Fun Beginning of the School Year Activities — Team Mascots

My daughter goes back to school in a week and I know that whether school is in person, online or a mix for your kiddos it’s likely to look and feel different this year. But there are still a lot of fun beginning of the school year activities kids can do to get to know each other and build classroom spirit, no matter what the classroom looks like.

Teach Student Savvy has a great collection of beginning of the year activities, but one that caught my eye was the group name and mascot activity, which she has as a freebie on Teachers Pay Teachers.

This activity works for a range of ages and has groups of kids (could be the table or small learning group if your class is using the pod/cohort model) come up with a “team” name and mascot based on things the group members have in common or like. In a small classroom the whole group can work on the project together.

You could do this activity with a virtual class as well by dividing up into smaller groups.

Check out her post for a lot more great ideas for celebrating the start of the weirdest school year ever.

[Photo: Teach Student Savvy.]

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Learning about Women in STEM

Learning about Hanukkah is important for people of all faiths as a reminder that December isn’t just about Christmas and that their are many other important holidays that happen during this time. Hanukkah unit studies can give you ideas for incorporating the holiday into your holiday studies that happen in December, or to use at home for learning about people of different faiths.

Homeschool Superfreak has a lot of basic ideas for how to build a Hanukkah unit study, as well as FAQs about what Hanukkah is and why it is celebrated. This list is a good stargint point but doesn’t include all the details you’ll need. For example it says you can play the dreidel game but doesn’t explain how to do that or why it’s important. (If you need that information, this post from Mama Smiles is a good source.)

Teachers Pay Teachers has lots of great lesson plans and activities if you’re willing to pay a little bit to get some good content. Two I really like are this Hanukkah PowerPoint presentation from Shelia Melton, which provides a good overview of traditions, food and the history of Hanukkah; and a virtual field trip to Jerusalem from MagiCore, which includes lots of videos showing the city and activities like playing dreidel, drawing a menorah and making latkes. It’s a Google Drive folder and also includes writing activities and more for kids in second to fifth grade.

Kids Activities Blog has some simple printables with facts about Hanukkah and things kids can color in like a Star of David, sufganiyots (jelly doughnuts) and a menorah. These are great for learning the basics.

Homeschool Giveaways has a printable ebook about Hanukkah complete with questions kids can answer after they read. This would be a good one for older kids with good reading comprehension.

NurtureStore’s Hanukkah unit study includes a printable mini book, tons of crafts, as well as math and writing activities. I love the dominoes game that’s part of the unit.

And check out our previous posts for more Hanukkah crafts and learning activities!

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