Provide a coloring activity for children to do upon arrival on the first day of class. Place crayons and sheets of drawing paper on the table. Print the words, "I Drew This on the First Day of School," across the bottom of each sheet, as suggested by the PreKinders website. As children finish the drawings, collect them to send home in backpacks at the end of the day. Place puzzles and learning toys on another table for children to explore until all of them are done coloring the papers.
Seat pre-kindergarten class members on a rug in a circle to participate in a group activity during the first week of class. Introduce yourself and tell the children your favorite color. Ask the child seated to your right to introduce himself and name his favorite color. Continue the introductions until each child has told his name and favorite color. Play a game to help the children remember each other's names. Roll a ball to a child. Say his name and favorite color. When the child catches the ball, he rolls it to another child, then says the child's name and favorite color. Play the game each day during the first week of school. Choose a different favorite for children to name each day.
Celebrate the individuality and discover common interests through an art activity. Cut simple t-shirt shapes from 9-by-12-inch sheets of white construction paper. Give pre-kindergartners scissors and old magazines. Let the children cut pictures from the magazines -- toys, foods and other things that are favorites. Pass glue sticks so children can glue the pictures to the t-shirt shapes. When the shirts are finished, ask each child to show her t-shirt and tell about the pictures it contains. Hang the t-shirts, with clothespins, on a length of yarn in the classroom.
Take a digital camera as you lead your pre-kindergartners on a tour of the classroom and school. Snap photos of children on the playground, with the preschool director and in each area of the classroom. Print, then mount the pictures on paper. Insert the pages in a three-ring binder. Write captions beneath each picture. Include the first names of children in the photos. Title the book, "Welcome to Pre-kindergarten." Send the book home with a different student each day until all class members have a chance to take it home. Display the book all year in the classroom.