Get the most out of your morning meeting activities with fun ideas to help kindergarten and first grade students make new friends and practice skills in a fun way. Jump in and discover all the exciting things you can do to make your classroom morning meeting awesome!
Getting Started With Morning Meeting
1. Morning Message
Begin your morning meeting with a morning message displayed on a whiteboard or smartboard. Share important updates, fun facts, or vocabulary words related to the day's lessons. This is a great way to introduce academic skills in an engaging manner.
2. Greetings Galore
Start the day with a variety of morning meeting greetings. Encourage kindergarten or first grade students to say “good morning” in different languages, use creative greetings like a funny dance move or a secret handshake, or even incorporate character traits like kindness or respect into their greetings.
3. Good Morning Songs For Morning Meeting Activities
Link up your daily morning meeting slides with a special good morning song. You can find lots of cute songs on YouTube that students can learn and sing along to each day. Your students will look forward to this daily song and it's perfect for morning meeting activities in kindergarten or first grade.
4. Fist Bump Fun
Have kindergarten and first-grade students greet each other with a fist bump, using a different greeting each day at the start of your morning meeting activities. Students can try different types of fist bumps such as animal bumps. Assign each student an animal and have them create a corresponding fist bump action. For example, students could do a “paw bump” for a dog or a “wing bump” for a bird.
Another great idea for a fist bump is a number bump: Choose a number, and students bump their fists that number of times while counting out loud. Students will look forward to this and have a great time saying good morning to their friends!
5. Student Leader Spotlight
Choose a student leader for the day who helps facilitate the morning meeting. This responsibility builds leadership skills and creates a sense of ownership in the classroom.
Building Classroom Community With Morning Meeting
6. Team-Building Scavenger Hunts
At the beginning of the year, engage students in scavenger hunts around the classroom as part of your morning meeting activities. This fun activity helps them get familiar with their surroundings and classmates, creating a strong sense of community.
Some fun ideas would be to have students go on a classmate connection hunt where they find other students who like the same things they do. They can make a cute headband like this one and as they meet new friends with the same interests, have them sign their headband. This encourages students to interact with different classmates and learn more about each other.
7. Sharing Circle
Create a safe space for students to share something special with their classmates. This could be a story, a drawing, or a recent accomplishment. This activity promotes public speaking and strengthens bonds within the classroom.
8. Question of the Day
Pose a fun or thought-provoking question of the day to the class each morning. Give students a chance to share their answers, fostering meaningful conversations and boosting vocabulary.
9. Sticky Note Share
Provide students with sticky notes to write down something they're excited about, curious about, or thankful for. Collect the notes and read a few aloud during your morning meeting activities.
10. Friendly Freeze Dance
Get students moving and grooving with a freeze dance session as part of your morning meeting activities. Play some music and have students dance around. When the music stops, they freeze in place and greet a nearby classmate.
11. Story Starters
Kickstart students' imagination by sharing a story starter or a picture prompt. Have students take turns adding to the story, enhancing their storytelling skills.
12. Daily News Highlights
Assign a kindergarten or first-grade “news reporter” each day to share a brief news item or a fun fact with the class. This encourages research, public speaking, and keeps students informed.
13. Joke Of The Day
Include a joke of the day in your daily morning meeting. It's a great way to start the day with a laugh and something kids will look forward to each day.
14. Movement Breaks
Incorporate quick movement breaks during your morning meeting activities. Lead students through stretches, jumping jacks, or simple yoga poses to energize them for the day ahead.
15. Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down
Present different scenarios or ideas and have students give a thumbs up for “yes” and a thumbs down for “no.” This activity sparks discussions and encourages critical thinking. It also helps you get to know your students better. Asking questions like “Thumbs up or thumbs down if you ate breakfast this morning” or “Thumbs up or thumbs down if you did your homework last night” can give you better insight to a students' home life.
