15 Back to School Activities for Elementary Kids

And the fun doesn't stop there! We've also put together a collection of fun, engaging, and educational activities for both parents and teachers to help children settle back into a learning mindset.

For Parents...

1. Create a summer scrapbook

Encourage your child to create a scrapbook capturing the highlights of their summer adventures. This can include tickets from trips, photos, postcards, and drawings.

Once they’ve gathered their materials, they can write short captions or longer diary entries about each memory. This exercise not only strengthens their writing skills but also promotes reflection and develops storytelling skills.

You can make it even more exciting by setting out colorful markers, glitter glue, stickers, and patterned paper so they can decorate their pages creatively. If they feel comfortable, they could share their scrapbook with classmates during the first week of school. This can be a fantastic icebreaker, helping their social development while practising public speaking and presentation skills.

2. Back to school scavenger hunt

A scavenger hunt is a fantastic way to reintroduce children to school related items while building reading comprehension and problem solving skills. Create a list of objects they need to find around the house, such as a pencil, ruler, lunchbox, or exercise book.

To make the game more challenging and engaging, replace simple instructions with rhyming riddles or clues. For example:

“I’m long and straight and help you draw lines. Find me where the family dines.”

“I’m full of words from A to Z. Look for me by the apple tree.”

This activity not only gets kids excited about learning but also helps them get familiarised with their school supplies so they're ready to pack their school bag! It’s an easy, low cost way to bring a sense of fun and adventure to back to school preparation.

3. The 'new school year' wish jar

Goal setting can be a powerful skill to teach children, but it’s best introduced in a lighthearted, pressure free way and this is the perfect activity to do so!

Provide your child with a jar and colorful pieces of paper. Ask them to write down hopes, goals, or things they would like to try during the school year. Ideas could include making a new friend, improving in a specific subject, joining a school club, learning a new sport, or reading a certain number of books.

Seal the notes in the jar and set a reminder to open it together at the end of the school year. You can celebrate each goal that was achieved, discuss challenges, and set new ones for the future. If you’d like, introduce a simple reward system for completed goals to encourage motivation throughout the year.

4. Family quiz night

Back to school prep doesn't just need to be for your child! You can make it a family bonding activity by turning an evening at home into a fun family quiz night. Create age-appropriate questions on topics like spelling, maths, science, geography, history, animals, or general knowledge, and let everyone join in. You can even encourage your child to write some of the questions themselves for extra writing practice. You could incorporate questions around topics that they covered last school year to refresh their knowledge in an exciting and motivating way.

Keeping the atmosphere light and friendly helps build confidence while reinforcing skills they'll use in the classroom. It's a great way to show that learning can be both fun and rewarding, and the whole family gets to enjoy it together. And of course, prizes are always a great way to motivate them! You could use candy, promise of a fun day out, or they pick what's for dinner.

5. Math in the kitchen

Baking is a surprisingly effective and enjoyable way to refresh math skills. Start by having your child write out a shopping list for a recipe, which reinforces spelling and handwriting practice. Then, while baking, they can measure ingredients - it's an excellent way to explore fractions, multiplication, and problem solving.

If the recipe requires one half cup of sugar, but you only have a one quarter cup measure, they’ll need to figure out how many scoops to use. These small challenges turn math into a hands on, practical experience.

Once the baking is complete, children can get creative by decorating cookies or cupcakes. This adds a fun artistic element to the lesson and provides a tasty treat at the end!

6. The gratitude rainbow

Gratitude activities help children develop emotional resilience and a positive outlook which are important skills for supporting your child's wellbeing when they're navigating a new school year.

For this exercise, give your child a sheet of paper and ask them to draw a rainbow with seven stripes. In each stripe, they can write or draw something they are thankful for, such as family, friends, teachers, pets, or favorite hobbies.

You could adapt this activity by asking them to write their seven favorite summer memories or things they are looking forward to in the coming school year. Displaying their gratitude rainbow somewhere visible can serve as a daily reminder of positivity and appreciation.

7. Boost learning with Night Zookeeper!

The start of the school year is the ideal time to give your child’s reading and writing skills an extra boost. Night Zookeeper is a unique online learning program that turns language arts into an adventure.

Children create their own zoo full of imaginative animals and explore interactive spelling, grammar, and vocabulary games carefully designed by educators. The program can be adjusted to each child’s learning level, making it effective for refreshing skills after summer break or pushing ahead with more challenging material.

Parents and teachers appreciate the safe, moderated online environment, creative writing prompts, and encouraging feedback from real tutors. Learning is woven into exciting games and challenges, so children often don’t realize just how much they’re improving.

By integrating Night Zookeeper into your back to school routine, you can help your child start the term with confidence, creativity, and enthusiasm for learning.

You can try Night Zookeeper for 7 days with a FREE trial - risk free, cancel anytime!

For teachers...

