I have taught kindergarten for 20 years. I know: that’s a long damn time.
The first day of kindergarten activities are very important.
By trial and error, I have managed to have a relatively, smooth as you can get while herding cats into a fenced area, first day of kindergarten.
Everyone has a different schedule so I will not take you through a play-by-play, but I will offer ideas, hints, and freebies for a fantastic start to a new school year. I find that the first day is always the hardest day of the year in K, so please know if your day totally sucks, it does get better.
Drop Off
Kiss and Go, Kiss and Go. Send a letter home explaining the importance of modeling enthusiasm toward school and not making a big deal when dropping students off. Kids take signals from parents about what they should be afraid of.
When Kids Enter
It is best to establish structure right away. Have them find their names and sit in their seats. Everyone has a different approach, but I like to model rules and procedures as they come up instead of going over them for two hours at the beginning of the class.
I then like to call them over to the carpet area or any area that you have where they sit on the floor so they will be in closer proximity to you. As they attempt to call out and tell you their pets’ names and that they had pop tarts for breakfast, reinforce what you should do when you want to say something.
Helpful HInt: Model the length of a response as kindergarten kids can easily take up an entire thirty minutes with one very long detailed story that never has a point.
Model this by playing a get-to-know-you activity.
Possible questions for the kindergarten get-to-know-you activity:
Tell me about your favorite animal.
Tell me your favorite toy and why?
What do you think you will learn from kindergarten?
Who is your favorite person and why?
What is your favorite food and why?
This provides an excellent opportunity to explain your behavior reward system as the students follow the rules. Praise for good listeners and students not calling out does wonder on the first day.
Behavior Management
When thinking about your behavior management system, try to keep it simple. Desk pets are a great way to reinforce positive behavior. They can be bought on Amazon for fairly cheap. Click below.
How you want to implement these is up to you.
- Give everyone one at the beginning of the day and take away when a rule of two is broken.
- Give everyone daily and let them exchange for another if they are doing a great job.
- Class Dojo points can be given for good behavior and when a certain number is earned they can switch their desk pet for another.
There are different ways they can be implemented according to your management plan, which can be changed if things are not working.
A behavior management plan can always be changed and tweaked as one thing that might not work for challenging students. Individual plans may be necessary for these students.
Books to Read on the First Day of School
Kissing Hand– Click the picture to download The Kissing Hand Freebie
On The First Day of Kindergarten
Miss Bindergarten gets Ready for Kindergarten
Click the picture for the first day of kindergarten freebie activity.
Fun First Day of Kindergarten Activities
Centers are a big part of kindergarten. I have always used hands-on centers as part of my math block. Students at this age love to manipulate and move around. I always station my centers around the room and have five centers per week. Students do a different center each day completing all five within the week
Playdough Center Task Cards
Five-year-olds love playing with play dough, and it is great for developing fine motor skills that will aid in cutting and writing correctly with a pencil. Click now for a free playdough shape task card.
Read Aloud Extension Activities- Having center activities that are related to the
a book that has just been read is a good way to make connections and build motivation toward reading.
The first week of kindergarten is the one week of the year where I like to write out extensive plans for what I am going to do. Of course, I never get to everything that is planned, but it makes me feel more confident and prepared.
Who’s prepared for the first day?????????? It will go smoothly, but I can’t promise you that.