All About Me is the perfect theme for back-to-school! The all about me activities in this theme help students get to know each other, gain confidence, create a classroom community, and develop positive relationships with each other. It’s also a wonderful opportunity to teach about kindness. These are some of my favorite all about me activities that we do in the classroom.
Remember: it is very important to do these activities throughout the year as well to help students continue to help develop their sense of self as well as acceptance and kindness of others who are different or similar to them.
An All About Me theme is a celebration of each student, including their culture, their race, their abilities, and the unique characteristics that make them who they are. It is important for every student to see themselves all over the classroom in the books, posters, art supplies, and toys. You can check out my list of multicultural tools and toys for the classroom HERE. These are some of my favorite all about me activities and toys that we use in the classroom.
If you need all the printable All About Me activities, you can grab the All About Me Unit from my TpT store HERE.
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All About Me Activities
All About Me or People Sensory Table! Create a gorgeous sensory table with various skin tones using chickpeas. Use acrylic paint to color the chickpeas in various skin tones. I mixed a variety of brown, white, black, orange, and tan paint to get the various colors. Then I added people color buttons, people cookie cutters (aka gingerbread man cookie cutters), measuring spoons, wooden bowls, mini tongs, a spoon, and people cutouts.
Class Books! Class books are a staple for every classroom, and these two are the first class books we make each year. Preschoolers, Preschoolers Who Do You See? is a book with a pattern text similar to Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? Each student draws a self-portrait on their page. I then glue their photo to their page as well for students to help learn each other’s names.
The All About Us class book is an at-home project students do with their families and bring back to school. Students can put photos, stickers, Google images, or draw on their page to tell their story. Just remember, when you give this project out, some students may not have photos of themselves and their families, so be ready to help with the project to ensure every student can create a page that they are proud of.
Some families may not have printers at home, so families may need to text or email the photos for you to print at school. Some students may not have photos of their families or themselves when they were younger for various reasons.
You can take photos of them at school or on the playground doing their favorite things so they have photos they are proud of. I have also made several students’ pages with them at school because their families didn’t send one back to school. Together, we made their page using stickers, Google images of their favorite things or toys, and photos of them I took at school.
All About Me Books! There are so many amazing books for an All About Me theme, and new books are being published every year that you can add to your collection. The books need to be diverse and inclusive, so every child sees themselves in the books in your classroom! And they need to see themselves in books for every theme on the bookshelf. You can check out my favorite All About Me booklist HERE.
Me Bags! Send each student home with a bag and the note attached. Students put 5 -7 items in the bag and then bring them back to school. During circle time, students share what is in their bags. For some students, you may be the one talking and showing their items because it can be very scary to stand in front of the class and talk when school has just begun. If the shy student feels comfortable, they can sit or stand next to you as you show their items. Most students are so excited to bring in and share their favorite things with their friends. It’s a fun way for students to build relationships with each other and make connections. It shows you what their interests are.
Me Collage! Every year, I do this activity the first week of school and create a bulletin board with their Me Collages. The first day, students color their person with paint sticks because paint sticks dry fast and they don’t make a mess. The next day, students glue or stick items to their person. This year, I forgot to put out colored yarn for the hair, but they still turned out so cute.Keep reading for more all about me activities.
Andy Warhol Portraits! On the first day of school, I take every child’s photo to use for various activities. Print each student’s photo in grayscale (size 8 x 10) and frame it with a piece of colored paper. Students can color their portraits with markers, just like the artist Andy Warhol. Put out stickers to make a border around the edge for some extra fine motor work.
Self-Portraits! For these self-portraits, I placed mirrors and skin-toned art supplies on the table because I wanted students to examine and draw their features. I wanted students to see how unique and beautiful their features were and to see how their friend’s features are beautiful, too. Before we drew, we just looked in the mirror, talking about the colors and shapes of various features. These are some of my favorite all about me activities that we do in the classroom.
