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Pin the Tail on the Turkey
Pre-K - 1st Grade
This activity is appropriate for: pre-k - 1st grade / 4 - 6 years Print out this turkey template. As a variation of a familiar classic, have students take turns pinning the “tail” on the turkey. First, cut out the feather portion of the turkey template and trace it onto different colors of construction paper. Cut out each feather. Then cut out the turkey’s body and attach it to a wall or door. Give each student a tail feather and have each child print his name on a feather. Loop a piece of tape, sticky side out, and attach it to the backside of the feather. One at a time, blindfold the students and have them spin around once or twice, then instruct them to walk toward the wall and pin their “tails” on the turkey! The student who pins his “tail” closest to the correct spot on the turkey wins.
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Spring Learning Centers
Kindergarten - 3rd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: kindergarten - 3rd grade / 5 - 8 years This month, set up some fun learning centers with these creative ideas for spring! Read & Learn Comprehension Center Encourage children to sharpen their comprehension skills with these engaging, spring-themed reading passages! Print out several copies of the Comprehension Cards and place them in a file folder. Have students read the passages silently or with a partner and answer the questions. Kite Scenes Geometry Center Place light blue construction paper and pattern blocks in a center. (If you don’t have pattern blocks, simply download this pattern blocks template and reproduce it for students to use.) On separate index cards, write the name of each pattern block shape, such as triangle, square, trapezoid, parallelogram, rhombus and hexagon. (Be sure to review the name of each shape before having students work independently!) Invite students to choose two or three cards, find the corresponding pattern blocks, and trace the blocks onto a 9" x 12" sheet of blue construction paper. If using the template, have students cut out the shapes and glue them onto the paper. Encourage them to use colored pencils or crayons to add details to the picture so that the shapes look like kites flying in the sky. They can draw the kites’ tails and strings, grass, flowers, clouds and more. After students have completed their pictures, have them describe the shapes they used in their pictures. Or, for older students, provide copies of the Pattern Block Kites reproducible and have them fill it out to describe their picture. Display the pictures with the students’ descriptions on a spring bulletin board titled “Pattern Block Kites.” Nature Detectives Science Center Take your students on a nature walk around the school grounds, and help them collect plant samples to bring back to the classroom for observation. (Or you can have them bring plants from home.) Provide each student with a magnifier and a Plants & Flowers Observation Sheet. Encourage them to examine their specimens and record their observations. After students are finished, invite them to tape their specimens to the top portion of a sheet of construction paper and attach the observation sheet to the bottom portion. Collect the pages, bind them together in a class book and place them in a science center for students to enjoy! For younger students, collect several specimens from plants common in your area, such as a fern, flower, branch and magnolia leaf. Attach each specimen to an index card and label it for added literacy exposure. Then place the cards at a center with magnifiers. Have students choose a specimen, observe it with the magnifier and draw it on a piece of paper. For additional writing practice, challenge students to label the picture by copying the name of the specimen. Little Ladybugs Counting Center Reproduce the ladybugs template onto red construction paper. Cut out the number tiles and ladybug counters, and place them at a center. (You can also laminate the pieces to make them more durable.) For young students, have them choose a number tile and count out the corresponding number of ladybugs. For older students, create additional tiles with math symbols such as an addition sign, a subtraction sign and an equal sign. Then prompt students to create math problems and use the ladybugs to find the answers! Write About It! Spring Language Center Reproduce these Spring-Themed Writing Prompts and place them at a center with pencils and crayons. Invite students to let their creativity flow as they write and illustrate their own stories!
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Leprechaun Hunt
Preschool - 2nd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: preschool - 2nd grade / 3 - 7 years Take your students on a “Leprechaun Hunt” for St. Patrick’s Day! Before the hunt, cut out and decorate this adorable leprechaun template with glitter and sequins. Hide the leprechaun in the lunchroom or cafeteria at your school. Next, cut apart these clues and distribute them to the various clue locations throughout your school (e.g., library, principal’s office and playground). Note: If you need to change the location of any of the clues to fit the circumstances at your school, don’t forget to modify the text of the clues accordingly. When students arrive, begin the Leprechaun Hunt by reading the first clue aloud to them. Invite them to guess where they should look. Then, as a class, walk to each location, reading the clues as they are revealed along the way. After the class has found the leprechaun, provide students with a copy of their own leprechaun to color, along with the poem to practice reading at home!
