The first week of school is an exciting time filled with new faces, routines, and opportunities to set the tone for a successful year ahead! As preschool and kindergarten teachers, we know that those first few days are crucial for building connections, easing anxieties, and introducing students to the learning environment. That’s why having a variety of engaging and meaningful first week of school activities is essential. In this post, I’ve rounded up some of my favorite activities, crafts, games, and books that will not only keep your little learners excited but also help them develop important social, emotional, and academic skills from the start!

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First Week of School Activities: Crafts

The start of a new school year can be overwhelming for young learners. Adjusting to a new classroom, friends, and teacher is exciting but can also feel scary. One great way to break the ice and make learning enjoyable in that first week of school is through crafts. These first week of school activities not only spark creativity and build fine motor skills, but they also offer a fun, low-pressure way for students to settle in and start feeling at home in the classroom.

First day of School Pencil Craft

This simple pencil craft provides lots of opportunities for your little learners to practice essential fine motor, scissor, and gluing skills, as well as the ability to listen and follow directions.

Learn more about this first week of school activity, here!

The Kissing Hand Raccoon Craft

To help ease strong first day feelings, I love to complete this back to school The Kissing Hand craft, as we make connections to the story!

You can learn more about this first week of school activity, here!

All About Me Backpack Craft

Get to know your students and build classroom community from day one with this simple-to-assemble all about me backpack craft.

See how I incorporate this into our first week of school lesson plans, here!

Back to School Crafts

Want a one-stop-shop for back to school crafts? Head to this post where I share my favorite easy-to-assemble first week of school crafts!

First Week of School Activities: Rules, Routines, and Procedures

Establishing classroom rules, routines, and procedures is essential during the first week of school—it sets the tone for the entire year. These engaging first week of school activities and crafts make it easy to introduce expectations in a way that’s both meaningful and fun!

The Recess Queen

Review recess expectations, rules, and behavior during the first week of school with these 20+ The Recess Queen activities and craft!

You can learn more about these The Recess Queen activities, here!

How to Use School Supplies Craft

Set clear expectations for how to use school supplies during the first week of school with these how to use school supplies toolbox crafts and activities!

Learn more about the printable and digital activities, here!

Classroom Rules & Expectations Craft

Establish classroom rules and expectations with these interactive classroom rules activities, craft, and classroom rules digital slides!

See these activities in action, here!

David Goes to School

Review classroom rules and encourage positive behavior during the first week of school with these David Goes to School activities and craft!

To see these David Goes to School activities in action, head to this post! You might also want to check out this post for step-by-step directions on how to make the David Goes to School craft.

First Week of School Activities: Name Activities

Name activities are perfect for back-to-school time because they help young learners feel seen, valued, and connected in their new classroom. Since a child’s name is personal and meaningful, using it in first week of school activities fosters a sense of identity and belonging. These name activities also encourage social interaction, helping students learn their classmates’ names and build friendships.

Chrysanthemum Name Activities

Chrysanthemum is one of my favorite back to school read alouds! I love that the book teaches kids the importance of embracing their individuality, standing up to peer pressure, and showing kindness to others. I also love that we are able to intertwine several Chrysanthemum name activities.

We create a name graph comparing our names to Chrysanthemum, build name trains, complete a Venn diagram and more!

Chrysanthemum Name Craft

We also create an adorable Chrysanthemum name craft! With this name craft, students are able to identify the number of letters in their name and compare them to Chrysanthemum’s name. They are also able to determine how many consonants, vowels, and syllables there are in their name.

Mosaic Name Craft

One of my favorite name crafts to help students learn the letters of their name is this rainbow mosaic name craft. This first week of school activity makes a great back to school bulletin board display!

Fine Motor Name Activities Practice Mats

Students get to practice building their name, while strengthening their fine motor skills, with these 15+ fine motor name activities!

These fine motor name mats make great first week of school activities, as they can be used during word work, morning work, centers, or for fine motor tubs. You can grab all 17 fine motor name activities, here!

Editable Name Tracing Mats

These editable name tracing mats are a great way to help students master writing their name. Students love tracing and erasing their name with Expo markers during morning work or centers.

You can also grab these name mats in italicized font!

Editable Trace and Build Name Mats

With these editable trace and build name mats, students not only get to trace their name but they also get to build their name with magnetic or form letters.

