FREE lesson plans for the first day of kindergarten
FREE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN ACTIVITIES
It is the first day of kindergarten! What do I teach?
I have taught kindergarten both in the classroom and homeschooling my own daughters.
After years of teaching kindergarten, I have come up with the perfect activities for the first day.
I have done all the planning and prep work for you!
I hope my free lesson plans and activities are a blessing to you during this stressful time. I am sure you will absolutely love these adorable activities to get your year started off right.
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I take you step by step in my lesson plans for the entire first week of school!
Let’s get started!
Children will walk in your door on the first day of school nervous, and uncertain what to do.
If they have never been to preschool or away from mom and dad, they may even be a little scared.
To calm their first day jitters and give them something to have fun with and focus on, I have activities waiting on their tables.
These activités require very little direction for children, and they are perfect to set on tables and let them explore while parents stay and visit, unpack supplies, etc.
I look at these as icebreakers, and having these activities ready to go and set out really helps children forget that they are nervous.
All of the manipulatives that go with the printables are used throughout the entire year in my classroom, so they are used in math lessons almost daily.
BUTTON ACTIVITIES - CLICK HERE - I use them with these buttons from Amazon
SNAP CUBE PATTERNS - CLICK HERE - I use them with these snap cubes from Amazon
POPSICLE STICK SHAPES - CLICK HERE - I use them with these mini popsicle sticks and these color sticks from Amazon
BEAR PATTERNS - CLICK HERE - I use them with these bears from Amazon
FRUIT PATTERNS - CLICK HERE - I use them with these fruit manipulatives from Amazon
CHAIN LINK ACTIVITIES - CLICK HERE - I use them with these linking chains from Amazon
While children are busy and engaged with these activities, I can talk with parents.
I always write a note on the front board, so parents know exactly what to do as well.
After I take attendance, one way to ease parents out the door so you can get started is I tell my students, “Okay kindergarteners, go ahead and wave to mom and dad. We will see them after school!”
This way you give parents a cue and they feel comfortable leaving. If you have an upset child, 99% of the time, it is always better once the parent has left so the child can get accustomed.
I wish I would have known this trick my first year teaching!
Students and/or families will show up with so many supplies!
Make these bins (or even use paper bags for the smaller items) and label them with these adorable FREE SUPPLY LABELS.
With your note on the front board and these bins set out, parents and students can be busy organizing for you!
I line these bins up along the front wall under my whiteboard so people are not in the way unloading their supplies.
Families appreciate you being setup for them that feels organized and welcoming.
Plus, now you don’t haver to spend hours organizing and putting supplies away after school!
Note: in kindergarten we do all community supplies. When I taught 5th grade, some items students kept in their desks and some items we pooled for our classroom. You can choose what works best for you!
Here are some of the printable activities that are FREE with my lesson plans.
These will all land straight in your email inbox within minutes and you’ll be totally set for the first day of school.
Alphabet + Fine Motor Seat Work
If you have more than 15 children in your class, instead of setting up manipulative, puzzles and games on their tables, I would suggest placing these printable alphabet activities on their tables first thing in the morning.
The alphabet printables shown below are heading to your inbox today for you to print and use with your students!
This activity simply focuses on letter recognition and fine motor skills.
I love using stickers the first morning of school instead of anything with glue and scissors… keep it simple!
If you use my handwriting curriculum and morning work, you’ll know that I do not have children trace or write letters until I have taught them correct directionality.
You can usually find these stickers and daubers at the dollar store, or CLICK HERE and CLICK HERE.
Read Aloud + Song + School Tour
We read Pete the Cat Rocking in My School Shoes and the book comes with a FREE music/read aloud download that I love.
This will save your voice and the kids love the beat and song to sing with.
The book lends itself perfectly to taking a school tour. I hang up colorful paws the day before school starts (see printable to the left) so after we read the story, we take a school tour.
They love being on the lookout for Pete’s paws all around the school!
This is the perfect book and first day activity so students get to know where everything is in the school - we visit the bathroom, the library, the cafeteria, the office, etc.
I always try to keep in mind that the school is enormous to little five year olds, and a fun school tour with Pete Paws are the perfect way to calm nerves.
Save your voice and show this video! The kids absolutely love it.
