Back-to-school Activities for Kindergarten Students

Kids on their way to kindergarten.

Kindergarten is an exciting and scary time for a young child. The first day of school can be confusing and nerve-wracking, so it's important to plan fun activities that will put the children at ease and get them acquainted with the new concept of going to school.

Name Tags and Me Activities

Create name tags for all the students to wear so you can start to learn their names faster and they can learn one another's names. Give the kids a fun "me" activity such as a blank person they can decorate and color on to make them look like themselves.

Read Related Books

Read kindergartners books about going back to school, the first day of school or more specifically the first day of kindergarten. Some suggested titles include: "On the Way to Kindergarten" by Virginia Kroll and "Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten" by Joseph Slate. These will show kids it's alright to leave their parents for school, enjoy the day and make friends.

Sing Songs About School

Teach kids simple songs about kindergarten. These will get kids excited about school as well as help them with their memorization abilities. The following song is a good example -- sung to the tune of "Deck The Halls":

Welcome to our kindergarten.

We will learn a lot of things today.

Here we are in kindergarten.

We will have a lot of time to play.

We will learn the alphabet and

We will learn how to write numbers, too.

We'll have fun in kindergarten,

'Cause there are so many things to do!

Review the Rules

Review the rules of the classroom such as not hitting others, sitting Indian style, raising your hand to talk and paying attention. Young kids forget the rules, so you'll need to review them often. Also let the kids know what the consequences are of breaking the rules.

Pledge of Allegiance

Review the Pledge of Allegiance with the students. Many kids will have never even heard this before; since they will be doing it daily, it's important to teach children about the flag and pledge. Make flag bookmarks that have the entire pledge of allegiance printed on them so they can practice with an adult or older reading child at home. Then practice reciting the pledge in your classroom.

References

• KinderKorner: Back to School
• Mrs. Fischer's Kinder-Themes: Back to School