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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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Teamwork Web
Preschool - 2nd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: preschool - 2nd grade / 3 - 7 years This activity gives students a great visual representation of teamwork. Begin by gathering your class around you in a circle on the floor. Hold a ball of string or yarn. Tell students something about yourself. When you’re done, grab onto the end of the string or yarn and roll the ball to another student. This student will then tell the group something about himself before he rolls the ball to another student. The cycle continues with each student holding onto part of the string or yarn until everyone has spoken. Ask everyone to carefully stand up without letting go. Look at the web you have created! This is a great time to talk about what teamwork means because everyone is working together to keep the web from falling apart. To illustrate this point, ask one student to let go—students will see how the web weakens when they stop working together.
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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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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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The Name Game
Kindergarten - 3rd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: kindergarten - 3rd grade / 5 - 8 years This popular game helps familiarize students with the names of their classmates. Have students sit in a circle. Ask each of the students to think of an adjective that describes them. The adjective must start with the same letter as their name (for example, Happy Holly, Fun Felix, Silly Sarah, etc.). Brainstorm adjectives for each letter, if needed. Have the student sitting to your left begin. Ask her to say the word she chose along with her name (Happy Holly). The student sitting to the left of Holly goes next. He will begin with Holly’s descriptive word and name, and then follow with his own (Happy Holly, Fun Felix). Keep going until you get back to Holly—now she has to name the entire group! If students get stuck along the way, others can offer to help. If Felix or some of the other students who followed him want to try to name the entire group, let them give it a try!
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Snail’s Pace
Pre-K - 2nd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: pre-k - 2nd grade / 4 - 7 years Use sidewalk chalk to draw a large spiral (shaped like a snail’s shell) on the ground. Draw lines in the shell to create hopscotch-style spaces. Make a circle in the center and write “home” inside it. To play, the first student must hop on one foot, landing in each space. When she reaches the home space, she can land with both feet. If the student successfully completes the circle, she gets to write her initials inside any space of her choice. Players then take turns hopping through the course. They cannot land in any space with someone’s initials inside. Play continues until no one can reach the home space. Whoever has their initials inside the most spaces wins!
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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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Gumdrop Graphing
Pre-K - 2nd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: pre-k - 2nd grade / 4 - 7 years What better way to practice essential math skills, while celebrating the flavors of the holiday season, than to conduct a graphing activity…with gumdrops! Begin by purchasing several bags of gumdrops from your local supermarket or drugstore. Divide the bags into individual cups of about 15–20 gumdrops each. (You will need one cup of gumdrops for each student in your class, or one cup for every two students if you have them work in pairs.) Download the Gumdrop Graphing chart and make a copy for each student or pair of students. Have students write the names of the gumdrop colors across the bottom of the chart. Give students the cups of gumdrops and have them place their gumdrops in vertical columns by color to fill in the graph on the sheet. Next, guide students in answering questions about their graphs. For example, you might ask: What is the total number of gumdrops on your graph? Do you have more black gumdrops or more red gumdrops? Which column has the least number of gumdrops? The most? Are any of the columns the same height? If so, which ones? And what does this mean? How many more/fewer yellow gumdrops are there than green gumdrops? Once you have used the graphs to make mathematical comparisons, invite students to eat the gumdrops as a special holiday treat!
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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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Recipe Book
Preschool - 5th Grade
This activity is appropriate for: preschool - 5th grade / 3 - 10 years This collaborative activity gets the whole family involved! Simply ask your students to bring in a favorite recipe from home (preferably typed on a plain standard sheet of printer paper). Encourage families to share delicious recipes unique to their heritage or ethnic backgrounds. Then have students use crayons to add decorative borders to the recipe pages. Collect the recipes and make colored copies for each student in your class. Distribute the copies and have students assemble the pages and staple them together to create recipe books that the children can take home to share with their families!
