First Day of School Activities That Build Community

Howdy friends!

Do you still get first day jitters? I know I do! But something happens the moment that first little learner walks in—the “teacher instinct” kicks in. My focus shifts from all the prep work to helping my students feel welcomed, safe, and excited to learn.

We had such a blast on our first day back, and I know every teacher says this, but… I’ve got a special group this year. 💛

Now that our first week is in the books, I wanted to share some of our favorite first day of school activities for Kindergarten and first grade that build community and set the tone for the year.

Using Chrysanthemum to Teach Kindness

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes is always a beginning-of-the-year favorite—and for good reason. This was actually the very first lesson I ever taught as a brand-new teacher, and it’s still a staple in my classroom.

Here’s how we made the lesson come to life:

• As we read, students took turns crumpling up a large butcher-paper heart.

• Then, they tried to smooth it out again.

The powerful visual shows how words can hurt, and even when we try to fix them, the marks remain. This year I added a short kindness poem to the heart (thank you, [First Grade Parade] for the idea!). It made such a meaningful keepsake for our classroom wall.

💡 Teacher Tip: Keep the heart hanging up for a few weeks and refer back to it during those tricky early-year moments when students are still learning how to speak kindly to one another.

 This year I added a little poem to the heart after we were finished.  I got the idea for the poem from the wonderful [First Grade Parade].

Exploring the School with Pete the Cat

No first day is complete without a tour of the school! Even though most of my students already know the building, a new grade level means new spaces—and it’s always helpful to revisit expectations.

To make our tour extra fun, we used a Pete the Cat scavenger hunt:

1. We started by watching Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes. (The singing in the video is too good to pass up!)

2. Next, the students noticed a note with a blue paw print in our meeting area.

3. That kicked off our scavenger hunt, where Pete led us around the school.

👉 You can grab an editable copy of our Pete the Cat scavenger hunt by clicking the image below. Customize it to fit your own school tour!

Finally, we wrapped up the day with Swimmy by Leo Lionni.

After the read-aloud, students created their own fish—no templates, just creativity! This gave me a quick, informal assessment of fine motor skills like drawing, cutting, and gluing.

Then came the best part: as a class, we combined our fish to create one giant fish, just like in the story.

At first, everyone placed their fish randomly. But when we realized the big fish wasn’t taking shape, one of my students suggested using a pointer so each child could propose where their fish should go and then vote as a class. My teacher heart melted watching that leadership and collaboration unfold!

💡 Teacher Tip: Keep your “Swimmy fish” displayed during the first few weeks of school as a daily reminder that you are stronger when you work together.