Nothing can possibly sum up the significance of First Day of School Activities. These activities are instrumental in setting the tone for the new academic year and are far much more influential in helping students settle-in, open-up & build trust than any other activities.

With that in mind, we have listed 27 classroom-tested, mindful and fun First Week of School Activities across four categories that will help teachers to learn about their class and make students feel at ease.

Done right, these First week of school activities can help kids ease into the school year, make friendships, build on their strengths, and set goals for actual progress & development.

First Day of School Getting to Know You Activities

1. Emoji Introduction

Banish first day nerves with this fun activity that is super easy and perfect for all grades – be in kindergarten or middle graders.This first day of school activity invites kids to express themselves using emojis.

Ask students to draw three emojis to introduce themselves to the class and explain their choice. Such fun back to school activities help kids express themselves in a creative way without intimidating them.

2. Six Word Story

One of the most engaging first day of school activities for kindergarten and older kids, this activity prompts kids to think of six words describing their summer and make sentences with them.

Kids then pass their paper sheets in the class and have their classmates read them aloud.

3. Two Truths & A Dream

This is an excellent getting to know you activity for the first week of school for kids that will have them thinking and pennig down two truths and one dream or a goal on a piece of paper, without mentioning their names.

Once everyone has completed, gather all the papers and distribute them among students who then read out the paper and try to guess their classmate.

Two Truths & A Dream

Such first week of school activities for upper elementary and middle school are a great way to build connections, help kids identify common interests and make meaningful conversations.

4. Thanks For The Compliment

Here is another back to school activity that will boost student engagement and break the awkwardness of the first few days of school and help students make friends. Start by discussing how complementing each other helps identify strengths, make way for friendships and build a positive classroom community.

Give each student a sticky note, have them write one compliment for the student sitting in front of them and stick it on the student’s back.

Once everyone has completed, let students take off the sticky note from their backs’ and read them aloud. Perfect first day of school activity for 6th grade and above.

5. Classroom Bingo

Here is an exciting first day of school game that offers a fun twist to getting to know you activities. Simply print and let students find their classmates who match specific clues.

Such fun getting to know you games work wonders at breaking ice, boosting social interaction and helping students learn about each other.

6. DIY Bookmarks

Give a crafty twist to all about me activities with this fun DIY bookmark activity for the first day of school.

Hand out the bookmark template to each student and let them fill it up while adding their creative touch to the bookmark. Once everyone is finished, collect the bookmarks and display them on the class bulletin board.

First Day of School DIY Bookmarks

A perfect creative first day of school activity for kindergarten, it will have kids enjoying telling others about them.

7. All About Me Poster

Another all about me activity for kids to help them ease into their first week of school. A perfect and easy to set-up getting to know you activity for elementary, it will make kids’ transition to school smooth and easy.

8. Name Toss Game

This is a fun ice-breaker game for elementary students that will make name introductions fun and easy to remember. All you need is a soft ball for this first week of school activity.

Have the students standing in a circle. The rule is simple, the starting player throws the soft ball to another student, but they must call out the receiver’s name beforehand. The game continues till all students have passed the ball.

This fun game makes student introductions fun, easy to remember and is perfect for kids across varied age groups.

9. Birthday Line-Up

This is one of the most fun getting to know activities for elementary and middle grade where students line up according to the birth date and months.

Such activities are wonderful for breaking-ice among students, boost cooperative learning and double up as team building activity for the first week of school.

10. DIY Crafts

Crafts are a wonderful way of breaking initial awkwardness without much effort. Simple name crafts, easy pencil toppers are a few fun and easy back to school crafts that fit perfectly well into the first week.

11. Goal Cards

Goal cards in mindful first day of school printable activity for grade 6 and above, where students are encouraged to think and plan 2 personal and 2 academic goals for the year.

Student Goal Cards

12. Word Wall

A wonderful, easy to set-up back to school activity for grade 7 and above, this one encourages students to think not only for themselves but for the entire class.

The goal is to make a word wall, where each student thinks of an intention to follow through the academic year, reflecting their mindset while building a positive classroom environment.

