Greetings for Morning Meetings: 30+ Fresh and Fun Ideas

Need some great ideas for greetings for morning meetings in your K-2 classroom? Try these 30+ engaging and creative “hello’s” to start your day!

Delightful and Engaging Greetings for Morning Meetings

How do you like to start your mornings? Do you have a routine that you follow? Maybe it includes coffee, reading, yoga, or something else to create a positive mindset. How you choose to begin your morning can set the tone for the rest of the day.

The same goes for the classroom. How you begin the school day also affects your students’ day. The routines and rituals we participate in together when the day begins sets the tone and create an atmosphere that fosters a rich learning environment.

Engaging Greetings for Morning Meetings

Morning meetings have become an important part of most elementary classrooms, as teachers have realized the value of beginning the day with a routine.

One component of the morning meeting that can create positivity and connection is the “greeting”. Each morning meeting begins with a time of students greeting one another.

Although they may seem unrelated to learning, greetings for morning meetings present a fun, meaningful experience. So, I have created a list of 30+ greetings for morning meetings that you can implement in your classroom. These greetings will encourage fun and keep things fresh during your morning routine!

Check out these amusing ideas below!

• Butterfly – While saying good morning to classmates, hook thumbs together and wave fingers.
• Thankful for – Take turns and greet each other with “Good morning ____!” and “Today, I am thankful for ____.”
• Positive affirmations – In a circle, greet classmates with “Good morning!” and something you are good at. For example, “My name is Wesley, and I am a good friend.”
• Snowball fight – Each student writes their name on a piece of paper. Crumple up the papers and have students throw them across the room. Each student picks up a snowball and greets the person whose name is on the paper.
• Dance moves – Greet each classmate with “Good morning, _____!” while doing your favorite dance move.
• Minute Mingle – Greet as many classmates as possible in one minute using a handshake, fist bump, high five, or a greeting of your choice!
• Silly Talk – Greet classmates by saying “Good morning, ____!” while using a silly voice.
• Hickety Pickety – Sing: “Hickety Pickety Bumble Bee! Won’t you say your name for me?” Student: “_____” All: ” ______” Let’s clap it. Let’s whisper it.
• Follow the Leader – In a circle, take turns saying “Good morning!” and do a short action. The class repeats, “Good morning!” and copies the action.

• Foreign Language – Choose another language’s greeting for the morning. For example, have the students greet each other with a Spanish “Hola!”
• Say Your Name – “Say your name, and when you do, we will say it back to you!” Go around the circle, while everyone chants and the student says their name. Then, everyone says their name back to them!
• Shoe Greeting – Students remove one shoe and place all of the shoes in a pile. The teacher says go, and students grab a shoe. They find the owner of the shoe and greet them!
• Pass the Squeeze – Sitting in a circle and holding hands, the teacher will squeeze the hand of one of the students sitting beside her. That student will squeeze the hand of the person beside him and so on until the squeeze makes it back to the teacher. Students will have to be quiet, calm, and aware, which makes this a perfect starter when the students come in a little rowdy.
• Curtsy or Bow – Find five students to curtsy or bow to as you say hello. To make this extra fancy, try calling classmates Sir or Madam or Mx!
• Echo Greeting – The teacher will say, “Good Morning, [Student]!” The class will echo the student’s name, getting softer and softer. Continue until everyone has been greeted. Or, if pressed for time, greet the class as a whole (Ex. Good Morning KA! KA, KA, KA, KA).
• Compliments – Go around the circle by saying hello to the person next to you and giving them a compliment. Ex. “Good morning, Rachel! I like your drawing.”
• World Language Greeting – Teach students how to say “Hello, my name is _________” in the language of your choice. Each student will say the phrase (ex. Bonjour, Je m’appelle Elliot.), while the class will respond with “Hello, ______.” in the same language.
• Good Morning Song – Sing the following lyrics to the tune of “Good Morning” from Singing in the Rain.” When students say “to you,” they should point to someone across from them in the circle. “Good morning, good morning… It’s great to be at school! Good morning, good morning to you! Good morning, Good morning. We’ll learn the whole day through. Good morning, good morning to you!“

