Space Balls: Here's a quick game that children love, that develops team work, concentration, and imagination. Plus, it doesn't require any materials!
Explore these fun and informative ideas to build a strong classroom community in primary grades! From student jobs to team building activities, foster a sense of belonging in kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade. These classroom community lessons to build friendship, respect, and kindness will help you create a learning environment where students thrive. Grab the FREE classroom community activities and respect scenario role play task cards to get you started!
Too many classroom icebreakers require students to take big social risks with people they barely know. Or they don't really help students get to know each other. Or they are just plain cheesy.
Classroom community building activities and free ideas and lesson plans to kick off the school year or implement at any time.
A positive classroom culture will impact both the way student's feel about school and how they learn - 4 ideas for creating positive classroom culture.
These community-building ideas for the classroom can help teachers ensure that students in every grade feel like they belong.
Cooperative Learning through Problem Solving contains sets of cards that encourage students to work together to solve the given problem. All of the problems
Building a positive classroom community needs to be every teacher’s intent. It is the glue that holds together healthy relationships in the classroom.
Engage students in simple yet meaningful back-to-school activities to build classroom community at the same time! Find six ideas here.
Paper Bag Dramatics: A fun activity for Team Building and Developing Community. Here's an idea that can be used just about anywhere at any time. It encourages groups to solve problems, think creatively, and work as a team.
Find out why teachers should be using icebreaker activities for small groups all year long and not just at the beginning of the school year.
Create a positive classroom culture in your classroom with these five activities
The first week of school sure is a busy one! I work hard to balance the mandatory paperwork with games, hands-on activities and team-building fun. Even with bigger kids, it’s important to keep them moving throughout the day and providing a variety of activities. 1. Marshmallow Tower For this activity, you’ll need the following materials […]
Have you ever started getting-to-know-you activity with your new class and they say "We JUST did this in Ms. Johnson's class!" Been there. Hexagonal Thinking is the latest in tactile, active critical thinking - so I thought why not use it as a first day community building activity for back to school? I've used hexagonal thinking as a learning strategy for a few years now and so I created this relationship-building back-to-school activity to start my year off with a fresh activity that students haven't already done in their other classes. Students receive a hexagon that is divided into 6 triangles. First, they decorate their hexagon by incorporating unique things about their identity or things they'd like their peers and me to know. Then, we all interact, finding unique ways to connect our hexagons to create a class honeycomb that can stay on your wall all year! Here’s what you get: A graphic organizer with a hexagon for students to decorate, plus tons of ideas to help them brainstorm! A detailed step-by-step lesson plan with tons of activities to do with the hexagons once they’re finished! Students get creative, then work collaboratively and use their critical thinking skills to make connections to other students’ hexagons! This activity builds community and provides a meaningful opportunity for group interaction on the first day of school. Sometimes students can find it hard to put their strengths, interests, goals, life outside of school, and unique qualities into words. This activity allows them to incorporate creative play to help them tell their own story! Looking for other great back-to-school and community-building ideas? Check out my other resources here!
If your reading stamina is good and you made it through my long, long post yesterday, you'll remember that I promised you some freebies! We...
STEM challenges are the best way to begin building classroom community and teamwork at the beginning of the year. They are also a great way to introduce problem-solving skills and get students thinking creatively and outside the box. The best part is students LOVE them, and they don't eve
The final photos from my visit to Rosa Parks Preschool: This is a child painted embroidery hoop with a fine netting. I love the multi-colored yarn that the children used to sew on the netting. A wonderful collaborative art piece made with bottle caps. Love, love. These are called “Identity Panels.” I adore child's self-portraits. […]
Team-building activities in the middle school classroom are a great way to build relationships at the beginning of the school year!
The first week anxiety and nerves are real! Help your new students with some beginning of the year team building activities and ice breakers.