Get Ready for Kindergarten Activity
Another favorite book we read on the first day is Miss Kindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten.
The kids absolutely love the rhyming silliness in this book as we learn about how all different kids got ready for the first day of kindergarten.
I made this adorable printable activity for students to complete afterwards.
They draw a picture, and for many students I walk around and ask them what they did to get ready for kindergarten, and then I write it for them while they watch. I’m modeling for them, and sometimes use highlighter so they can trace.
I also provide a picture word bank that helps kids be independent with this activity.
Friendship Activity + Snack
In the afternoon, we celebrate what it means to be a good friend!
This is such a sweet way to wrap up our first day in kindergarten.
We read Fruit Salad Friend and it outlines the recipe for a true friend including kindness, forgiveness, empathy, inclusion, communication and acceptance.
Some of these words are BIG for kinders, but that doesn’t mean they cannot understand.
We do a hands-on follow up activity and actually make kindness salad (and this is the perfect snack to have in the afternoon!) I prepare a bunch of fruit beforehand, and the children help me mix it all together.
I like to use strawberries, blueberries, mandarin oranges, raspberries, pineapple and then cool whip on top!
I label each ingredient as one from the story (the bowl of strawberries we say is kindness, the blueberries is forgiveness, etc.)
The students then each get to eat their own bowl of friendship salad and they are thrilled!
Afterwards we do a follow up activity. There are two versions you can choose from.
Personally, I do not like my kinders to cut and glue on the first day, so we do the coloring version.
Students color all of the “ingredients” in their fruit salad bowl.
Use one or both!
First Day Crowns + Free Certificates
At the end of the day, I want to be sure every child leaves feeling like they had a fabulous first day of kindergarten!
To me, the first day is a success if every child felt seen, loved, learned a few routines and expectations, and had fun.
These adorable first day certificates will be emailed to you as well with my first day lesson plans.
I also created these adorable first day of school crowns that can purchased HERE
(These crowns are not included in my free plans + activities.)
This bundle of crowns can be personalized with each students name!
I included a generic crown that says “First Day of School” that can be used with any grade level.
Also included are customized Preschool, PK, Pre-K, Transitional Kindergarten, Kindergarten, 1st grade and Daycare crowns.
WHAT ELSE DO WE FOCUS ON THE FIRST FEW DAYS OF SCHOOL?
We have so much fun learning all about our names with these adorable activities and crafts.
Learn more about this kit HERE or purchase the bundle HERE
The adorable palm tree and coconut themes coordinates perfectly with Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.
These name puzzles are perfect for the first week of school!
Rules, Procedures + Expectations
I spend a lot of time going over rules, routines, and procedures. This will pay off in the long run!
I am teaching students expectations for our circle/calendar time. This interactive, digital calendar kit is a complete game changer.
It can be used year after year and comes complete with embedded songs to sing along with, moveable pieces, morning meeting slides, jokes, daily weather/weather graph and so much more!
Watch the video below to see how it works.
"I love love love these morning calendars. This bundle is one of my all time favorite purchases! I use it every single day and it is fantastic."
“I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this so much!!! I look forward to starting my morning with my students and they love these and enjoy singing along to all of the songs!”
We also take a lot of breaks and rests!
Simply have students get a drink and rest their heads to listen and watch Dr. Jean.
I absolutely love her songs and hand movements. We sing her songs daily.
Last… but not least!
I cannot stress enough the importance of building relationships and rapport with your families.
I know it can be exhausting and time consuming, but it is so worth it.
My goal is to make a positive phone call home to every family within that first week.
I want the first phone call from me to leave them feeling comfortable that their child is in my hands all day. I want parents/families to feel proud of their student and have a great first impression of kindergarten.
Why is this important? Say a child has difficulty later in the year… behavior or academic. I already have started building a good relationship with the family so when I do call with an issue, they are much more likely to trust and support what I am saying.
Often times, the parent is busy and I am on the phone with them for less than a minute. That is okay!
What matters is you told them something positive about their child.
Break your class into groups and call a few each day. You’ll be so glad you did!
What is next? CLICK HERE to see what I teach the second day of kindergarten!
I share these activities with you too!
Back to School Resources for Kindergarten
Click the resources below or CLICK HERE to visit our back to school homepage.
