Everything you need to know about 15 transition day activities for EYFS, KS1 and KS2, including creative tasks that build connection, establish routines, and ease anxiety for the year ahead.
Everything you need to know about 15 transition day activities for EYFS, KS1 and KS2, including creative tasks that build connection, establish routines, and ease anxiety for the year ahead.
Author
Mhairi Sim
Published
Feb 2026
Everything you need to know about 15 transition day activities for EYFS, KS1 and KS2, including creative tasks that build connection, establish routines, and ease anxiety for the year ahead.
Author
Mhairi Sim
Published
Feb 2026
Everything you need to know about 15 transition day activities for EYFS, KS1 and KS2, including creative tasks that build connection, establish routines, and ease anxiety for the year ahead.
Author
Mhairi Sim
Published
Feb 2026
Key takeaways
Table of contents
To us adults, transition day can seem like just another thing to be ticked off the’to-do’ list before the end of term, but to the kids, it’s a big deal! It’s their chance to meet their new teachers, see their new classroom, possibly meet new classmates, explore a new area of the school, and get excited for the next year in their school journey!
Transitions within primary school can sometimes feel just as significant as the move to secondary. Children moving from reception to Year 1 are having to adjust to a more formal structure, and many kids entering Year 6 feel nervous about upcoming SATs or 11+ exams and the more challenging work that comes with them.
While the specifics of a transition day can vary between schools, the goal is the same: ensure learners feel secure and supported as they move on. The key to a great transition day is focusing on connection over curriculum. The best activities often set expectations, signpost routines and classroom layout, and acknowledge the mixed emotions that come with moving class!
We’ve gathered our favourite transition day activities and organised them by key stage to help you find the perfect activity to kick things off with your new class.
For our EYFS kiddos, this will usually be their first experience of a transition day, so make it fun with activities like:
Ask that your little ones bring a small object or toy from home and let them tell the rest of the class about it. It’s a great way to put them at ease and get them chatting with their classmates. It will also give you an insight into each student!
Hide ‘treasure’ around the classroom in key areas like the class library, toilets, coat pegs, lunch box storage, and the snack table, then give clues like “Look where you’d go to pick a new reading book.” Once they’ve found all the treasure (and learned all about where to find things in the class), you could have a reward lined up, like a movie or a tasty snack!
A personal favourite EYFS transition day story is When a Dragon Goes to School by Carly Hart, which is about a dragon adjusting to the new routines of school. There are even accompanying printable worksheets you could give to learners after the story, too!
Come up with some promises that your class can make to you and each other (e.g. we promise to be kind, we promise to share) and write these on a large wall display along with each student’s name. Kiddos must then ‘sign’ the promise by stamping their handprint over their name so that it looks something like this.
On transition day, let your little ones take some ownership of the class decor by designing their own label for their coat peg. Give each child a small square of paper with their name on it and let them draw a self-portrait. The final step is to attach them to the pegs!
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Many of the best transition day KS1 activities are creative tasks that let everyone get involved, regardless of their academic stage! For example, on transition day Year 1 students could be feeling quite nervous or may struggle with written work, so it’s essential to keep activities light and focus on helping them to feel comfortable in their new setting with activities like:
Give learners a simple map of the classroom and have them explore the class, marking key areas on their map as they go. Encourage them to make it colourful and eye-catching and display the best design in class!
Get to know your new learners by having them decorate a jigsaw piece to show different aspects of their identity. Encourage them to be creative with how they represent different things about themselves on their piece, and then put all the pieces together in a big wall display!
Get out the paints and let your students help you brighten up your empty classroom! They could paint colourful designs onto wall display backing paper, decorate jars for holding pens and pencils, or create name tags for drawers or cloakrooms. Anything to brighten up the space and give them some pride in their new classroom!
Give learners a getting to know you bingo card and let them loose on trying to be the first to cross everything off! They’ll need to mingle with their classmates and try to find people who match the boxes on their cards. The only rule is that they can’t have the same person on their card more than twice!
On transition day, let each child design a birthday card and sign it from the whole class. When it is a child’s birthday during the year, they can take a lucky dip and pick one of the cards designed by their classmate!
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On transition day KS2 students are often old hands at the routine, so at this stage it’s important to pick activities that’ll get them thinking and invested in their new class and the year ahead. Try activities such as:
I love using this activity to find out students’ strengths, interests, goals, areas they’d like help with, and anything else they think it’s important that I know ahead of next year. Sometimes it helps to share a letter from their future teacher (you!) at the start of the session to model the activity.
This activity helps you get to know your incoming class a little better and doubles as a fun keepsake to give back to them at the end of the year! Have them create a passport that includes a self-portrait, favourite subject, strengths, weaknesses, goals for the year, and a short message for their future self.
At the start of your transition day, draw your students’ attention to the newest addition to your classroom – the question box! Give them some scraps of paper and let them write and submit any questions they have about next year anonymously, and you can answer them at the end of the day.
Task groups with making the strongest bridge or tallest tower using simple materials like pasta and marshmallows, or just a stack of paper. Don’t forget the most fun part – testing their creations! Raise the stakes by announcing that the winners will get to decide the seating plan in class for the first week!
A class charter is a great way to set expectations for the year ahead, as together you can agree on a standard for classwork, behaviour, attitude and more. Themed class charters (like this Disney Pixar-inspired one) always make fantastic classroom displays featuring each of your students.
If you can’t help but squeeze some curriculum-linked work into your transition day, then why not try using the DoodleLearning maths app? Setting students up on the app and having them complete the gamified benchmark assessment is fun for them, but also gives you some data to get your planning started!
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Whether used as a warm-up, a brain break between lessons, or as a tool for revision or consolidation, these fun maths games will help students to deepen their understanding while enjoying maths!
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Parents, sign up for a DoodleMaths subscription and see your child become a maths wizard!
Lesson credits
Mhairi Sim
Mhairi is an experienced teacher, freelance writer and parent. After completing her bachelor's degree in Psychology, she graduated as a teacher from the University of Strathclyde. She then built experience teaching across KS1 and KS2 throughout the UK. In addition to working in mainstream education, Mhairi specialised in the additional support needs sector, including social, emotional, and behavioural support.
Mhairi
Mhairi is an experienced teacher, freelance writer and parent. After completing her bachelor's degree in Psychology, she graduated as a teacher from the University of Strathclyde. She then built experience teaching across KS1 and KS2 throughout the UK. In addition to working in mainstream education, Mhairi specialised in the additional support needs sector, including social, emotional, and behavioural support.
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