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Boxes of Fun
Preschool - Kindergarten
This activity is appropriate for: preschool - kindergarten / 3 - 5 years Encourage students to use their holiday gift boxes for a few hands-on math activities: Large to Small—Gather a few boxes of varying sizes and have students arrange them in order, from largest to smallest or smallest to largest. Mix & Match—Take some boxes of different sizes and shapes and separate them from their lids. Then challenge students to match each lid to its correct container—as fast as they can! Quantity Count—Tape a blank note card to the inside bottom of several boxes. Label each note card with a different numeral. Then have students place corresponding numbers of classroom objects or small toys inside the different boxes. Cash & Carry—Have students cut out pictures of toys from a favorite catalog and place them in a box along with the price of each item. Then set up a “store” and have them select a few items that they would like to buy. Have students take turns being the cashier and the customer. Give them some fake coins and bills with which to practice purchasing and counting out change.
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Pocket Chart Word Match
Kindergarten - 2nd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: kindergarten - 2nd grade / 5 - 7 years Write a nursery rhyme or short poem on sentence strips. Place the sentence strips in a pocket chart. Then have students read the nursery rhyme or poem aloud with you as a shared reading. Invite students to take turns using a pointer to point to the individual words as you read the passage again and again. After a considerable amount of whole-class practice, place the pocket chart in a learning center. Make a second copy of the reading selection on sentence strips and cut out each individual word to make word cards. Challenge students to work together at the center to read each word card and match it to the corresponding word in the pocket chart. Instruct students to place the word cards on top of the words on the sentence strip as they find the match. When they have finished matching, encourage students to read the nursery rhyme or poem together again to check their work.
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Tree of Thanks Writing Project
Pre-K - 3rd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: pre-k - 3rd grade / 4 - 8 years Have your students carefully trace and cut out the printable leaf patterns onto colored sheets of construction paper. Encourage students to write something for which they are thankful on the leaves. Attach the finished leaves to a bulletin board atop a butcher paper tree trunk to make a colorful, seasonal display.
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Thanksgiving Word Hunt Collage
Kindergarten - 5th Grade
This activity is appropriate for: kindergarten - 5th grade / 5 - 10 years Invite students to search through a collection of gently used magazines and cut out words or pictures of items that represent things for which they are thankful. Have them create a class collage by pasting the pictures onto a large sheet of butcher paper that is mounted to a wall or bulletin board with the title “We Give Thanks For…!”
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Valentine Learning Centers
Kindergarten - 2nd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: kindergarten - 2nd grade / 5 - 7 years Make Valentine’s Day extra special with these fun and easy-to-use learning center ideas! Read Your Heart Out Reading Center Fill your classroom library with a dozen or so age-appropriate Valentine-themed books. Invite students to choose a story and curl up on some floor pillows for reading time! Some suggestions include: The Day It Rained Hearts by Felicia Bond Happy Valentine’s Day, Little Critter! by Mercer Mayer Nate the Great and the Mushy Valentine by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat Amelia Bedelia’s First Valentine by Herman Parish Arthur’s Great Big Valentine by Lillian Hoban The Biggest Valentine Ever by Steven Kroll The Night Before Valentine’s Day by Natasha Wing How Many Hearts? Math Center Students will love solving simple addition problems with this hands-on Valentine math center! To prepare the center, you will need a die, a few small heart-shaped stampers and a red ink pad, as well as several copies of the How Many Hearts? downloadable page. Cut the copies in half along the dotted line. Have each student take a How Many Hearts? sheet and roll the die. Encourage them to write down the number of dots shown and stamp the corresponding number of hearts above the number in the space provided. Repeat the process for the second number in the addition problem. Then, have students count the total number of stamps to find the correct answer. Variation: Instead of stamps, you can use colorful heart stickers! Can You Hear Your Heartbeat? Science Center This easy-to-create science center will introduce young children to the basic concept of scientific observation! Simply provide a stethoscope at the table for students to use. One at a time, have students use the stethoscope to listen to their heartbeats. Then, have them stand up and do ten jumping jacks and listen to their heartbeats again. Ask them what happened! (Note: You may want to have a parent or other adult volunteer stationed at this center to facilitate questions and clean the stethoscope earpieces with alcohol swabs or disinfecting pads between uses.) Valentine Verses Writing Center Set up a center with heart-themed writing paper and fun Valentine pens or pencils. Invite students to write a poem about people or things in their lives that they love. You may want to help them get started by displaying this poem on posterboard in your learning center. Prompt students to copy the lines of the poem and fill in the blanks with thoughts of their own! Roses are red, Violets are blue, I love my _______________ And ________________, too! Or, have students make up their own verses and write them on the downloadable heart-shaped writing template. After the poem is written, mount it onto red or pink construction paper. Display the poems on a bulletin board in your classroom for Valentine’s Day! Valentine Words Language Center Write the word “VALENTINE” in capital letters across a sentence strip and place it in a center. Provide students with paper and pencils and challenge them to make a list of as many words as they can spell using only the letters in that word! For variation, try the same activity with other Valentine’s Day words, such as sweetheart, candy, cupid, flowers, chocolate and so on.
