When we have our Meet the Teacher Night before school starts, I’m planning to have a photo booth in my classroom. Since it’s a new program and that kids don’t know each other at all yet, I thought it might be nice if on the first day, they come in to the classroom greeted by pictures of themselves! I hope it will help them feel more welcomed and comfortable.
Making the Photo Booth Props
I went to Hobby Lobby and Michael’s to find all kinds of pre-painted wooden cut outs as well as unfinished ones to be a nice background or place to write something.
I painted all of the unfinished wood cutouts with chalkboard paint:
After adding white dots with my FAVORITE paint pens, I hot glued the pre-painted cut outs to some and added words to others.
I thought it would be cute to let them write something on their own if they chose to, so I left one of the thought bubbles blank.
I then used the left over rulers from my back to school wreath and used those as the sticks the students could hold them by. I thought they would stay attached by hot glue longer than dowel rods anyways since they aren’t circular.
I also scored these fun dress up items at Michael’s. The ears were $2.00 each and the foam hats were $3.99.
I hope my new students will have a blast! Can’t wait to see them use it! 🙂
Cute Classroom Ideas for the Beginning of the Year
You may also enjoy these ideas at the beginning of the year.
Student Gift
Student gifts at the beginning of the year are a fun way to welcome students. With the craze of fidget poppers, I like to give my students a keychain with a little gift tag attached.
Birthday Bags
I like to have student birthday gifts taken care of (and on the wall!) from the start of the year. Read more about that here:
High Level Thinking Back to School Activities
If you’d like more activities for the first days of school that encourage lots of critical thinking, be sure to check out my back to school unit. It has several activities that require critical and creative thinking. It’s a great way to start the year turning your students into thinkers!
Let Me Help You Turn Your Students into Thinkers!
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Keep those kids thinking!
Colleen Patton
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