Sometimes parents tell me their children want more homework. Alternatively, there are students who will fight and tantrum about having to do homework. These activities are the answer to both of those issues. You can use the educational activities in addition to, or instead of the assigned homework pages. Children learn best by playing and interacting with things, so these activities are more developmentally appropriate anyway!
I have compiled some Pinterest boards with fun activities that are easy to prepare! You probably have many of the materials on hand; others would be easy to save or find cheap. Some have printable pages, but they are not necessary - you can just write a similar page or do without the page altogether. Additionally, you can make any page reusable by putting it in a sheet protector; that way, a dry erase marker will erase off of it and you can use the page over and over. The activities are organized by concept below. Hope you have fun with them! Fine Motor - click for activities Fine Motor development strengthens the smaller muscles of your child's fingers and hands. Because these are the muscles required for writing and other tasks, fine motor development is critical for young children. Many artistic skills will aid in refining these muscles, such as cutting, painting, coloring, etc. There are other ways to use these muscles through play, though - pinching, grasping small objects, and so on (the links will give specific ideas). Many of the activities also develop other educational skills - counting, sorting, letters, etc. In addition, you will find 2 adaptations to help your child get used to holding his/her pencil correctly (these will be useful if he/she is holding with fist). Alphabet Letter/Sound Recognition - click for activities Recognizing and matching alphabet letters and sounds is obviously a critical skill for every Kindergarten student. I have created this Pinterest board that contains many ways to match, write, and identify alphabet letters and/or practice their sounds. Remember, you can always tell a child to write a sound (instead of the letter name). I also added 2 alphabet YouTube playlists that I use in class (while students are getting drinks after recess). Sight Words - click for activities There are tons of ideas for sight words... TONS! These are just some of my favorites that popped up (and that are easy to prepare). Don't forget to have your child practice reading them as they spell/play. Numbers/Counting - click for activities The activities on this Pinterest board are great for practicing number recognition and/or number sets. There are also some activities for number combinations (the idea that numbers can be separated into other sets, e.g. 5 can be composed of 1 and 4, or 2 and 3, or 4 and 1, etc). That concept is extremely abstract for many children at this age, so your student will need a lot of practice with it. Addition/Subtraction - click for activities These Pinterest activities are good ways to practice addition and subtraction with manipulatives. Using an equation only at this age is not developmentally appropriate for most children. We typically begin studying addition in late November, and our subtraction chapter usually ends in January; but students really should be practicing this through the rest of the year. Fall- click for activities This Pinterest board has a bunch of great seasonal activities and crafts for Fall, Halloween,Thanksgiving! Fun Stuff! - Outside or Inside Children learn about their world through playing and experiencing new things. New activities also inspire them to talk about things and may expose them to new vocabulary. I have compiled some fun activities that will get their minds thinking and their mouths talking... and some of them are just plain fun! Note that there is no TV or technology included on this board. While those can be great tools, they can also be overstimulating for a child's developing brain. Research shows that over-exposure to technology may lead to an increased risk of attention-deficit disorder and/or obesity. It is important to limit children's technology use; and motivate them to participate in activities that inspire them to create, investigate, to be active, and to problem-solve. Science Experiments - click for activities I have compiled some fun science experiments. Most would be pretty simple; there may be a couple of intricate ones. All would be fun and interesting!