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Creative Spring Activities for Kids That Students Will Love

March 24, 2023 teachersbrain Science, Teacher's Pay Teachers, Writing

Happy Spring!

This is such a wonderful time of year. The sun starts to shine again and flowers start to bloom. It’s definitely worth celebrating in the classroom. If you’re looking for spring activities for elementary students, you’re in the right place. I’m sharing some fun and engaging spring activities you can do with your students to welcome the season!

How do you celebrate spring with kids?

Whether you want to have a spring party with your students or just sprinkle some spring-themed activities into your lessons, these spring activities for school will get you started.

Planting: You can teach your students about plants and gardening by having them plant flowers or vegetables in the school garden or small pots in the classroom. This can be a fun and interactive way to teach kids about science and nature. For plant-themed resources, check out my resource here and here!
Nature Walk: Take a nature walk with your students and have them collect different types of flowers, leaves, and other items found in nature. Once back in the classroom, students can use these items to make art projects or create a nature journal.
Spring-themed Art Projects: There are many fun spring-themed art projects that you can do with your students, such as creating paper flowers, making spring-themed collages, or creating birdhouses or nests. Check out this adorable flower glasses craft!
Reading: Have students read spring-themed books and discuss the different aspects of spring, such as weather changes, new growth, and baby animals.
Science Experiments: You can do science experiments with your students, such as creating a rain gauge or exploring the different parts of a flower. Here is a fun resource to try!
Spring Poetry: Teach your students about poetry by having them write their own spring-themed poems. I love this fun and creative way to teach them about language and expression. Here’s a fun poetry resource to try!

These are all wonderful ideas, but my favorite activity is definitely my Spring-Themed Would You Rather resource.

This is a fun and creative way to get your students excited about writing. Would You Rather Prompts are great conversation starters, ice breakers, or writing prompts.

Use these interactive, editable Google Slides to easily have students show one or two fingers to share their choice. Then, they get to explain why they chose it by writing it out!

What is in this download?

53 Google Slides with a moveable highlighter to share your favorite or the class’s most popular choice.

50 Colorful WOULD YOU RATHER Slides
1 Digital Writing Prompt Paper
2 black and white ink-saving slides for handwriting practice

If you want to do this activity virtually, it’s totally possible and fun! Students can simply share a 1 or a 2 in the chatbox.

You can delete slides you don’t want to send to students and add your own directions or images to the sides of the slides to personalize. One of my favorite things about this resource is it can be used for any grade level!

Love this idea? I actually created it for every season too in this Seasonal Would You Rather Bundle.

You’ll get the spring resource plus the ones for summer, fall, and winter too!

What is in this download?

200+ Google Slides with a moveable highlighter to share your favorite or the class’s most popular choice.

This resource is great for virtual or in-person teaching

200+ Colorful Would You Rather Season-Themed Slides (Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer) 4 Resources Bundled
4 Digital Writing Prompt Paper
8 Black and White Ink-Saving Slides for Handwriting Practice.

Check it out here!

What are your favorite ways to celebrate spring in the classroom? Let me know in the comments!
Looking for more spring fun? Check out my post on Easter activities here!

Introducing Constitution Day to Kids

September 16, 2022 teachersbrain Teaching Tips

Constitution Day is here and this is an excellent time to teach our elementary students about what this holiday is and why it is important to our nation’s history.

Why do we celebrate Constitution Day?

In September of 1787, our founding fathers signed the constitution which has become the most important and influential document in our country. To commemorate it, we now celebrate this day as a national holiday on September 17th.

This is a new concept to most of our early elementary students, so this is an excellent time of year to introduce the topic in a way that is engaging and fun for them so that they remember why this document is so important.

Constitution Day activities for elementary students

When teaching this subject, you want to start by explaining to students what this day means, why it’s so important, and who some of the founding fathers are that created and signed the constitution. This will give them the foundational knowledge they need to understand your Constitution Day lesson plans.

After covering the basics, make it fun! You can pull out some craft supplies or Constitution Day worksheets that students can use to better grasp the concept.

I created my interactive flip book to make it easy to incorporate learning about this important holiday in a way that students will enjoy.

These Constitution Day activities for kindergarten and first grade students include 15 printables, writing prompts, posters, a mini book, and more.

Here’s what’s included:

Pg. 1 Cover

Pg. 2 Lesson Plan

Pg. 3 Poster

Pg. 4 Instructions with a visual

Pg. 5- 7 Flip Book Pages where the student writes the word on the side of the flipbook

Pg. 8 – 15 Writing Prompts (primary or intermediate lined with self-check at the bottom)

Pg. 16 Mini Book

Pg. 17 Credits

Check it out here!

Students will love this engaging activity! If you want more social studies fun, make sure to check out my post here for tips on how to teach social studies to kindergarten and first grade students!

Fun Alphabet Practice Activities For Kids

July 15, 2022 teachersbrain kindergarten survival, Reading, Teacher's Pay Teachers, Teaching Tips

Alphabet writing practice is one of the most important parts of preschool or kindergarten instruction. Getting familiar and comfortable recognizing, writing, and using the alphabet is a foundational skill that students will use for the rest of their lives! That’s why it’s so important to make it as fun as possible!

