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Engaging Back to School Activities for Kindergarten-Second Grade 

Get ready to start the school year with fun and engaging back to school activities for kindergarten and first grade! This guide has everything you need, from first day of school lesson plans to tips on classroom setup for young learners, helping you create a warm and welcoming space. With these fun school activities for young kids, you’ll make the first days of school exciting, establish classroom routines, and build strong connections. Explore creative kindergarten orientation strategies that inspire curiosity, encourage hands-on exploration, and support fine motor skills activities.

Incorporate school readiness activities such as icebreaker activities, sensory play, and transition activities to ease students into their new learning environment. Keep young learners engaged with circle time, storytime sessions, art and craft projects, and music and movement sessions to foster self-expression and classroom community. Use primary grade teaching resources and early childhood education strategies to create structured yet playful learning experiences that set a positive tone for the year.

Reinforce key skills through literacy centers, numeracy activities, and visual schedules while making learning fun with educational games and collaborative group work. Encourage student goal setting to promote confidence and independence as young learners take their first steps into the first-grade curriculum. Here’s to a fantastic start and a year filled with growth, laughter, and discovery! Explore more resources and find additional support at SubjectToClimate to help you every step of the way. 

Worksheets & Printables 

Get your K-2 students excited for the new school year with fun and engaging worksheets! These back-to-school printables build literacy, math, and science skills through writing prompts, syllable activities, and weather graphing. Perfect for group work or independent practice, they connect learning to real-world topics like food, sustainability, and weather!

Back to School Activities for Grades K-2

Use these free printable and customizable signs, songs, poems, coloring sheets, All About Me activities, and writing prompts to prepare your classroom. Plus, incorporate visual schedules to help students adjust to their new routines and get excited for the upcoming school year!

Food I Eat Writing Activity

This engaging writing activity, perfect for a Writing Center, encourages students to explore where their food comes from while thoughtfully connecting to topics like food production, waste, and climate impact.

Composting Syllables Worksheet

This fun, compost-themed resource helps students build phonemic awareness by breaking down and counting syllables in sustainability-related words, making it a great addition to literacy centers, group activities, or independent practice.

Weather Data and Graphing Ativity

Students will have fun actively observing and recording the weather, then graphing their findings to build important science and math skills while making real-world connections to the world around them!

ELA Guide

SubjectToClimate's ELA resource guide offers valuable lessons, unit plans, and activities for all grade levels. Students will develop reading and writing skills while exploring climate-related themes like environmental literature and sustainability. Connect ELA instruction with climate education to empower students as confident readers, skilled writers, and critical thinkers.

ELA Guide

Math Guide

SubjectToClimate's ELA resource guide offers valuable lessons, unit plans, and activities for all grade levels. Students will develop reading and writing skills while exploring climate-related themes like environmental literature and sustainability. Connect ELA instruction with climate education to empower students as confident readers, skilled writers, and critical thinkers.

Math Guide

Learn About Climate from the First Day of School 

Start the school year with fun, interactive activities that introduce climate concepts. From transition activities like an animated video to storytime sessions with a digital book, coloring pages, and word games, these resources spark curiosity and discussion. Include sensory play and circle time activities to enhance learning and encourage hands-on exploration. Through music, storytelling, and exploration, students build a strong climate foundation from day one.

Climate Charades

Climate Change Charades makes climate education engaging and interactive. The game simplifies complex climate concepts through creative acting and description, reinforcing understanding in a fun, collaborative way. Use it as an icebreaker, an introduction, or a review activity.

Creatures A-Z

This animated video uses music and images to introduce the alphabet through marine animals the Octonauts have met, making it a perfect brain-break and a fun music and movement session for the first week of school!

Hummingbird and warbler Coloring Pages

These coloring pages featuring Blue-Winged Warblers and Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds provide a fun, low-stakes activity for students to engage with during a transition or calm-down period, allowing them to explore bird habitats, coloration, and gender differences while reinforcing science concepts.

Nature Sights and Sounds

This fun interactive game helps students explore different ecosystems by matching images and sounds of nature. It could be a great Technology Center activity to engage students in auditory and visual learning.

More Guidance For Back to School