Hooray! It’s almost time for the first day! Today, I have a fun Free Printable First Day of School Hat for your new students to make on their first day! Keep on reading to find out more about the printable hat and about a fun read-aloud to go along!

I found the cutest book to add to our ‘Back to School’ collection this year. It is called First Day, Hooray! The book is all about the different feelings that the kids have on their first day of school. From worry, and that’s ok, to embarrassed, I have paint in my hair, to excited, playgrounds are fun! Feelings are not right or wrong. They find a spot where they belong! At the end of the book, they talk about just one feeling that is left, and it’s Hooray! So our hat says, Hooray! I had a great first day!

I thought that it would be a fun way to connect this book with making the hats. The students can then take them home and share with their families some of the different feelings that they may have had on their first day.

Make the Free Printable First Day of School Hat

The hat is an easy craft for the first day of school. You’ll just need a printed hat for each student. Have them color their 2 pages of the hat, and then cut them out. You can help them staple the hat together, and boom, you’ve got an adorable keepsake for the first day of school for them to wear home!

This easy, fun craft is the perfect icebreaker activity that helps kids settle into their new classroom while showing off their creativity. As they color, cut, and assemble their personalized hats, they’re also getting comfortable with scissors, glue, and making new friends. It’s a confidence booster, a keepsake, and a great way to snap those adorable first-day photos! 

You can download the Free Printable First Day of School Hat by clicking the green box below.

If you’re looking for some more great read-aloud for the back to school, you’ll want to check out our other suggestions here.

We’d love to see your students proudly wearing their First Day of School hats! Snap a photo of the fun and share it with us to celebrate the start of an exciting new year. Tag us so we can cheer them on, too!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Free Printable First Day of School Hat appeared first on Primary Playground.

I have had so much fun sharing jokes with you the last 2 years that I just had to make one more round of jokes for the new school year. So today I have a new August of Joke of the Day 2nd Edition!

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

Just like always, I will continue to post a joke of the day on my Facebook page but this whole year wil be new. jokes!

These jokes are a simple, fun way to connect with your students and make them laugh. This month, we have a lot of school related jokes that are sure to make your little ones giggle and maybe get some eye rolls.

Share them during your morning meeting, getting ready to go to lunch, or when you are packing up for the day before you go home.

I made the joke of the day printable available to print in both color and black and white.

You can download the August Joke of the Day 2nd Edition printable by clicking the green box below.

If you missed the first version of the August Joke of the Day you can grab it here.

I hope your kiddos will enjoy this new set of jokes just as much as the first!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post August Joke of the Day 2nd Edition appeared first on Primary Playground.

Are you looking for a fun way to reinforce concepts that your students are learning at school but at home? You’ll love our Monthly Homework Bingo! Each month is filled with reading, math, literacy movement, and family bonding activities. It’s a fun twist on traditional homework. I’m sharing the Free August Homework Bingo so you can try it out!

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

In this August Homework Bingo, your students will get to choose fun between fun shape, counting, colors, and rhyming activities. There are even additional reading, hands-on, and movement activities too! all perfect for kindergarten! (You can download the August Homework Bingo at the bottom of the post.)

This would be great to send home with your student on the first of the month along with your class newsletter. Have them return it at the end of the month completed for points or a trip to the treasure chest.

I’ve made homework bingos for each month of the school year as well. (August-May) So if your students enjoy this Free Printable August Homework Bingo, you can grab the whole school year here. Each month is full of different skills and activities with some seasonal activities thrown in too.

You can grab the Monthly Homeowrk Bingo here on TpT or directly from PrimaryPlayground here.

I also have Monthly Reading Bingos too if that would be a better option for your students. Lots of fun reading spot suggestions and book theme suggestions in that set! You can check out the Monthly Reading Bingo set here.

You can download the Free Printable August Homework Bingo by clicking the green box below.

I hope your kiddos have fun with these activities this month!

Jenette

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This Free Smart Cookie Hat is a fun activity for your students to make and wear to show what smart cookies they are! These hats are fun to make any time of the school year!

These hats would be great to make at the beginning of the school year while talking about the great new things they will be learning this school year. Or they can be made when a particular goal has been met during the year. Or they are fun to make at the end of the school year to celebrate what smart rookies they’ve become this school year!

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

To Make the Smart Cookie Hat

To make the hats, have the students choose the cookie they’d like. I made one with a cookie and another with a cookie with a bow.

Have them color the hat and cut it out. Last, you’ll need to help them staple the headband strip to the hat and help measure it so it fits them. I’ve included an additional headband strip in it needs to be extended too.

You can download the smart cookie hat by clicking the green box below.

If you’re looking for some more great ideas to go along with the smart cookie theme I’ve got you covered! Have you seen the book called, The Smart Cookie?

The cookie in the story has never felt like a smart cookie no matter how hard she tries. Especially in comparison to all the clever cupcakes and brilliant rolls in the bakery. In the end, she is reminded that perfect scores and having all the answers aren’t the only ingredients for intelligence. Sometimes all you need is a sprinkle of confidence and some creativity. 

Come and check out the snack idea and grab the FREE printable to go along with the book here.

And this Smart Cookie Craft With Writing Prompts is a fun addition to the book too. It can be used both at the beginning of the school year or at the end of the year using the different writing prompts that are included.

