Back to School Activities and Resources
By MARISSA DESPINS Updated April 08, 2024
It feels like summer has only just begun, but the planner in me is already thinking of September. Those first few weeks are always my favorites in the classroom. I love the fresh feeling of excitement that a classful of new little learners brings. In this resource roundup, I have included some of my very favorite back to school activities. These are tried and true ways to get to know your students. They are also great ways to build classroom community and establish routines. All of the activities have been designed to build enthusiasm towards learning and help set you and your students up for a successful year.
To see all of the no-prep back to school activities available in my TPT shop, click on the image or button below!
Back to School Activities
Read on to see some of my very favorite activities for back to school season!
1- Learning Style Inventory
Interested in getting to know your students at the start of the year so you can teach them in the most effective way possible? Get to know their individual learning style and you will be ready create lessons that meet their individual needs!
Knowing their personal learning style is very helpful for students as well. Knowing this important information helps them to take responsibility for their own learning. It helps them to figure out the best ways for them to learn information.
You can grab this complete resource from my TPT shop by clicking here, or on the image below.
Interested in seeing this resource in action? Check out the YouTube video below!
For more information on this activity, check out our complete guide to learning styles in the classroom!
2- Create Your Own Mandala
Looking for a fun art activity for back to school? This activity asks students to create their own personal mandala. They fill their mandalas with symbols and colors that best reflect their individual personalities. So much more engaging than your typical “All About Me” book, this activity really gets students thinking, and helps you learn about who they are on a deeper level.
Before doing this activity, I like to teach students a little bit about the history of the mandala. I have included a reading passage all about their history in this resource package. This could make a great close reading activity!
I also really love showing them the video I have linked below. It shows a group of Tibetan monks creating (and then destroying!) a sand mandala.
Completed activities look amazing as a back to school bulletin board display!
Interested in doing this fun art activity with your learners? Click here or on the image below to go directly to my TPT shop to grab your own copy.
Interested in seeing this resource in action? Check out the YouTube video below!
For additional information on this activity, check out our post on back to school mandalas!
3- Portrait of a Middle School Student
This is one of my favorite activities to start the year with in my middle school classroom, simply because of the way it incorporates so many subject areas. It touches on math, art, science and writing, all with one activity!
Like the mandala activity mentioned above, this back to school project goes above and beyond the typical “All About Me” book or poster. For this project, students are asked to examine their learning styles and research historical and scientific facts about their birth months. There is even space for students to complete some “Math About Me” questions, where they can choose to write about how many days (minutes?) old they are, etc. The final activity has students create a collage of words and pictures that best describe them.
You can try out these back to school activities with your own learners by clicking here or on the image below.
I hope this post inspires you to try out some new and creative back to school activities with your learners! If you decide to try them out, please post and tag me on Instagram – I would love to see your finished products!
Looking for a FREE resource to jumpstart your back to school planning?
Click here or on the image below to get your FREE back to school collage activity! This is a fun way to get to know your students at the start of the year, and the completed projects make gorgeous bulletin board displays!
For additional back to school activity ideas, check out these 5 ELA activities for back to school!
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