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Colorful Countdown
Preschool - 2nd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: preschool - 2nd grade / 3 - 7 years Cut strips of colored construction paper and have your children loop them together to make a paper chain. Then encourage them to count down to a certain anticipated event over the holidays (e.g., Christmas Day, the last night of Hanukkah, the beginning of Kwanzaa, New Year’s Eve, or even the first day of school after their holiday break). Have them label the links on the chain with numbers corresponding to the dates on the calendar. You can even have them alternate colors of construction paper to practice skip counting by odd and even numbers. Or show them how to repeat the same colors every three or four links to make a color pattern.
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Sight-Word Go Fish Game
Pre-K - 1st Grade
This activity is appropriate for: pre-k - 1st grade / 4 - 6 years Preparation: Make your own deck of sight-word cards by printing the First 20 Sight-Words. Mount two sets on cardstock and cut on the dashed lines to make two index cards for each sight-word. The game works best with four players, so you may want to create multiple “decks” so that several small groups can play at once. How to Play: Each player is dealt seven sight-word cards, and the rest of the cards are neatly stacked face down in a pile in the center of the table. As in the card game, “Go Fish,” players take turns asking each other for specific cards to make a pair. For example, Player One may ask Player Two, “Do you have the word ‘the’?” If Player Two has that card in her hand, she gives the card to Player One, who pairs it with the matching “the” card in his hand to make a pair. If Player Two does not have the card she is asked for, she says, “Go fish!”, and Player One must draw a card from the pile to add to his hand. The first player to collect the matching cards to all the cards in his or her hand wins the game!
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Adjective Add-On
1st Grade - 5th Grade
This activity is appropriate for: 1st - 5th grade / 6 - 10 years This creative activity gets kids thinking and writing descriptively! Choose a relatively simple sentence to write on the board and have students copy the sentence onto their own sheets of paper. Then challenge students to add adjectives to the sentence to make it more descriptive. (For example, “The girl walked along the street” might become “The careless girl walked along the busy street” or “The little girl walked along the long, quiet street.”) Call on volunteers to share their revised sentences aloud, or have them draw pictures to go with their sentences. Then compare them to see what a difference a few descriptive words can make! Here are a few sentences to get you started: My dog has fleas. My brother ate his vegetables. Look at that painting! That goat ate all the corn in the field. The car raced down the road. The zookeeper fed the animals in the zoo. She sang a song and danced in the rain. My dad works in a building. The boy pulled out his wand and cast a spell. Variation: For older students, encourage them to continue building a story around the sentence to create a whole paragraph. Invite them to compare their stories to illustrate how some editing and a few revisions can enhance the context and meaning of what we write.
