First Day of School

I play a cute greeting game with my kiddos during the first few classes of school called 'Pum!' (Pop!), based on a game from Responsive Classroom. It is played like this:
Kids sit in a circle.
Kids count off, one at a time- the first kid in the circle says 'uno', the next kid says 'dos', the next says 'tres'. The next says '¡Hola!', jumping up like a piece of popcorn popping. The rest of the class then greets the kid who jumped up, saying '¡Hola ______!'. This kiddo stays standing and the countoff continues, always having the kids who are sitting do the counting. Keep going around until there is only one kiddo left- this kid will need to count to 'tres' before popping up so the class can greet him/her.

This greeting game is quick and fun. It is great for you and the class to learn each other's names. Remember: you should model how to 'pop up' before you do this game. Otherwise, there will always be one or two who will be overly exuberant! :) You don't want anyone to accidently hurt another by being out of control.

Have fun!