21 Back to School Games & Activities For Teachers

Back to School Games & Activities for teachers are a perfect way to warm up students & adults alike to the school routine. This is the time when awkwardness and nervousness are at their peak. And what better way to banish them with Back to School games and activities!

It is essential to build a sense of community among students for a successful academic year. Students must feel safe, heard and most importantly valued & appreciated in the classroom.

There is ample research pointing out how classroom community is essential for optimal student learning and its positive impacts on social emotional learning of students. This list of 21 Back to School Games and Activities are an excellent way to build classroom community, get to know student and are just so easy to set-up!

Fun Back To School Games & Activities For Teachers

1. Back To School Scavenger Hunt

If you are looking for simple fun back to school ideas, this one’s for you! A classic game, Scavenger hunt is much loved by all and this back to school version is perfect for your morning circle time.

Back To School Scavenger Hunt

Simply group students into teams and let them compete to finish the Scavenger hunt fastest. There are two versions we have created for different grade levels, choose the one that suits your grade. 

2. Back to School Guess Who

This is a delightful back to school game for students where clues are given regarding a fellow classmate whom they have to guess.

Start by distributing the ‘guess who’ sheet to each student. After the students have filled in their sheet, they fold the paper and put it in a basket or a tray.

Once all the students have submitted their sheets, children take turns in picking one sheet from the basket and read aloud the clues mentioned to guess their peers. 

Back To School Guess Who

In case they are not able to guess, they can take help from their classmates. It is a really a fun game that encourages students to think critically and pay attention to small details of their fellow classmates. Sure to help students warm-up to the new session!

3. Back To School Would You Rather

Get students excited for the upcoming school year with these fun questions. An engaging activity for the whole class, these school would you rather questions will help new students shed their inhibitions and help them assimilate with the older students. 

These social icebreakers are one of the much needed back to school activities that will get students interacting with each other and getting to know their classmates.

4. Back To School Word Scramble

Warm up your students to the new beginnings with word scramble. This back to school word scramble challenges kids to whip-up as many words as possible from the letters in ‘back to School’ in 10 minutes. 

Back to School Word Scramble

This is a much loved back to school game for language teachers and perfect for librarians as well to welcome kids back!

5. Name Cards

We understand how important it is for students to feel visible, especially during the first weeks of school. Calling them by the wrong name can make them feel less valued. But at the same time, we realise it can get difficult for you to remember the names of all students in the starting school session.

Name Cards

An easy and fun way to tackle this is to organise Name Cards activity. Simply print the name card template and let your students make their cards, write down a few things they would like you to know about them and place them on their desks.

This would not only help you remember your students’ names but also learn a few details about them.

Quick Tip: Use humour to ease the nerves with the Funniest Teacher Jokes.

6. Roll & Tell

This is a fun dice classroom game that will ease the anxiety of the new class, boost socio-emotional learning and help in building a rapport amongst students. Such activities help students ease into the new environment while laying the foundation for substantive communication and support. 

Roll & Tell Game

While this template has a blend of fun and know-me-better questions, you can always make your own template to suit your classroom needs.

Related: Try these Questions to Ask Kids to know them better!

7. I Would Like My Teacher…

What is most important in the early weeks of the new session is to build student-teacher connection. Making sure your students connect with you will build their trust in you and open up about their challenges, personal fears and anxieties. Thus boosting their learning abilities and providing for a safe environment in class.

One easy way to do that is to hand each child a sheet of ‘I would like my teacher…’ at the beginning of the session. Explain to your class that they can use these notes to communicate to their teachers in a personal manner.

I would like my teacher

This relationship building activity will give students the confidence to confide in you without the fear of being judged by anyone and earn you their love, respect & support – something every teacher longs for!

Related: Try these Conversation Starters for Kids to break ice!

8. Find a Friend Bingo

This is a great social emotional learning back to school game that will have students interacting and candid with each other. Not only will this game help students know more about each other but also help them find classmates with similar interests and family structure, thus helping them build new friendships and strengthen existing bonds.

Find a Friend Bingo

Such social icebreakers are a must for the first day of school to make the starting weeks easier and get kids comfortable.

9. Getting to Know My Teacher

This relationship building activity is focussed on students learning about their teachers. It starts with you introducing yourself, sharing small details about you, your likes and dislikes.

Once that’s done, comes the interesting part where you hand out ‘Getting to Know My Teacher’ printouts to your class and let them write down things they know about you, what new they learned and what they wish to know!

Getting to Know My Teacher

Think of it like a KWL chart aimed at building trust and setting-up open communication between students and teachers. 

