Are you looking for a fun way for your students to practice 3D shapes? They will LOVE reviewing their 3D shapes with this engaging, hands-on Free Printable 3D Shape Sort! This activity is perfect to add to your math center rotation, or to use during small groups. Sorting games are always a hit with the kiddos!

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getting started

Download the printable sort and cut out all of the pieces. You will want to laminate them if you are planning to use them several times in your classroom. Make sure to grab something to keep all of the pieces together to store such as a sandwich bag.

to play

To play the 3D shape sort, you can start with just a few shapes that your students are learning about. Let’s say like the picture below, the sphere, cylinder, rectangular prism, and cube. They will then sort through the pictures of real-world objects and find one that matches the shapes and place them on top.

There are 4 objects to match with each shape, except for the hexagonal prism which only has two. As your students learn more 2D shapes, add in the more as they grow to the sort game.

The 3D shapes that I have included are cone, cube, cylinder, sphere, hexagonal prism, triangular prism, and rectangular prism. If you haven’t introduced all of the shapes yet the students can still play the game with a portion of the shapes.

You can download the Free Printable 3D Shape Sort by click the green button below.

If you’re looking for more ways to practice 3D shapes, we have many other fun activities like this 3D Shapes I Have Who Has Game. It can be played as a whole class or in small groups as well.

What are some of your favorite ways to teach and review 3D shapes in your classroom?

See you next time!

jenette

The post Free Printable 3D Shape Sort appeared first on Primary Playground.

Playing games is my favorite way to reinforce what we are learning. Today I’m sharing Free Printable CVC Short E Puzzles to help the kiddos review. It’s always great when your students are getting practice but don’t even realize it since they are playing a game.

CVC words are words that are made up of a consonant, short vowel, and consonant sound, such as cat, bed, tip, hot, and rug. The goal is for students to use their knowledge of the individual sounds of each letter and ‘blend’ these letter sounds together, so they are saying the whole word and not three individual sounds.

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Today I am sharing the Free Printable CVC Short E Puzzles. I have shared the CVC Short A puzzles here.

Getting Ready

These puzzles are super simple to prep. You’ll just need to download the file at the bottom of this post. Cut out the puzzles and I suggest laminating them for durability and they can be played with over and over again. Now you’re ready to play!

To Play

To play, mix up all of the puzzle pieces. Have the student choose a picture.

They will then search through the puzzle pieces to find the matching word to complete the puzzle. Continue this until all of the puzzles have been put together. This can be played individually, or with a friend during centers or even in a small group.

I’ve also included a recording sheet for the students to write the short e words using the puzzles they’ve put together.

To store the puzzles, we use a small plastic photo box. It makes it easy for the students to grab the box to play and then they can easily clean them back up.

You can download the Free Printable CVC Short E Puzzles by clicking the big green box below.

If you’re looking for some additional activities for your students to review CVC words we have a bunch of fun options for you.!

Here’s a fun FREE CVC board game for your students to play! You can check it out and download it for free here.

Our CVC bingo is a fantastic and fun way to practice short vowel words. This is a great option for small groups or as a whole class.

Are some of your kiddos ready for a bit more of a challenge? They love the challenge and the satisfaction of solving the puzzles! These CVC Crossword Puzzles are very engaging!

And for those little learners that love to color, these Color by CVC Word pages are perfect! They will look at the picture next to each color and then find the matching word throughout the picture and color.

What are some of your favorite ways to reinforce CVC words that your students have been learning?

Jenette

The post Free Printable CVC Short E Puzzles appeared first on Primary Playground.

Are your students working on CVC words? I have a super fun Free Printable CVC Board Game for you today!

It’s no secret that I LOVE playing games. They are such a great way for your little learners to practice and review concepts in an interactive way without even realizing they are learning.

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The Setup

To get started, download and print the 2 pages for the game. Cut out the spinner and the kid game pieces. To make the game pieces, fold on the dotted lines and tape them together. You’ll need a pencil and a large paperclip if you’ll be using the spinner to play. Laminating the game board is suggested if you’re going to be using it several times.

