Make Learning Fun This Spring
Spring is an exciting time of the year! Not only do we have warmer weather and some fun holidays on the horizon, but by this point in the year students are cruising right along. We've learned so much already and my kids are more independent and ready to tackle challenges.
When it comes to choosing activities, I am a big fan of using the current time of year to inspire our lessons. This simple approach to thematic teaching means that everything we work on in our room will align with upcoming holidays, seasons, and topics that students love. Using themed activities also helps us work on skills that require lots of practice to master in a fresh, fun way each month. Build some excitement for spring holidays with these bright and cheery lessons!
Spring Activities for Center Time
Center time is everyone's favorite time in the primary classroom. Here are some great options to use for center rotations, partner games, and even days when you've got a sub in your room.
First Grade Spring ELA Centers
I don't know about you, but I am always looking for ways to make center time more fun and engaging for my students. This is when the magic really happens with practicing important skills, so I want to make sure my kids are locked in. The best way to do this is by choosing activities that use hands-on learning to snag attention and keep it! That's exactly why I love these First Grade Spring ELA Centers.
This resource includes 8 different center activities that target important primary ELA skills in a fun way. These ELA centers focus on skills such as common and proper nouns, short and long vowels, and prefixes through engaging games and tasks. Students will especially love the puzzles, clip cards, and sorting games in this resource! To make the most of these activities I like to print, cut, and laminate these centers ahead of time. This ensures they can be used again and again throughout the spring. Best of all though, each activity features a fun spring theme to brighten up the classroom!
First Grade Spring Math Centers
Speaking of centers... I've got a whole spring set for math skills too! This resource includes 9 different first grade math centers that are absolutely perfect for spring. Some of the activities included are Measuring Poke Task Cards, Clock BUMP Games, Odd and Even Sort, and Comparing Numbers Strips and Wands. These spring math centers offer an engaging way to practice these important skills.
Just as I do with the Spring ELA Centers, I like to laminate these activities for durability. I find that we often use them again and again in the classroom for continued practice. I store them in gallon-sized zipper bags in a hanging file folder. Then I can just grab and go when I need a center game. These come in handy on a day that you have a sub too. You can just leave these activities behind with instructions for use and you've got pre-prepped lessons that your students will love!
2 Digit Addition Activities
This next spring resource is perfect for practicing 2-digit addition without regrouping. This is something that requires a great deal of practice to master, so I am all for engaging activities that allow us to do so. This resource includes a variety of materials that work really well during center time but can also be repurposed for independent work time too.
Inside you'll find 32 task poke cards in both color and black and white along with 3 recording sheets. Students will choose a card, "poke" their answer with a small stick or straw, and then flip the card to see if they answered correctly. I've also included 3 extra practice pages that are great for review and homework!
No-Prep Practice Activities
Aside from center activities, I really like to have some no-prep, easy-to-use worksheets on hand each month. I use them in a variety of ways and it's so great to have them ready to go. They come in handy for morning work, fast finishers, and any time I find myself in need of an impromptu seatwork activity. Every teacher needs an arsenal of print-and-go activities, right?! I certainly think so! The following activities require no prep and are ready to use when you need them.
Spring Color by Code Activities
One of my favorite print-and-go activities is my Spring Secret Code Coloring Worksheets. These pages feature decodable words with only short vowels and blends, digraphs, trigraphs, and three-letter blends. To use, students will solve the secret code to reveal the mystery word. They read the word and then color according to the code. This is such a fun way to practice phonics skills and far more engaging than regular old practice worksheets!
Spring Math and ELA Worksheets
Next up, I know you'll love these Spring Math and ELA Worksheets. This is another one of those resources that come in so handy! Anytime I'm in need of just one more activity - this resource saves the day! Inside there is a variety of worksheets that target various skills. With 12 pages for ELA practice and 12 pages for math practice, you'll have plenty to choose from!
Some of the skills targeted include CVCE and CVC words, ending blends, past and present tense verbs, related facts, nonstandard measuring, graphing, and more. I like to print these off and keep them in a file folder so they are ready to be used at any moment. Morning work, independent assignments, and homework are just some of the uses I find! Oh and don't forget your sub tub - these pages will offer an easy way to make sure you're prepared for a substitute.
Write the Room Activities
Do your kids need a chance to get up and moving throughout the day? Mine too. This is why I'm such a huge fan of write the room activities! They offer a fun way to practice just about any skill you can think of while giving students an opportunity to move.
Spring Place Value Write the Room
In the spring, I always pull out this Place Value Write the Room activity that features a "Lucky Charms" theme. To play, you'll hand the cards around the room and provide each student with a recording sheet. Then, they will walk from card to card and solve the task on each one.
Students will need to determine the number shown on each card in tens and ones. The items on each card are shown as base ten blocks, tens frames, and lucky charms cereal in groups of 10's and 1's. There are 24 total task cards and 3 different recording sheets so you can customize this activity to fit the needs of your students.
Spring Nouns, Verbs & Adjectives Write the Room
I told you I love Write the Room! I had to include one more option on this list of my favorite spring activities. Instead of place value though, this one focuses on grammar. This Parts of Speech Write the Room Activity is a fun way to review important grammar concepts.
To use, students will choose a card, read the word, and then determine which category it fits - noun, verb, or adjective. There are different recording sheet options that come in versions with 12, 18, and 24 boxes. This allows to adjust the difficulty of this activity depending on student ability.
I love to use this resource as a traditional Write the Room activity as well as a Scoot game! For this option, you'll just lay the cards out on student desks and set a timer while students work. When the timer goes off they have to "scoot" to the next card. This is a fun way to refocus if your students seem distracted or burned out.
Have Fun Planning Your Spring Activities
I hope these ideas provided a bit of inspiration and a jumping-off point as you begin to plan your spring lesson plans! Have fun with spring themes and lean into upcoming holidays to inspire your learning. Don't forget, you can find all of these spring activities and many more in my TPT shop! Happy Planning!
Looking for More Spring Activities?
The fun doesn't have to end here! Check out the posts below for more spring learning activities your students will love.
- March Activities for First Grade
- Fun and Engaging St. Patrick's Day Activities
- Fun April Activities for First Grade
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