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Beanbag Blend Game
Kindergarten - 2nd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: kindergarten - 2nd grade / 5 - 7 years Reinforce beginning sound blends and digraphs with a fun-to-play reading activity! Use a marker to label the outside of six large plastic cups with a different blend or digraph (e.g., bl–, cl–, pr–, sh–, cr–, tw–, or any other combination you would like your students to practice). Then tape the cups securely to the floor or onto the surface of a table. Next, divide the class into two teams. One player at a time, the teams take turns tossing a beanbag into the cups. When the beanbag lands in a cup, the player supplies a word with the same beginning blend or digraph. For example, if the beanbag lands in the “cl” cup, he might supply the word “clock” or “clip.” His team then has one minute to continue to come up with as many words as they can think of that begin with this blend. As they call out words, write them on chart paper or on the blackboard. Continue playing until each team has a chance to supply words for three blends. At the end of the game, have students read each word as you point to it on the chart or board. For additional practice, mix it up by writing these variations on the cups: Ending blends or digraphs (e.g., –ck, –lt, –ch, and so on) Word families (e.g., –ow, –ate, –ug, and so on) Vowel sounds (e.g., “short a,” “long o,” “short e,” “long u,” and so on)
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Alphabet Activity Game
Pre-K - 1st Grade
This activity is appropriate for: pre-k - 1st grade / 4 - 6 years Pair this versatile Alphabet Activity Game Board with these handy ideas for tons of alphabet fun. Send students on an “Alphabet Hunt.” For each letter on the game board, have them find small items around the classroom that begin with that letter and place the items on the mat. Have students take turns flipping a coin onto the game board. They must name a word that begins or ends with the letter the coin lands on. Print out a copy of the game board for each student. Give them a pencil and have them trace each letter on the game board for added letter-writing practice.
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Ice Cream…in a Bag!
Preschool - 3rd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: preschool - 3rd grade / 3 - 8 years Students of all ages love this cool activity—making their own ice cream! You will need the following ingredients: 1 tablespoon sugar ½ cup milk or half & half ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract 6 tablespoons rock salt (the bigger the granules, the better) Ice cubes Pint-size zip-close food storage bag Gallon-size zip-close bag Combine the sugar, milk and vanilla extract in the pint-size bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible, and then seal it tightly. Next, place the ice and rock salt in the gallon-size bag, and then place the smaller, sealed bag inside as well. Seal the larger bag, again squeezing out as much air as you can. Wrap the bags inside a towel to protect your hands from the cold. Shake the bags until the mixture hardens (about 5 minutes). Feel the small bag to check whether it’s done. When it’s done, remove the smaller bag, and then add in extra treats like crushed cookies, chopped fruit, etc. (Makes about 1 cup.)
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“A Festive Feast” Brain Teaser Game
Kindergarten - 1st Grade
This activity is appropriate for: kindergarten - 1st grade / 5 - 6 years Students will love cracking the riddle behind this mystery word game! The Set-Up: Announce to students that you are having a Festive Feast for Thanksgiving and they are all invited! Then explain that there is only one rule: Each student must bring something to the party, but it must be something that is appropriate for the Festive Feast. Then give examples such as, “Tara is bringing turkey, Susie is bringing salad,
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Class Time Capsule
1st Grade - 6th Grade
This activity is appropriate for: 1st - 6th grade / 6 - 11 years If you want to show students how their ideas have grown and changed from the beginning of the school year to the end, the Class Time Capsule activity is perfect. Print the Class Time Capsule worksheet, and give each student a copy. The worksheet gives students the opportunity to first describe the highlight of their summer, then predict what the coming school year will be like. Collect all the worksheets. Fold them and place them into a “time capsule.” (You can use anything from a shoe box to a plastic storage container.) Place the time capsule in a safe place somewhere in your classroom. On the last day of school, hand out the students’ worksheets so they can see if their predictions were right!
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Mother's Day Tea
Preschool - 2nd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: preschool - 2nd grade / 3-7years Help your students honor their mothers (or another special caregiver) by hosting a Mother’s Day Tea. Print out these special invitations and send them home with your students. Before the big event, have students make these tea-themed Mother’s Day Teacup Cards. Purchase cookies or muffins from a supermarket bakery and serve with tea and juice on the day of the event. For an extra-special touch, contact community florists and ask them to donate carnations for the affair.