To Play

To play, you can use a die or the spinner that is included. The game can be played with 1 to 4 players. The first person will roll the die or spin the spinner and move their game piece that many spaces. Have them read the CVC word that they have landed on. It is then the next player’s turn. Continue till all players reach the finish.

This game is great for centers, fast finishers, small groups, or even send home for the students to play with their families.

You can download the Free Printable CVC Board Game by clicking on the green box below.

If your students love playing this game, I have a whole set of 10 more board games that you can find here. I have a bunch of additional sets for each holiday/season too!

And if you want to try out a math board game, I have a free skip counting board game that you can grab here.

Let me know if your students enjoy these board games!

See you next time!

Jenette

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Are your little learners working on learning their sight words? They’ll have a fun time practicing with this Sunshine Sight Word Memory Game!

Sight words are those words that our students will see over and over in print. They are sometimes called high-frequency words, service words, or even snap words. Because you should know them in a snap!

This Sunshine Sight Word Memory Game uses Dolch Pre-primer words.

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Getting Ready

To get the game ready to play, you’ll first want to download and print the game. You can download it near the bottom of the post by clicking the large green button. After printing, I glued each page onto a piece of yellow cardstock. The cardstock is optional, but this will help the game be more durable and will last longer. You can also laminate them to help last even longer. Last, cut out each of the sight word cards and you’re ready to play.

To Play

To play the memory game, start by choosing which words you want the students to review. Maybe they’re just starting to learn a few words so you start with 6 words. Place all 6 of those word cards plus their matches face down randomly./mixed up.

Have the student choose a card to turn over, and then read the card. If they can read the sight word, have can choose another card to flip over to see if they have a match. If they don’t read the word correctly, review the word with them and have them turn it back over and it’s the next player’s turn.

If they do get a match, have them set the cards in front of them and they get to go again. Continue this until all of the cards have been turned over and matched. The player with the most matches at the end is the winner.

To store the game away for next time, we use clear photo 4×6 boxes. It keeps everything nice and in one spot ready to just grab and play for next time.

You can download the memory game by clicking the green box below.

Are you looking for another fun way to review sight words with your little learners? We have our color-by-code sight word sets. They’re a favorite for the kids! Check out our ocean-themed set here.

And we have a free one for your students o try out here.

What are some other ways you like to practice sight words with your students?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post Sunshine Sight Word Memory Game appeared first on Primary Playground.

When I saw this adorable book, Ten Sparkly Snowflakes, I just knew it would be perfect to turn into a fun hands-on math craft. With this Ten Snowflakes Math Craft, we’re incorporating a hands-on activity and math to retell the book.

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I wanted the students to be able to make a fun math craft so I made this free printable. You can use it in a bunch of different ways.

Print it out and retell the story as a class. Have the snow on an anchor chart, and choose a student to come up and put the correct number snowflake in the sky and so on until the story is complete.

Or print it out in black and white and make it into a craft project for your kids. Use a piece of construction paper and have them cut out the snow scene and snowflakes and then glue them onto the paper. They can add additional details if they’d like.

Or draw a stick and give 10 students the snowflakes. As a class, read the book aloud and as their number is called, have the student stand up with their snowflake until the story is over.

Or you can laminate it and use it as a center for the students to practice counting and number sense one through ten.

These cute snowflakes make for such a fun and quick activity during this time of year. Let me know if you have any other ways you’re going to use them in your classroom!

Click the green box to download the free printable Ten Snowflakes Math Craft.

I hope your kiddos enjoy this fun activity!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

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A couple of weeks ago I found these cute winter mini erasers at Target and knew I have to make a fun activity to use with them. So today we have a Free Printable Winter Spin and Graph for you!

