I’m going to be honest, I hate first day of school activities. I hate icebreakers, I hate choosing a starburst and sharing facts about myself. I hate talking to strangers to figure out what squares we have in common on a bingo board. In my opinion, the classic icebreaker or introduction activities we’ve been subjected to for years are the worst part of meetings, professional development, and back to school. I’m an introvert, and I’d rather get my teeth pulled than do forced mingling with strangers. For students, these activities are so often too big of a social risk on the first day, and they don’t actually help kids get to know each other.
So, over the years I have come across and tried out many first day of school activities that are low-stakes, jitter-free, and offer me an opportunity to chat with students in small groups and actually start building those relationships. Here’s a list and explanation of my favorite activities that are no-cheese, low-prep, and (pardon my frankness) don’t suck for introverts. Happy back to school!
1. My Hexagonal Identity
This activity is one I can almost guarantee your students won’t have encountered! I make copies of a large hexagon for each student. The hexagon is divided into 6 triangles. I give students a good amount of time ( or allow them to complete at home) to fill in each hexagon with details about themselves. I show students my exemplar below, making sure they know that they don’t have to be an artist to make a great hexagon!
Afterwards, we can use the hexagons to build honeycombs with other students by making connections or common threads between each of the hexagons, so that students begin to build connections with each other.
At the end of the day, I staple the honeycombs together and attach them to the wall of my classroom, where they stay all year! I’ve created a great print-and-go organizer for this My Hexagonal Identity Activity, which can be snagged on my TpT store!
2. STEM Competitions
Get students energized and ignite their competitive side with a variety of critical thinking competitions! Have a reward, like the winning team gets to choose their seats on the seating chart. Try one or several of these in a class period!
Some of my favorites are:
- Build the tallest tower using only index cards ( I reuse the cards during the year!)
- Build a tower that can support an object ( like a book) out of toothpicks and marshmallows
- Cereal box scramble – cut up the front side of several cereal boxes into puzzle pieces, one for each team. For an extra challenge, hide a couple of pieces around the room and create a clue sheet for students to find their missing pieces.
- Dice stacking – provide 6 dice and one pair of chopsticks per team. Each team member must stack the dice using only the chopsticks – the first team done wins!
3. Who is your teacher?
Create a quiz on Peardeck, Kahoot, or a similar app (or even just a google slide deck) with questions about yourself, and have student teams guess the answers! I like to have some clues around my room to help students out! Afterwards, you can pass out sheets for students with the same questions to let them quiz each other or share directly with you!
4. Get to Know Me Slide Show
I like to save this for the second half of class, as it’s a more independent activity. Provide students with a shared slide deck with their names already on a slide especially for them. Give them time to curate pictures and text about their family, goals, talents, etc. The next day, give each student a little time to share their slide! I love this because its an opportunity to reteach some Google Slides skills AND respecting other people’s work on a shared slide deck. I created a template for you to do this getting to know you activity with your students on my TpT store!
5. I am From Poetry
This poetry activity is designed to really build trust as it requires students to be a little more vulnerable than other activities. Essentially, students write a poem about themselves ( as literal or figurative as they want) where every line or stanza begins with “I am from.” This activity works so well in a creative writing class or smaller elective where real tight knit trust is required.
6. Establish class norms on the first day of school
Instead of passing out a syllabus that details rules and consequences, try this group activity! I hand out chart paper to teams and in turns ( giving about 5 minutes for each) have students brainstorm the following:
- What does a great classroom feel like?
- What makes a great classmate?
- What makes a great student?
- What makes a great teacher?
After each brainstorming session, we engage in a whole group class discussion and I collect responses on the board. Together, we narrow down and then write a class contract. I like to do this on a piece of chart paper that can hang in my classroom all year ( I also post it on the first page of Canvas).
7. First Day of School Group Story
Hand each student one piece of paper, and instruct students to write a chronological story about the first day of school. Set a timer for 2-3 minutes, and let students write! When the timer stops, they fold their paper so that all of their story is hidden except for the last line. Students pass their papers clockwise and the next student continues the story.
Afterwards, students can read aloud their crazy stories to their group, and share their funniest with the class.
8. Speed Meeting!
It’s like speed dating for your classroom! Set up your room with a square of desks so that there are two chairs facing each other. Provide one side with different questions. I like to have one question for each student so that the discussions don’t get too boring ( alternatively, have students write their own lists of 3-5 questions!). The other side moves with a timer, so that students get to meet a ton of their classmates in a short span of time!
9. Interview a Classmate / First Day of School Survey
Similar to speed meeting, have students complete a get to know you questionnaire with a partner. The catch is, instead of filling it out for themselves, they interview their partner to complete the quiz for them! Each pair can introduce their partner to another pair, share a few fun facts with the class, or any number of collaborative activities! You can grab my print and go First Day of School Questionnaire here!
10. The Paper Airplane Race
This activity is so much fun – who expects to be ALLOWED to fly paper airplanes on the first day of school? Provide each student with a couple of pieces of paper ( or load a table with many varieties. Give them 30 minutes to research online and craft the best paper airplane. “Best” can be however you describe it – flies the farthest, does the coolest tricks, etc.
I created a similar activity that is a little more standards-based that asks students to record their research and justify their decisions ( but you can totally pare it down for a lower-stakes activity). The Paper Airplane Race Activity is a FREEBIE in my TpT store!
Have fun with First Day of School activities that MATTER!
Now that you’ve got the first few days planned, check out my post on fresh, easy, and engaging bell ringers to start your classes this year! You might be ready to take your community building to the next level with 5 proven steps to maintaining a positive classroom culture!
Have you tried any of these before? Leave your suggestions here 🙂 Happy Back to School!