And I also have these fun Smart Cookie Tags! Use them at the beginning of the school year at meet the teacher night, as a random surprise because the student has been working so hard, during testing, or at the end of the school year. The possibilities are endless! You can grab the smart cookie tags for FREE here.

I hope you have fun celebrating your smart cookies in your classroom!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Free Smart Cookie Hat appeared first on Primary Playground.

The printable has been updated for the 2025-2026 school year!

Welcome to a new school year! This School Appreciation Days Calendar makes it easy to keep up with important days and appreciation days throughout the school year.

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

I’ve put together a list of all of the honorary calendar days for the year. Everything from National Bike and Walk to School Day to Principal Appreciation Day to Anti-Bullying Week. There are numerous days, weeks, and months on the list. Pick ones that are important to yourself, your class, or your school to celebrate.

There are a ton of days throughout the year that we can show our appreciation. If you need some quick and easy gift ideas for appreciation days like principal appreciation day, custodian appreciation day or librarian day, I have these awesome books for your class to make.

It is super quick and simple for your class to fill out and put together a book from the class for the special person. It’s always nice to feel appreciated!

And there are so many great days that can be celebrated on the calendar as a school. One of my favorites is Odd Sock Day as part of Anti-Bullying Week in November. There are a ton of great days on the list to get families involved, too!

I’ve made the calendar available to print in both color and black and white to fit whatever your need is best.

You can download the School Appreciation Days Calendar by clicking the green box below.

Do you have any other days that you know of that I might have missed? I’m always looking for new and important ones to add!

See you next time!

Jenette

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Do you bring your lunch to school? Keep reading for some make-ahead Easy Salad Lunch Ideas For Teachers.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

I wanted to share with you these awesome salad containers that I’ve been using for the last few months. They are called Bentgo® Salad – Stackable Lunch Container. It has a salad bowl, a 4 part compartment tray for toppings, a dressing container, and a reusable fork.

I bought it on a whim one day and boy am I sure glad I did! It has quickly become my favorite! After using the first week, I actually went back and bought two more so I now pre-make three salads for each week.

This bowl makes it so easy to make the salads ahead of time. I buy a big container of the spring mix greens and a rotisserie chicken from Costco to make my salads. (feta cheese is a great deal at Costo too FYI) I always try to mix my salads up each week so I don’t get bored of them, and then have something else for lunch the other two days. Here are some great teacher lunchbox ideas if you need some.

Salad Ideas

I don’t claim to be a great food blogger, but these are my favorite easy-to-make salads that have worked great for me using these salad boxes.

Garden Salad

Mixed greens in the bottom bowl. Toppings include diced cucumber, cherry tomatoes, shredded or chopped carrots, and croutons. A container of ranch or thousand island on the side.

Chicken Caesar Salad

Mixed greens in the bottom bowl. Toppings include diced rotisserie chicken, shaved parmesan cheese, and croutons. A container of caesar dressing on the side.

Southwest Chicken Salad

Mixed greens in the bottom bowl. Toppings include black beans, corn, diced rotisserie chicken, red onions, and grape tomatoes. A container of cilantro avocado dressing on the side.

BBQ Chicken Salad

Mixed greens in the bottom bowl. Toppings include diced rotisserie chicken mixed with bbq sauce, shredded cheddar cheese, chopped green onion, and chopped tomato. A container of ranch dressing on the side.

Antipasta Salad

Mixed greens in the bottom bowl. Toppings include two-quartered artichoke hearts, grape tomatoes, kalamata olives, ham, and salami chopped, and some diced cucumber. A container of balsamic dressing on the side.

Taco Salad

Mixed greens in the bottom bowl. Toppings include ground beef, shredded cheese, pinto beans, sliced pickled jalapenos, and crushed tortilla chips. A container of salsa as the dressing on the side.

Chicken Caprese Salad

Mixed greens in the bottom bowl. Toppings include diced rotisserie chicken, fresh basil chopped, fresh mozzarella cheese pearls, and diced tomatoes. A container of balsamic vinaigrette on the side.

Chicken, Apple, and Cranberry Salad

– This is my favorite one!

Mixed greens in the bottom bowl. Toppings include diced rotisserie chicken, green apples chopped, dried cranberries, crumbled feta, or blue cheese roasted pecans. A container of balsamic vinegar or Panera Fuji Apple dressing that you can find at the grocery store.

Asian Chicken Salad

Mixed greens in the bottom bowl. Toppings include diced rotisserie chicken, ramen noodles lightly crushed, sliced almonds, green onion, an orange peeled and sectioned or you can use canned mandarin oranges. A container of Asian sesame dressing on the side.

Greek Chicken Salad

Mixed greens in the bottom bowl. Toppings include diced rotisserie chicken, diced cucumber, grape tomatoes halved, chopped red onion, and crumbled feta cheese. A container of olive oil vinaigrette on the side.

Buffalo Chicken Salad

Mixed greens in the bottom bowl. Toppings include diced rotisserie chicken tossed with buffalo wing sauce, crumbled blue cheese, and shredded carrots. A container of ranch dressing on the side.