To see these editable name writing practice activities in action head to this post!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Craft

Help preschool and kindergarten students identify the letters in their name with this Chicka Chicka Boom Boom craft for name practice!

See this adorable name craft in action, here!

School Bus Craft

Another fun name craft for the first week of school is this school bus name craft. After learning an interactive name poem, students will construct their own Name on the Bus craft.

Learn more about the craft and name poem, here!

Editable Name Puzzles

These picture name puzzles for name practice provide an excellent foundation for letter recognition and phonemic awareness, laying the groundwork for future reading and writing success.

Name Trains

Name trains are a great way to help students learn the letters of their name! Students are able to sequence, compare, and determine the number of letters, consonants, and vowels in their name with this simple name train name activity.

Name Activities for Preschool and Kindergarten

This post is a great round up of name activities for preschool and kindergarten! Any of these name crafts or activities would make great first week of school activities!

Name Crafts for Back to School

For a full round up of name crafts for back to school, head to this post!

First Week of School Activities: Centers and Morning Tubs

As the school year begins, it’s important to have activities that keep little learners engaged while reinforcing key skills. These back to school centers and morning tubs provide meaningful practice in math and literacy, all while being tons of fun!

Back to School Kindergarten Centers

These back to school kindergarten centers offer meaningful practice and enrichment of various literacy and math skills! They are not only highly engaging but they are also easy to prep!

Learn more about these back to school centers, here!

Back to School Fine Motor Tubs

Introduce fine motor morning tubs with these back to school fine motor activities. Students will be engaged in ten math and ten literacy activities not only the first week of school but all month long!

See them in action, here.

First Week of School Activities: Digital Activities

During the first week of school, no-prep games and activities are a lifesaver! These digital activities are perfect for keeping students engaged while they adjust to their new learning environment.

Back to School Digital Activities

With six digital activities and games to choose from, there is more than enough to pull from when you are short on time or need a time filler.

First Week of School Activities: Gifts

Back to school gifts are a great way to kick off the school year! Whether it’s student gifts or team gifts, there’s always someone to celebrate as you say goodbye to summer and hello to a new school year!

Play Dough Student Gift

One of my favorite back-to-school gifts is play dough! It’s a great, non-edible option for students and helps relieve first-day jitters. While I greet families, students can stay engaged by squishing and rolling it at their desks which is great for building fine motor skills. Grab the FREE play dough gift tags here!

Back to School Team Gift Ideas

Celebrate your team with these back to school team gift ideas. You can even grab the FREE gift tags at the bottom of this post!

Extra-Ordinary Back to School Team Gift

This “Take Note Our Team Is Extraordinary” gift is another fun way to show how much you appreciate being on such an awesome team. You can grab the FREE gift tags within this post!

First Week of School Activities: Early Finisher Activities

Whether you start school in August or September, these early finisher activities will keep your fast finishers engaged!

August Early Finisher Activities

Students can practice beginning sounds, syllables, making 5, comparing lengths, and more with these August early finisher activities!

September Early Finisher Activities

With these September early finisher activities, the students get to work on decoding CVC words, rhyming words, nonstandard measurement, 1:1 counting, and more!

First Week of School Activities: Read Alouds

I love to pair our first week of school activities with several back to school read alouds! These read-alouds help little learners by easing first-day jitters, fostering a sense of community, and introducing important social-emotional skills. They are great for sparking discussions about classroom expectations, friendships, and emotions, making the transition to school smoother.

25 Name Books

These name books for back to school encourage students to celebrate their identities and appreciate their unique names! You can pair any of these name books with the first week of school name activities.

Back to School Books to Calm First Day Fears

Pick from this list of 40 back to school books to help calm your students’ first day jitters!

Books to Teach Rules for Back to School

This list of over 45 books teaches students about following rules, listening, bullying, how to be patient, what is expected of them, and the importance of following routines and procedures in the classroom.

All About Me Books

Develop self-awareness, confidence, and a sense of belonging with these all about me books!

More Back to School Ideas

Learn how to effectively manage your kindergarten centers, here! With these strategies, your kindergarten centers can run smoothly all year long.

You might also enjoy this post all about organizing and managing your fast finisher file folder games.

Discover a full list of fine motor tools you can use all year long!

When it’s time to launch writing workshop, use this list of mentor texts for launching writing workshop.

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