All About Me Activities for Kindergarten (7 Favorites)
- By Deedee Wills
- Updated on June 7
- No Comments
Table of Contents
All About Me Activities for Kindergarten
The first week of school is either a good time or a really stressful one. What you have planned for your kindergarten students makes the difference.
I’ve used all about me activities with my kindergartners for years because they work. Kids get to talk about themselves and they find things in common with new classmates. You begin building the kind of classroom starting on the first day of school. That’s a pretty good trade for a few crayons and some printables.
These are also genuinely easy to prep. You need crayons, alphabet beads for the name centers, and a handful of printables. That’s about it. You’re not running to the store or up late cutting things.
If you’re putting together your beginning of the year lesson plans right now, here are seven activities I use.
What Are All About Me Activities for Kindergarten?
All about me activities for kindergarten are simple, low-prep crafts, printables, and group activities that help students share who they are during the beginning of the school year. Common examples include self-portrait crowns, class surveys, family trees, and name activities.
These aren’t just filler for the first week. They give kids a real reason to talk to each other. Favorite food, favorite pet, hair color, who’s in their family. That’s enough to spark twenty conversations before lunch.
I’ve noticed that the kids who settle in fastest are the ones who found at least one thing they have in common with a classmate in the first few days. These activities are a great way to make that happen!
Why the First Week of School Is the Right Time
The first week is one of the easiest times to teach because kids want to talk about themselves. You’re not fighting for their attention. And most of these activities don’t require reading or writing, so every child can do them on day one. That matters a lot at the start of kindergarten, when you’ve got kids all over the map academically.
You’re also figuring out your class while this is happening. Who talks easily in a group, who hangs back, who holds a pencil like they’ve never seen one before. You’re learning a lot without making it feel like a test.
7 All About Me Activities Your Kindergartners Will Love
Here’s the list of kindergarten activities at a glance. Each section below has the setup, timing, and a tip from my own classroom.
- All About Me Crown
- Getting to Know You Surveys
- Family Tree Craft
- Name Activities and Name Bracelets
- Classroom Quilt
- School Tour Booklet
- Star of the Day
1. All About Me Crown
This is my day-one activity. Has been for years.
Students draw a picture of themselves, their family, and their friends on the points of the crown. They wear self portraits all day. This is a perfect engaging activity because they are so proud of their work.
Setup: Print, cut, and have students decorate the crown points with crayons. Staple the ends together once finished.
Time: About 20-30 minutes
Teaching tip: Have a few crowns pre-cut for students who struggle with fine motor skills so they can jump right into the drawing without frustration on day one.
2. Getting to Know You Surveys
Surveys and graphs are my favorite activity for this week because they sneak math in without anyone knowing.
My students walk around the room with their survey sheet and ask classmates about their favorite fruit, favorite sport, favorite pet, and hair color. For each response, they color a rectangle or write a name.
When they’re done, I’ve got a whole-group discussion about more than, less than, and equal to ready to go. They don’t know they’re doing math. They think they’re just talking about their favorite things.
Setup: Print one survey sheet per student. Set up a pocket chart version for the whole-group share if you have one.
Time: 20-30 minutes for the independent version, plus 10 minutes for the class debrief
Teaching tip: Model the survey with one student before you send everyone off. Show them exactly how to walk up to a classmate and ask a question. It’s good speaking and listening practice, and it helps your more anxious kids know exactly what to do.
I like to wait until day three or four. Students are less shy and they have gotten to know a few of their classmates. It’s worth waiting.
3. Family Tree Craft
Kids love talking about their families. The family tree gives them a way to do it on paper.
Students draw and write about the people they live with and love. When they’re done, these look great in the hallway or sent home as a memorable keepsake. Families really do keep them.
One thing I do before this activity: send a note home asking families to list who lives in the house. That way no child gets stuck wondering who belongs on their tree, and you’re not having an awkward conversation at the wrong moment.
Setup: Print the template and gather crayons or markers. Have a few extra blank name lines ready for larger families.
Time: 30-40 minutes
Teaching tip: This pairs really well with a read-aloud about families. There are great picture books that show all kinds of family structures, which makes for a natural conversation before students start drawing.
4. Name Activities and Name Bracelets
Name activities are a perfect fit for the first week because they cover literacy, fine motor practice, and the thing every kid cares most about in September: their own name.
My kindergarten students make a name bracelet using alphabet beads, which they love wearing home. They can also stamp their name with dough stamps and build their letters with clothespin clips.
These work really well as independent centers in the first week. The ‘I Can’ cards do the explaining. You get to move around and watch your new class without being stuck with one group.
Setup: Prep beads, stamps, and clips in labeled center tubs. Include picture-cued “I Can” cards at each station.
Time: 10-15 minutes per rotation
Teaching tip: Take a photo of each student wearing their name bracelet. It makes a sweet first-day keepsake for families and a great opening page for a class book.
The bracelet is also a perfect way to see who can string beads independently and who struggles with small manipulatives. You’ll know within five minutes.
5. Classroom Quilt
The quilt takes a bit more time, but it stays up all year and it’s worth it.
Each student writes and draws about themselves on their quilt square. Once all the squares are assembled, you’ve got a piece of classroom art that belongs only to your class. No two are ever the same.
This stays up all year, and kids still point out their square at parent conferences in November. At the end of the year, I send their quilt piece home with them.
Setup: Print and cut quilt squares. Write student names on the back before you hand them out so you know whose is whose.
Time: 30-40 minutes to create, plus some assembly time
Teaching tip: These also make a great bulletin board display for the hallway or classroom door. Families love seeing the self-portraits when they drop off in the morning.
