7+ Outstanding Welcome To School Activities For Preschoolers and Toddlers
Are you looking for welcome to school activities for preschoolers and toddlers? Todays blog post I will be sharing back to school classroom activities to make the first week of school successful.
Back To School Pictures
As a daycare provider, I usually have my students year-round. I do allow clients to pull children out for the summer and enroll them back in the Fall. This is a win-win for everyone, I prefer a smaller group during the summer, and this also allows clients who are teachers to not have to budget for summer care that they do not need.
Even though I do have the same students year round, I always make a point to make Back To School special. One way I do this is by taking Back To School pictures.
The apple board found in the picture is from Target! I will sometimes have kids hold a First Day of School Sign that I created. You can get that free printable here!
Parents appreciate the welcome to school pictures and it will also get your students excited for the new year! A tip I have with chalkboard signs, have the children hold the empty sign and add the text later. This will the sign a bright, clean look to the back to school sign.
First Day Of School Craft
A great way to ease new students’ anxiety is by doing a fun first day of school craft.
My First Day
My absolute favorite first day of school craft is a handprint craft. Handprint and footprint crafts make such a perfect little keepsake. You can get this free My First Day craft by clicking on the image. The download also includes a footprint poem for your younger litter learners and a poem that says preschool instead of daycare.
Back To School Do A Dot Art Printable
Another perfect back to school craft for little ones is a do a dot art printable. Do a Dots are simple and little ones LOVE THEM! Toddlers love dot markers, they are easy to use and they can make bold marks on the paper without much effort.
School Bus Activity
Raise your hand if your little learners LOVE school buses! When my school age daycare kids get on the bus in the morning, my younger daycare students love to watch them get on. We have the kindest bus driver who always honks and waves to them!
I created this school bus activity to work on some early math skills and also incorporate their love for the yellow bus. They had so much fun counting and loading the children onto the bus. I used Learning Resources People Counters for our school bus riders.
Another way you could do this activity is with a Fisher Price School Bus and little people. Tell the child a number of children to load onto the bus.
School Supply Match
Another fun activity we do in my classroom to celebrate the new school year is a school supply match. This is a great way to familiarize the children with school supplies that they will be using As they match the objects they can tell you ways they can use the school supplies in the classroom.
Scissor Skill Worksheets
Scissor skills are an important developmental skill in early childhood. When children work with scissors they are strengthening the muscles in their hands, working on hand-eye coordination, and focus.
This Lunchbox Cutting worksheet is a perfect way to work on those scissor skills. I always offer a variety of different scissors for the children to choose from. Loop scissors are my favorite for toddlers.
Following Directions Activity
Learning how to follow directions is a perfect welcome to school activity. Children choose a lunchbox card and pack the lunch by matching the same items found on the card.
Another fun way to do this activity is to add the cards to your dramatic play area with real lunchboxes. Children can use pretend food to pack lunches.
Toddler Back To School Books
Do you love reading to your little learners? I am a sucker for purchasing way to many children’s books, and cute back to school books gets me every time. Here are some we are enjoying right now, but if you want more favorite welcome to school books check out this blog post!
Welcome To Our School
However you spend or say welcome to our school to your little learners, I hope you make it fun!
If you want print and ready Welcome To School lesson plans, click the image below! These and all my weekly lesson plans are tried and loved in my own home daycare!
Looking for more back to school ideas? Check out my Back To School Theme page.