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Classroom Map Hunt
1st Grade - 3rd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: 1st - 3rd grade / 6 - 8 years The sooner students feel comfortable in the classroom, the sooner they can take advantage of all your great classroom resources. Help familiarize students with their new classroom through this fun map hunt. Draw a map of your classroom. Don’t worry about your artistic ability, just make sure to include all the important classroom features, centers, and furniture you want your students to be familiar with. Your map will probably include things like a listening center, library, student tables, teacher’s desk, math center, sink, door, student cubbies, pencil sharpener, turn-in-your-work area, and so on. Consider using grid paper—it makes it easier to get the size relationships right. At the bottom of your map, include a list of directions. The directions should direct students toward the classroom features. Your list of directions might be something like this: Go to the place where you would listen to a book. Go to the place where you would pick up your mail. Find the place where you would turn in your assignment. Find the place where you would sharpen your pencil. Find your seat. Go to the place where you would find a book to read. Go to the place where you could wash your hands. Before you give each student a copy of your map, provide a tour of the classroom. Point out everything on the map, and explain (if necessary) why these features are important to their classroom experience. Then, pass a map out to each student. Give students 15-20 minutes (depending on the length of your list) to find all the places on the list. When they find a place, they should put an x next to it on the list. When the time is up, go through the list with the entire class.
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Getting to Know You Scavenger Hunt
2nd Grade - 6th Grade
This activity is appropriate for: 2nd - 6th grade / 7 - 11 years Children can learn a lot about their new classmates with this fast-paced activity for 2nd–5th grade classrooms. Start by printing a copy of the Getting to Know You Scavenger Hunt list for each student. Pass out the lists, and let students know that they will have fifteen to twenty minutes to approach each other in hopes of filling in the entire list. Some of the items on the list are physical traits such as finding the tallest person in the class, but others will require that students ask each other questions. For example, students must find “someone who went camping this summer.” When students find a match, they fill that person’s name in the blank. The first student to fill in all the blanks “wins,” but you may want to continue the game until many students have completed their scavenger hunt lists. For preschool and kindergarten classrooms, write these questions on butcher paper or chart paper. Meet together on the rug and fill in the scavenger hunt together as a whole class.
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Manipulating Money
Pre-K - 1st Grade
This activity is appropriate for: pre-k - 1st grade / 4 - 6 years In honor of Presidents’ Day, take the opportunity to point out to your students that most U.S. coins feature pictures of past American presidents. Then, let your students explore the coins hands-on with these fun activities! Coin Rubbing—Divide the class into groups of three or four, and provide each group with several different coins to share. Then, give each student a sheet of paper and some crayons. Have students place the paper on top of a coin and gently color over the paper with the side of a crayon to make a coin rubbing. Encourage them to repeat the process with both sides of quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies. The result will be colorful imprints of a variety of coins! Penny Probability—Place three pennies and a dime into a paper bag. Ask students to predict which of the two types of coins they are likely to pull out of the bag at random. Test their predictions by drawing a coin out of the bag and recording which coin was selected. Replace the coin and repeat this process 10 times. Allow different student volunteers to take turns removing and replacing the coins. At the conclusion of the demonstration, guide students in discovering that the probability of selecting the penny out of the bag is 3 out of 4, while the probability of selecting the dime is only 1 out of 4. Simple Sorting—Reinforce categorizing and sorting skills by having students work in pairs to sort jars of coins into piles by coin type. Then, have them arrange the different piles in order by size or by value. Penny Predictions—Hold up a penny and ask students to guess how many drops of water they think will fit on the penny. As they guess, ask them to explain why they think their guesses are reasonable. Then have each student work with a partner and give each pair a penny, an eyedropper, and a small cup of water. Encourage the pair to designate one person to count while the other carefully places drops of water onto the penny—one drop at a time until the water “overflows” and drips off of the surface of the penny. Then have them switch roles to try it again. Invite the class to compare their results and discuss whether or not they were consistent. (You might want to provide a simple explanation for how the water drops cling to the penny’s surface and create a “net” called surface tension until the force of gravity becomes stronger than the water and causes the “net” to break.)
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Spin and Write
1st Grade - 6th Grade
This activity is appropriate for: 1st - 6th grade / 6 - 11 years Spark your students’ interest in writing by creating handy Writing Idea Spinners. To make the spinners, simply print out and follow the instructions. Then ask a student volunteer to spin the spinner and—whatever topic the spinner lands on—encourage the class to write about it!
