Are you looking for back to school and first week of school activities that are hands-on and focus on Friendship? Then, you will love our Back to School Activities and Centers and Preschool! This unit has been created and practiced throughout my 11 years of teaching 4K. The activities in this unit are great for children 3 1/2-6. The activities revolve around friendship books and back to school rules, routines and getting to know our school environment.
Click {HERE} to check it out!
A great way to help students feel welcome at school is to have them share and tell about their family. At orientation give each family a piece of cardstock and construction paper and have them include photos of their family doing their favorite activities together. Send this home with each child so they can learn about their classmates.
Make the boys and girls feel welcome on the first day with this cute welcome gift.
My favorite first day of school story is Rainbow Fish, by Marcus Pfister. I love the message of sharing and friendship. The boys and girls love retelling the story with story puppets.
I like to collect a sample of coloring the first day of school to put into their portfolio to show growth throughout the year.
The boys and girls feel so special coming home with a certificate for the first day of school. They love sharing this with their families.
They will love wearing this cute first day of school crown. A great thing to share with their families.
Throughout the first week we discuss the rules of the classroom. It is important that they know the expectations of the classroom within the first few days.
Preschoolers are all about everything being fair. We talk about characteristics that make us special, like hair and eye color. Then, I have the boys and girls to color the popsicle sticks to reflect them self. We use these sticks for turn taking throughout the year.
One of my favorite back to school activities is making friendship bracelets. The kids can make one for them self or for a friend.
Children love games! In small groups, I place the Get to Know Your Classroom printable on clipboards with a pencil. We search the room for all of the items.
I like to have a few centers ready for each area of the classroom. I like most to be open-ended, however I also like several to focus on important skills. The center above is perfect for shape tracing. Laminate and add EXPO markers for a fun activity.
Back to school Activities should focus on key skills like this fine motor pre-writing trace.
Shape matching is a great way to get the boys and girls talking about shapes.
Sticker My Name is a great way to help students focus on each letter in their name and name identification.
The dough activities are great for fine motor skills.
If you like these centers and activities check out out seasonal bundles. Perfect for preschool, pre-k, ECE. The activities and centers revolve around popular and vocabulary rich books. Check out the bundle {HERE}.
Here are some more posts from our Preschool Curriculum Bundle: