Activities for Arrival Time
When the students trickle into the classroom in the morning, how do you fill this time? Try these arrival time activities.
Why You Need Arrival Time Activities
When the bell rings to start school, you want your class to be focused and ready.
Arrival activities help students do just that.
When students enter the classroom, they are immediately engaged.
Arrival time activities make the morning routine run smoothly.
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Activities for Arrival Time
Every teacher handles arrival time differently. Here are ideas on what to do during that time.
Creative Soft Start Activities
Instead of plunging into academic work, have a “soft start” to the day.
Soft start activities are quiet activities that involve creativity or STEM subjects.
Students can play with play dough, build with Lego bricks, draw, or color.
Quiet Reading
Students can calmly start the day by reading for pleasure.
They can pick a book and read it. There is no grading or evaluation.
Students should read strictly for pleasure!
Catch Up on Missed Work
Instead of planned activities for arrival time, you can encourage students to catch up on missed work.
Arrival time is perfect for powering through some missed homework or completing a make-up assignment.
Students can read quietly if they do not have to catch up on work.
Question of the Day
Before students enter, write a question of the day on the whiteboard.
This question could be a riddle, a math puzzle, or a piece of trivia.
It could be a question just for fun, like a Would You Rather question or the opening to a joke.
Students can write their answers on a piece of paper and place their answers in a basket.
If you like, you can give prizes for correct answers or draw a winner for each day.
Article of the Day
If your school has a subscription to ReadWorks, you can have students read their Article of the Day on the computer or tablet.
The Article of the Day is a ten-minute selection that builds skills in vocabulary, background knowledge, and reading stamina.
Downtime with Music
Some teachers want to give their students some precious unstructured time.
They play music and let students have downtime during arrival time.
Puzzles
Work on critical thinking skills during arrival time.
You can have students complete math, logic, or word puzzles as an arrival time activity.
Blooklet Quizzes
Students love Blooket!
You host a quiz game on the large screen, and students log into the site to participate.
You can use pre-generated quizzes or create your own.
Students earn virtual prizes for answering correctly.
Required Remediation on the Computer
If your curriculum requires computer time for reading or math remediation, you can use arrival time as one of those slots.
Organization Time
If your arrival time is short, you may not have time for an involved activity.
Instead, encourage students to get organized during that time.
They can unpack their backpacks, turn in homework, sharpen pencils, and use the restroom.
Reading or Math Worksheets
Brush up on reading and math skills by having reading or math worksheets that review the content you have been teaching.
Virtual Escape Rooms
Virtual escape rooms are a fun way to review learning concepts.
We have a list of 35+ free virtual escape rooms for your students to try.
Flashcards
Students can review content with flashcards as a time-filler activity for the morning.
Journal Writing
Journal writing is excellent for kids of any age.
You can write a journal prompt on the whiteboard to inspire students to write.
Time-Filler Activities for Arrival Time
Arrival time doesn’t have to be a blank space in your day (unless you want it to be).
Help your students get a smooth start to the day with these activities for arrival time.