Chicken and Fruit Salad

Mixed greens in the bottom bowl. Toppings include diced rotisserie chicken, canned mandarin oranges, sliced strawberries, chopped apples, and blueberries. A container of olive oil vinaigrette on the side.

So those are all of my favorite tried and true salads that I pack in these awesome containers. 12 different salads that I make 3 per week leave me a different salad for each time I make them throughout the month so I don’t get tired of them! Great easy make-ahead lunch ideas for busy people!

Do you have any other favorite salads you like to make for lunch? Let us know below in the comments!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Easy Salad Lunch Ideas For Teachers appeared first on Primary Playground.

Do you kids love jokes? Mine are obsessed! I’ve been sharing a joke of the day on my Facebook page the last few days and we’ve been having a lot of fun!

I thought I would put them all together in a printable so you can easily share the joke of the day with your class.

August Joke OF The Day

Most of the jokes for the month are school-related jokes. I also made it both in color and black and white for you.

This would be perfect to share with your class during morning meetings while packing up for the day, or during a transition time.

You can download the free August Joke Of The Day printable by clicking the green box below.

If your students are loving jokes, then they’ll LOVE our crack the code math. Each set comes with ten pages of either addition and subtraction or multiplication. They figure out the math answer and use the answers to help break the code or joke. You can find all of the different themes that we have here.

Let me know if you enjoy sharing these jokes with your class and I’ll see about coming up with a set for each month! I’d love to hear if they enjoy them!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post August Joke Of The Day appeared first on Primary Playground.

With back to school comes a whole list of items you’d love to have for your classroom. It’s helpful if we are able to send home a suggested supply list but sometimes there are extra things that would be great to have donated to the classroom. So for meet the teacher night, make back-to-school donation bricks and ask for those extra things you wished you could have.

There are so many parents out there that are more than happy to help donate items for your classroom, they just don’t know what you really need. Putting out these bricks, allows you to really get the items specifically needed for your room.

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

back to school donation bricks

To make the donation bricks, I took inspiration from the back to s school student gift I made. Click here to check it out and download the bag toppers for free.

 I created an anchor chart by drawing a mini-figure. I just pulled up a simple image and did my best.

Next, simply download, print, and cut out the bricks of items you wish to have in your classroom.

Tape them onto the anchor chart so the students or families can easily remove them to take home with them to remember to purchase the item.

In the download, I’ve also included blank bricks that you can edit to add any additional items that I didn’t include. You do need PowerPoint in order to open and edit this file.

You can download the Back To School Donation bricks for free by clicking the green box below.

What are some items that are on the top of your wish list for your classroom?

See you next time!

jenette

The post Back To School Donation Bricks appeared first on Primary Playground.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

This week’s literacy snack bee read-aloud is a great one for spring to go with your spring-insect unit or can be used at the beginning of the school as a read-aloud about the importance of sharing. We are reading, The Very Greedy Bee by Steve Smallman.

In the book, the bee is very greedy and will not share his nectar with anyone! He finds the juiciest flowers, ends up eating too much, and gets stuck. He makes some friends that help him on his journey back home, and In the end, he shares all of his best honey with his new friends.

This is a great story that gives the opportunity to describe the character throughout the text. It helps the kids learn that they shouldn’t be greedy, to share and that sometimes you may need to ask for help from others.

For our snack this week, we’ll be making a bee!

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

snack idea

supplies needed per student

1 Keebler Fudge Stripes Cookie

1 pretzel stick broke in half

2 pretzel twists

2 candy eyeballs

to assemble

To make the bee snack, have your students start with the cookie. Next, take the 2 pretzel twists and place them under the cookie a little bit to look like the wings. Take the 2 pretzel stick halves and add them to the top of the bee as the antennae. Last, add the eyes and he’s done! Isn’t he cute!

Another option instead of making the bee snack is to have your kids taste test, honey. Grab a box of Ritz Crackers and a bottle of honey from the store and give each student 2 crackers with some honey on each as a snack.

This would make a great opportunity to graph with your class the number of people who like honey and the number of people that do not. We have a fun page in our Bee Activities Pack that goes perfectly with this too!

free printable

I made a free printable for your students to work on while they are enjoying their bee snack. They will get to draw and write about how the bee acted at the beginning of the story and then how the bee acted at the end of the story.

You can download the free printable from my TeachersPayTeachers store by clicking the green box below.

Another fun activity to go along with the book is our bee craft! They look adorable hanging on the bulletin board or in the hallway! Click here to check it out now.

To also go along with the bee theme, we have this fun free Honey Bee Sight Word Game that you can grab to help your students practice their sight words. You can hop over and grab that for free here.

I hope your students enjoy this Literacy Snack Bee Read-Aloud!

Do you have any favorite books you like to read about the bees or sharing? Share with us below!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Literacy Snack Bee Read-Aloud appeared first on Primary Playground.

Today I just wanted to share a Free Printable Alphabet Poster that I put together.

This alphabet poster is perfect to display in your writing center, as part of a personal writing office, or to add to your student’s folder so they can refer to it when needed. 

This is a small version of the same pictures used in my Alphabet Posters to be displayed in the classroom.

Click the green box below to download the Free Printable Alphabet Poster from my TeachersPayTeachers store.

