5 activities to start off the year!

It comes with as much excitement as it does impending stress of the morning routine of getting yourself and your family out the door and to school on time (no, just me?)...the start of the school year!

This year comes with some significant changes for me, so I wanted to keep some things consistent, and I am planning to use some of my "go to" activities for the beginning of the year.  I thought I would share them with you all today.

At the start of the year, I run all of my "first" groups/sessions the same way:

1.  A quick introduction/catch up (Because you NEED to know how a 3rd grader's first sleep away camp experience was ASAP!!)
2.  A review of expected behaviors & group structure
3.  A review of my reward system
4.  A fun activity to kick off the year!  Here are my favorites that require little prep:

1.  Create art to share about summer
For my youngest students, I ask them to draw a picture of their summer, or have them fill out a very general activity like this one.  This works for kids who are hesitant to talk or share, at first, as well.

2.  A "Getting to Know You" board game
I love a good "Getting to know you" board game.  I have a bunch of blank game boards that I use, and pick a bunch of "getting to know you" questions.  Kids roll a dice, and then answer a question about themselves before they can move.  One secret I discovered last year: letting kids pick a lego figure instead of boring old game pieces makes any board game 1000x more exciting!

3.  Turn a board game into a sharing game
I also use "getting to know you" questions with typical board games such as Jenga or Candyland (here is a key I made for this game)

4.  "All About Me" Art
This all about me activity is my favorite.  I use it with 2nd graders and older and over the course of a few sessions.  I like it because it's cartoon-ish, and lends itself to drawing or writing.  This also gives me a few talking points for students making "connections" with each other later in the year.  Here is a more basic one for younger kiddos as well.

5.  2 Truths and a Dream
This one is fun for a "larger" (3+ students), and a group who is older, or a student who could use some support in telling the truth.  You model, and then have each student take turns telling three things about themselves-two that are true now, and then one that is a dream.  So I might say, "I have two daughters, this summer I traveled to Italy for a month, and I woke up at 4:45 this morning.  Which one is my dream and which are truths?"

What do you do during your first sessions of the year?