First days of school activities to engage new or existing students

The first days of school are crucial for both sudents (new or existing) and the teaching staff. It's a time when teachers prepare their classrooms plans, inspiring lessons and, design activities to welcome their fresh students. Most activities in the first days of school involve  getting-to-know-you exercises, learning names or playing games. Overall, these incipient days should be the first of several focused on building a united classroom community.

What are some good activites for the first days of school?

10 exercises to kick off a new school year

1. The power

All you need for this exercise is a ball. Explain to the children that the person with the ball has the power and can ask any other member of the group a question. Participants pass the ball to each other, each time asking a question and receiving answers that encourage group sharing.

2. Color my world

Hand out coloured pencils and sheets and ask students to write their favourite colour. Then, in turn, they each announce their favourite colour and for each letter in the word name a personal characteristic. This exercise encourages self-discovery, can be comical, but is also a good mind-training exercise.

3. Let's get to know each other through mime!

Mime is always a great idea to lighten the mood in children's groups. In this activity, children sit in a circle. They each say their first name and then mime their favourite game/activity/hobby and their peers have to guess. You can start by miming your hobby yourself. This way you will get closer from the first days of school.

4. Twins

For this activity you will need movie/character name cards - two of each. Students will sit in a circle in pairs and each participant will draw a card. Then each person will try to find their 'twin', i.e. the person with the same card. Mention that each child will have to get to know each other and share something about themselves. After each has found their buddy, they will have to find 3 things they have in common which they will then present. 

5. I appreciate you for...

This exercise can be an ice-breaker if used in the first day back to school for existing students. Each pupil is given an A4 sheet of paper, which will be taped to their back with tape. Once they all have the sheet taped up, they will each write a reason for appreciating the other participants on their backs. Now that all the participants have written down the reasons why they appreciate them, each participant will take the sheet off their back and read what they have written. This activity increases the children's self-esteem, but it will also make the whole group more united.

6. Baby photos

A fun activity for the first few days of school for both new and existing students is to ask them to bring a photo of themselves as babies. Arrange the photos on the floor so that each pupil can take a photo, trying to guess which person it is. After guessing, each can tell a nice childhood memory. What better way to bond during the first days of school?

7. Business cards

Each student will receive a business card with the following headings: First and last name, Age, Place of origin, Hobbies. The pupils will fill in the business cards individually with their personal details, after which the teacher collects each card and distributes them to the pupils, this time each pupil will receive a colleague's card and not their own. The children then present the cards to the class, learning new things about each other.

8. Bingo!

We attach a "Bingo!" sheet. which you might find useful. Download the sheet to use in class. 

9. Secret Identity

All students sit in a circle and write, without seeing another classmate, on a post-it note the name of a personality. Attention! It is important that everyone knows the person, be it a star, a sportsperson or an actor. Then they stick that post-it on the back of the person on their right. All the students go around the classroom and ask their classmates questions to find out the name that is written on the back. The activity ends when everyone guesses the person they have been assigned. "Secret Identity" is a game that will bring lots of smiles to the classroom.

10.  Sherlock Holmes

"When we take the time to get to know our students on a personal level and are culturally responsive, we show them that we really care about them." Rita Pierson