With the end of summer approaching, teachers across the country are busy preparing to greet their new students. The start of a new school year is an amazing opportunity to lay the groundwork for a thriving classroom community. Building solid relationships is essential for a successful school year, and first impressions can set the tone for the year ahead. Starting the year with fun and engaging activities sets the stage for a successful and enjoyable year of learning and plays a vital role in easing students into their new environment, reducing anxiety, and making them feel comfortable and excited about school. Engaging activities help build a positive classroom culture where students feel welcomed, valued, and connected with their peers and teachers. By incorporating interactive and enjoyable activities from day one, teachers can foster a sense of community, encourage collaboration, and ignite a passion for learning that will carry students through the year. Let’s explore some back-to-school activities you can use to start the new year off on the right foot!
Virtual Escape Rooms
In this activity, students solve puzzles and riddles with information about your classroom and procedures to “escape” the virtual room, fostering critical thinking and collaboration. Explore this on-demand OK2Ask workshop, “Engage & Inspire: Digital Escapes with Google,” to learn how to use platforms like Google Forms (reviewed here) to create a back-to-school-themed escape room activity. You can also use Genially (reviewed here) to create a digital escape room—this on-demand OK2Ask workshop will help you learn the basics of the tool.
Trivia Games
Create a fun and interactive trivia game with questions about classroom expectations and fun facts about the school or the curriculum using Gimkit (reviewed here), Blooket (reviewed here), or Quizizz (reviewed here). The game-like interfaces keep students engaged while reviewing information they need to know to have a successful school year.
Virtual Scavenger Hunt
Students can complete missions and challenges around the classroom or school, capturing their progress with photos or videos. Organize a virtual scavenger hunt using Goosechase (reviewed here).
Collaborative Whiteboard
Set up collaborative whiteboard brainstorming sessions. Students can add sticky notes, drawings, and text to contribute ideas for classroom rules, projects, or icebreaker activities. Check out this blog post about FigJam, a tool that can help you organize this experience.
Goal Setting and Vision Boards
Discuss the importance of goal setting. Have students create vision boards using magazines, drawings, and words representing their goals and aspirations for the school year. You could also try Marcus Luther’s Learning Student Values activity, which includes a link to a Google Slides (reviewed here) deck template.
Hexagonal Thinking Activity
Hexagonal thinking is a dynamic back-to-school activity where students write personal interests, experiences, and goals on hexagonal paper cutouts, share them in pairs, and find connections between their ideas. This collaborative process culminates in a large hexagonal map, fostering communication, community, and a visually engaging understanding of each other’s backgrounds and aspirations. Check out this blog post, “Getting to Know You Hexagons for Back to School,” for a template and instructions. Canva (reviewed here) has templates you can use to make it a digital activity.
STEM Challenges
STEM challenges are an excellent way to kick off the new school year. Activities like building spaghetti and marshmallow towers, designing egg-drop contraptions, or creating balloon-powered rockets make learning fun and help students bond and develop teamwork. Explore this blog post for ten back-to-school STEM activities.
Starting the school year with engaging activities like these is essential for establishing a positive classroom environment and getting student. Do you have a favorite engaging back-to-school activity? We’d love for you to share your ideas and resources in the comments below!