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Letter to Next Year’s Class
Kindergarten - 6th Grade
This activity is appropriate for: kindergarten - 6th grade / 5 - 11 years Have your students write letters with advice for the kids who’ll follow in their footsteps next year! It’s a great way for children to review what they did during the course of the year. Encourage students to emphasize positive, fun things about their school year—they’re trying to help next year’s class get excited about the year, not be anxious about it! Things they might write about include advice on how to get good grades, things to do and not to do, favorite themes or field trips, etc. Store the letters over the summer, and then take them out on the first day of school next year. You can then post them in your room, read parts of the letters aloud or hand them out for students to read on their own. Instead of writing letters, you could have students create a poster for next year’s class. Children can work together to brainstorm what tips they would like to include, and then they can write, draw and color the poster. Students could also create a “Classroom Handbook” full of helpful tips, suggestions and favorite memories. Bind students’ pages together into a booklet, and place it in your classroom library for students to look over next year.
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End-Of-The-Year Celebration
1st Grade - 6th Grade
This activity is appropriate for: 1st - 6th grade / 6 - 11 years As the school year comes to a close, try a few of these culminating activities to get your students reflecting on their progress! Grade-Level Graduation Encourage students to celebrate the end of a successful school year by hosting a graduation party! Purchase inexpensive graduation-themed paper plates and cups from a local party store and order a cake from a supermarket bakery. Then invite students to take turns sharing the accomplishments they are most proud of from the past year. Print out the End-Of-The-Year Diploma and present one to each student. Student Reflections Give a copy of the student memory book to each student, and encourage students to record their favorite memories and proudest moments from the past school year. Then have students take them home as keepsakes to share with their parents! Mixed Math Review Help students recall the many math concepts they learned this year with a fun-filled quiz game they create! Divide the class into small teams and distribute several copies of the Mixed Math Review! cards to each team. Then assign each team a chapter or section of their math textbook, and have them write down a question or problem on the back of each card. (Be sure to have each group create an answer key for their cards.) Simply place the cards in a pocket chart to create a quiz game that’s played just like a TV game show—and let students take turns answering questions for their teams! Tip: No time to create your own game? Check out our ready-made Math Quiz Game Shows for Grades 1-3 and Grades 4-6—each with over 200 level-appropriate question cards covering tons of essential math concepts!
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Mapping Mania
1st Grade - 6th Grade
This activity is appropriate for: 1st - 6th grade / 6 - 11 years Students turn their holiday trip to Grandma’s house into an opportunity to reinforce math and mapping skills! If students are taking a trip over the holidays, help them locate the starting and ending points of their destination on a map. (For short distances, use a city street map, and for longer distances, use a state map, a map of the United States, or even a globe.) Then show them how to map out their route and calculate the distance and amount of time that it will take to travel there. Note: If relatives are traveling to their house this year, encourage students to map the trip with their home as the final destination.
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Sharing the Warmth
Kindergarten - 6th Grade
This activity is appropriate for: kindergarten - 6th grade / 5 - 11 years The holiday season seems to be the perfect time to focus on giving to others. Invite your students (and their parents) to get into the spirit of giving by donating gently worn (or even brand-new) mittens, gloves, hats, and scarves to be given to less fortunate children in your community. After collecting the items, arrange to drop them off at a local family shelter or church that may reach out to needy children in the
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Stringing Together
Kindergarten - 5th Grade
This activity is appropriate for: kindergarten - 5th grade / 5 - 10 years This is a great way to help students “break the ice.” Start by cutting string or yarn into pairs of varying lengths; there should be one piece for every student. If you have an odd number of students, take a piece yourself. Distribute the pieces, and tell students that their challenge is to find the person with the string that is the same length as theirs. After everyone has found their match, they should take turns introducing themselves to their partner. You can provide a list of questions (see our downloadable list) to help them “break the ice,” or you can come up with the questions as a group. To extend the activity, invite students to introduce their partner to the class!
