These fun back to school games are the perfect way to celebrate the beginning of the school year with your kids at home or your kids in the classroom! Tons of fun ideas from a a school scavenger hunt to fun school games for kids to get to know each other! Perfect if you’re looking for first day of school games or fun school games for the entire year!
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Awesome Back to School Games
Normally summer always seems to go by so fast as we work on completing all of the items on this summer bucket list. This year not so much.
Luckily, the first day of school will be here before any of us know it. This year things are a bit different but that doesn’t mean we can’t still celebrate the beginning of school!
So I put together a list of all of the best back to school games I could find. You can play these leading up to school, on the first day of school, at class during the year or wherever!
There’s something for every age, every teaching style, every version of school, and every kid! And doing something fun is a great way to get them to pose nicely with this printable first day of school sign!
At Home Games
These games are perfect for playing with your kids at home to celebrate the beginning of the school year or at a back to school party! Some of them might also work for the classroom but mostly, they’re fun ideas for celebrating back to school with kids at home!
This back to school scavenger hunt is our first fun idea for getting kids excited for the first day of school! Kids will race around trying to find school inspired clues throughout the house!
Back to School Bingo -It’s a free printable game with 10 boards and the little cards to draw to play. This one would work well for either playing at home or at school! Download the whole game here.
Virtual scavenger hunt – while this one may not actually be school themed, we did this with my son’s class during the shutdown in March and they loved it!
Teams race to find different things and show them on their screen during virtual classroom time. It’s a great school game, virtual style!
School supply scavenger hunt – a fun way to get kids excited about going back to school! There are printable versions of the game so pre-readers can get in on the fun, too!
Play these awesome back to school Minute to Win It games with things like glue sticks, brown paper bags, and more!
Or use any of these other minute to win it games instead if you don’t have this many school supplies on hand!
Alphabet Relay – if you have a little one getting ready for Kindergarten, this is a fun game to play to work on letter identification and burns off a little energy at the same time!
Back to School I Spy– a fun way to get kids talking about the transition back to school.
Back to School Word Search – Something fun to do with your kids the day before or morning of school!
Picture Sudoku – 30 different printable games like picture sudoku that are perfect for getting kids ready for going back to school!
Games for School
These games are mostly designed for playing with a classroom full of kids at school to help get them adjusted to school, making new friends, etc.
Some of these would also work for playing at home or virtually, just maybe switch things up a tiny bit! I’ve broken it into a couple of different categories depending on if you’re looking for first day of school games, get to know you games for kids, or something else.
And if you’re looking for games to play at the end of the year instead of the beginning, make sure to check out these fun field day activities for kids too!
Getting to know you beach ball – Write a bunch of questions on a ball and use them to play fun get to know you games with the kids answering questions about themselves.
All About Me Four Corners Game – A fun way to get kids up and moving that also incorporates answering questions about themselves!
Pick a Stick – kids will feel comfortable answering these get to know you questions and getting to know one another with simple prompts.
Getting to Know You Board Games – Three free printable getting to know you board games that encourage students to share information about themselves.
Get to Know You Yahtzee – Based on the classic dice game, this is a great way to get kids talking about themselves and connecting with others in small groups.
First Day of School Games
What’s Your Name Workout – this is a great way to get kids moving as well as working on name spelling for younger kids. It’s one of the best first day of school games because it helps other kids learn each other’s names!
The Best Game – I’ve never tried this one but it’s on my list of games to try next time I have a bunch of kids over! The idea is that students break into groups and have to choose someone in the group that matches part of a description (e.g., The Tallest) but they don’t know what the other part of the description is so anyone could win!
Find a Friend Bingo – help manage those back to school jitters with this fun game that will help kids connect! Great for the first day of school!
Back to School Snowball Fight– there’s more to this activity than just throwing wads of paper at each other. It’s a great way to get kids comfortable on the first day of school!
Student Search – two different versions to help cover a greater age range, this printable game is a fun way to get to know each other on the first day back to school.
John says
Too many parents just don’t bother to learn how to do what their kids do. They think there’s some wall between them and their children’s activities. This is not true. You can master computer games just as easily as your kids can. It will just take a little bit of time.
BritniV says
We love playing together as a family