Activities for First Week of School

The first week of school is generally the period of getting to know each other. It is the right time to introduce the students to their classmates, teachers and the subjects they would be learning. It is important for the first week of school to be filled with interesting activities so that students form a positive image of their school. The first week of school is the time to establish a caring and healthy atmosphere for the kids. It is the ideal time to make them conformable with their new environment.

On their first day of school, students have numerous questions for their teachers. They do not know where to sit; they do not know the rules of the school; they do not know their teachers and wonder which subjects they would be dealing with during the new academic year. You can plan for an introduction session on the very first day of school. Devise creative and interesting ways of letting the students introduce themselves. Discuss the school curriculum with them and introduce them to the school timetable.

I know you cannot continue with debates throughout the day. Indeed, you need to plan some more activities for that day. Keep some interesting questionnaires ready. Distribute them to the students and have them answer quick questions. Frame questions, which will help you know the students or throw some rapid-fire questions to them. You can surely expect witty answers! You can divide the class into pairs and have one in each pair interview the other. Yes, this can make it really interesting. You may like to look at some more activities for the first day of school.

You can plan some fun activities during the next few days of the week. You can divide the class into two teams and give them topics to debate on. Debates and discussions are sure to bring out the true selves within the students. They tend to open up and voice their opinions during such activities. Debates bring about an exchange of views between students, thus channelizing their thoughts.

Spot the budding artists in your class and get the creative minds working by organizing some art and craft activities. You can ask the students to decorate the class. You can divide the class into groups and give each group papers and colors. You can supplement the activity with a theme on which the students are required to work. And just look at what they come up with! Many of them are sure to come up with some artistic creations to beautify the class.

Split the class into teams and let the teams compete. You can plan some inter-team competitions or even inter-class ones. You may organize small team games or have the students perform on stage; yes, this is the time to encourage the budding musicians and dancers of your class.

On one of those days in the first week, snack together. Gather the whole class during their lunch or snack break and eat together. Arranging a small welcome party during the first week of school is a great idea.

You can pick some of these activities for the first week of school or invent your own. Just make sure your students derive sheer pleasure out of their first few days of school. The enjoyment of the first week is sure to go a long way.