Most kindergartners have had their pictures taken before they stepped into the classroom, but commemorate their first day in the classroom with another photo posed in front of the classroom door. Use a digital camera to print photos that same day if possible and arrange into a display with students' names. Teachers and students alike can use this photo display to get to know names and faces and kindergartners will love to see how much they have changed when their photo pages are returned to them at the end of the year.
Prepare a puzzling activity for kindergartners on their first day of school to demonstrate how excited you are to see your class come together. Cut a large piece of heavy paper or poster board to fit your bulletin board or wall area where you will hang the finished puzzle. Trace puzzle shapes onto the board, one for each student in your class. Cut out the puzzle shapes and distribute to students on the first day of school. Let each kindergartner decorate and color a piece with representations of his name, favorite color or details about his family. Have each student bring up their puzzle piece, tell a little about it if they want to, and then complete the puzzle to display in the classroom.
Get to know the classroom and maybe even the whole school with a first day of kindergarten treasure hunt. Create a map and clues and work together as a class to learn where the bathrooms, pencil sharpeners, classroom supplies, cubby holes and playground are located. End with a special treat or individual bags filled with important kindergarten supplies, such as pencils and stickers for each student. This game helps kindergartners feel comfortable in their surroundings and get a start at working together and trusting their teacher and classmates.
While you could introduce the basic rules of the classroom by sitting students down and lecturing, creating a delicious snack that symbolizes your ideals of respect and friendship creates a more-lasting impression on easily distracted kindergartners. Gather your class around a large bowl while you prepare several types of diced fruit, a sweet addition such as marshmallows or chocolate chips, yogurt and a rotten, squishy banana. Explain that the bowl represents your classroom and add one type of fruit to represent the kind children in your class, one to represent the hard workers, and one to represent kids who share. Give examples of each type of student as you add the fruit. Add the sweet treat to show that you want kind words in your classroom and then the yogurt to symbolize happiness while you are at school. Peel the banana slowly in front of the children, explaining that it represents trouble in the classroom like rudeness or name-calling and wait for children to stop you from adding it to the friendship salad. Mix your snack together and serve after the lesson is complete.