16. Interactive Whiteboard Activities
Use interactive whiteboard games like boom cards to make morning meetings interactive and engaging. You can take a few minutes to play a quick math or literacy game with your whole class. It's a great way to get your entire class involved in a fun activity to start the day.
17. Morning Meeting Mad Libs
Create silly mad libs related to the current curriculum or upcoming special events. This activity is a great way to reinforce vocabulary and grammar skills.
SEL Activities For Morning Meeting
18. Character Education Spotlight
Introduce your students to Captain Kindness and the behavior bunch and learn about different social-emotional learning strategies like respect, responsibility, kindness, and manners. You'll love doing this as one of your morning meeting activities.
Dedicate a few minutes during your morning meeting activities to discuss and emphasize different character traits. Encourage students to share examples of how they demonstrated these traits, fostering positive behavior throughout the school year.
19. Social Emotion Learning Morning Meeting Slides:
Use engaging morning meeting slides that include different social-emotional learning skills. Students can learn about a specific topic of the week such as friendship, gratitude, or responsibility. Students can discuss different scenarios and find the best solution to different problems that might arise in the classroom.
20. Emotion Check-In
Use a “How are you feeling today?” graph on your daily morning meeting slides to help students identify and express their emotions. This activity is a great tool for teaching emotional awareness and empathy. It's also a great way for teachers to keep on top of any issues like if a child feels sick or upset for some reason.
21. Deep Breathing Exercises
Begin the day with calming deep breathing exercises. Guide kindergarten and first grade students through simple techniques to help them start their day with a clear mind and positive attitude.
22. Morning Meeting Role Play
Take turns acting out different social-emotional strategies during morning meeting time. This activity is the perfect time to discuss different problems that might arise in a kindergarten or first grade classroom and how to appropriately react in different situations. It promotes creativity, teamwork, and expressive communication.
23. Feel-Good Affirmations
Begin the day with positive affirmations. Have students repeat empowering statements that boost their self-confidence and promote a healthy self-image.
24. Classroom Compliments
Encourage students to give compliments to their classmates during morning meeting time. This fosters a positive classroom climate and helps kindergarten and first grade students build meaningful relationships. Give each student a nice note template that they can use to write about one of their friends.
25. Growth Mindset Moments
Share inspiring stories or quotes related to growth mindset and discuss how they apply to the student's lives. This encourages a positive attitude toward challenges and learning and reminds students that they can do anything they set their minds to. Positive quotes and affirmations are some of the best ways to start the day.
Morning Meeting Calendar Activities
26. Daily Morning Calendar Pattern Puzzles
Create a calendar pattern using the date's numbers, and challenge kindergarten and first grade students to complete the pattern.
27. Weather Watcher
Designate a student as the “Weather Watcher.” They can check outside, describe the weather and temperature, and dress Weather Bear each day. Kindergarten and first grade kids will love being the weather watcher!
28. Number of the Day
Count how many days you've been in school on your daily calendar and explore different ways to represent it, such as tally marks, place value blocks, and written words. You can also do math operations using that number.
29. Morning Meeting Puzzle
Present a puzzle or riddle for students to solve collaboratively. This activity promotes teamwork and critical thinking. Some creative ideas for this could be:
- Number Sequence Puzzle – Write a sequence of numbers with a missing number, and challenge the students to figure out the pattern and fill in the blank. For example: 2, 4, 6, __, 10. The missing number is 8. This puzzle encourages students to analyze number patterns and apply math skills.
- Word Scramble Puzzle – Jumble the letters of a sight word or spelling word. Provide the scrambled letters and have students work together to unscramble them and identify the word.
30. Classroom Celebrations
End the week with a celebratory activity where students share their favorite moments from the week, whether it's a special event, a successful project, or a personal achievement.
These morning meeting activities offer a wide range of opportunities to create a positive classroom community and start the day on the right foot. By incorporating different greetings, games, discussions, and exercises, you'll be providing a rich and engaging start to your students' day.
Remember, the key is to tailor these activities to your student's needs and the dynamics of your classroom. Have a great day of learning and connecting!
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