13 Fun Welcome Back to School Lessons & Activities for K-2

Start the school year with these essential back-to-school lessons and activities that are fun and necessary for kids: Participate in community-building activities, get to know one another with All About Me activities, and build friendship and empathy with students.

Important Back-to-School Lessons & Activities to Do with Students

The beginning of the school year is a time to welcome new students, build relationships, and get to know each other better. It is also a necessary time to start teaching social and emotional skills. Teaching these early will help set a positive tone in your classroom for the rest of the year.

When we teach these types of back-to-school lessons, kids begin to feel a part of the classroom community, have a stronger sense of self, and are better prepared to handle the challenges they face throughout the year.

Table of Contents

• Important Back-to-School Lessons & Activities to Do with Students
• 4 Types of Back-to-School Lessons to Start the School Year
  • 1. Community Building Lessons
  • 2. All About Me Lessons & Activities
  • 3. Relationship Building Lessons & Activities
  • 4. Empathy & Kindness Lessons & Activities
• 13 Back-to-School Lessons & Activities Kids Will Enjoy
  • Create a “Great” Classroom Contract
    • Part One Instructions:
    • Part Two:
  • Ice Breaker Games for Your First Weeks of School
  • Community Building Role-Play
  • ‘All Are Welcome’ Book & Writing Activity
  • “Get to Know Me” Cards
  • Star of the Week
  • “Me” Box
  • Photograph Self-Portrait
  • Hopes & Goals for the School Year
  • “A Good Friend” Discussion & Anchor Chart
  • Find a Friend Scavenger Hunt
  • ‘The Day You Begin’ Book & Writing Activity
  • Wrinkled Heart Activity & Book
  • Back-to-School Lessons & Activities SEL Resource
  • Free Find a Friend Scavenger Hunt
  • Free Wrinkled Heart Activity
• More BTS Lessons & Activities for K-2

4 Types of Back-to-School Lessons to Start the School Year

Below are four types of back-to-school lessons and activities kids will enjoy!

1. Community Building Lessons

Start building a classroom community on day one with lessons and activities that encourage respect, forming connections, and appreciation for others and their differences.

2. All About Me Lessons & Activities

Get to know each other better and help children feel more comfortable in the classroom with lessons, activities, and routines that encourage understanding, growing confidence, and forming identities.

3. Relationship Building Lessons & Activities

Begin to build friendships and relationships in the classroom through lessons and activities that allow children to focus on learning, get to know one another, and the teachers, while thriving in the new classroom environment.

4. Empathy & Kindness Lessons & Activities

Empathy and kindness are essential topics to start teaching children about at the start of school. These lessons and activities will guide kids to act with kindness and compassion when interacting throughout the day.

13 Back-to-School Lessons & Activities Kids Will Enjoy

Try the first week of school lessons below, or these back-to-school activities to start the school year strong!

Create a “Great” Classroom Contract

Develop classroom expectations together as a class and a classroom contract based on everyone’s participation and ideas. Students and teachers will identify what is vital in a classroom and what makes it great together.

Part One Instructions:

• Create a Y-shaped anchor chart with a title like “A Great Classroom” and label each section with looks, sounds, or feels.
• Ask students to imagine what a “great” classroom looks like (what they see when they look around the class and at the other kids) and record ideas on the anchor chart. Give hints or ask questions to elicit important ideas, such as helping, working hard, happy kids, learning, etc.
• Ask them what a “great” classroom sounds like (what they hear in terms of what people say to each other, words they use, and noises) and record ideas on the anchor chart—for example, quiet behavior, manners, laughing, kind comments, and questions.
• Ask them what a “great” classroom feels like (what feelings they have inside at school and how people make them feel). Encourage kids to think about how they feel on a good day—examples: open, welcome, respected, loved.
• Review and reread the ideas on the anchor chart for clarification. Have kids pick a favorite idea in each of the three sections.
• Have them approach the chart and add a small sticker to mark that spot. Ask them to identify the most crucial idea and help them find it on the chart if needed.
• Optional: Have older kids write their favorite ideas on paper.

Part Two:

• Count stickers to find those “big” essential ideas in each section. Those ideas will become the main components of the classroom contract. If kids believe those ideas are crucial, they will be more likely to follow them.
• Take the ideas and pre-write the contract yourself on chart paper.
• Read and practice the completed contract together as a class.
• Post the contract in a visible place and practice daily as a group.
• Each child can sign their name or stamp a thumbprint on the final contract to show they agree.
• Optional: Have kids copy the classroom contract and draw a picture of what a “great” classroom means. Post their work along with the final signed agreement.