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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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End-Of-The-Year Scavenger Hunt
2nd Grade - 6th Grade
This activity is appropriate for: 2nd - 6th grade / 7 - 11 years Plan a scavenger hunt…for information your class learned throughout the year! Create a list of questions whose answers can be found in books the class read during the year. (Make sure copies of the books are available in your classroom library or reading center.) Make a copy of the list for each child in class, and then let them “hunt” for the answers. Have kids write down each answer and where they found it. Give children a time limit in which to find the information. When time is up, collect students' answers. Count up the correct answers and give a prize to the student(s) who found the most! Note: Tell children that they don’t need to answer the questions in order—that way, if the book needed to answer the first question is being used, they can simply answer another question on the list.
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Book of Class Records
Pre-K - 5th Grade
This activity is appropriate for: pre-k - 5th grade / 4 - 10 years Create your own classroom book of records! Make a list of records that students in your class might set. Some possible records might be: Most words read in one minute Most jumps on a jump rope in one minute Fastest times tables Highest stack of blocks Farthest (or highest) jump Try to have a wide range of records so that every student has a chance to set a record in something. Over the course of a few days, have kids compete to see who can set the various records. Write down the results, and then make a classroom book with the records listed. (If you have a digital camera, you can take photos of the winning kids to include on the pages.) Let students decorate the pages, and then bind them together into a book. Keep the book in your classroom library for next year’s kids to read—then let them try to break the records and set new ones!
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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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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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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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Classmates Word Search
Kindergarten - 2nd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: kindergarten - 2nd grade / 5 - 7 years This kid-pleasing activity has students hunting for their own names—and those of their classmates—as they complete a word search created just for them! Just take a list of all the students in your class and put the names into a word search. Try using grid paper to properly line up the letters. You can even provide an extra message within your word search, such as “Have a great school year!” Making word searches can be tricky, so use our word search maker for assistance.
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Donuts with Dad/Muffins with Mom
Preschool - 2nd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: preschool - 2nd grade / 3 - 7 years Start a new parent-inclusive reading tradition in your classroom! Two or three times a year, invite parents to join their children during class time for a half hour of shared reading! Provide juice and a selection of breakfast treats, such as donuts and muffins, and encourage parents to bring their own reading material (e.g., novels, nonfiction books, magazines, or newspapers). Have students make their own reading selections as well, and set up cozy corners of pillows and blankets for everyone to use as they read. During the half-hour reading period, encourage parents to sit with their children and read silently together. (Note: For younger children who are not yet capable of reading on their own, you will want to have parents choose read-alouds to share quietly with their kids rather than having each read her own book.)
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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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Sharing the Dream of Dr. King
Kindergarten - 6th Grade
This activity is appropriate for: kindergarten - 6th grade / 5 - 11 years Read or listen to a recording of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. (For younger students with shorter attention spans, you may want to select a small portion instead of the entire speech.) Afterward, discuss some of the ways Dr. King was hoping to accomplish peace among people. Then, engage students in a follow-up activity that allows them to express their own ideas of how we can live in harmony with one another: For Grades K–2: Have students draw a picture of ways they can spread peace to one another (e.g., sharing, making friends, helping each other, etc.). Then have them complete the sentence “I can bring peace by _______________.” For Grades 3–5: Have students write about ways they can get along with others and spread peace. For Grades 6 and up: Ask students to explain what Dr. King meant when he called for people to be “judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character,” and share some examples of when and how they can do this.
