Tips & Tricks

5 Fun Back to School Activities

It’s almost that time of year again… Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. Denying it’s not happening won’t change a thing. Trust me, I’m speaking from experience Let’s embrace the truth…  in about 4 short weeks school will be back in session!

 

The smell of brand new crayons will fill the air… School supplies will take over our once beautifully organized classrooms and students will be unusually quiet and nervous… THIS.TIME.IS.CRUCIAL! The right Back To School activities can help set the tone for the entire school year and your classroom community.

 

To help save you some precious time searching through Pinterest, I’ve compiled a list of 5 fun and engaging activities that I think your students are going to ABSOLUTELY.LOVE ! Just pick and choose the ones you like best… or if you get inspired there’s one for every day of the week!

 

 

Figure Me Out

What I like about this activity is that not only is it fun but it involves math. It’s a double whammy!!!! It’s also pretty flexible so you can easily change it up a bit to suit the needs of your kiddos #FlexibilityIsKey. Lastly, it’s a GREAT way to catch a glimpse at your students’ incoming math skills.

 

 

The Great Cup Challenge

I’ve heard so much about this one, but have yet to try it out in my class… (It’s on my to do list this year) It seems like lots of fun and great for developing those team building skills right from the get go. After completing this activity, you could even make an anchor chart with the kiddos and record what they felt worked and what didn’t. Can you say great team building opportunity!

 

 

Saving Sam

(Some people call it “Saving Fred”) This is one of my go to’s every year with my 3rd graders. It’s another great team building activity that really showcases your students’  problem-solving skills. When I do this with my kids, I also like to get a glimpse of their writing skills by having them write down their solution in 3 simple steps. You can download that freebie by clicking here.

 

 

Chandelier

Although in this picture students are completing the task on their own, I think it would be great to do in small groups. What I like about this activity is that students really have to concentrate and work well together in order to balance so many plates on those cups. It looks a lot easier than it really is!

 

The Tallest Tower

Which kid doesn’t love stacking cups? With this challenge, I think as long as you don’t mind the sound of cups falling and kids laughing it’s sure to be a hit! And when you’re all done, you can store the cups away for future STEM activities.

 

 

There you have it… 5 fun filled activities to keep your students wanting to come back to your classroom every day on the first week of school! Don’t forget to pin the picture on the right so you can come back later and pick out what you’re going to do on that first week back.

Your turn now… do you have any other go to Back To School activities that are a hit year after year? If so, I’m always looking for new ideas and would LOVE to hear from you.

Have an amazing BTS week and school year!

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1 Comment

  • Reply
    amber
    July 23, 2016 at 4:09 pm

    Thank you for the feature! Saving Sam looks fun too. 🙂

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