The more fun kids have, the more engaged in learning they will be!

How can I make learning the alphabet fun?

The sky is the limit when it comes to learning the alphabet. Here are some of my favorite alphabet activities for kids.

Stamp pads. Get some alphabet stamping supplies and let students have fun practicing letters with stamps
Finger paint. Let students get their hands dirty and finger-paint the letters.
Sand tables. This one is great if you have the supplies. Simply have students write their letters in the sand.
Shaving cream. Simply spray some shaving cream on each desk, spread it out, and let students write letters in it!
Lego Letters. Get out some Lego blocks and have students build the letters with them.
Pipe Cleaners. Twist pipe cleaners to make letters.
Dry Erase Boards. Practice writing and erasing letters with dry-erase markers and boards.
Sidewalk Chalk. Decorate the sidewalk with letters.
Have a letter scavenger hunt.
Play I Spy with the alphabet.

There are so many ways to get creative with learning the alphabet. If you are looking for some traditional alphabet practice sheets or even alphabet tracing worksheets, I have you covered!

This Alphabet Writing Practice Bundle comes with everything you need!

It comes with alphabet worksheets, alphabet tracing, and alphabet crafts for every letter A-Z!

These provide hands-on options as well as worksheets to help with busy mornings. Students will learn how to work independently after the first couple of letter sets are used because every unit follows the same pattern. There are plenty of things to choose from for the week if you are doing a letter a week. Students will practice fine motor skills with writing, cutting, and tracing.

What is the download?

LETTER A: 16 printables which include 3 crafts, a spinning game, letter identification, forming letters, playdough letters, BINGO daubing, tracing letters (upper and lowercase), letter sounds, and beginning sounds of words.
LETTER B: 16 printables which include 3 crafts, a spinning game, letter identification, forming letters, playdough letters, BINGO daubing, tracing letters, letter sounds, and beginning sounds of words.
LETTERS C-Z These will follow the same format as units for letters A & B, but with different crafts.

Want to try it out for FREE? Check out my free Alphabet Worksheets and Crafts resource here!

Let your students have a blast while they master identifying the upper and lowercase letters, reviewing the sound, writing letters, and creating crafts with these printable practice pages. These make morning work, literacy centers, small groups, or home reviews a breeze!

What’s in the download?

P. 1 Cover

p. 2 More Resources

P. 3 Letter Aa practice

P. 4 Letter B Mini Book

P. 5 Letter C Play-Doh Trace

P. 6-7 Letter A Alligator Craft

P. 8-9 Letter T Tiger Craft

P. 10 Color by Code Letter L

P. 11 Answer Key

P. 12 CREDITS

What are your favorite alphabet practice activities? Let me know in the comments!

5 Mother’s Day Craft Ideas for Kids

April 15, 2022 teachersbrain Craft Ideas, Teacher's Pay Teachers, Teaching Tips

Mother’s Day is just weeks away and this is the time of year where people everywhere are searching for the perfect homemade Mother’s Day gifts. We all know that nothing says I love you like sweet DIY Mother’s Day gifts from her children.

If you are looking for Mother’s Day DIY ideas or some Mother’s Day crafts that your students can easily create with their own two hands, you are in the right spot! When I was in the classroom, I always tried to make sure that students had homemade gifts for mom that they could proudly take home and give to her.

Here are my favorite Mother’s Day craft and Mother’s Day gift ideas for students

Mother’s Day Lap Book

With this craft, students will color and decorate a special gift for their mom. They can write a letter to mom, draw a picture of the two of them, give them tea, share what they love about her, create Mother’s Day coupons, and more. This gift is sure to be a hit with all moms!

You can have a Mother’s Day Tea Party and invite all of the moms and caregivers to the classroom for tea and treats. Students will love the opportunity to spend some special time with their moms and the parents are sure to love it too!

Mother’s Day Coupon Book Craft

Another one of my favorite Mother’s Day craft ideas is this coupon book. It’s perfect if you are looking for something simple, quick, and sure to put a smile on any mom’s face. This Mother’s Day Coupon Book is cute and quick! It looks like a matchbook and makes an adorable keepsake!

Mother’s Day Flower Card Writing Activity

Show moms how loved and appreciated they are with this adorable flower craft! These Mother’s Day printables will allow you to create 3D flowers as a card, craft, or wall display to accompany opinion writing! They make great art centers, small group activities, and bulletin boards!

Mother’s Day Foldable Card

This sweet craft is a great way for students to express themselves with some Mother’s Day art! They can create a portrait of their mom and decorate it using other art supplies. As a bonus, this card comes with a Father’s Day card as well!

Digital Mother’s Day Card

Looking for digital Mother’s Day craft ideas or cards? Look no further! This resource is completely digital. Students can create a card for their moms in an easy, mess free way! These Google Slides can be used in person or while distance learning. You can easily add images of mom in!

I hope you loved these homemade gifts for mom. Students will be so excited to present their moms with something they made on their own.

Which activity is your favorite? Let me know in the comments! If you are looking for more Mother’s Day activities, check out my post here!