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This Free Printable Winter Spin and Graph is a fun hands-on activity to teach your little learners about graphing. This activity is perfect for math workshop, in small groups, or even as an independent whole group activity to introduce graphing and recording data. It is super easy to get ready! You can choose to have the kiddos use mini erasers or if you don’t have any, don’t worry! Simply have them color in a box to do the graphing.

the prep

All you need for each child is:

• a copy of the printable (below)
• a pencil
• a paperclip
• winter erasers or a crayon to mark

to play

The students will use a pencil and paperclip to create a makeshift spinner. Put the tip of the pencil in the paperclip, give it a flick, and see where it lands! They always love this part!

Once they land on a winter picture, they color or mark a square above that winter picture with an x. Have them play until one column reaches the top. That winter picture is then declared “the winner!”

You can download the Free Printable Winter Spin and Graph by clicking the green box below.

For more hands-on winter math fun, we practice counting to twenty with our Polar Bear Counting Mats. 

And practice making ten with our Winter Ten Frame Task Cards. 

What are your favorite ways to use mini erasers with your students?

See you next time!

Jenette

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Do you need a fun way for your little learners to practice their ten frames? Grab some mini erasers and they can practice their countings and numbers with these Free Printable Penguin Ten Frame Cards.

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getting started

The set up is super easy for this activity. Simply download and print the Free Printable Penguin Ten Frame Cards by clicking the green download box at the bottom of this post. Cut them out and laminating the cards is suggested for durability.

We use mini erasers for this activity. These penguins pictures are from a couple of years ago, but I have seen a new winter pack this year that includes snowflakes, penguins, and polar bears which would be perfect to use too! If you don’t have mini erasers, small pom pom balls work well too. You can store them in a sandwich size bag or we like to use clear plastic 4X6 photo cases too.

to play

These Penguin Ten Frame Cards are a fun addition to your math center for the kids to work on counting, one to one correspondence, and even decomposing numbers. Each card has the number and the number word for recognition. Have the students fill in the correct number of squares for the penguin that match the number on the card.

Click the green box below to download the Penguin Ten Frame Cards from my TeachersPayTeachers store for FREE.

If you’re looking for another fun winter counting activity, you might like our Polar Bear Counting Mats too!

I hope your kiddos enjoy this fun hands-on way of practicing their numbers and counting!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Free Printable Penguin Ten Frame Cards appeared first on Primary Playground.

Writing a letter to Santa is always a favorite! Today I’m sharing a fun Free Printable Letter To Santa template that will make it a breeze for your kiddos to write their letter to Santa this year.

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This template can be used both in the classroom or at home. It would be a fun addition to your writing center this month. You can add some fun markers for them to use or give them a candy cane pen to use as we did. It just makes it a little bit more special while writing their all-important letter to Santa.

Last year during a Parent’s Night Out our PTSA hosted, we even used these letters as part of our Polar Express theme and it was a huge hit.

The letter is in a simple format to help the kiddos write their letter to Santa. There is a spot for their name, age, and boxes to mark for how their behavior has been this year. It then gives a spot for the student to write in what they would like for Christmas. Next, there is a spot for them to write about something they’re going to do. It could be something like being helpful to others to leaving out cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve.

If you are using this as part of your writing center in the classroom, having envelopes and a special mailbox for them to put it in makes it that much more magical! I found out mailbox at TJMax a couple of years ago but have seen a few others out there too since then. HobbyLobby would be another great option to try. Amazon has a bunch of cute ones, but they are quite pricey.

Click the green box below to download the Free Printable Letter To Santa.

I hope your students have a magical time writing their letters to Santa!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Free Printable Letter To Santa appeared first on Primary Playground.

Do you need to create a simple math center to help your students practice numbers to 10? Our Free Printable Clip Counting Spiders are easy to prepare, perfect for October and your little learners will love them! They’re not only an easy and interactive way for children to practice counting and identifying numbers, but they will also work on developing their fine motor skills too.

They will be a great addition to your math centers.

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Getting ready

This game/center is super quick and easy to make. All you need is to download and print the Free Printable Clip Counting Spiders from the bottom of this post, cut them out, and add in some clothespins and you’re all set! You don’t need to laminate these sets, but they will last much longer if you do.