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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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Celebrating Earth Day
1st Grade - 5th Grade
This activity is appropriate for: 1st - 5th grade / 6 - 10 years Earth Day is April 22nd! Celebrate our planet with these engaging Earth Day ideas: Read All About It—Set up an Earth Day reading corner with interesting and age-appropriate books, such as Earth Day—Hooray! by Stuart J. Murphy, Let’s Celebrate Earth Day by Connie and Peter Roop, and Earth Book for Kids: Activities to Help Heal the Environment by Linda Schwartz. Invite students to read the books (or you can read them aloud to the class) and discuss ways they can help preserve our planet! Plant a Plant—Provide students with small terra-cotta pots and paints to decorate them. Then help students put soil in the pots and add seeds so they can grow their own plants! Remind students that planting trees and plants helps preserve the natural environment of our planet. Eco-Friendly Lunch Challenge—During the month of April (and throughout the rest of the year as well), encourage students to bring their lunch and snacks in reusable containers instead of disposable plastic or paper bags. Have students help you estimate the number of bags the class is saving by investing in reusable containers! Save-The-Planet Posters—Set up a center with markers, posterboard, construction paper and stickers, and have students make Earth-friendly signs. Encourage them to write slogans such as “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!” and “Keep our planet clean!” Post the signs around the school for the month of April! Pennies for the Planet—Invite your students to join in a nationwide effort to promote conservation efforts by contributing pennies (and other spare change) to Pennies for the Planet. Click here to learn how your class can get involved in this environmental effort by the National Audubon Society.
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Time Line of My Life
Kindergarten - 6th Grade
This activity is appropriate for: kindergarten - 6th grade / 5 - 11 years Introduce students to the concept of time lines, and explain that time lines show important events in chronological order. Then, invite students to help you make a list of a handful of milestone events that may have already occurred in their own lives (e.g., the day they were born, the day they learned to walk, the day they learned how to ride a bike, the first day of preschool or kindergarten, the day they lost their first tooth, and so on). Next, provide students with long strips of construction paper and encourage them to make time lines of their own lives, listing 6-10 important events from their birth up to the present date, in chronological order. (Note: For younger children, you may want to assign this as a take-home project that they can complete with the help of family members.)
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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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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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Soccer Bowling
Preschool - 3rd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: preschool - 3rd grade / 3 - 8 years Have students find 10 household items that will tumble over easily (empty soda bottles, cans, cereal boxes, small stuffed toys, etc.). Arrange them in a triangle on a level area of ground. Each player gets to kick a soccer ball 3 times to try to knock over the items. If a player knocks over all the items before reaching his third turn, reset the items. The player who knocks over the most items wins!
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“Celebrity” Read-A-Thon!
Preschool - 3rd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: preschool - 3rd grade / 3 - 8 years March 2 is Read Across America Day, sponsored by the National Education Association. Celebrate this nationwide event by inviting neighborhood celebrities (e.g., local TV news anchors, community police officers or firefighters, a manager of a local supermarket or your neighborhood librarian) to visit your classroom and read aloud to the students! Then, host a Literature Lunch event for parents so they can share in the reading celebration, too. Invite parents to join their children for lunch in your classroom, followed by a shared reading time where parents cozy up with their children and quietly read picture books together. Students will delight in having these special visitors in their classroom throughout the day. Plus, having parents and other mentors model the excitement and joy of reading is sure to ignite students’ interest in literature!
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Printing Practice: Thank-You Notes
Preschool - 5th Grade
This activity is appropriate for: preschool - 5th grade / 3 - 10 years No doubt students will receive a few gifts over the holiday season. What better way to reinforce the concept of gratitude—and practice handwriting and language skills—than to have them write thank-you notes! Distribute some fun and decorative stationery along with a whimsical holiday pen or pencil that students will look forward to using. Encourage them to write notes of appreciation as they receive gifts from friends or relatives. Note: For younger students, you may want to have parents write the majority of the note as their child dictates it to them, and then have the child print his name at the bottom of the note. As they get more practice, you can have them write more, such as the recipient’s name or the name of the gift item for which he is writing the thank-you note.
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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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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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Science Safari
Preschool - 3rd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: preschool - 3rd grade / 3 - 8 years Spring is the perfect time of year to engage students in observing the natural world around them. Give students small paper or plastic bags and guide them on a “Science Safari” nature walk around the school grounds. Encourage students to collect two or three specimens along the way, such as blades of grass, leaves, rocks, flowers or even a pinch of dirt. Once you are back in the classroom, divide students into pairs and provide each pair with a magnifier. Tell students that scientists use their senses and pay attention to detail to make observations and new discoveries. Invite students to observe their specimens under the magnifier and describe what they see. Have them categorize the items according to their descriptions (e.g., by color, shape, texture, size, and so on). If possible, try using microscopes instead of magnifiers!
