Whatever activities you eventually plan to do, it is best to have materials ready at hand. You can also experiment with various things to see what your kids love the best. Also, a great idea is to keep gifts, candy, and other similar things ready to hand out to make every child’s first day even more memorable.
Make sure you begin class with a proper introduction and set proper rules that they are supposed to follow in class. Let them realize that kindergarten will both be a fun and learning experience for each of them! Play games, sing together, or even dance to make the first day super duper fun!
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Hi, I'm Amanda! Welcome to Education Outside! Im passionate about educating young minds and helping parents/teachers by providing easy and effective teaching resources. Check out all of my teaching resources on my Teachers Pay Teachers store.