How to Play

Each spider has a number on it. The student picks up a spider and looks at the number. Encourage them to say the number aloud. Then they clip the correct number of clothespins onto the spider creating legs.   Repeat until all the spiders have clothespins on them.

These are perfect to use during October, for Halloween, during your spider unit, or even for your nursery rhyme unit to go along with Little Miss Muffett or The Itsy Bitsy Spider.

You can store the spider in a bag or container with the clothespins, so the game is always ready to go or be safely put away for next year.

These Free Printable Clip Counting Spiders are a fun and hands-on way to practice counting and identifying numbers. This simple, low-prep activity is perfect to use as a math warm-up at the beginning of class, during small guided math groups, or to put out at a math station. They can easily be printed and sent home for students to practice counting with their families too.

You can download the Free Printable Clip Counting Spiders by clicking the green box below.

If you’re looking for another fun way for your little learners to practice their numbers and counting, you may like our spider counting mats. These are numbers 1-20. We use little plastic spiders and the kids just love it! You can find the counting mats here on TPT.

Let us know if you have any other fun ways that you’ll be using these Free Printable Clip Counting Spiders.

See you next time!

Jenette

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Dramatic play is such an important part of early childhood. There are so many benefits that come from dramatic play. Today I’m sharing a Dramatic Play Pet Vet Clinic Patient Form for the kids to use either at school or at home.

Benefits of dramatic play

• Teaches self-regulation
• Encourages language development
• Teaches conflict resolution
• Supports math and literacy
• Relieves emotional tension
• Empowering to children

One of my kid’s favorite things to play has been pet vet. They like to give the animals check-ups and help them if they are sick. Sometimes they even make a hospital area where they can stay to recover and be taken care of for a while longer if needed.

I made a Dramatic Play Pet Vet Clinic Patient Form for them to fill out for each of their patients. What seems to be the problem today? Print multiple copies of the patient information forms and place them in your dramatic play center with mini clipboards and pencils. Your little learners will love diagnosing and treating their pet patients!

I’ve made them 2 to a page so they fit on a mini clipboard perfectly. You can also print them in color or in black and white.

Click the green button below to download the patient intake form.

In case you’re looking to add some fun items to your vet center, this is our favorite vet playset.

I hope your kiddos have as much fun as mine do with these patient forms.

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Dramatic Play Pet Vet Clinic Patient Form appeared first on Primary Playground.

I’m always looking for new ways for students to practice their sight words. As you know, games are my thing and are my favorite way of having students practice different things they are learning. My favorite part is that when they play a game, they don’t even realize they are learning and practicing things that they have been taught.

So today, I’m sharing a Honey Bee Sight Word Game to help your students practice their pre-primer sight words.

The Setup

To play the game, all you need to do is download the printable at the bottom of the post. Cut out all of the squares and laminate so you can play the game over and over again. You will also need some kind of container to put the cards in. I used a tin bucket I had on hand, but anything you have will work.

To Play

This game can be played with one student or many. You will put all of the cards into the container and shake them up. Have a student pull out a card, look at it, and read the sight word. If they cannot read the word help tell them what the word is and put the card back into the container. If they got the word correct and if they are playing alone, choose another card and repeat. And if you are playing with other students, move to the next person to take a turn.

There are some cards that have a pot of honey on them. If that card gets pulled, the player gets to take another turn.

There are also some cards that say BZZZ! If a student chooses a BZZZ! card, they say BZZZ! and put all of their sight word cards back in the container and it’s the next players’ turn or they can start over again if playing alone. Keep playing until all of the words have been read.

Click the green box below to download the Honey Bee Sight Word Game.

If you’re looking for more fun ways to practice sight words. you may like our color by sight word packs.

And if you’re looking for more sight words games, we have our FREE pancake stack game. You can check that out here.

Do you have any other fun games you like to play to practice sight words?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post Honey Bee Sight Word Game appeared first on Primary Playground.