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Top 10 List
Preschool - 3rd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: preschool - 3rd grade / 3 - 8 years Every quarter, make a list of the books or stories the class has read. Then have students vote to determine the class favorites! Write the titles on a posterboard with the heading, “Our Top 10 Favorite Books.” Hang the poster prominently on a wall or from the ceiling and display the books around the poster to provide students with easy access and encourage rereading of the stories!
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Family Member Interview
Kindergarten - 5th Grade
This activity is appropriate for: kindergarten - 5th grade / 5 - 10 years Students will enjoy working together with a loved one to complete this “get-to-know-you” activity! Simply provide students with a copy of the Family Member Interview printable and encourage them to take it home. Have students interview a family member to fill in the blanks. Then, set aside time for oral presentations so students can share fascinating facts or interesting stories that they learned about their family members! For older students, you may want to assign a written report so that they can share what they learned in writing!
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Chinese New Year Parade
Pre-K - 3rd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: pre-k - 3rd grade / 4 - 8 years Celebrate diversity by encouraging your class to conduct a Chinese New Year Parade! A few days before Chinese New Year, select a few books, such as Lanterns and Firecrackers: A Chinese New Year Story by Jonny Zucker or Dragon Dance: A Chinese New Year Lift-the-Flap Book by Joan Holub to read aloud to your students. Once they have a little background knowledge about Chinese New Year, provide them with some craft paper, paints, markers, and crepe paper streamers. Have students create colorful masks and banners to carry in a parade. Set aside a few minutes at the end of the day or during the lunch period to allow students to parade around the school grounds in celebration of Chinese New Year!
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Race and Solve
Pre-K - 2nd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: pre-k - 2nd grade / 4 - 7 years Review basic math facts with this fun-to-play outdoor racing game. Scatter numbered rings on the playground and have students run to retrieve two rings at a time. As soon as a player returns to the starting point with the rings, encourage him to solve a simple math sentence using the two numbers on the rings.
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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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Pen Pal Project
2nd Grade - 5th Grade
This activity is appropriate for: 2nd - 5th grade / 7 - 10 years Set up international pen pals for your students. (A great website that can help get you connected to other students or classrooms around the globe is www.epals.com.) Encourage them to write to their pen pals to ask about which holidays they celebrate and how they are celebrated. Prompt students to include in their letters explanations and descriptions of their own holiday traditions and celebrations. Have students take pictures of holiday decorations to send with their letters. And don’t forget to invite students to share their letters with the class when they receive a response!
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Choose Your Own Ending
Pre-K - 3rd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: pre-k - 3rd grade / 4 - 8 years Begin reading a story aloud to your students. Then just before the end of the story, stop reading and tell them that they are going to create their own ending for the story. Provide an example by adding another sentence to the last one you read. Then invite students to continue telling the story so that it concludes any way they like. You can make this an oral reading activity, or you can write down the sentences as they are dictated to you. For older students, provide them with a pencil and paper and encourage them to write the conclusion themselves.
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Remember the Day in Photos
Pre-K - 3rd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: pre-k - 3rd grade / 4 - 8 years Assign students the fun task of documenting their family Thanksgiving celebration through photographs. Encourage them to take posed pictures of family members as well as a few candid shots of the day’s festivities. Then have them share the photos with the entire class and talk about their favorite memories of the day. Display the photos on a Thanksgiving bulletin board, or glue the photos onto construction paper and staple the pages together to create a class Thanksgiving photo album.
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Museum Trip
Pre-K - 5th Grade
This activity is appropriate for: pre-k - 5th grade / 4 - 10 years Take your students on a trip to a nearby museum. When you first arrive, go to the gift shop and buy some postcards that show artifacts or artwork that’s housed in the museum. Then as you walk through the museum, challenge the students to find each item on the postcards.
