happpy children in the classroom
Activities for first day of Kindergarten include the beginning of the year activities and introductory activities.

Planning activities for first day of Kindergarten is an exciting time for new and seasoned teachers alike! There are so many wonderful learning experiences that we can’t wait to introduce to our new students! Many times, teachers rush into the academic curriculum before routines are in place.  Investing in introducing systems, routines, and community building for the first six weeks of school will pay off in the long run.  This is why planning activities for first day of Kindergarten is so important.  

 Planning for Kindergarten doesn’t need to be hard! Whether you are a first-year kindergarten teacher looking to end the confusion of starting your Kindergarten classroom or a seasoned teacher looking for actionable steps to rock management during the first days of Kindergarten, this free guide, Manage Your Kindergarten Like a Rock Star from September to June, is for you!  

picture of the classroom management guide
Activities for first day of Kindergarten set the pace for classroom management throughout the year!

Kindergarten teachers everywhere love to set up and plan activities for first day of Kindergarten!  This was me, for sure, my first year of teaching!  The classroom was decorated, centers mapped out, and this new teacher was ready to dive in when the students got to school! The feeling of dread soon settled in, as things came up that I was unprepared for.   Realizing that I had skipped a few steps, I began to ask myself these questions!  How would the students sign up for lunch?  What was the smoothest way to transition from activity to activity?  Taking a step back, and establishing routines slowly and repeatedly worked!  Sharing these tips and ideas with you will save you time and energy when planning activities for first of Kindergarten.

Introductory activities for first day of Kindergarten

activities for first day of kindergarten teacher and children cutting
Activities for first day of kindergarten include introducing the routines and tools of the classroom.

Beginning Kindergarten is a milestone for both students and teachers.  New teachers often want to jump in with their kindergarten lesson plan.  The key to planning activities for first day of kindergarten is to take things slow.  Kindergarten-aged children are very concrete and need to see things many times before they truly learn them.  This is why back-to-school activity plans are so important.

Tip 1

Assume that your students have never been to school. You can create fun activities for kindergarteners that teach them how to line up in the classroom, walk in the room and navigate the school environment.  I love to use my chime to play walk and freeze in the classroom!

Activity 1 Chime and Freeze

Use this activity to train your children to stop look and listen when you give the signal. First I show the children how I walk around the classroom. Have the children walk around slowly.  When they hear the chime they must freeze.  I do this several times.    I pretend to close my eyes, hide my chime and give a lot of praise!

Activities for First Day of Kindergarten and Lesson Plans for First Week of Kindergarten.

Planning for the first days of Kindergarten can be as overwhelming as planning activities for first day of Kindergarten. Balancing teaching routines and introducing academic concepts can be tricky. Framework for academics is slowly introduced while routine development, the introduction of materials,  and signals are the focus of the beginning of the year activities.  

pirate themed bulletin board display
Activities for first day of kindergarten include introducing coloring and tracing to create a craft to display

Tip 2

Introduce materials each day.   Materials are introduced to show the students how to use them.  Nothing is just given to them to use.  I build on each day so that a project is created and displayed at the end.  Crayons, glue sticks, and pencils are the first materials that I introduce  I use the craft as one of the activities for first day of  Kindergarten Bulletin board.

Activity 2:  Kindergarten Bulletin board

I read the ABC book Shiver me Letters  

Over the next few days, I introduce:

Pencil: trace or write your name in the project.

Glue sticks: Glue the circle to the paper and the hat on the circle.

Crayone : color in the circles on the hat.

Activities for first day of kindergarten  learning centers apples puzzles food capital to lowercase letters
Activities for first day of kindergarten can include center-time puzzles and games.

What is Taught in Kindergarten during the first week?

One of the activities for first day of Kindergarten that becomes a routine is literacy centers. First, the children practice touching the icon and walking to the center. In the beginning, I put typical toys, such as puzzles, coloring, and play dough in each center.  During the first week of school, I begin to phase in more focused centers such as alphabet recognition.  

Tip 3

Establish classroom community as well as introduce crayons with an all about me kindergarten booklet as one of your activities for first day of Kindergarten.  Have the children draw pictures of what they liked on the first day of Kindergarten.

Activity 3

Conduct a whole group meeting and discuss what you did during the day.  Make a list with words and pictures.  Have the children draw what they liked about their first day of Kindergarten!

Don’t forget to download your free Manage Your Kindergarten Like A Rock Star to gain access to actionable steps for a great year!

Finally,  Creating Kindergarten classroom ideas and activities for first day of Kindergarten get easier as you do it each year. You will get better at realizing what you need to teach and when.  Flexibility is the key.  Give yourself some grace as well.  If something doesn’t work, try a new system. Remember, our audience is different every year what works with one group may not work with another!

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