Cutting paper dolls is a great first day of school activity. Each doll represents a different aspect of that child. For example my paper doll chain might show a teacher, a mom, a Girl Scout leader etc…Just like adults, kids wear many different hats. This alternative to the standard “first day questionnaire” is a wonderful way to get to know your students. My experience has been that kids are usually more thoughtful and in depth when doing this project. It also is inclusive of that child that might be apprehensive to write. Once when doing this project with my class a little boy had drawn one of his paper dolls with a newspaper. I said, “oh you read the newspaper”. He said, “yes, I read it to my grandmother because she can’t read.” We kept talking and from this one simple activity I learned that one of my students lived alone with his grandmother who was unable to read. This had a huge impact on my relationship with this family. Clearly, written communication was not going to work and on the first day I had already established this was a child with a unique family situation.
This is also a great activity for home schoolers. You can pose the question of what hats would you like to wear this year? You can turn the paper dolls into a more goal oriented activity vs. a get to know you activity.