Back to School Activities

Ahh!
As I wander through my local Target, I come to a standstill (much to the chagrin of my husband who has not realized I stopped walking). Could it be? Is it so?
It's my favorite time of the year-school supplies are for sale! My husband likes to tease me about this. I don't blame him. I do not think many people--other than teachers--get giddy at the sight of Flair pens, colorful Expo markers, and unbroken crayons for sale. No matter how old I get, I think I will always love back to school sales.
I also love the back to school feeling at school. The students are (for the most part) eager, ready, and willing. They are so excited over even the smallest "games" you have planned for them. They are rearing to go.

Over the first week of elementary, I adore doing different getting to know you/ice breaker types of activities. Here are three of my favorites that I have done. (Ignore the not creative names. I call them by names that are easy for me to remember.)

Silent Groups
Give the students the instructions that you are going to have them get into different groups based off what they like. The only catch is that they are not allowed to speak. It is so much fun to watch them interact with each other by miming and doing their own interpretation of sign language. I have them get into groups like favorite color, favorite animal, favorite school subject, birthday month, etc. Another version of this is to have the students line up by birthdays from January 1-December 31.

The Circle Game
All the students gather in a large circle, facing inward. One student is chosen to be in the middle of the circle. While that child is closing their eyes, you choose one of the students standing in the circle to be "it." Then ask the middle child to open their eyes. The student who is it starts doing an action. This can be as simple as clapping, snapping, walking in place, doing the disco, etc to complicated like patting their head while rubbing their stomach while hopping on one foot. All the other students mimic the student who is it. The student who is it is allowed to change what they are doing at any point in time and the rest of the students have to copy them. The student in the middle has to choose who they think is it.

Stand up if...
This can be a powerful activity. It teaches the students about each other, but also has them moving a bit. You start by having everyone sitting down. You call out a statement that starts with "Stand up if..." Fill in the blank with things that the students may not know about each other, but will help them connect with others. Some ideas to tell the students include: Stand up if...you are new to the school,  ...you have moved houses in your life, ...you are the oldest child in your family, ...you enjoy talking more than playing at recess, ...you were nervous to come to school on the first day of school this year, ...you have made a new friend in this class, etc.
You can start to introduce good friendship ideas such as ...you have had your feelings hurt at school, you have seen bullying happen in your classroom, etc.

My students especially love the circle game. It is one we pull out for inside recesses and brain breaks because it gets the kids moving, but no one is embarrassed because they are all doing the same silly things.

What are your favorite beginning of year activities?