Getting to Know You Activities Are Boring!

Getting to know you is an important part of back to school routines everywhere. However, you need activities that are more exciting than getting to know you questions and worksheets. While the question and worksheet route may be quick and easy, your students are begging for getting to know you activities that are fun, new, and different. This post will give you some ideas for getting to know activities in case you may be stuck in a rut.

Year after year, you pull out the same getting to know you activities that you did before. Sound familiar? If it does, you are not alone. Trust me, I know as I was guilty of this too. That was until I realized that there was something better I could be using instead. My students were practically begging for getting to know you activities that were something different than the all about me poster that you find at every teacher store. These getting to know you activities that I am going to share with you are way more fun and your students will thank you. I promise!

Getting to Know You Bingo

Woo hoo! Bingo! You better get ready to call the local community center because your classroom is going to be the newest hotspot in town. In all honesty though, who doesn’t love bingo! People of all ages love bingo because it is just pure fun! Also, there is nothing more exciting to be able to shout BINGO as you mark off your last square! Bingo alone is fantastic, but when you combine it with a way for peers to get to interact and learn about each other, they love it even more. Plus, they get to get up and move around the room which is just an added bonus.

With Getting to Know You Bingo, the students move around the room trying to find another student that matches a square on his/her bingo card. Once they find a match, they cross off the square, and then try to find another student who will match a different square. When a student gets 5 in a row they win! Of course, not all the cards are the same, so the squares may be totally different from other students which just adds to the excitement. You can even mix up the way they mark off their bingo squares. There would be nothing more exciting than using bingo daubers.

For the younger kids, this will generally not be an independent activity at first. You will have to walk you students through how to play the game and you might have to help your students with reading. However, once they get the hang of it, it will become more automatic and you will have to help them less. To help them along, there are pictures that correlate to the question which will help with beginning reading skills.

Getting to Know You Activities

All About Me Bags

I know what your thinking, “All about me bags are getting to know you activities that have been done before and my students and frankly I am tired of them”. What if I told you that there is a twist to the classic about me bag. In this version, the students write three clues on the bag. Then, the other students have to read the clues and guess who’s picture might be inside the bag. Your students will love guessing and seeing if they were right.

If you teach the younger students, you may have to read the clues out loud first. Then, have the students take guesses as to who might be inside the bag. Then, show the student’s picture that is inside. The kids will love making their own bags and getting to know their peers at the same time.

All About Me Quilt

The Getting to Know You Quilt activity is a wonderful way for students to show their creative side. Students get to fill in the squares on the quilt with either a drawing or a sentence. Then, they get to draw themselves in the middle star shape. After all the hard work is done, the fun part happens when they get to color and design their own beautiful quilt square. The students can even add whatever elements they want to decorate their square. As an added bonus, the finished quilt squares can be put together to form a class quilt. This class quilt can then be used as a hallway display or in your classroom decoration.

For the younger students, especially Kindergarteners, there is an option for just a picture. The students will love getting the opportunity to express themselves without the added pressure of having to write too (because some or more than some are just learning). The Getting to Know You Quilt activity will be one that you reach for again and again and each time it will be a different result.

Thank you for joining me on this getting to know you activity discussion. Feel free to comment below if you have any fun getting to know you ideas or stories to share!

Hey there!

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