Playing games or in this case, doing puzzles is one of my favorite ways to reinforce concepts the students have been working on. Today I’m sharing Free Printable CVC Short A Puzzles to help the kiddos review. It’s always a bonus when the kiddos are getting practice but don’t even realize it since they are playing a game.

CVC words are words that are made up of a consonant, short vowel, and consonant sound, such as cat, bed, tip, hot, and rug. The goal is for students to use their knowledge of the individual sounds of each letter and ‘blend’ these letter sounds together, so they are saying the whole word and not three individual sounds.

Today we are starting with Short A words.

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Getting Ready

These CVC Short A Puzzles are super simple to prep. You’ll just need to download the file at the bottom of this post. Cut out the puzzles and I suggest laminating them for durability and they can be played with over and over again. Now you’re ready to play!

To Play

To play, mix up all of the puzzle pieces. Have the student choose a picture.

They will then search through the puzzle pieces to find the matching word to complete the puzzle. Continue this until all of the puzzles have been put together. This can be played individually, or with a friend during centers or even in a small group.

I’ve also included a recording sheet for the students to write the short a words using the puzzles they’ve put together.

To store the puzzles, we use small plastic photo box. It make sit easy for the students to grab the box to play and then they can easily clean them back up.

You can download the Free Printable CVC Short A Puzzles by clicking the big green box below.

If you’re looking for some additional activities for your students to review CVC words we have a bunch of fun options for you.!

Our CVC bingo is a fantastic and fun way to practice short vowel words. This is a great option for small groups or as a whole class.

And another fun game that can be used as a center. Spin a middle sound and cover a matching word.

Are some of your kiddos ready for a bit more of a challenge? They love the challenge and the satisfaction of solving the puzzles! These CVC Crossword Puzzles are very engaging!

And for those little learners that love to color, these Color by CVC Word pages are perfect! They will look at the picture next to each color and then find the matching word throughout the picture and color.

What are some of your favorite ways to reinforce CVC words that your students have been learning?

Jenette

The post Free Printable CVC Short A Puzzles 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.

As I was walking through Dollar Tree the other day, I saw these colorful popsicle sticks and thought they were perfect for a rainbow project! So today I’m sharing Rainbow Tally Marks practice to help build number sense.

These rainbow tally marks are a great, hands-on way to practice counting by 5’s, counting on, and working on fine motor a bit as well! Rainbows always make me happy and are great to use all year long, or during your weather unit, St. Patrick’s Day, or spring in general.

Getting ready

You’ll need colorful popsicle sticks (we found them at Dollar Tree) or you could use regular popsicle sticks too if you can’t find the colorful ones. You’ll also need to download, print and cut out the rainbow number cards that you can find at the bottom of this post.

Counting Tally Marks

To play, have your student choose a rainbow number card. They can then use the colorful popsicle sticks to create that number as tally marks. Once they have created the number correctly, they can choose another number to make.

These work great during small groups so you can be sitting there to help make sure their count is correct but can easily be used as a math center ask well. You could even send them home with the kiddos that need a little extra practice.

We used plastic photo boxes to keep the sticks and rainbow number cards all together so they can easily be stored. The kids can easily grab the boxes during center or small group time and start working.

You can download the rainbow number cards by clicking the green download box below.

I hope your kiddos love making rainbow tally marks! See you next time!

Jenette

The post Rainbow Tally Marks 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.

It’s important to have your students practice sight words every, single day.  Repetition is one of the keys when tackling all of the words children are expected to know.  Practicing words they are learning will keep them fresh in their mind and practicing words they have already mastered will help to build confidence!  One of our favorite things to do is play games to practice sight words so today I’m sharing a fun Pancake Sight Word Stack Game.

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To Prep

The prep for this game is simple. You’ll need to download the game at the bottom of the post and print it out. Cut out each of the pancake pieces and a page or 2 of the plates. Laminating the pieces will make it so the game can be used over and over again.