Ice Breaker Games for Your First Weeks of School

Icebreaker games are a great way to get to know each other and “break the ice.”

Kids will have fun playing with them together, building connections, and learning about their classmates.

Instructions:

• Play a different icebreaker game at the start of class or before a transition.
• Read the game instructions and explain how to play. Demonstrate with examples if needed.

Community Building Role-Play

Community-building role-playing encourages kids to act out appropriate ways to behave in the classroom. Given a scenario, kids demonstrate what that should look and sound like in the school. This provides excellent opportunities for discussion!

Instructions:

• Come together as a group. Have students act out a scenario you show or read to them.
• Encourage kids to show the kind and thoughtful ways to act in the classroom.

‘All Are Welcome’ Book & Writing Activity

Children need to understand that it doesn’t matter who they are, where they come from, or what they look like; they are each welcome in the classroom.

Instructions:

• Bring the class together to read the book All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold.
• Start by reading the title and asking the class what they think the book will be about. Ask students if they can make any connections with the title or what they see on the cover page.
• Read the book together and discuss the different parts of the story and what they mean. Point out the illustrations and encourage them to notice things.
• After the story, brainstorm all the things welcome in their classroom (different ideas, cultures, food, clothing, languages, words, stories, games, talents, etc.) on an anchor chart labeled “In our classroom.”
• Have students write and draw ways that they are welcome. Use the sentence frame “I am welcome…” for each sentence if necessary.
• Share as a class.

“Get to Know Me” Cards

Kids get to know each other better by asking and answering questions about themselves. They will also gain confidence when sharing details about themselves with others.

Different ways that cards can be used:

• Call on kids to pull a question card from the jar and answer in front of the class.
• Read a card each morning during your morning meeting and ask for volunteers to answer.
• Answer a question about yourself, so your students can get to know you.
• Use the question cards during brain breaks, transitions, morning meetings, while lined up, or anytime you need an activity to fill time.
• Pick a card and have kids write a response in their journal.

Star of the Week

Recognize the unique qualities that each child has. Create a special keepsake book that children will cherish and boost their self-esteem.

Instructions:

• Choose a different child weekly to be the “star of the week.”
• Bring kids together to introduce the “star of the week” for that week. Post the ‘Star of the Week’ sign on an anchor chart. Have the chosen child sit on a special chair at the front.
• Encourage kids to ask the “star” questions about themselves and what makes them special. The teacher records the ideas on the anchor chart.
• Each child writes about the “star,” including what makes that person a star, and draws a picture of them together.
• The pages can be put together into a class book that the “star” gets as a special keepsake.

“Me” Box

Get to know students better by having them bring in personal collections of items from home that represent who they are, with the help of families.

Instructions:

• Explain the activity to your class. Brainstorm ideas of things they could bring together as a class.
• Send the letter home with the kids for families to review, or send an email explaining the activity with a due date.
• Schedule a time for kids to share their boxes with the class. Encourage kids to ask questions and share details about the items in their boxes.

Photograph Self-Portrait

Creating self-portraits is a perfect art activity for the start of the school year! Students will identify and write about themselves, and then participate in creating an artistic design and self-portrait.

Instructions:

• Ask different questions that get kids to describe who they are (i.e., age, birthday, family, school, likes and dislikes, pets, friends, etc.) and write their ideas on a chart.
• Students select 5-10 things to write about themselves on paper strips. Write the ideas in complete sentences (i.e., “I have a big sister named Julia.”).
• Take a picture of each child in the class individually. Encourage them to smile and have big facial expressions. You could have them perform actions with their hands, such as blowing kisses, waving, or leaning on their fist. Get creative!
• Print each child’s black and white photo, blown up to fit an 8″ x 11″ sheet of white paper. Cut the pictures out around their body, head, and hands.
• Have students draw and color or paint a picture about themselves on a large sheet of 11″ x 14″ art paper. This could also be abstract or a rainbow. Encourage them to use bright colors when coloring and painting.
• Glue the cut-out picture onto the bottom of the art paper. Cut the writing into strips along the dotted lines and paste the different sentences around their heads and bodies. Get creative with the placement!

Hopes & Goals for the School Year

Encourage students to think of and describe things they hope will happen this year. Then they pick and write their hopes as goals for the school year. You can also have them draw a schoolhouse to get going!