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Guess My Number! Game
1st Grade - 3rd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: 1st - 3rd grade / 6 - 8 years Build students’ overall math skills and number sense with this fun-to-play guessing game. Try a few Guess My Number! Game Riddles to get started. Simply have students read the clues, then solve to find the correct number. You can extend the game by creating more riddles for students to solve. Or, for an extra challenge, encourage students to try to create some number riddles of their own!
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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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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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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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Science Fair
Kindergarten - 5th Grade
This activity is appropriate for: kindergarten - 5th grade / 5 - 10 years Get children excited about science by hosting a schoolwide science fair! Encourage older students (third grade and up) to conduct their own science experiments and display their results at the fair. Get younger students involved by completing a class project. Follow these handy tips to make your science fair a success: Several weeks before the science fair, talk to students about the scientific method and explain that science experiments are designed to answer questions about the world around us. Send home a helpful parent packet that includes the Science Fair Project Letter, Science Fair Project Guidelines, Science Fair Project Ideas and Science Fair Project Header Cards. Parents can help their child understand what is expected, select an appropriate topic with their child and work through the steps of the project together. Schedule brief one-on-one meetings with students to review their chosen topics and answer any questions they may have about conducting their experiments or presenting their findings. Provide students with a handy Science Fair Project Organizer to help them plan ahead and organize the process as they go. Reserve a location on your school campus for the science fair and allow students access to the room before school to set up their displays. Invite distinguished community leaders or fellow science teachers to serve as judges for the event. In addition to giving awards for first, second and third place, encourage the judges to give awards such as “Most Original,” “Best Display,” “Most Interesting” and “Honorable Mention.” Don’t forget to praise all of the students for their efforts and participation!
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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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Visit A Zoo
Kindergarten - 3rd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: kindergarten - 3rd grade / 5 - 8 years Take your students on a trip to a local zoo, and ask them to keep track of the animals they see there. Bring along a pad and a pencil so that students can make a list. Later, have them check their lists and sort them into categories of mammals, reptiles and birds. Which type of animal did they see the most?
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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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Summertime Graphing
Preschool - 2nd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: preschool - 2nd grade / 3 - 7 years Create fun graphs of students’ summertime favorites! (It’s a great way to show kids how much they have in common.) Make blank bar graphs using butcher paper or tagboard. Give sticky notes to the students, and have them write their name on each note. As you ask each question, have children place their sticky note in the correct graph column. Some possible questions might be: Do you like hot weather? (yes/no) Have you ever been to the beach? (yes/no) Do you like to play outside or inside when it is sunny? (outside/inside) Do you miss school during the summer? (yes/no) What is your favorite summer activity? (swimming/camping/picnics) What is your favorite ice cream flavor? (chocolate/strawberry/vanilla) What is your favorite book? (Give 3-4 choices of books you’ve read to the children.) What is your favorite game to play outside? (hide and seek/tag/hopscotch) What do you wear to protect yourself when you are outside? (sunscreen/hat/sunglasses/nothing) After each question is graphed, ask questions such as: Which choice had the most picks? Which choice had the fewest picks? How many more children picked _______ over _______?
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Step Count
Pre-K - 2nd Grade
This activity is appropriate for: pre-k - 2nd grade / 4 - 7 years On the playground, find an area with a flat surface, like a basketball court. First, pick a starting point and an ending point. Next, have students walk from point A to point B in regular steps, counting each step as you go. How many steps did you count? Now walk the entire length using baby steps. How many baby steps did you count? Try it skipping. How many skips did you count? Vary the ways in which you move from point A to point B. For older students, bring a tape measure and measure the length.
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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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History & Heritage Interview
Kindergarten - 5th Grade
This activity is appropriate for: kindergarten - 5th grade / 5 - 10 years The holidays are a wonderful time for family gatherings—and a great opportunity for students to learn about their family’s history and heritage! Have students use an audio recorder or a digital video camera to conduct one-on-one interviews with aunts, uncles, and grandparents about their childhood memories or fond family traditions. These personal interviews will promote family bonding, and will likely teach students more about their family’s background and culture than they could ever learn from a textbook!
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