Easy Back to School Activities for the First Day of School

While this feels like it has been the longest summer ever (thanks to weeks of 100-degree-plus temperatures), it always kind of takes me by surprise when it’s back to school time. The good news is a lot of smart people have come up with good getting to know you and first day of school activities that you can use in the classroom if you haven’t had time to plan something.

This collaborative poster idea from Top Teaching Tasks is a fun way for kids to share a little something about themselves in words or pictures and make a visual representation of how the classroom comes together to make a whole unit.

For younger kids you can download name coloring pages from Stevie Doodles, which has free printable coloring pages of thousands of names. (You could make your own in a similar style for anyone with a more unusual name.)

Inspired Elementary has a fun 3D all about me activity where kids can draw their face and include information on their favorites, goals and other information on a flip page. (This is a paid resource but you can read about it on their website.)

The Imagination Box has a bunch of cool paid all about me templates that older kids will like, with themes like cell phones, sneakers and hoodies.

Digging Deeper Teaching Resources has a fun about me writing prompt activity that involves Skittles and writing down particular things based on the colors of the candies they receive (you can use fun packs or make your own to ensure that everyone gets at least one of each color). Example: write about a hobby for each green Skittle. I’m sharing this one even though it doesn’t look like the printable writing planner is still there because you can probably come up with ideas for kids to write about on your own.

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Summer Activity Printables for Kids

The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

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Have you read?

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