Help your children get to know you by telling them about yourself. You can do this by simply explaining your job, telling them about your family, and discussing the rules of the classroom. However, it's much more fun to tell a story by singing a song or putting on a play. Consider dressing up, grabbing a pretend microphone, and telling an abridged story of your life as if you were a narrator. Use sound effects, props, old pictures of yourself, and a song to tell your story. Involve your children by asking them easy questions during the drama.
Use icebreakers to get to know each of your students. Play the name game and have each child tell the class something funny about his name. If a student doesn't have an answer, prompt her to tell you what rhymes with her name or to tell you something fun that also starts with the first letter of her name. Each of these are both fun and educational, as all icebreakers should be.
The first day of school can be overwhelming. Choose some activities that allow time for students to regroup and refocus without battling shyness. Draw self portraits to both differentiate each student, and to give them a chance to do something independently. Include a mirror so that the children can see themselves.
Give your children a chance to get to know each other with group icebreakers. Avoid activities on the first day that have winners and losers. No child should be a loser on his first day in Kindergarten. A treasure hunt around the classroom is one fun way to pair up children and foster teamwork. Give each team their own item to find so that everyone wins.
Pair children up and let them learn ways that they are alike and different. After a few minutes, have each child tell one fun fact she has learned about her partner to the entire class. Have her partner also share what he found fun or interesting about her. Avoid forcing children to stand in front of the class. Shy children are more comfortable sharing when seated.
Use icebreakers that are fun and that begin to teach the children. Have all the children wearing a certain color stand together. Match like-colored shoes to other shoes. Give children nametags with animal stickers and have them group themselves by carnivores vs. herbivores or by region the animal is found in.
Help the children discover alphabetization by having them line up based on the first letter in their first name. Give each child a piece of paper with their first initial boldly displayed. Teach them to look at the alphabet, posted somewhere in your classroom, and line up accordingly. You will need to heavily assist the children in this activity.