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Student of the Week
Preschool - 1st Grade
This activity is appropriate for: preschool - 1st grade / 3 - 6 years Spotlight the individuality of your students by giving each child a week to shine! Try a few of these creative ideas to make your Student of the Week feel extra special. Create a bulletin-board display featuring the Student of the Week. Send home this parent letter and Star of the Week reproducible. Invite the student to fill out the form and bring it to class along with a few favorite photos. Showcase the items on the board so everyone can learn about her unique interests and hobbies! Encourage the students in your class to identify characteristics they admire about the Student of the Week. Assemble written notes in a folder that the student can take home to share with his family at the end of the week. Or have students write their sentiments on star templates and display the stars on the Student of the Week bulletin board. Tip: Have younger children dictate a few kind adjectives or a brief compliment for you to write on the star template. (For example, “She shares toys with me,” or “He is nice.”) Be sure to include the student’s name so that the recipient will know who said the kind words. Throughout the week, offer the Student of the Week fun privileges, such as serving as line leader, running special errands, or selecting music or games for free time. Send home a letter at the beginning of the week and invite parents to share things about their child that make them proud. At the end of the week, read the comments aloud to the class and watch the student beam with pride! Select a day for a Student of the Week lunch. As a special treat, invite the honored student and two classmates of her choosing to join you for lunch in the classroom. Encourage your Student of the Week to select a favorite storybook to share with the class. One afternoon during the week, you or the student can read the story aloud. Invite your Student of the Week to create a Special Sharing Sack! Ask him to bring three items from home that tell about people, interests or activities that are important to him. Throughout the week, invite him to reveal each item to the class and share one or two sentences about it.
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Practice Makes Perfect
Kindergarten - 3rd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: kindergarten - 3rd grade / 5 - 8 years Make a copy of one of the Math Facts practice sheets and time students as they complete the page. Then a few days later, challenge them to beat their own time. Or, use this Follow the Math Path! game board. Use coins or game pieces from a board game as markers. As players take a turn, another player calls out a problem from one of the Math Facts practice sheets. If the player answers correctly, she moves her marker forward two spaces. If she answers incorrectly, she moves her marker backward one space. The player whose marker reaches the end of the path first—wins!
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Name That Sound
Preschool - Kindergarten
This activity is appropriate for: preschool - kindergarten / 3 - 5 years Point out an object you see in the classroom or on the playground and say the word aloud. Then, ask students what letter makes the beginning sound of the word. (For example, if you call out “fish,” students should say the beginning sound is the letter “f.”) Give each student or team a point for every question they answer correctly. The first team to get to 5 or 10 points—wins!
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Party in the Park
Kindergarten - 5th Grade
This activity is appropriate for: kindergarten - 5th grade / 5 - 10 years Have an end-of-the-year party in the park—and try out some of these fun outdoor games! Sponge Race: Divide students into 2 teams and have each team stand in a line. Place a bucket of water and a sponge at the front of each line. The student in front dips the sponge into the bucket. The sponge is then passed to the back of the line, with students alternating passing it over their heads and between their legs. When it reaches the back of the line, that student runs to the front and the race continues. The first team to have their original student in front again wins! Towel Toss: This game is played by two teams of two students. Give each team a beach towel, and have each student hold one end of the towel. Then place a beach ball on one of the towels. Students try to pass the ball back and forth by using their towels to “toss” it. If a team doesn’t catch the ball, the other team gets a point. The first team to score three points wins! Sand Relay: Divide students into 2 teams and have each team stand in a line. Place a container full of sand at the front of each line, and a small bucket at the end of each line. When the race starts, the first student in line grabs a handful of sand and passes it to the student behind him. The team passes the sand from hand to hand, until the last student in line dumps it into the bucket. The first team to fill up their bucket wins!
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Salty Science
Pre-K - 3rd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: pre-k - 3rd grade / 4 - 8 years Try this simple science experiment to find out what happens when salt and water mix. Start by dissolving some salt in a small, disposable cup of water. Did the salt disappear? Ask students where they think it went. Write their answers down. Leave the cup in a sunny place. Show students how to mark the water level on the side of the cup. Encourage them to mark the water at the same time each day. Why do they think the water level is going down? When all the water has evaporated, show students the salt that remains in the bottom of the cup. Explain that the salt never really disappeared; it mixed with the water. Explain that the water evaporated, or turned into gas form, when the sun heated it. Once all the water evaporated, the salt stayed behind—in its original crystal form!
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