First Day Student Name Tags

A great idea for the first day of school is to have students create their own name tag for their desk. This provides them with a sense of ownership over their desk and new classroom and provides a low-key art activity for the first (or second) day of school.

Most of the students I will be teaching this year (*note: we have not yet started the school year) already know each other. In fact, I already know/have taught the majority of them, as well. This means that, although we will still be doing some important community building/icebreaker activities, the students will also need some informal getting-to-know-you/reconnecting-with-old-friends time. It also provides me with a great opportunity to circulate and chat with each student - so important!

One more bonus for this activity . . . it is low prep! If you teach older students, all you need is some pre-cut card stock (as small or large as you prefer) and a teacher sample. You can give your students the freedom to write & decorate their name as they choose, or give them a sample to follow, so all the name tags look uniform when displayed on their desks.

There are a ton of great name art examples online to inspire you, but here are some of my favourites:

*I love this idea from the blog of Rob Golombek Jr. Art Teacher. Have students write their name in bubble letters and fill the letters with a pattern of their choosing:

Via Rob Golombek

Via Rob Golombek

*Have students create a rainbow name tag like these from The Happy Teacher:

Via The Happy Teacher

*I love the look of these 3-D names from Art with Mrs. Seitz and they're super easy to read which is perfect for name tags:

Via Art with Mrs. Seitz

*If you teach primary, you could always have the students' names pre-written in block letters and then let them color them in, like these from 4th Grade Frolics:

Via 4th Grade Frolics

Now I'm off to do more back to school planning!