Games are a tried and true way to engage students. Whether teaching in-person or remotely via a live session like Zoom or Google Meets, teachers know that games, brain breaks, and icebreakers are an awesome way to get students actively involved in learning. With the ever-changing landscape of education, I thought it might be nice to compile some versatile activities that challenge students in really fun ways. Best part? These activities are very low prep and work in a variety of settings. These activities encourage students to listen, solve problems, be creative, and practice critical skills. They're designed to be easy to do with little to no prep. You can easily add one of these games to any lesson as a warm-up, closure, community building activity, or lesson extender. GAMES & ACTIVITIES ⭐How Many? Give students a category and then challenge students to see how many different things they can fit within that classification. At first students will respond with obvious ideas. However, as they brainstorm, their ideas will stretch and their creativity will grow. Students can jot their ideas down on scrap paper and earn points for each unique response when they share out. Here are some categories to get started: occupations, things that are slimy, things that roll, animal noises, articles of clothing ⭐Listen Carefully: Read a short passage out loud to students. Then, have them answer questions based on what they can remember. Make it especially fun by awarding points for every answer that students get right. You can change up this activity by reading two versions of the same story. Mix up some of the details in the second version for students to listen for. Give this activity a try with the passages in this set of FREE Brain Bursts. Add your information below and then check your inbox! ⮟⮟⮟⮟⮟⮟⮟⮟ ⭐Silly Silent Spelling: Practice spelling words in a super silly way. Explain to students that you are going to be giving them a practice spelling test (definitely NOT the real thing). Just like a typical practice test, they'll listen for the word and write it down. However, here's the catch: you're only going to silently mouth the words. Students will need to read your lips to figure out what word they will need to write down. Of course, figuring out a word from a silent cue is not easy. That's what makes this fun. Students will write down some wild guesses as they spell their way through this game. ⭐One Word: Pose a fun question to the class and have them all think of a one-word answer. Then, give every student a chance to share their responses as you call on each of them. Here are some questions to get started: --- If you were a type of dessert, what would you be? --- Where do you feel happiest? --- How would a soccer ball describe its day? --- Where is somewhere that you would like to visit? --- What would be the perfect gift for you? ⭐Mystery Item: This activity is quick and easy to play. To prepare, write 5 or 6 clues about an object. Make the clues gradually increase in their specificity. Then, read the clues to students as they jot down their guesses for the mystery item until you reveal the answer. ⭐Punchline: Start telling a joke to students, and then have them guess the punchline. Find a ton of jokes for kids here. ⭐Strike a Pose: Explain to students that they are going to pretend that they are in a photograph. They will need to imagine that the photo was taken at the height of the event. All they have to do is strike a pose after you give them a situation. For instance, you might say, "haunted house," and then students would freeze in a pose that shows them frightened or terrified. Here are a few situations to try: Dentist Office, Roller Coaster, Last Day of School, Scary Movie, Food Fight, Race ⭐Timed Writing Activities: Engage students with a creative writing prompt. Then, "amp up" the fun factor by adding a timed element. Challenge students to race the clock as they write as much as they can in a fixed time period. Find my favorite prompts here. ⭐And Then...: This is a listening game for the entire class. Students will need to listen to and add to a growing story. You'll start the story with an opener like, "At the zoo, I decided to open the lion's cage, and then..." Next, you'll call on a student to explain what happened next. That student will add one line and the phrase "and then" before selecting another student to add to the story. ⭐Listen and Draw: Students love this activity! To prepare, create a simple illustration filled with shapes and designs. Then, write out the directions for students. Have students complete the activity on a piece of paper. Read each direction to students and challenge them to replicate the illustration you instructed them to draw. (These are included in the exclusive freebie below.) ⭐Class Pet: Pretend that you have a new class pet. Explain to students that they will need to guess the type of animal. Students will need to ask questions and write their guesses on a piece of paper when they think they have figured out the new class pet. ⭐Add the Ending: Engage students as they practice writing and storytelling skills with this activity. First, students will listen to the beginning of a story that you read to them. Then, they'll take over the writing and complete the story. The story starters are a fun way to motivate students to write. ⭐Alien, Tiger, and Cat: Here's an improvisational theatre game that works in the classroom. Explain to students that they can be one of three things: an alien, a cat, or a tiger. If they choose to be an alien, they need to hold their pointer fingers next to their head (like antennae) and say "bleeb, bleeb." To be a cat, they need to rub their wrist along their face (like a cat cleaning itself) and say "meow." Finally, to be a tiger they need to push their hand forward with a claw stance and roar. On your cue, every student will choose and act like an animal. The goal is to get everyone to choose the same animal (which is nearly impossible, but fun to try). ⭐Rapid Recall: Create a list of random words. Then, read the list of words to students. As you read the words, you might have students put their hands on their heads so that you know for sure that they aren't taking notes. Once you've read the words to students once or twice, wait about a minute before letting students write down every word that they remember. (Find ready-made lists in this complete resource.) ⭐Finish the Fact: Share the beginning of a fact with students. Then, challenge them to complete the fact. Have them share their guesses before revealing the complete fact. Find a collection of random facts here. Want a free set of virtual classroom activities designed to be NO PREP and NO COPIES? Just add your name and email below. ⮟⮟⮟⮟⮟⮟⮟⮟ BONUS: Here's one more idea: ⭐Paper Airplanes: Help students practice following directions by challenging them to fold a paper airplane by following your directions. To get started, choose a paper airplane design to have students fold. Then, have students take out a piece of paper. They'll need to listen carefully to each of your directions to make their paper airplane. Wishing you tons of fun in your (virtual) classroom, Mary Beth P.S. Find a TON of ready-made activities HERE.