I hope this will be a helpful resource for your little learners!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Free Printable Alphabet Poster appeared first on Primary Playground.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

This week’s Literacy Snack Idea Empathy read-aloud is perfect for teaching about empathy and celebrating diversity. We are reading, Chocolate Milk, Por Favor by Maria Dismondy.

“It’s Gabe’s first day of school in America, and he doesn’t speak English. This story shows how a simple act of kindness is worth more than a thousand words. Kindness really is a universal language.”

This is a great read-aloud for young kids to help them in empathizing with new students from a different culture that may come to your school and not speak English. There are lots of springboard discussions that could be used with the character’s actions and the theme of the story.

This article works well with these PrimaryPlayground resources:

Snack Idea

For our snack today, we’ll be having chocolate milk, Gabe’s favorite drink. Feel free to bring in a couple of gallons of chocolate milk, or talk to the cafeteria before your special read-aloud day to reserve enough cartons for your class. Or you could even turn it into a cooking class and have them learn how to make the chocolate milk.

Free Printable

I made a free printable for the kids to work on while they are enjoying their chocolate milk. They will draw and write about what they would do to help a new student in the class that didn’t speak English.

You can download the Literacy Snack Idea Empathy free printable from my TeachersPayTeachers store by clicking the green box below.

Do you have any other favorite activity to help teach your little learners about empathy?

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Literacy Snack Idea Empathy appeared first on Primary Playground.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

For today’s Literacy Snack Idea Big Problems, we’re reading a fantastic book that covers two aspects of diversity, age, and Native American traditions. We will be reading Big Moon Tortilla, by Joy Cowley.

When Marta ruins her homework and breaks her glasses, Grandmother soothes her with an ancient story and one of her delicious tortillas. This book is set in the Papago reservation in southern Arizona. The watercolor illustrations bring the desert setting and characters to life.

In the book, Marta’s grandmother told her a story to make her understand that her problem wasn’t such a big problem. In her story, there were options on how to deal with problems. She chose one of those options and realized her problem didn’t seem that big anymore. This is a great book to help little ones put in perspective that not all problems are that big.

And of course, Marta got to enjoy a fresh homemade tortilla her grandmother had made her after calming down before returning to her homework. To go along with the book, we’ll be having tortillas for our snack today.

THESE RESOURCES WORK WELL WITH THIS ARTICLE.

snack idea

Have you ever had a freshly made tortilla? They are seriously in my top 3 favorite foods ever. Freshly cooked, warm with butter. MMmm. Obviously that’s not mostly feasible for the classroom so we’ll just be sticking to store-bought tortillas today.

Any size will do just make sure you have enough for one per child. If you have a microwave in your classroom, warming them 5 at a time for a few seconds with a damp paper towel on top works wonderful. You could even offer them some butter to put on them but most of them will eat them plain.

free printable

I made a free printable for the students to work on while they are enjoying their tortilla snacks. They will get to think of a problem that they have or had in the past and choose one of the 4 options from the story of how they will handle the big problem.

They can choose to be like a tree and stand up tall and see the problem from different views. Or they could be like a rock and sit still seeing nothing or doing nothing. They can be like a mountain lion, strong, fierce, and ready to fight. Or they can be like an eagle. The eagle will fly high and laugh at the world and will see how small the earth is and see how small the problem is.

You can download the Literacy Snack Idea Big Problems free printable from my TeachersPayTeachers store by clicking the green box below.

I hope your students enjoy this book as much as I do! See you next time!

Jenette

The post Literacy Snack Idea Big Problems appeared first on Primary Playground.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

With the new school year quickly approaching, it will obviously look a lot different this year. Today I’m sharing how to put together Student Supply Boxes For Distance Learning.

These boxes can be used both distance-learning or inside the classroom. Ultimately you are creating a box of supplies for each student to use themselves. You can easily send them home to all of your students if you are distance learning or each student can have their own designated box in the classroom with all of the supplies they will need.

You can make a list and send it home for your parents to gather these items as their back to school list, or a lot of schools are giving their teachers a small distance learning budget and this may be a good option for you to spend the money to build these for the students. Another great option would be to set up a Donor’s Choose project. I’ve read that a lot of companies are matching distance learning projects. right now.

Supplies In The Box

• Pencil box
• Box of crayons
• Pair of id scissors
• 1 Glue stick
• 1 Expo marker
• 1 Pencil sharpener
• 2 1oz PlayDoh tubs
• 3 Pencils
• 10 Popsicle sticks
• 3 Paperclips
• 10 Clothespins
• 20 small manipulatives -we used foam stars we had leftover from crafts and 10 mini erasers.

This is a great time to grab these supplies since so many of them are on sale at Target and Walmart now for back to school.

Additional ideas that you can add

• A pair of dice
• A deck of playing cards

What do we do with the supplies?

I tried to think of all of the different things the students may need to use to practice different things throughout the school day. Here are some ideas of ways you can use the supplies for both reading and math.

You can use the clothespins for different clip card activities, It’s also great fine motor practice for them.

The popsicle sticks can be used to build letters. You can also use them to practice counting or practice tally marks. One can also be used as a guide while practicing reading to help follow along.

Use the paperclips and pencil together to create a spinner. Here are some fun activities we use with the spinner.

