Starting kindergarten can be a daunting experience for young children. They are expected to follow new routines, meet new people, and adjust to a new environment. Teachers and parents want to ensure that their children feel comfortable and happy at school. Incorporating a few fun activities can help ease the transition for kindergarteners. In this post, we’ll explore five fun activities for the first week of kindergarten.
1. First Day of School Picture Frames
I always take individual pictures of my students on the first day of school. I have a Fujifilm Instax Mini Instant Camera that I use to take their pictures. The kids love watching the camera print out their photos.
I wanted to do something special with these first day of school photos. So I created these cute frames to go with them.
The kids color the frames, I tape their pictures to the frame, and we add a magnet to the back. This activity provides a cute keepsake for students to take home and put on the fridge.
2. First Week of Kindergarten Ideas: Hats
Another fun activity for the first day of school is creating and wearing first-day-of-school hats. I created these cute hats that I have my students make every year.
Students can decorate their hats with markers, stickers, glitter, etc. After they’ve decorated their hats, I use strips of construction paper to make the band that goes around their head.
My kindergarteners love wearing their hats home and sharing them with their families. These hats are a great addition to your activities for the first week of kindergarten.
Interested in these fun activities for the first week of kindergarten (the picture frames and hats)? Scroll to the beginning of this post to get them for free. 🙂
3. Exploring Manipulatives
Kindergarten is a time when students begin to learn through play. Because of this, I have all my different math and literacy manipulatives where students can see and reach them.
My kindergarteners are always interested in these manipulatives and want to play with them. So I provide lots of time for students to explore and play with the manipulatives. Exploring manipulatives can help students learn and have fun at the same time.
My students love exploring manipulatives such as play dough, unifix cubes, counting bears, magnetic letters, pattern blocks, spelling sand, and letter stamps. Our first few math and literacy lessons are just exploring different ways to use these materials.
4. More First Week of Kindergarten Ideas: Story Time
Storytime is always enjoyable for young children and is one of my favorite activities for the first week of kindergarten. I love reading books during the first week of school related to starting school. Some of my favorites are:
–The Pigeon Goes to School by Mo Willems
–We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins
–Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault
–Miss. Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten by Joseph Slate
–First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg
–Pete the Cat Rocking In My School Shoes by Eric Litwin
–The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi
These books can help students feel more comfortable and excited about starting school.
5. Incorporating Play Into Your Activities For The First Week of Kindergarten
Playtime is an essential part of kindergarten. Children learn through play, and giving them free choice time to interact and play with each other can help build relationships and develop social skills.
I always start and end our day with 15 minutes of playtime. In addition to this, I incorporate play into our day by taking brain breaks and including activities that feel like play.
This can include playing learning games, such as Simon Says and I Spy. You can use prompts such as “Simon says find something that starts with b” or “I spy with my little eye something that ends with d.” These opportunities feel like play and give students a chance to move around, but also encourage learning at the same time.
I also like to use learning games and activities in our literacy and math centers. I use the kindergarten Bridges math curriculum. I love that math centers, called workplaces, are incorporated into every lesson. My students love playing the different math games.
I also love including games in our literacy centers as well. My students love playing games like these Easter-themed games that you can find free here.
Your Must-Have Activities For The First Week Of Kindergarten
Looking for more posts about back to school. Check out these blog posts:
Back to School: Parent Communication
10 Creative Ideas for Kindergarten Classroom Set-Up and Organization