10. Circle Challenge

A fun and creative back to school game, “Circle challenge” will get your classroom thinking creatively! The best part of this back to school game is that it is suitable for all grade levels – be in kindergarten or grade 8!

Circle Challenge Game

Each student gets the circle challenge sheet and has exactly 3 minutes to turn the circle into as many objects as possible! Though it sounds easy, we assure it gets tricky after five to six circles. The student with the most objects wins the game. 

11. Roll-a-Story Game

Here is another back to school game that will get your students working together and making use of their imagination.

Roll-a-Story

Divide the class into groups, let students write and come up with their novel stories. This easy classroom game works on many aspects – team building, critical thinking skills, creativity, literacy skills besides acting as a fun ice-breaker for class.

12. All About Me

This is one of the best back to school get to know activities for the first day of the school or the first week! “All about Me” makes relationship & team building easier in the classroom setting and lets children learn about each other.

Have your students fill out the ‘All About Me’ template and hang it in the hallway or classroom display board for everyone to have a look at. This will encourage students to interact and seek out classmates who share their hobbies and interests.

All About Me

This All About Me download features two versions – one suited for primary, elementary students and the other aimed at older students. Choose the one according to your grade.

13. Pen a Review

Nothing can get students more excited about collaborative work than a Movie Review. Include a short movie in your morning circle time and let your students pen down its review in pairs. Once everyone is finished, discuss reviews with the class.

This fun back to school content-based activity will boost community building while working on their metacognitive skills. Students will learn to take in their peer’s opinions and work together. 

Pen a Review

You can always tweak this activity to include a book from the classroom library or a much loved children’s book!

14. Three Word Game

Get your students’ minds racing with the three word game. Sure to test their wits, this exciting game will liven up kids and force them to think fast. Extremely fun, this will get them into convivial mode and shed away their shyness!

Three Words Back To School Game

15. Two Truths & One Lie

This is a classic game that makes for a perfect icebreaker for the new classroom. Let students share two fun facts about themselves along with one cleverly disguised lie. The class guesses the lie out of the truth in this fun classroom game.

Two Truths One Lie

16. Back to School Word Search

A favourite with literacy teachers, this back to school word search will have your students uncovering words to win this fun competitive game of word search. Make them into pairs and let the game begin!

Back to School Word Search

It is a wonderful idea to include back to school games like these as they get kids into the school-mode, after a long break, in a fun way and get them into a healthy competition.

17. Superhero Learner

Get kids into metacognitive mode with this fun back to school activity called ‘Superhero Learner’! This activity will not only help you learn more about your students but help them look into themselves to identify their strengths, weaknesses and a way to overcome them.

Superhero Learner

18. Design Challenge

Let your students explore their imagination and creativity with this Teacher Mug design challenge. This is an open-ended activity for students that allows them to use their choice school supplies…be it paints, crayons or simply pencil sketching or pointillism whatever they fancy.

Design Challenge

19. Back To School Writing Prompts

Writing prompts are a great way to get children into learning mode. These creative writing prompts for all ages will challenge kids to think and give you a peak inside their mind and heart!

20. Class Rules Paper Chain 

When starting the new school year, it is imperative to set the tone for the classroom community. Let your class make a paper chain with each student making a link and penning down one value like respect, empathy, kindness, inclusiveness etc. on it.

To do this mindful back to school activity, all you need is coloured paper, scissors and glue. Start with writing one value on a paper strip you feel all students must adhere to in the classroom. Glue its ends and pass it to students, who then add their paper loop with the value they resonate with to make a paper chain.

Once everyone is done, display the completed classroom rules paper chain on the bulletin board for everyone to see and stay conscious of. This simple back to school idea will serve as a mindful reminder to be kind to each other and maintain the decorum of the class.

21. Just a Minute

This is an excellent game to get your students talking about things they love. This game will force your students to think deeply and come up with their unique answers providing everyone clues to their personality. 

Just a Minute Icebreaker Game

We highly recommend this fun game where you pick a question from Just a Minute sheet and talk about it for a minute, trying not to repeat what they have already said. This back to school game is best played during the last leg of the first week of school when kids are more comfortable in their new classroom.

22. Paper Ball Toss

Paper ball toss is a fun back to school game for elementary students. Easy to set-up, all you need is coloured papers for this guessing classroom game.

Give a sheet of paper to each student and have them write five interesting facts about them in the middle of the paper. Once they penned it down, let them crumple the paper into a ball and toss it in a clean bin much like the paper toss game.

Once everyone has tossed their paper balls, let kids pick a paper ball, read what’s written on it aloud and guess the student to whom the paper ball belongs!

FAQ