Which Back to School Activities Elementary can I use for Building Community in my Classroom? Which All About Me Activities are most engaging for my students?
Fun parachute games and activities to exercise gross motor muscles and practice directional movement and move to music with a parachute.
Every Friday this summer I am sharing some of my favorite things with you! The month of August is focused on back to school. Check out past Friday Favorites... PD Books Read Alouds Kids' Favorite Series Book Studies Tech Apps Math Activities Reading Activities PBL Activities Teaching Supplies Back to School Books I'm excited to share some of my favorite community building activities with you today! Many of these I actually did this past week which was the first week of school. I love team building activities and think it's important that we really focus on building that community the first few weeks of school because it makes everyone feel more comfortable. Bucket Filling - Such a great book and a great activity to continue all year long. This book talks about how we all have an invisible bucket above our head. When good things happen, drops go in the bucket and our bucket becomes fuller. When bad things happen or someone says something mean to you, drips go out over you bucket and your bucket starts to empty. It's a great visual for kids. After reading, I always explain our bucket filling area. The students can write positive bucket filling notes to each other and put them in their buckets (Ziploc bags). Great way to promote positivity and kindness! Find Someone Who - I don't have a picture of this one, but there are many versions out there. This is a great first week activity that allows students to get to know one another and find things that they might have in common with others. For example, find someone who has an older sibling. Great activity for early in the school year. Cup Tower Challenge - This activity is all over Pinterest. You give each team the same number of cups, a time limit, and their goal is to build the tallest tower possible with the cups. I love activities like this that focus on the kids working together for a common goal! Dice Challenge - This is a Minute to Win It Game that I changed up a bit. This activity is again done in teams. One student holds the craft stick while the other students stack dice on the end. They have one minute to get as many dice as possible on the craft stick. At the end of the minute, the team with the most dice on the stick win! I will say I tried this out and it is not as easy as it looks! Requires a lot of coordination, but the kids had fun working on it! Paper Chain Challenge - Another activity I found on Pinterest. Again, students are in teams so it's giving them a chance to work together and work on problem solving skills. Each group got one piece of paper, a pair of scissors, and a glue stick. The challenge was to build the longest paper chain using only one piece of paper! I was quite impressed with this group below - they made their chain quite long!!! Snap Cube Challenge - I found the Snap Cube cards at Keeping My Kiddo's and Kinder's Busy... you can find them...here. Then, I had students work with their team to build all 9 snap cube figures. They then had to take a picture of each creation. The first team finished with all 9 won! Thank you for checking out my favorite community building activities. Since Summer is coming to an end so is my Friday Favorite Blog Post Series - but stay tuned for many more blog posts and teaching ideas!
Use attendance questions as an icebreaker at first and then a community builder throughout the year. Find out how to easily get started here.