• Action Name – Give students a little time to think of a verb that begins with the same letter or sound as their first name. Going around the circle, students will introduce themselves with their Action Name (ex. “I’m Singing Sarah!”) and do the action. The class will respond, “Hi, Singing Sarah!” and do the action. You could also do Adjective Alliteration!
• Change the Sound Names – Students introduce themselves by saying their name and what their name would sound like if they changed the beginning sound. Ex. My name is Brayden. If I change the /B/ to /C/, I’d be Crayden! The class will respond by saying, “Hello, Crayden!”
• Cowboy – Greet your classmates in your best cowboy voice by saying, “Howdy, partner! I’m Sherriff ______.”
• Sign Language Greeting – Teach students to sign “Good Morning” or another greeting and have them greet each other. If you have time, you can even have them learn to ask a basic question, such as “How are you?”
• Whisper Greeting – Greet each other in your quietest whisper! Try tip-toeing to each person you greet, too.
• Closed Eye Greeting – Sitting in a circle, students close their eyes. The teacher calls out 1, 2, 3, and open! Students try to make eye contact with someone else and then go to that person to say hello. Repeat, finding a new person to greet.
• My Favorite Friends Song – Sing the students’ names in your class to the tune of “My Favorite Things” from the Sound of Music.  An example is given below. Repeat as many times as it takes to include everyone’s names. “Henry and Ashley and Rebecca and Charles. Thomas and Nia, Isabella and Michael. George and Annie and Lyla and Frank. These are a few of my favorite friends!”
• Dice Greeting – Start with everyone standing in a circle. One student rolls a die and counts that number of students around the circle. The roller greets the person they counted and then sits down. The person who was greeted is the new roller. Continue until everyone has been greeted.
• Cheerleader Greeting – Chant “2, 4, 6, 8, who do we appreciate? _________, yeah, yeah, ________.” Repeat with everyone’s names.

• Kindness Greetings – Each student takes a turn to say “My name is ________ and I can be kind by ___________.” You can also do this with other positive character traits (ways to be helpful, ways to show others respect, ways to be healthy, etc.).
• Salute – The perfect greeting around Labor Day, Veteran’s Day, or Memorial Day is a salute! Have students salute the person next to them and say “Good Morning, Sargeant ________” (or Major, Captain, Private, etc.).”
• Robot Greeting – Have students move and talk like robots as they greet each other. Try adding “beep” or “boop” to make the robot voice extra fun!
• T-Rex Handshake – Students walk around with their arms tucked in like a t-rex and find five friends to greet. Using only their tiny arms, try to shake hands as you say hello!
• Animal Greetings – Each student says their favorite animal. The class greets them by making that animal sound or an action associated with that animal. For example, if Liam’s favorite animal is a lion, the class says, “Hi Liam! ROAR!”
• Simon Says Greeting – Give students a new way to travel to each person they greet. For example, you might say, “Simon Says tiptoe to a classmate and say hello! Simon says hop on one foot to a different classmate and say hello! Simon says crawl on all fours to another classmate and say hello!”
• Student Choice – By far, my favorite way to greet students is to have them pick their greeting. Encourage kids to take turns greeting you as they enter the classroom each day in their special way (i.e. a handshake, a high five, a hug, etc.)! Follow along and bring your smile!

How fun do these greetings sound? Kids will love them, bringing some joy and excitement to your morning meeting. At the same time, these simple activities will build relationships between your students that will hopefully create a better learning environment. Why not get started today?

Morning Meeting Social-Emotional Learning – FREE Week – Slides & Printable Cards

To get you started with morning meeting, I have a free week of slides and printable cards that you can start using during your morning meeting immediately! Take the work out of creating your own materials and try these that are all ready to go.

Click the image below to grab your copy.

SEL Morning Meeting Bundle for the Year

Do you want to save planning time and have your meetings ready each day? Check out my Morning Meeting bundle for the school year for more done-for-you slides and ideas for your morning meetings.

With our morning meeting resources with pre-filled greetings, questions, and activities, you can create meaningful morning meetings that build social-emotional skills.

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