To build relationships, students need to learn about one another. When they know more about their classmates, children can find commonalities and more easily relate to each other. For a fun way to introduce themselves to the class, ask students to create All About Me bags. Provide students with a paper bag, and invite them to decorate it however they like. Have the students take the bag home to fill them with items that represent things about themselves, such as a favorite sport, favorite foods or favorite activities. The next day, when the students return to school, invite each child to share the items from his bag with the class and explain why he chose to include them.
Learning several new names and faces can be difficult for young children. Teachers can provide fun games to help students become more familiar with their classmates. Take a photograph of each student, and print two copies of each picture. Mount all of them on construction paper or a tag board, and laminate them to make them sturdy. Lay out all the cards face-down in rows. Invite one student to turn over two cards and name the children whose picture she sees. If the player has found two cards that match, she may keep the set. If the cards do not match, turn them face-down again. Ask another student to take a turn choosing two cards and naming the students pictured. Continue playing until all the cards are matched.
Students need to learn to work together to solve problems and complete tasks, so teachers can help them practice this skill by playing a game together as a whole class. Invite the children to form a large circle, and give one student a small ball or bean bag. Ask the child to pass it to another student across the circle. Continue passing the ball or bean bag so that each child gets it once and it ends up back with the student who started with it. Have the students repeat the pattern, passing the ball or bean bag in the exact same order as the first time. Challenge them to complete the pattern each time faster than they have previously done.
To show students the importance of teamwork, play a game in which they complete a task alone and with a partner, and then compare the results. Place a blindfold over one student's eyes. Clear a large space in the classroom, and put a chair in the middle. Ask the blindfolded student to find the chair alone with no one helping him. Next, give the blindfolded student a partner who can give verbal cues to help him find the chair. Continue the game with several sets of students. Discuss why the students could find the chair more easily when they were working with their partner.