Wow...my hat goes off to those of you who blogged regularly throughout your first week back to school. I literally was lucky to make it home without falling asleep at the wheel! Teaching procedures to 8th graders is SO much easier than teaching them to 6th graders. In fact, since I am new to the school, many of them were super helpful in telling me how things are done there and so on. The bell schedule is a little different than the one I was on last year, so I have new dismissal times to memorize. I would just ask my kids how much time is left and wouldn't you know...most of them ACTUALLY know how to read a clock!? Amazing. I was so impressed with how my students behaved all week. These are some of the most polite kids I have ever taught. My classes are widely diverse, but the kids don't even acknowledge it, which is awesome. I am so privileged and blessed to have these kiddos to call my own. After our first day of getting to know you activities (I actually saw all of my classes for about 30 minutes a piece that 1st day!), I knew we were ready for team building on day 2. I had already gone over my syllabus on the first day which I hadn't ever done before, but I felt like I could since I didn't have to give a school tour, etc. I am the one who needed the school tour! (True story...my kids walked me down to the textbook room so that I could issue them textbooks!) I know I have COMPLETELY rambled, so let me get right to it! I read about The Marshmallow Challenge earlier this summer and KNEW that I wanted to try it in my class! If you want to read more about The Marshmallow Challenge, click here. I spent about $10 on supplies for 6 classes which equates to about $0.06 per student. I am so willing to spend that on any lesson that students are going to get something out of. Here is the basic challenge: Students use the following materials: 20 pieces of spaghetti 1 yard of tape 1 yard of string and 1 marshmallow I also include scissors for easy cutting The challenge is that students must create the tallest freestanding structure out of these materials with the marshmallow on top--in 18 minutes or less. It is super easy to do this, but the marshmallow is the key to keeping it upright. Many students build the structure as tall as they can and then put the marshmallow on top...and then watch it collapse before their eyes. We all think of marshmallows as light, airy, and fluffy, but in this challenge, they might as well weigh as much as a brick! I did have several groups that were successful, but sometimes I was too excited that I forgot to take a picture! The tallest one was in 7th period and it was 22 inches. I did not let the students tape anything to the desks and that is what was harder as well. Here are some of the successful groups: This was the first one done in 1st period, and they were so proud. They had started doing some large contraption that of course fell right over after putting the marshmallow on top. This must have been Plan B. Or Plan E. Either way, they were only 1 of 2 groups that were successful in that class! This was the winner in 1st period at 18.75 inches. They said their inspiration was the Eiffel Tower! I was so shocked that this one stayed up! This one was the 3rd period winner. This was the winner in 7th period and overall! 22 inches...super proud of these boys! I can't wait to see what else I can throw at these kids to do this year. They are all begging me to do this again so that they can fix their mistakes--I promised that we would do it in the spring to see how much they had improved! The best part was the recap at the end of the challenge where we discussed that most everything in life has a "marshmallow aspect" to it where it kind of throws a wrench in the plans and how we can overcome it in math. Did I mention I love my kids?!? If you made it this far in my post...thank you! If you are looking for an easy way to incorporate this into your classroom without much setup, you might be interested in this product that can be found in my TPT store: Looking for more Back to School activities to use in your math class? Check these out! Be sure to drop me a line and tell me how it went in your class!
There are a few elements to building influential student relationships. Keep on reading to find out the six keys to fostering strong connections in your classroom.
Do you and I run in the same circles? Doubt it. Although we do share at least one circle: teaching. Right? And if you and I ha...
These three icebreakers for teens will make the first class, youth group, or club fun for everyone, even the introverts.
We incorporated audio QR codes into classroom community building activities to create audio QR positive messages to display around the school or classroom. Inspired by the 'Choose Kind' movement, my class was brainstorming some fun ways to promote kindness. A few years ago, some students created and hung posters around the school saying 'You're beautiful' and 'Have a fantastic day.' We all remembered how seeing those posters cheered us up if we were feeling down, made us smile, and in turn helped us choose kindness when with our peers and teachers. We went to the website QR Voice and typed in a positive message.
Having a little boy opened my eyes BIG TIME to a world of books we'd been mostly neglecting. Sure, we read a few truck books when Sophie was little, but when Milo came on the
Students will have fun while learning how to cooperate and communicate.
A perfect activity for encouraging temwork in the STEM lab or a regular classroom. All you need is string and a little imagination!
These back to school science activities and experiments are the perfect way to keep students engaged at the beginning of the year.
Building a positive classroom community is vital to the overal success of your classroom. Not only are children happier, but they learn better!
If you’re looking to build community in your classroom, here are ways to help foster relationships and build community amongst my students.
Check out these great ideas for helping your students feel like part of a classroom community during distance learning & social distancing.
Virtual icebreakers are perfect for getting students introduced to one another. They help encourage students to get to know one another better.
