Classroom First Day Activities to Try This New Year 2024

New Year time is a fresh start with resolutions, and celebrations, after a long stretch of 365 days. For teachers, this time is perfect to validate the achievements of the past year and plan some engaging classroom first day activities to kick-start a brand new year.

In this article, we bring you some ideas to plan first day class activities. Get ready to welcome the new year and challenge your students with these fun-filled activities. Let’s begin with some tips for teachers to prepare for a fresh school year.

How Do I Prepare Myself for a New School Year?

Upskill Yourself

To adapt to the dynamic landscape, we must hone our skills at the next level. Today, we are living in an age of virtual learning. And it is a blessing to use the power of digital tools while planning educational activities for students. The Indian educational landscape is all set to embrace new ways of teaching and learning like online schooling. The mobile penetration rates are estimated to cross a mark of 86% by the year 2026. It is right to believe that many activities inside the classroom are likely to be replaced by online versions.

New year is the time to reflect and work on your shortcomings of the previous year. So get ready to gain more knowledge, and gear up to plan some fun classroom first day activities.

In the year 2021, the Government of India published a report highlighting the list of online resources, and initiatives (Remote Learning Initiatives Across India). Other than the professional development initiatives by your school authorities, you can also make use of certain initiatives by the Indian government:

DIKSHA – Covers over 10 lakh teachers
NISHTHA 2.0 -13 online courses, 12 generic modules, 56 subject-specific modules

Focus on Time Management

In general, teaching is a time-consuming activity that involves planning, and it can be tiring to plan new classroom activity each day. In the absence of good time management skills, you can be stressed out. Do you know that in India, 61% of teachers find their jobs stressful?

Time management is an essential soft skill that can immensely help teachers. When you plan classroom activities for students, do not forget to use time management resources such as planners, reminders, calendars, applications, etc. All this will save you some precious time. In addition, it will also make you more stress-free and productive.

Set The Right Expectations

As teachers in a traditional/online school, we all have a fair idea about the course that needs to be covered in the following months. Create a schedule/plan and allocate your time to chalk out a workable plan.

Remember to arrange for all the necessary supplies that you might need for the forthcoming activities inside the classroom.

Let’s move on and discuss the class room activity for students.

How Do You Start a New Year in School?

1. Welcome Back Activities- My Learning Space

Refresh the class guidelines for elementary-level students or start some new nursery class activities after a quick recap. You can create fun jingles to revise class rules or get your kids to sign a fun poster that has all the class rules written on it.

Read this related article to know about the best ways to establish class rules in an online classroom “Online Classroom Rules: How To Establish And Make Them Effective“

2. Team Building STEM Activities

What better than adding more value to the fun activities for students in the classroom. Plan some exciting STEM activities, and help your students to learn how to collaborate in groups. Cardboard roller coaster rides, solar energy tools, aquariums, windmills, cardboard turbines, water filtration plants with plastic bottles, etc. are great group activities for middle school students. You can also create clue games and teach children how to decipher symbols, meanings, abbreviations, etc. Challenge your class with their problem-solving abilities, and scatter clues all over the class in small pieces to solve exciting puzzles. Do not forget to applaud the fastest or the best group in the end.

3. New Year Story Challenge

Most activities inside the classroom at this point in time are related to the upcoming year. You can make your class more innovative by creating storywriting/telling challenges purely basis the wishes of your students. Let your students come up with new ideas as to how they would have liked their New Year celebrations instead of asking them how the celebrations were. You can also add the elements of some educational activities for students like creating a wish list as per the words in a celebration-themed word scramble.

4. Hello New Year!

Get your students ready with their New Year resolutions. Plan a class room activity for students and help them to divide it into 2 parts, ‘I will work on……’ and ‘I will reduce/cut down/control…….’. Cite a couple of examples like ‘I will work on staying more organized with my belongings’ and ‘I will cut down on junk food and limit it to only twice a month’. Ask the students to maintain and fill an ‘adherence list’ with 12 sections for each month in the New Year. This will remind them of their resolution throughout the year.

5. I Accept My Emotions

Reiterate the importance of emotional intelligence through some fun activities for students in the classroom. Divide your students into two groups and give them catchy names. Ask one member from each group to come forward and talk about any emotion that dominated him/her throughout the year. Now the other group will discuss amongst themselves. And suggest ways of accepting and managing that emotion. End the activity with applause for each participant.

6. A Magical Book

Reading book | Classroom First Day Activities

It is a great idea to start your New Year with first day class activities and book reading sessions. Give your students the choice to select the book of their choice. Make it fun with voice modulation and add a touch of humor.

7. I Think

Most students enjoy classroom games on the first day of the new year. Ask students to share compliments anonymously on small chits of paper with the names of their friends. Distribute these chits after you take a quick look at these chits.

8. My Vote

Your kids will love this classroom activity. Take a glass bowl and ask them to vote about their preferences for learning. Give them choices like interactive videos, recorded lectures, board diagrams, short lectures, etc.

9. I Am Thankful

Start the next year with some wonderful classroom activities for students to teach them the value of gratitude in life. Let them pen down 3 or 5 things (depending on the grade) that they are thankful for (from the past year).

10. Role Play

The last one on this list of the classroom first day activities is to assign roles to students and ask them to describe their roles. Ask students to come in costumes (if possible) or simply use placards.

Final Thoughts

We hope this information helped you with some ideas about the best classroom games for your students. Try these out and get your students in the right mindset to start the upcoming year with joy and enthusiasm!

Know more about K8 School’s best schooling programs, reach out to us now!

Thanks for Reading!

Frequently Asked Questions

What are some best nursery class activities for the New Year?
You can try craft activities, movement games (like animal walks, number games, etc.) You can also read story books to them.
How to plan a good class room activity for students?
Prepare your activity as per the student’s learning styles and preferences. Try to be creative and keep all the necessary supplies handy.

Classroom First Day Activities to Try This New Year