To Play

There are 2 different ways you can play this Pancake Sight Word Stack Game. All of the words in the game ar3e Dolch pre-primer words.

For 1 or more players – as a small group or as a center

• Each player will need a plate. Place all of the pancake pieces into a bowl. Player one will pull out a pancake piece and read the sight word. If they can read the word, they place it on their plate. If playing by themself, they will go again and if playing with other friends, it is the next players’ turn. If they do not know the word, they will put it back into the bowl. If a player pulls out a pancake with butter on it they will put all of their pancakes that are on their plate back into the bowl. Continue reading and stacking the pancakes until all of them have been read.

• The second version you can play just has a small variation. Give each student a few plates instead of just one. Play the game the same as above, except when a buttered pancake is pulled have them place it on top of a pancake stack. And have them start a new one on another plate and continue to play until all of the pancakes have been read.

The kids have so much fun practicing their sight words this way and you can’t beat getting to play a game with pancakes!

You can download the Pancake Sight Word Stack Game. below.

Here are some of our other favorite activities we like to do with pancakes.

Your students will have so much fun learning how to make pancakes with this fun resource. Cooking class is a fun way to incorporate many different learning standards. In this pack, the students are learning writing, sequencing, retelling, life skills, and much more. It’s a great hands-on activity to get the students excited to learn. 

And our literacy snack idea and free printable to go along with Pancakes, Pancakes! by Eric Carle is a fantastic book to read with your class. This is a great book that can be incorporated into many types of lessons, from sequencing to a farm unit. 

What are some of your favorite ways to have your students practice their sight words?

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Pancake Sight Word Stack Game appeared first on Primary Playground.

Since this year is a leap year, I thought it would be fun to tie it into a math activity. Your students will have fun practicing their skip counting by 2’s, 5’s, or 10’s with this Leap Year Skip Counting Board Game.

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First, I wanted to share some of our favorite skip counting videos.

Count by 2’s Dancing 2’s by Jack Harmann

Dancing 2’s is a fun way for kids to learn to skip count by 2. Kids follow along doing different dances as they count to 100 by 2. Every time they hit a placeholder of tens they change dances.

Exercise and Count by 5 by Jack Harmann

This fun song set to a Latin bear makes it easy to exercise and count by 5’s.

Count Together by 10’s by Jack Harmann

This is a great video to get your kids up and moving while they count along by 10’s.

Workout and Count- Skip Count by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s | Count Backwards | by Jack Hartmann

Count by 2’s, 5’s, 10’s, odd numbers as well as skip count forward and backwards in this interactive learning video. Workout and count has a powerful beat that will motivate your children to move and have fun as they count by 1’s, 2’s, 5’s, 10’s, and odd numbers. Your children will get some great exercise as they practice their counting forward, counting backwards, and counting on skills.

Now that we’ve had some fun practicing our skip counting and getting the wiggles out, let’s play a game! This Leap Year Skip Counting Board Game can be used as a leap year activity but can, of course, be used any time of the year. I made 3 different game boards so your students can play spending on the counting method they’re working on right now.

To Prepare

You’ll need to print out the board game of your choice. You can download it at the bottom of this post. To play, you will also need a die and 2 game pieces to move. We used snap cubes, but anything from coins to mini erasers would work.

To Play

Have the person player roll the die and move that many spaces. If the player la ads on a flower, they will need to say the missing number. The player to the finish first wins. Have the players play again with a different board game to practice different ways of skip counting.

You can download the Leap Year Skip Counting Board Games by clicking the green box below.

If you’re looking for some more skip counting activities, we have some more fun options for you!

In this Leap Year Leap Frog Skip Counting Activity, there are skip counting cards for the students to put in the correct order and then use the frog to leap from lily pad to lily pad to practice their skip counting. There is also a page of blank lily pads for the students to write in the numbers.

Also included are numbers 2-100 to have the students place each number card in order for them to practice skip counting, by 2, 5, or 10’s.

