The change of season brings new energy and new activities. Spring is associated with new life—think seedlings, baby chicks, and lambs. Why not bring that energy into your classroom with spring activities for kids?
Don’t worry if spring is review time or testing season. You can use classroom review games to mix learning with fun or use your spring activities for brain breaks.
Now is a great time to get organized for those of you coming up on the end of the year. Remember to factor in end of the year activities like field trips, special assemblies, and field days. Use your scope and sequence and data monitoring system to see where you are and what you still have to cover. Then pull out your planning templates and sort out when you will do what.
Spring activities for kids to use in your classroom
As you plan, think about how you can mix in fun and make the most of the season. That could mean science experiments growing seeds or hatching chicks, but it could also mean a fresh spring theme in the room. Think spring colors and flowers, butterflies, chicks, and lambs on bulletin boards or your word wall.
Need a seasonal brain break or a low key activity to ramp kids down during the end of the year crazies?
How about spring themed coloring pages:
Here are some other ways to bring spring activities for kids into your end of year plans.
1. Spring into reading
Freshen up your classroom library or reading corner with spring books. Some ideas are And Then It’s Spring, When Spring Comes, Worm Weather, Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring. Books about mud, Easter, other spring holidays and gardens would also fit.
For read alouds, pick spring themed books. This can lead to discussions about seasons, weather, cycles, and celebrations.
2. Spring writing activities for kids
You can use writing activities to help students express themselves, master different forms of writing, or practice specific words. If testing will include writing, have students practice based on the test format and rubric. If you need to practice certain words or sounds, use a word bank.
Then use spring themes to help get kids engaged with writing. Have kids write a story based on one of the color pages. Read a spring book and use that as a springboard for writing. For example, you could read When Spring Comes and have students write about what happens when spring comes. Or read Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring, and have students write about what they are saying goodbye to and what they are welcoming. They could write a story, an essay, an article, a poem, or a letter. They could even make a mini book about spring. Other spring and Easter themed literacy activities include a letter to the Easter bunny and a happy Easter story.
3. Spring task cards
I’m a big fan of task cards. Task cards bring together a mix of activities, so students get multiple ways to practice. Spring task cards highlight the season while allowing students to review and reinforce phonics skills. Because each card has one activity, task cards are great when you don’t have a lot of time … but you can also give students a stack to work through.
Spring task cards are perfect for literacy centers, small group activities, independent practice, early finisher activities, and even homework. Check out:
4. Spring classroom review games
Need to review phonics or spelling this spring? Keep it fun. Classroom review games like bingo and snakes and ladders can be used with spelling words and spring themes to keep review fun. Try Easter CVC spelling games or Spring Digraph games.
You could also use Tap It, Map It, Zap It to practice segmenting and spelling. Make it fun, have students make bunny hops for each sound instead of a tap. If they are able to stay focused, have them stand up and hop. Alternately have them make a bunny hop with their fingers on the page.
5. Move outside this spring
Get outside this spring if you can. You can observe signs of spring. Encourage students to use different senses like listening for birds, looking for green or new things growing, feeling the temperature, smelling damp soil …
Use a little movement time to energize or destress during testing time. Try some spring movement like hopping like a bunny or flitting like a butterfly. Use outdoor games and activities like hopscotch, rope skipping, four square, or tag, or use these ideas to get kids moving.
Spring activities for kids make the end of school more fun. They may not even realize how these spring activities and classroom review games help them learn.
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