The Playdoh can be used to build letters, numbers, or shapes. It can also be used as math counters by rolling it into balls.

The manipulatives can be used to practice counting, to practice ten frames and numbers bonds too.

The Expo marker can be used on laminated sheets you may send home or have in the classroom that can be wiped down. You can also send home a small whiteboard for the students to use during an online virtual class meeting.

Everything that I listed above fits perfectly into the box for you to send home or store for student use in the classroom.

Can you think of anything else that I may have missed that you would add to the box? I hope this helps give you some ideas for the upcoming school year.

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Student Supply Box For Distance Learning appeared first on Primary Playground.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

For this week’s literacy snack idea squishes, I have the cutest new book that you’ll definitely want to add to your book collection. This week, we’re reading Can I Give You A Squish? by Emily Neilson.

In this book, Kai is a little merboy who’s big on hugs–or “squishes,” as he and his mama call them. But not everyone’s a fan of Kai’s spirited embrace, which he discovers soon after squishing a pufferfish, who swells up in fright! Kai feels awful; but with the help of his friends, he figures out another way to show his affection, and then everyone demonstrates their preferred ways of being greeted. Because, as Kai realizes, “Every fish likes their own kind of squish.”

This is a fantastic book with beautiful illustrations to help the students learn about consent and personal space. And due to our current social distancing, this book will empower kids to think of new ways to express love in this new world where touching, hugging, or “squishing” may not be the safest greeting. 

For this week’s snack idea we are making our pufferfish friend!

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

Snack Idea

Ingredients needed per student

• 1 waffle
• 1 and a quarter slice of an orange -you may want to cut the slice in half ahead of time for the kids
• 2 candy eyeballs
• 1 peach ring chewy candy – I used the generic brand from Walmart

To make the pufferfish snack, have the students start with their waffles. They can add on the eyeball candies and the peach ring as his mouth. Place the half slices of orange as his fins and the quarter piece of orange on top of his head.

Isn’t he adorable?!

free printable

While the kids are enjoying their pufferfish snack, I made a free printable for them to work on to go along with the book. They get to put an x in the box of how they would like to be greeted and then color in all of the pictures.

You can download the free printable from my TeachersPayTeachers store by clicking the green box below.

If you’re looking for some ideas of how you can still have morning greetings in your classroom, we have these Visual Daily Morning Greeting Cards.

These cards are a fun way to build community and relationships with your students. Upon entering or leaving the classroom, the student will point to how they would like to be greeted and also greet you. All of the options included are hand free. 

I hope you and your students enjoy this book as much as we did! It’s definitely one of our new favorite back to school books!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Literacy Snack Idea Squishes appeared first on Primary Playground.

Need a fun little project for the first day or week of school? This free printable first day of school all about me gives your students an opportunity to tell you and their classmates all about themselves.

Save it in their file until the end of the school year and they can look back and see what has changed over the school year.

I’ve made these first day of school all about me pages a few years back for grades 1-6 but have received several requests lately to add them in for preschool and kindergarten. These are a little different as the kiddos most likely won’t be able to fill in the information.

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

Preschool and Kindergarten All About Me

For the preschool and kindergarten version, it is one-sided. It gives a spot for them to attempt to write in their name and they can draw a picture of themself. A parent, a guardian, or yourself, will need to help fill in the other questions. Another option would be to have the parents help add in a real picture of the child instead of drawing it in. They could then be displayed in the classroom for the first couple of weeks of school.

This would work well to send it home to do more as a family project as well. You could send it home on meet the teacher night and have them bring it to school the first day. Everyone can share as a group to get to know each other. Or you could send it home on the first day and have them bring it back to share with the class later that week.

In addition, these would be adorable turned into a class book as well that can be sent home to take turns sharing with their families.

You can download the preschool and kindergarten versions for free from my TeachersPayTeachers store by clicking the green box below.

Wishing you a great new school year! See you next time!

Jenette

The post First Day of School All About Me Preschool and Kindergarten appeared first on Primary Playground.

We’ve been having so much fun with all of our other scavenger hunts, we wanted to add the whole alphabet too! I’m posting a new letter each weekday until we get to Z.

If you would like them in a printable form, they are available on Primary Playground here and TeachersPayTeachers here. All of the letters are available inside all ready for you to use! If you already own it, they’ve all been added to the files for you! They come 2 to a page or as a single page now too.

Letter A Scavenger Hunt

Click here to pin it for later.

Letter B Scavenger Hunt

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Letter C Scavenger Hunt

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Letter D Scavenger Hunt

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Letter E Scavenger Hunt

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Letter F Scavenger Hunt

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Letter G Scavenger Hunt

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Letter H Scavenger Hunt

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Letter I Scavenger Hunt

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Letter J Scavenger Hunt

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Letter K Scavenger Hunt

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Letter L Scavenger Hunt

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Letter M Scavenger Hunt

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Letter N Scavenger Hunt

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Letter O Scavenger Hunt

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Letter P Scavenger Hunt

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Letter Q Scavenger Hunt

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Letter R Scavenger Hunt

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Letter S Scavenger Hunt

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Letter T Scavenger Hunt

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Letter U Scavenger Hunt

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Letter V Scavenger Hunt

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Letter W Scavenger Hunt

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Letter X Scavenger Hunt

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Letter Y Scavenger Hunt

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Letter Z Scavenger Hunt

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Let us know your favorite way to use these Alphabet Scavenger Hunts below!

