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Re-engaging your entire class after winter, spring, or another long school break can be tough for both students and teachers. While the time away from the classroom is important for resting and recharging, it can also throw off everyone’s rhythms. In those first few days back, brains need to be warmed up for learning, and routines need to be reestablished, so you can quickly jump back into lessons. These low-prep welcome-back-from-break activities can help you and all your students get energized for education.
Welcome Back from Winter Break Activities
With the holiday festivities over, and summer vacation still a little while away, it’s easy to see how returning to school after winter break might be a challenge. Simple transitional winter activities for kids can help students get back into the swing of things with minimal prep.
Rebuild relationships with icebreakers and sharing activities
It’s important for teachers to carve out space to reconnect with students after a long break (and for students to reconnect with each other). Look for resources that let students share what they’ve been up to with you and with their classmates.
Winter Break in a SNAP-Bell Ringer and Share Activity
By Draz’s Class
Grades: K-2nd
Subjects: Writing, Drawing
This quick, fun reflection writing activity can be used as a bell ringer, center activity, or writing piece to get students back into the swing of school after having a few days off. It includes one page with five spots for students to draw about their break. There is some room under the pictures for labeling or writing as well.
Welcome Back From Winter Break Questions Activity Morning Meeting Icebreaker Fun
By The Sassy Apple
Grades: 1st-3rd
This no-prep activity gets students moving while they answer fun and interesting trivia questions about winter break and New Year’s. The resource includes 25 questions, answer pages, and editable slides for adding your own questions.
Start with goal-setting for the days ahead
The start of the new year provides a natural opportunity for students to set intentions and goals — whether they are personal, academic, or shared across the whole class.
SMART Goal Setting and Identity Unit for Upper Elementary and Middle School
By Root and Sprout Learning
Grades: 3rd-8th
Subjects: Character Education, Classroom Community, Art
This goal-setting unit will deepen students’ understanding of their identity as a foundation to leading them through SMART goal creation. It includes nine printable worksheets and two art projects.
NEW YEAR: Goals, Resolutions, Activities, Writing Prompts – Interactive
By Literary Sherri
Grades: 5th-8th
Subjects: English Language Arts, Writing
Standards: CCSS W.6.4, 6.10, 7.4
Welcome students back to school with 15 goal-setting activities and writing prompts that ring in the new calendar year and help students set personal and academic resolutions to re-focus them on learning.
Review and reteach classroom rules and expectations
Going over classroom rules, procedures, and expectations at the beginning of the school year is a given, but you should also do a similar exercise after returning from any long break. The first week back from winter break is also a good time to reflect on which routines have worked, and which haven’t, in case you need to tweak some things to make the rest of the year run smoothly.
Classroom Procedures and Routines
By Teaching in Progress
Grades: PreK-3rd
Subject: Character Education
This resource includes journal pages, prompts, and a mini book to help establish classroom routines and procedures. Students list steps of procedures, reflect on how their adherence to the routines affects them and others, and draw and write about how procedures look, sound, and feel. Each reflection page has a blank version for you to write in your specific procedures to support your personal classroom management.
Welcome Back (from Fall, Winter, or Spring Break) Task Cards
By Miss 5th
Grades: 2nd-8th
This resource includes 11 welcome-back task cards, each containing one question. You can choose to print these as full-page slides or print two to a page. The cards are placed around the room, and students walk around to answer each of the questions on their recording sheets.
Welcome Back from Spring Break Activities
With the end of the school year now in sight, it can be particularly challenging to readjust to school after spring break. Look for spring activities for kids to re-motivate and re-engage your students to push through the next few months, so you can end the year on a high note.
Settle back into learning with simple, seasonal fun
Energize and excite students with some fun seasonal lessons and activities that are sure to capture their interest — even when students might not “feel” like being at school.
How to Draw Winter + Spring Animals: Directed Drawing Freebie
By Prince Padania
Grades: K-3rd
Subject: Visual Art
Foster creativity and develop early art skills with these two “directed-drawing” art lessons. The beginner-friendly, step-by-step directions help you teach your primary students how to draw an adorable penguin and a beautiful butterfly.
Spring Reading Comprehension Passages Writing Math After Break Activities
By Think Grow Giggle
Grades: 3rd-5th
Subjects: English Language Arts, Close Reading, Math
Standards: CCSS 3.NBT.A.2, A.3, A.4
This set includes spring-themed close reading activities, nonfiction and fiction reading, differentiated math, and creative writing activities to keep your students engaged all season long. All activities are not holiday-specific, so they can be used any time in the late winter and spring.
Focus on social-emotional learning
As students reenter the classroom after spring break, they’ll likely bring a variety of feelings and emotions with them that can impact their learning. While some students might be excited to get back to it, others might be experiencing anxiety, fear, and stress about their grades or upcoming end-of-year tests. By focusing on strengthening social-emotional skills through some type of SEL check-in on the return from break, you can help get a sense of how your students are feeling and set them up for success.
Growth Mindset Activities for SEL – Grit, Mistakes, Perseverance, and Resiliency
By Mikey D Teach – SELebration Learning
Grades: 3rd-6th
Subjects: Character Education, Classroom Community, Social Emotional Learning
This presentation walks your students through the SEL concepts of perseverance, being resilient in multiple areas of their lives, and how to handle mistakes with grace and a plan to fix them.
Growth Mindset Lesson: Fun, Interactive School Counseling Quiz Show style Game!
By WholeHearted School Counseling
Grades: 4th-7th
Subject: Classroom Community
The Growth Mindset Game Show will teach your students about grit and the difference between a fixed and a growth mindset. The resource includes Google Slides and PowerPoint Presentation files, which allow you to use for SEL distance learning, teletherapy, virtual counseling groups, school counseling guidance, and in-person lessons.
Ease back into lessons
While it’s tempting to hit the ground running after spring break, your students might need some time to build up their stamina for learning again. The first week back is a great time to revisit concepts from earlier in the year or to give them bite-sized assignments, and they can still align with CCSS.
After Spring Break Editing with Digital Easel Activity
By HappyEdugator
Grades: 6th-8th
Subjects: ELA Test Prep, Grammar, Writing
Standards: CCSS L.6.1, 7.1, 8.1
Students become “teachers” and correct the writing errors in sentences about a spring break vacation. There are 25 sentences containing common errors made by 7th graders.
After Spring Break Writing Activity: Funny Fill-In & Descriptive Writing
By Creativity Overload Lessons and Designs
Grades: 4th-8th
Subjects: English Language Arts, Writing
This all-in-one printable activity has students create a funny fill-in story about their break using all the parts of speech. Afterward, students write the real version of their spring vacation.
After Spring Break Spanish Writing Activity
By Learning Llama
Grades: 8th-11th
Subject: Spanish
Your students will write in the past tense about what they did over break and draw images. Vocabulary, a rubric, brainstorming, and teacher samples are all included!
Welcome students back with open arms and fun activities from TPT
There’s no shortage of resources to welcome students back from break! From fun questions of the day to get-out-of-your-seat indoor recess games, choose a variety of activities that engage everyone in connecting with each other and reconnecting with their education.