Back To School Game Ideas

Contact_FullName: Christy
Contact_Email: dcthurman@bellsouth.net
Area: Back to School -Games

Idea:

During the first few days of school, my 4-year-olds play this little game with me as a way of becoming familiar with the classroom. On the first day, I will take an object from each center-a block from the block center, a dress form the dramatic play center, a puzzle from the math&manipulative center, etc.. I place the objects on our Circle Time rug and ask the students to direct me to the "home" of each object. I will walk around the room, pretending to put the item in the wrong home. The kids go wild with laughter, directing me to the right area. On the following school days I gather objects on the rug and let the children take one object at a time and find the object's home. Then I praise them for remembering where everything belongs, and I stress that I expect them to put everything up correctly during clean-up time each day. I rarely ever find anything in the wrong "home" at the end of the day!!

Contact_FullName: Kristen
Contact_Email: Kristenblisten@yahoo.com
Area: Back to school

Idea:

A Game to learn names:

I made a bee shape from construction paper and glued it to a craft stick. His name is Hickety Pickety Bumblebee. The bee is passed around the circle as the following song is sung for each child:

Hickety Pickety Bumblebee! Can you say your name for me? (Child says name)

If needed, the teacher can help the child by saying the child's name with them or for them.
 

Contact_FullName: Cara

Contact_Email: crhoades@woh.rr.com

Area: Back to school

Idea:

On the first day of school I take each child's picture...I have a digital camera so i run off 2 copies of each picture, laminate it with clear contact paper and we have our our personal classroom memory game for the kids to use all year long. Huge success!!!

During our first few weeks of school we have an open house for parents and children. The majority of the activities take place outdoors, but I have designed a scavenger hunt style game that allows the children to give their parents a tour of the classroom and other school areas. It is a positive way to impress parents with their child's knowledge of the new environment and also helps foster a sense of belonging and ownership in the children -- "This is MY school!"

Upon arrival, children and parents pick up a tour sheet with notes such as these: -- Find your cubby. Can you find a friends cubby, too?

--Show your family your seat at the table. Do you remember who sits next to you?

--Show your family our bathroom. Can you sing our hand washing song for them?

--Show your family our toy cubbies. Which toys are your favorites?

--Show your family our dress up clothes. Find silly hats for your family to try on!

--Show your family our reading area. Do you have a favorite book? Do you remember what it is about?

The tour continues through the room and resource areas, ending on the playground. The children enjoy showing their families around!

On the first day of school, let your children go on a picture scavenger hunt around your classroom. Before school begins, take pictures of various locations such as the bathroom, coat rack, cubbies, art center, sink, etc. Post the pictures at the appropriate locations. Photocopy the pictures (minimize them if your photocopy machine has the capacity to do so) and give each child a copy. Let them go searching around the room to match their pictures. Our kids love this activity!

On the first or second day of school, I have a treasure hunt for the children to help learn about the lay out of our school. However, I borrowed this fun idea from one of my own children's teachers. The night before I bake a large gingerbread person (the entire size of a cookie sheet). I hide this in the school kitchen (or any other room - discuss with the staff beforehand). The day of the treasure hunt I read the story of the gingerbread boy. Next, we tour the school asking each classroom if they've seen a missing gingerbread person. After we locate the missing gingerbread person, we return to the classroom and eat this yummy treat. The preschoolers love this!

I use my digital camera to take a photo of each child. I have used them for the following purposes: 1) I printed two of each child for a game of concentration. 2) Transition activity at the beginning of the year: lay one photo of each child face down in the middle of the circle. When a child selects a photo, they say the name of the child in the photo. Good get-acquainted activity.3) I put two photos up each day. These are the children who sit by me all day. That ended a lot of arguing about who would sit by me. Works really well and I use them in alphabetical order.

For the first day in class I use to prepare a colored dice for the children to introduce themselves. First, you select the six colors for the dice, for example; red, yellow, green, blue, orange and purple. Second, prepare enough colored strips, using each of the colors of the dice so that every student receives one, even if the color is repeated. Third, when each student has his strip, the teacher starts rolling the dice. The students that have the strip with color given by the dice stand up and begin to introduce themselves. The teacher may ask for a volunteer to start the introduction. When all the students with that color finished their presentation, the first volunteer will have his turn to roll the dice and the activity is repeated until all the students have introduced themselves.