Jenette

The post Alphabet Scavenger Hunts appeared first on Primary Playground.

I love helping to teach little learners their letters and the sounds they make. It’s the first building block to helping them learn how to read and is so important. I’ve gathered some of my favorite Activities To Teach Beginning Sounds.

I love making things fun, hands-on and like to play a lot of games. When your students get to play games, it makes learning not such a daunting experience for them.

Alphabet Hats

These alphabet letter hats are a fun way to help introduce the letters of the alphabet and the sounds they make. There are 4 pictures of things that begin with the letter sound and then they get to practice writing the uppercase and lowercase of the letter on the back strip.

Alphabet-Beginning Sounds Dough Mats

These dough mats are such a fun hands-on way for your little learners to practice their letters. They will get to have fun making each letter out of dough and the pictures on each mat help reinforce the beginning sound that the letter makes. They will then again get to practice writing the uppercase and lowercase versions of the letter.

My Alphabet Book

This is a fun book to use each time you teach another letter in the alphabet. Each letter of the alphabet has its own page in the book that shows the letter and pictures of things that have that letter beginning sound. They will also get to practice writing the uppercase and lowercase of the letter as well.

Now that we’ve introduced the letters of the alphabet we can start reinforcing the beginning sounds the letters make and help your little learners identify pictures that match the sounds. There are several games that I like to play that will help with this.

Beginning Sounds Board Games

These beginning sounds board games are a fun and engaging way to practice beginning /initial sounds. They are a fun hands-on addition to your literacy center rotation, can be used in small groups, or can be sent home to play with family members.The games can be played with 1-4 players and you can play using a die or using the spinners that are included.

Beginning Sounds Mystery Picture Puzzles

These puzzles are a fun hands-on addition to your literacy center rotation, can be used in small groups, or can be sent home to practice with family members.The students will match the puzzle piece letters to the matching beginning sound to solve the mystery picture.

Beginning Sounds I Have Who Has Games

These I Have Who Has Games are great to play as a whole class or can even be played with as little as two players. Choose a student to start and they will ask the class who has a word that has the beginning sound of the letter on their card. For example, Who has a word that has a beginning sound of the letter A.  Everyone will look at their cards at the picture to see if it starts with an A sound. The student that has the picture of an apple will raise their hand and tells the class I have apple. They will then continue to go to the bottom of their card and ask, who has a word that has the beginning sound of the letter B.? Continue the game until all letters and pictures have been matched.

Beginning Sounds Puzzles

I share a free printable set of beginning sound puzzles here. It’s a fun hands-on way for the kids to be able to choose a picture and match it to the letter sound that it begins with. If they haven’t learned all of their letters/sounds yet, only give them the letters you’ve reviewed and continue to add more as they learn.

Color By Code Beginning Sounds

These color-by-code beginning sounds pages are always fun for your little learners. The students will look at the picture in each section and color it one of 2 colors depending on if it begins with the letter sound at the top of the page. They will continue until all of the sections are colored to reveal the letter.

Beginning Sounds Spin and Cover

This beginning sound spin and cover game is a great one to use as a center or in small groups. The students will use a paper clip and pencil and spin a letter. They will then cover a picture that has the same beginning sound as the letter.

Beginning Sounds Letter Bingo

And last but definitely not least, beginning sounds letter bingo. This is a great one to use with the whole class or in small groups. The teacher will call/show the picture and the students will have to find the correct beginning sound letter on their game board.

I hope this has given you some fun new ideas of ways to help your little learners practice and learn their sounds.

What are some of your favorite Activities To Teacher Beginning Sounds?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post Activities To Teach Beginning Sounds appeared first on Primary Playground.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

Today we’re our Literacy Snack Koala Read Aloud is based on trying new things that may be scary. The book we are reading this week is The Koala Who Could, by Rachel Bright.

“Kevin the koala loves every day to be the same, where it’s snug and safe. But when change comes along, will Kevin embrace all the joys that come with trying something new?”

This is such a cute book about being brave and getting out of your shell. It helps your little learners see value in trying something new that may seem scary at first. Another great book to add to your collection for the beginning of the school year.

For our snack this week to go along with the book, we’ll be making Kevin the Koala.

ingredients

each student will need

2 Ritz crackers

1/2 of a grape

A small piece of sliced cheese

2 candy eyes

1 piece of bread

You will also need a 2 inch round cookie cutter and a piping tip to share as a class.

Assemble

To make Kevin the Koala, first have the students share the cookie cutter to cut out a circle in their piece of bread to make the head. Place the Ritz crackers slightly underneath the piece of bread on both sides to make his ears.

Next, have your students share the piping tip to create part of his eyes out of the small piece of sliced cheese. Use the piping tips large opening at a circle cutter. You may need a knife to help get the cheese to come out depending on the type you use. Have the students place the cheese on the bread and then top it with the candy eyes. Lastly, have them place on the 1/2 grape as his nose.

Free Printable

While your students are enjoying their Kevin the Koala snack, I made a free printable for them to work on. They will draw a picture and write about what they CAN DO.