Instructions:

• Bring the class together to read the book This School Year Will Be the Best by Kay Winters.
• Start by reading the title and asking the class what they think the book will be about. Ask students if they can make any connections with the title or what they see on the cover page.
• Read the book together and discuss the different hopes shared by the students in the book.
• After the story, write the same question that the teacher asked in the story on the top of an anchor chart (“What do you hope will happen this year?”).
• Ask kids to share their wishes with the class. Under the question, write “I hope” on each line. Ask each kid to share their goal for the year and record it with their name.
• Kids write and draw their hopes and goals.

“A Good Friend” Discussion & Anchor Chart

In this back-to-school lesson, we want students to describe what makes a good friend and what they are, do, and say. Students will explore ways to be good friends and participate in creating a collaborative display with their handprints.

Instructions:

• Ask kids, “What makes a good friend?”. Discuss and share ideas.
• Read children’s books about being a friend.
• On an anchor chart titled ‘A Good Friend,’ brainstorm and record ideas for what a good friend is, what they do, and what they say.
• Kids paint their hands and create two handprints on a piece of white paper. They can write something they will do to be a good friend in the center of each handprint.
• Cut out the hands and arrange them in a circle to form a wreath or a line connected on the wall with a title, such as “We are all friends!”
• Optional: Write about what a good friend is, does, and says, and draw a picture to match.

Find a Friend Scavenger Hunt

Help students get to know their classmates and learn names in this fun, mingling activity. Kids will practice writing names and making new friends in the process.

Instructions:

• Explain to students that they need to ask classmates questions (i.e., “Do you love ice cream?”) and fill in their names on the template (grab this for FREE below!).
• When they find someone who fits, they can write that classmate’s name or have them write their name on the line in the space.
• Optional Idea: This activity is fun with a buddy class to help kids learn each other’s names and things about each other.

‘The Day You Begin’ Book & Writing Activity

Share a beautiful story of bravery and acceptance for children who may feel like an outsider or nervous about starting school. The hope is that this book will give kids the courage to connect with and have empathy for others.

Instructions:

• Bring the class together to read the book The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson.
• Start by reading the title and asking the class what they think the book will be about. Ask students if they can make any connections with the title or what they see on the cover page.
• Read the book together and discuss the different parts of the story and what they mean. Point out the illustrations and encourage them to notice other things.
• After the story, ask kids if they connect with any parts of the story and why. Encourage kids to share moments when they may have felt different, alone, nervous about school, or struggling to connect with others.
• Let kids know that there will be times when we feel this way, but that there are things we can do. Ask them for ideas and record them on an anchor chart.
• Optional: Have kids write and draw about a time they felt like a character in the story and what happened. Use the sentence frame “There will be times when…”.
• Share as a class.

Wrinkled Heart Activity & Book

Teach kids that unkind words and actions have a lasting impact on others, and help them understand this with the Wrinkled Heart activity. Encourage kids to act kindly and use kind words each day.

Instructions:

• Cut a large heart shape out of paper and hang it near your meeting area.
• Give each child a heart-shaped cut-out. Ask them to draw and color things that they love on the heart.
• Bring the class together and read them the book Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. Every time a mean act or word appears in the book, fold a section of the large heart.
• After the story, ask kids about the mean things that have been said or done to them. Every time something is shared, have the entire class fold a part of their own heart (continue to fold the large heart as well).
• Once the hearts are folded, ask kids to unfold their hearts and look at what happened. Tell them that they are left with a wrinkled heart, and that is what happens to us after we have mean things done or said to us.
• Read the ‘Wrinkled Heart’ poem and write it in the center of the large heart. Talk about what the poem means.
• Take a vow as a class to be kind to others and use kind words. Have them sign their name on the large heart and hang it on the wall as a reminder.

I hope you enjoy trying these back-to-school lessons and activities that are fun and important for your students. I hope they help you create the classroom climate you desire!

Which activity will you try?

Back-to-School Lessons & Activities SEL Resource

All 13 activities in this post, plus 10 more, are available in the Back to School Social-Emotional Learning resource by Proud to be Primary.

This one resource is the perfect companion to the first few weeks of school.

The SEL back-to-school lessons and activities resource includes printable and digital mini-lesson ideas to fill your lesson plans with engaging activities kids will love.

Free Find a Friend Scavenger Hunt

Sign up for a FREE copy of the Find a Friend scavenger hunt (instructions above). Print and go with this fun activity that’s perfect for the back-to-school season!

Click the image below to grab a copy.

Free Wrinkled Heart Activity

Build empathy and kindness with the FREE wrinkled heart activity! Click the image below to grab a copy.

More BTS Lessons & Activities for K-2

Community Building Activities

Back to School Activities

Get to Know You Games

PIN for Later