I always copy extra quilt pieces and attached them to my welcome paperwork.When I get new students, I am ready for them and even though they were not there at the beginning of a new school year, they still feel part of the group.
6. How Do We Help Kindergartners Feel at Home on Day One?
One of my favorite things to do during the first week is take the class on a school tour. I pair it with a student booklet where kids draw and color a picture of every important room they visit: the office, the gym, the cafeteria, the music room, every spot that’s going to be part of their day. This is an interactive way for students to get familiar with the building at the start of the year.
When the tour is over, kids can show their families exactly where they spend their time. And kids who know where the bathroom is, where the gym is, and how to get back to their classroom on their own are way less anxious in week two. It really does make a difference.
Setup: Copy the printable book and set up clipboards and crayons so students can draw on the go.
Time: 45-60 minutes including the tour
For more low-prep activities that keep the community building going all week, here are my favorites for kindergarten ice breaker games. Quick, zero-prep options that work any time in the first few weeks.
6. Star of the Day
I’ve used Star of the Day at the start of every school year and it never gets old. It teaches students how to draw!
Each day, one child is the class star. They’re the line leader, door holder, and special helper.. all the classroom jobs. The whole class interviews that student and learns a little something about them. Then I lead my class in a directed drawing of that student. Each of their classmates has their own paper and follows along. We look closely at the star student’s physical appearance and notice the details in their hair color and style, eye color, clothing, everything. We include these details in the picture of them. We also draw the star in a setting.
At first, these draws look ROUGH! Every child is missing body parts. Their arms and legs sprout from their head. By the time we get to our final star of the day, most of my students are pretty skilled at drawing a person! This lesson will spill into your writing time and you will be so glad you invested the time in this activity.
At the end of the day, I compile all the drawings into a book for the star student to take home. Families tell me these are their favorite thing from the kindergarten year.
Every kid gets a turn.
Setup: Print out the cover with each student’s name on it.
Time: 10-15 minutes per day
Teaching tip: Each morning, I used the stack of covers as a way to “pick” my star of the day.
All About Me Activities at a Glance
Activity | What It Builds + Best Timing |
|---|---|
All About Me Crown |
Self-portrait, conversation starter; perfect for day 1, no reading required |
Getting to Know You Surveys |
Community + math (more/less/equal); best on day 3 or 4 once kids know names |
Family Tree Craft |
Family connection, fine motor; great for hallway display and families to keep |
Name Bracelets + Name Centers | Fine motor + literacy; works as independent centers from day one |
Classroom Quilt |
Whole-class art project; becomes a bulletin board that stays up all year |
School Tour Booklet |
School mapping, reduces anxiety; pairs perfectly with family night |
Star of the Day | Speaking, listening, drawing detail; runs all month, one student per day |
How Do You Do All About Me Week in Kindergarten?
All about me week is just what I call the first full week, when everything you do is built around getting to know your new class. Here’s how I structure it.
For the full week planned out with everything you need, grab my free file:
A Sample All About Me Week Schedule
- Day 1: All About Me Crown + School Tour Booklet
- Day 2: Getting to Know You Surveys + whole-class graph debrief (more than, less than, equal to)
- Day 3: Family Tree Craft + family read-aloud
- Day 4: Name Bracelet + Name Centers (beads, stamps, clips)
- Day 5: Classroom Quilt squares + begin Star of the Day
Star of the Day runs every day from here until every kid has had a turn. One main activity per day, plus time to practice your routines. You’re not scrambling.
If you need help fitting it all into your day, here’s how I structure my kindergarten daily schedule so nothing gets left out.
And if you want a full year of themes mapped out from September to June, grab my free Curriculum Planning Map. It’s over 400 pages of monthly themes, activities, and resources. Completely free.
What Should Be in an All About Me Printable for Kindergarten?
A good all about me printable works for kids who can’t read or write independently yet. That means lots of drawing and picture prompts over written ones. Here’s what to look for:
- A self-portrait page with space to show hair color, eye color, and skin tone
- Favorite things pages: favorite food, favorite color, favorite animal, favorite sport
- A family page with space to draw the people they live with
- Simple like ‘My name is ___. I am ___ years old.’ I’ve included some additional prompts below
- A school page with a drawing prompt
What are some beginning of each school year kindergarten prompts?
Here are a few simple prompts you can use as a back to school activity. You don’t need anything fancy for this, just a blank piece of paper!
My name is __________.
Draw a picture of yourself and write your name.I am _____ years old.
Draw that many candles on a birthday cake.My favorite thing to do is __________.
Draw a picture showing your favorite activity.The people in my family are __________.
Draw a picture of the people who live with you.When I grow up, I want to be a __________.
Draw a picture of yourself doing that job.
Grab the All About Me Activities Unit for Kindergarten
If you want all of this ready to go without building it yourself, I made a unit for that.
You get the crown, the surveys, the family tree, all four name center activities, the school tour booklet, Star of the Day directed drawings, the classroom quilt craft, and a fully customizable all about me book. That’s over 105 pages of done-for-you school activities.
Teachers tell me it saves them hours of prep during a week that already has too much on the plate.
You can grab the Getting to Know You unit here. It works for preschool through first grade. I’ve used it every single year.
If you want more ideas for the first week, here’s where I’d go next:
- Kindergarten Daily Schedule – how to structure your day so everything fits
- Kindergarten Ice Breaker Games – quick, low-prep community builders
- Week 1 Lesson Plans: Free File – the full first week, planned out
- Free Curriculum Planning Map – 400+ pages of themes and activities for the whole year
Deedee Wills
Pin for Later
Recommended Posts