Classroom Team Building Activities

13. Common Ground Challenge

This first week of school team building activity is a great way to get students to know each other, collaborate and work together as a team.

Common Ground Challenge

Divide students into small groups and have them discuss & pen down 10 common interests or things like sports, fave animal, food, book, hobby etc. After three minutes, each group reads out their common interests, thus helping students find common grounds, liking and making friends.

14. Classroom Puzzle

Depending on the grade level, pick a puzzle with a suitable number of pieces and have students work together to complete the jig-saw puzzle.

Such easy classroom team building activities are an excellent way to help students ease into the first week of school.

15. Classroom Culture Collage

This collaborative back to school activity for middle grades is a creative way to set tone for classroom culture where each student pens down their classroom expectations towards building a positive classroom atmosphere for everyone to respect and adhere to.

16. Kindness Chain

Inspired from the book Ordinary Mary’s Extraordinary Deed, this back to school classroom community activity encourages kids to think of kind words for their fellow classmates.

Start by giving each child a strip of paper and ask them to write down a kind thought for a fellow classmate. Once everyone has completed, link the paper strips to make a kindness paper chain to display on class bulletin boards.

17. Book Buddies

Pair students together to read a book together. For 1st, 2nd and upto 4th grade, pick short stories and for older kids let the pair decide on a genre & read a book corresponding to it within a week.

Activities To Help Teachers Get to Know Students

18. How I Like To Learn

This is an excellent first day of school idea for teachers to help them understand their class better. Simple questions about students’ learning preferences & styles not only helps teachers design classroom activities but also makes students feel valued and respected.

How I Like To Learn

19. Interest Inventory

Another back to school printable activity for teachers, this one aims at uncovering students’ interests, hobbies and preferences. This provides powerful insight for teachers to help them break-ice with students and get-off to a great start of the new school year.

Interest Inventory

20. Emoji Check-In

A super simple back to school activity for preschool and all the way up to middle school, this one will help teachers and students convey their emotions through emojis.

Emoji Check-In

Students fold the paper and give it to the teacher to help them understand their emotional state and offer support to anxious students. To encourage communication, teachers can start with their emotion emoji and share it with the class.

21. One Thought

This first day of school activity will have each student write down a question for their teacher to reflect on or share something personal that they would want their teacher to know. Students then fold the paper and put them in a box for the teacher to read later on.

Ice Breaker Activities For First Day of School

22. Back To School Would You Rather

A classic first week of school activity, these silly Back to School Would You Rather Questions are a fun way to ease nerves, break-ice and have everyone laughing!

23. This or That Corners

Give a fun twist to classic this or that questions game with This or That Corners. Designate class corners for each choice and let students move to the corner corresponding to their pick.

This or That Corners

To make it more fun, encourage discussions between corners to convince students to switch their positions.

24. Cup Tower Challenge

This first week of school ice-breaker game doubles up as a team activity, where students pair with each other to make the tallest paper cup tower in a given time. Choose a time frame according to the grade level to make it fun and challenging

25. JAM

A fun session of Just A Minute is all you need to get students talking and breaking out of their shyness!

26. Killer Detective

This is a super fun game that will have all students (& teachers!) abroad. A game of quick reflexes, observation and gigantic laughs, it is sure to break-ice among students.

27. Speed Friendships

This fun ice-breaker for the first day of school will challenge kids to overcome their shyness and spend two minutes chatting with a fellow student before moving on to the next student.

To make it easy, discuss a few conversation starters in class before starting.

Why the First Day of School Matters

First day of school is full of emotions and often sets the tone for the entire academic year. A warm welcome accompanied with ice-breaking activities can help students make friends during the first week & connect with their teachers leading to a positive classroom environment.

These simple yet effective first day of school activities are a wonderful way of creating a sense of belonging among students, establishing mutual respect & trust while creating a space for joyful learning where students feel seen, heard and valued.

Final Thoughts

These light-hearted, practical first days of school activities are conducive in laying the foundation for an enjoyable, productive & successful school year and a classroom built of trust, mutual respect and inclusion.