You can download the Literacy Snack Koala Read Aloud free printable from my TeachersPayTeachers store below.

I hope your students enjoy this fun book and know that sometimes a little change can open their world to big possibilities!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Literacy Snack Koala Read Aloud appeared first on Primary Playground.

Whether you are just starting the school year off and teaching your little learners their letters or it’s the end of the school year and you’re counting down the days, we’ve gathered a whole list of snack ideas for the alphabet.

At the bottom of the post, I’ve gathered all of the ideas onto a printable so you can easily access it for the future.

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WTIH

Snack Ideas for the Alphabet

A – apple slices, applesauce, animal crackers, alphabet cereal, apricots

B- bananas, blueberries, broccoli, bell peppers, blackberries, bagels, butter

C – carrots, cookies, cupcake, crackers, cucumber, celery, corn, cranberries, cantelope

D- donut holes, dates, dips with crackers or vegetables, deviled eggs

E- hard boiled eggs, Eggo waffles, edamame, egg rolls

F- French fries, French bread, French toast, fortune cookies, Fruit Loops, fruit salad

G- grapes, graham crackers, goldfish crackers, gummy worms, granola bar

H- hot dogs, ham, hummus, hot chocolate, honey

I- ice cream, ice pops, ice cream sandwiches, ice cream sundaes, iced cookies, Indian corn, ice tea, inchworms (gummy worms)

J- jelly beans, juice, jelly bread, jello

K- kiwi, kale chips, (fruit) kabobs

L- lemons, licorice, lemonade, lollipops, limes, lettuce salad

M- mac & cheese, milk, marshmallows, M&M’s , mushrooms, muffins, meatballs, mango

N- nectarines, Nilla wafers, Nutter Butters, noodles, nachos, nuts

O- orange slices, olives, Oreos, oatmeal, orange juice

P- peas, pancakes, pear slices, pudding, popcorn, pickles, pretzels, popsicles, peaches, pizza, pineapple, pie, pumpkin bread, plums

Q- Quaker oatmeal, quiche, quesadilla, quinoa

R- raisins, Rice Krispie treats, raspberries, radishes

S- strawberries, spaghetti, salad, sandwiches, s’mores, string cheese

T- Teddy Grahams, tangerines, tomatoes, trail mix, tater tots, tortilla, toast, tortilla chips

U- upside down cake, ugli fruit, udon noodles

V- veggie sticks, vegetables

W- watermelon, waffles, water, Whoppers

X- Chex mix, or make an X using pretzel sticks

Y- squeeze yogurt, yams

Z- zebra snack cakes, zucchini tots, zucchini bread

You can download the snack ideas for the alphabet from my TeachersPayTeachers store below.

Do you have any other fun foods that you would add to the list?

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Snack Ideas for the Alphabet appeared first on Primary Playground.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

One of my most favorite books ever is The Very Hungry Caterpillar. It’s always been a favorite of mine but even more so once I had my son years ago and it quickly became a favorite of his as well. He had the book memorized and would read it back to me several times each night. I can still hear that cute little baby voice saying sausage in a silly way.

I still love reading this book today as it brings back so many memories and is a favorite of so many others. I wanted to make a fun activity to go along with the book, so I’m sharing with you a Free Printable Caterpillar Hat for the kids to color and wear after reading the story.

Have you seen the animated video of the story? It’s a short film but it has such a calming tone to it and is a great retelling of the story.

Free Printable Caterpillar Hat

This hat is a fun way to have your students retell the story. On the hat, it shows all of the things that the caterpillar ate through.

Simply download and print out the hat. Have your students color and cut out the hat. Help them staple it together and they can wear them proudly!

If you’re looking for more activities to go along with The Very Hungry Caterpillar you might like our caterpillar literacy snack that we did to go along with the book.

You can download the Free Printable Caterpillar Hat from my TeachersPayTeachers store below.

I hope your students have a fun time making memories with this book as we do!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Free Printable Caterpillar Hat appeared first on Primary Playground.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

Back to school time means learning the alphabet, letters, and beginning sounds. So I thought we’d read a book about the alphabet this week for our Literacy Snack Healthy Alphabet. We will be reading, Eating the Alphabet Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z by Lois Ehlert.

This book introduces the letters of the alphabet and fruits and vegetables from around the world that begin with each letter. This is a fantastic book to also talk to the students about making healthy eating choices and trying new fruits and vegetables.

For our snack today, the kids will be sampling all the different types of fruits and vegetables that they have seen in the book.

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

Ingredients

The snack part is totally up to you. You can choose to have as many or as few choices of fruits and vegetables to try. I left some whole so they could be passed around, felt, and smelt. A great way to tie into a lesson on the five senses as well. And then some of the fruits and vegetables we cut up and ready to be snacked on. Today I chose to use, grapes, blueberries, strawberries, carrots, onion, cucumber, banana, broccoli, lime, nectarine, and an orange.

This would be a great time to grab some fruits and vegetables that the kids have probably never seen. Jicama, dragonfruit, and leeks would all be fun options.

Free Printable

While the kiddos are enjoying their healthy fruits and vegetable snack, I made a free printable for them to work on. I made two different versions so choose which is best for your class. The first option is for the students to draw in a fruit or vegetable that begins with the letter in the box. The second version allows them to choose the letter they want and draw a fruit or vegetable that begins with that letter.

