Back to School Activities and Centers for Kindergarten

Back to School Printables, Activities and Centers has everything you are looking for to meet the varied levels of students entering kindergarten.  Click (here) to check it out!  All of the activities are easy to prepare and there are enough activities to fill your math and literacy centers for the month.

One of my favorite activities to do in the beginning of the year is the name flower.  First we read the book Chrysanthemum.  Next write each child's name on a sentence strips.  Place the numbers 1-10 in a line on an empty wall or bulletin board.  Finally the boys and girls identify their name, count the total number of letters in their name and then place it under the matching number.  Then we build the name flower above.  This is definitely a keepsake for parents!

This unit contains a ton of name practice printables.  If children were in a preschool program prior to kindergarten they can usually identify and spell their name, however they may struggle to form the letters and place the letters in the correct order.  Having a lot of opportunities to practice writing their name is great!

I like to use a lot of large group activities to help students feel like a part of the classroom and to make connections with students.  During the first week we spend time discussing how we feel and how we get to school.  This is a great math activity as well-counting "how many" students under each category, and comparing numbers.

Another way we like to help students feel comfortable, is to help them get to know their school and classroom.  Prior to the first day of school I place the printable above on a clipboard for each child.  During the first week I give them a tour of the school, a few days later to review using the scavenger hunt above.  I talk to the teachers/admin. in each room prior.  It's a great way for students to connect with all staff.

You are already working on book handling and parts of a books in your circle time.  Letter identification is another important skill students will need before they can read.  We work hard in the beginning of the year on individual letters to the alphabet as a whole, mastering uppercase first and then moving to lowercase.  Students with strong, low and in between skills will benefit from the variety of alphabet printables.

This unit also has a ton of math printables.  The boy and girls will build their number sense, matching numbers to sets.

There are also a ton of shape identification, graphing and pattern printables.

My favorite math printables are the reproducible books.  They are perfect for centers.  The boys and girls will not only learn numbers 1-10 and shapes.  They will practice writing, drawing and making connections.  Great for identification and review!

This unit will definitely help you feel prepared during a crazy time!  Here are some other resources you may like! Click on the pictures below!