We looked in the mirror and drew each part. First, we looked at our heads and skin. They noticed their heads were round like an oval or a circle and the various colors of their skin. Then, they found a color to match their skin tone and drew their head. We noticed our eyes were ovals with eyelashes and the different colors our eyes were. They found a color that matched their eyes and drew their eyes.
I’m so excited companies skin tone crayons, markers, and colored pencils now! If you don’t have the people colors, just grab the skin tone colors from the larger boxes of crayons or markers for this activity.
All About Me Play Dough Tray! Create a playdough tray with people cookie cutters, yarn (various hair colors), eyes, and foam or felt (use for clothes). I used the brown, black, and tan store-bought playdough that I already had on hand. Then, I used a batch of homemade playdough to make the other shades. Knead brown liquid watercolor into the dough to make various skin tone shades. You can also mix different amounts of brown dough with the plain dough to make amazing colors too. You can buy this people-colored dough as well.
People and Playdough! For a fun fine motor activity, put out playdough and people counters. Students can create anything using the play dough and the people. Keep reading for more all about me activities.
All About Me Activities for Math
All About Me People Ten Frames!Students explore one-to-one correspondence and identifying numbers with these fun ten-frame mats. Students identify the number, count out the corresponding number of items, and place that number in the ten frames. You can use mini erasers, cubes, counters, or any math manipulative. Add a dry-erase marker, and now students can trace the number and the number word!
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Measuring Hair! Ok, don’t worry, it’s not real hair, but it’s yarn that looks like hair! Make braids of various lengths and colors using yarn. Students measure and compare the hair braids using cubes or chains. Notice which one is longer or shorter. This activity is perfect for the book Hair Love! Keep reading for more all about me activities.
Shoe Measure! Students can also measure their shoes using cubes or chains. Students had to connect the cubes and make them the same length as their shoe, which can be tricky for students at the beginning of the year. We did this activity in small groups and recorded the measurements on a chart. At the beginning of the year, most students are just developing one-to-one correspondence, so we count the number of cubes together. That way, I can help if needed.
Favorite Things Graphs! Make graphs to show what students like and sneak in math at the same time. Make bar graphs, picture graphs like this one, or tally graphs. There are many “favorite thing” graphs included in my All About Me Unit. Keep reading for more all about me activities.
All About Me Activities
Me Puzzles! Make puzzles using students’ photos! It’s an activity that is super simple to make and always a hit! First, cut up colored paper, glue their photo on it, and put their name at the bottom. I make a class list on Avery address labels, so I used those stickers to make this project even easier to prep.
Me Match Up! If you have a large class, it can take students a long time to get to know each other. Consider making it a game. Just print out two sets of photos to use for the game. Students just match their friends! It also practices visual discrimination in case you need an objective to put in your lesson plans. If you have kindergarten kiddos, you can make this into a memory-type game. Just print the photos 9 to a page to make them this size.
Me Blocks! Take full-body photos of each student on the first day of school. Print the photos (9 to a page) and two of each student. Cut out the photos and tape them to a Jenga-type block. I put a photo on each side of the block of the student. Now, students can build and put themselves and their friends in their buildings! Keep reading for more all about me activities.
All About Me Activities Fingerprint Patterns! Everyone’s fingerprint is unique. Have students make patterns with their fingerprints. Put paint in a tray (this little white tray is from the Dollar Tree) with a damp sponge. Students can dip their fingers in the paint, make their fingerprints, and wipe it off on the sponge!
Fingerprint Names or Letters! Write their name or the first letter of their name on a piece of paper. Then, have the students stamp their fingerprints over the outline of the letter. It’s a great way to learn the first letter or letters in their name. If you teach kinder, you can also make sight words with fingerprints!
Name Activities! Name activities are perfect for All About Me activities! A child’s name is one of the most powerful and meaningful tools you can use to teach letters. It is vital for all about me activities. Click the photos below for name activities on my blog!
If you need all the printable All About Me activities, you can grab the All About Me Unit from my TpT store HERE.
Want to see the all about me activities in action? Check out the video.
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