You can download the Literacy Snack Healthy Alphabet free printable from my TeachersPayTeachers store below.

I hope your students enjoy getting to try some new fruits and vegetables they may not have had before while learning the letters of the alphabet!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Literacy Snack Healthy Alphabet appeared first on Primary Playground.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

At the beginning of the school year a lot is focused on letters during ELA time and numbers during math time. From identifying letters, learning sounds, writing letters to counting objects, identifying numbers, and writing numbers. Being able to differentiate between letters and number is an important skill for our little learners.

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

To help with this concept, I have two favorite books to read. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom for letters and Chicka Chicka 1,2,3 for numbers. Both books are so catchy and will have your kids and is a great way to help introduce the concept.

Free Printable Letters and Numbers Sort

To help reinforce the concept of letter and number discrimination I made a free printable letters and numbers sort that can be used during either math, ELA, or both for the students to practice.

Simply download and print the printable. Add letters and number manipulatives and you’re ready to go. I used magnetic letters and numbers and also mini eraser letters and numbers found in the Target Dollar Spot section. Foam letters and numbers would work great as well.

Not only are the students getting to practice differentiating letters and numbers, but they are also getting to work on their fine motor skills as well.

You can download the free printable letters and numbers sort below.

If you’re looking for more fun ideas to go along with the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, you may want to check out our literacy snack idea that we did to go along with the book.

Or our free printable alphabet tree to help learn the letters and practice writing them.

What are some of your favorite ways to teach about number and letter differentiation?

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Free Printable Letters and Numbers Sort appeared first on Primary Playground.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

I’m always looking for good books to read at the beginning of the school year to help teach about character traits. This book helps teach kindness, courtesy, respect, and friendship.: So for this week’s Literacy Snack Making Friends Read Aloud we are reading, Enemy Pie, by Derek Munson.

“It was the perfect summer. That is until Jeremy Ross moved into the house down the street and became neighborhood enemy number one. Luckily his Dad had a surefire way to get rid of enemies: Enemy Pie. But part of the secret recipe is spending an entire day playing with the enemy. In the end, he learns an effective recipe for turning enemy into a best friend.”

For our snack to go with the book this week, we’ll be having pie, but not enemy pie, a friendship pie!

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

Ingredients

Have you seen these individual pies at Walmart? They are adorable and such a fun idea! This is what we’ll be using for our friendship pie snack. They are just $.50 a piece and it’s such a FUN treat for each student to get their OWN pie! Plus it’s a huge time saver, no cutting pie, needing plates, etc. Grab a few different flavored pies or all the same, you know what would work best for your class.

Free Printable

While the kids are enjoying their friendship pie snack, I made a free printable for them to work on. They will get to write a few different ways that they can be a good friend and draw a picture about it.

You can also create an anchor chart as a class to come up with a bunch of different ways that your students can be a good friend and they can choose a few off of the anchor chart to write in. Display the anchor chart in the room throughout the year to continue to share how they can be good friends.

You can download the Literacy Snack Making Friends Read Aloud free printable from my Teachers Pay Teachers store below.

If you’re looking for more ideas on teaching about character traits and having good citizenship, you might like our character traits pack.

Or check out some of our other literacy snack ideas to go along with having good character.

Literacy snack about having courage.

And a literacy snack idea about kindness.

What are some of your favorite ways to teach about having good character?

We’ll see you next time!

Jenette

The post Literacy Snack Making Friends Read Aloud appeared first on Primary Playground.

Volunteers can be an invaluable resource for teachers! You may have the volunteers but wondering, how do I use them in the classroom? It can be overwhelming when you have people volunteering but don’t know what to have them do for you. I’m going to share how to use those volunteers in the classroom.

There are all types of parents and grandparents that would love to help but just don’t always know how or aren’t able to come in during the school day but are still willing to help.

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

Volunteers in the classroom

• Make copies
• Laminate
• Hole-Punching/binding student work to make books
• Assist students with a craft project
• Put together book orders
• Help with math or reading centers
• Help in the school garden
• Assist/monitor students on the computers or iPads
• Put flyers in folders/cubbies/mailboxes
• One on one help with students that need extra help
• Be a room parent and set up class parties
• Organize/level books in the classroom library
• Prep center activities
• Sharpen pencils
• Taking down/hang up bulletin boards
• Taking down/hanging up student work
• One on one reading with students
• Guided reading groups
• Assist with lunch (huge help in the first 2 weeks of school with kinders).

Volunteers from home

• Cut laminated materials
• Donating items to the classroom
• Separate Scholastic magazines (why do they send them that way?)

Your once in a while volunteers that work full-time

• Be a guest/mystery reader
• Chaperone field trips
• Donating items to the classroom
• Help room parent with class parties

Now that you have a ton of ideas of different ways to use your volunteers, make sure to check my post about how to get your classroom ready for volunteers.

And if you’d like even more guidance and printables to help you along with the process, you might like our parent volunteer pack.

Do you have any other ideas of ways to use volunteers in your classroom?

See you next time!

Jenette

The post How To Use Volunteers In The Classroom appeared first on Primary Playground.