1. Classroom creature creation

Tap into your students' imaginations by asking them to invent a fantastical animal that will be their “classroom buddy” for the school year. They can draw their creature, give it a name, and write a short story describing its special powers.

If they need some extra encouragement to get started, offer guiding prompts such as:

“Where does your creature live?”

“What does it eat for lunch?”

“What subject is it best at?”

This activity is perfect for developing creative writing skills and artistic expression, and it helps children get into the storytelling mindset. They can then keep their creature by their desk or locker throughout the year. Alternatively, you could have them vote on their favorite and it can become the class mascot for the year.

BONUS TIP: Did you know on Night Zookeeper, your students can draw weird and wonderful imaginative animals for their zoo and bring them to life through creative writing prompts?

2. Class rules brainstorm

Start the school year by creating your classroom rules together. Instead of presenting students with a ready-made list, invite them to discuss what makes a classroom a safe, respectful, and enjoyable place to learn. Ask questions like, "What helps you do your best learning?" and "How should we treat each other?"

Write their ideas on the board and work as a class to group similar suggestions into a set of simple, positive classroom expectations. Focusing on statements such as "Be kind," "Listen when others are speaking," and "Look after our classroom" helps students understand what good behaviour looks like and gives them a sense of ownership over the rules.

Once you've agreed on your classroom expectations, create a colorful class poster. Display it prominently throughout the year as a reminder that the rules were created together, encouraging responsibility, respect, and a positive classroom community from day one.

3. Get to know eachother

Help your students break the ice with a fun activity that encourages them to discover what they have in common. Give each student a worksheet or piece of paper with questions such as "What's your favorite food?", "What's your favorite colour?", "What's your favorite subject?", or "Do you have any pets?" and ask them to write down their answers.

Once everyone has finished, invite students to move around the classroom and chat with their classmates, trying to find others who have the same answers. They can tick off each matching response or write down the names of classmates they have something in common with.

This activity is a fun, low-pressure way to get students talking to one another, helping them build new friendships while developing their communication and listening skills. It's especially effective during the first few days of school, when creating a welcoming and inclusive classroom environment is key.

4. A letter to my future self

Celebrate the start of a new school year by creating a classroom time capsule. Ask each student to write a letter to their future self about their hopes, goals, favourite hobbies, and how they're feeling on the first day of school. You could also include fun predictions, such as who they'll be friends with, what they'll enjoy learning most, or what they think they'll have achieved by the end of the year.

For younger students, encourage them to draw a self-portrait, write about their favorite things, or complete simple sentence starters like "When I grow up, I want to be..." or "This year I'm excited to..."

Collect everyone's letters and artwork in a decorated box or envelope, seal it, and store it somewhere safe until the last week of school. When students open their time capsules at the end of the year, they'll love looking back at how much they've grown, what they've learned, and which predictions came true. It's a meaningful keepsake that celebrates both personal growth and the memories made throughout the school year.

5. Back to school writing prompts

Kickstart your students' creativity with a selection of fun back to school writing prompts. Writing activities are a great way to ease children back into the classroom routine while encouraging them to express their ideas, practise their language arts skills, and build confidence as writers. Choose prompts that inspire imagination or encourage students to reflect on their experiences.

Students can write independently, work in pairs to share their ideas, or illustrate their stories before reading them aloud to the class. Not only does this activity provide valuable writing practice, but it also helps teachers learn more about their students' personalities, interests, and aspirations while setting a positive tone for the year ahead.

BONUS TIP: Check out our back to school writing prompts (including a printable worksheet)

6. Classroom bingo

Turn introductions into a fun, interactive game with classroom bingo. Create bingo cards filled with different facts or experiences, such as "has a pet," "likes pizza," "can ride a bike," "has visited another country," or "enjoys reading." Give each student a card and ask them to walk around the classroom, talking to their classmates to find someone who matches each square.

Students can only use each classmate's name once, encouraging them to speak with as many different people as possible. The first student to complete a row, or even the whole card, calls out "Bingo!"

This activity is a fantastic icebreaker that helps students discover shared interests, build new friendships, and develop their communication skills. It also gives teachers an opportunity to observe class dynamics and identify common interests that can be used in future lessons and group activities.

7. Reflection circle

End the first day of school on a positive note by gathering your students for a reflection circle. Invite each student to share one thing they learned, one thing they enjoyed, and one goal they have for tomorrow or the coming school year. For younger children, you could use simple prompts such as "today I smiled when...", "I learned...", or "tomorrow I want to..."

This activity encourages students to reflect on their experiences, celebrate small successes, and recognise that every school day is an opportunity to learn something new. It also gives quieter students a chance to share their thoughts in a supportive environment while helping teachers understand how everyone is settling into the classroom.

By ending the day with reflection, you'll reinforce positive classroom habits, build a strong sense of community, and set an optimistic tone for the year ahead.

Don't forget, teachers can try Night Zookeeper for FREE with their classroom!

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