And we also have this free printable skip counting by 2’s activity.

What are some of your favorite ways to have your students practice skip counting?

See you next time

Jenette

The post Leap Year Skip Counting Board Game appeared first on Primary Playground.

Are you little learners working on learning their 2D shapes right now?  I made this Free Printable 2D Shape Sort for a fun way to review. They’re perfect to add them into your center rotation or to use in small groups. The students always love these sorting games.

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Getting Started

Download, print and cut out the shapes and game pieces. Laminating is suggested if you’ll be using in the classroom for durability.

To Play

To play the shape sort, you can start with just a few shapes that your students are learning about. Let’s say like the picture above, square, circle, and triangle. They will then sort through the pictures of real-world objects and find one that matches the shapes and place them on top.

There are 4 objects to match with each shape. As your students learn more 2D shapes, add in the more as they grow to the sort game.

The 2D shapes that I have included are a square, triangle, circle, rectangle, hexagon, oval and rhombus. If you haven’t introduced all of the shapes yet the students can still play the game with a portion of the shapes.

If you’re looking for more ways to practice 2D shapes, we have many other fun activities like these 2D shape hats.

Our 2D and 3D shape spin and covers, and a fun activity for small groups or the whole class, 2D shape bingo.

And our all time favorite 2D shape picture crafts. And you can get our free scarecrow one here and our free flower one here.

You can download the Free Printable 2D Shape Sort below.

What are some of your favorite ways to teach and review 2D shapes in your classroom?

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Free Printable 2D Shape Sort appeared first on Primary Playground.

Are your little learners working on their beginning sounds? I have a fun Gobble Gobble A Beginning Sounds Game for you today to help them practice those letter sounds!

I’ve been playing this game with my own kids for many years and now get to play it with my nephews on Thanksgiving. We all sit around after eating our yummy Thanksgiving dinner, some people looking at the ads and getting their Black Friday shopping lists ready, some cleaning up and I get to play this fun game with the kiddos!

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the setup

To play the game, all you need to do is download the printable at the bottom of the post. Cut out all of the squares and laminate so you can play the game over and over again. You will also need some kind of container to put the cards in. I used a basket I had in my decoration stash, but you can use anything you have on hand.

to play

This game can be played with one student or many. You will put all of the cards into the container and shake them up. Have a student pull out a card, look at the letter, and say the sound it makes. If playing alone, choose another card and repeat. If playing with other students move to the next person to take a turn.

There are also some cards that say, Gobble! Gobble! If a student chooses a Gobble Gobble! card, they gobble like a turkey and put all of their letters back in the container and it’s the next players’ turn or they can start over again if playing alone.

There are both uppercase and lowercase letters. You can choose to use them both or just one set, the game will work the same either way.

My little friends love playing this game so much and get so into saying gobble gobble like a turkey. They hope to pull those cards!

You can download the Gobble Gobble A Beginning Sounds Game below. 

If you’re looking for more beginning sound activities, we share all of our favorites in this blog post here.

Do you have any other fun games you like to play to practice beginning sounds?

Thanks for stopping by!

jenette

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I’m always trying to think of new ways for little learners to practice their beginning sounds. Since Halloween is quickly approaching, I made this Boo Beginning Sounds Game for them to have a fun new way to practice their sounds.

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I’ve been playing this game for years with my kids and it’s always a favorite, We’re just putting a Halloween spin on it today.

The Setup

To play the game, all you need to do is download the printable at the bottom of the post. Cut out all of the squares and laminate so you can play the game over and over again. You will also need some kind of container to put the cards in. I used a Halloween themed fortune cookie box I had in my stash from years ago. I believe it’s from Michaels but you can use anything you have on hand.

To Play

This game can be played with one student or many. You will put all of the cards into the container and shake them up. Have a student pull out a card, look at the letter, and say the sound it makes. If playing alone, choose another card and repeat. If playing with other students move to the next person to take a turn. There are also some cards that say BOO! If a student chooses a BOO! card, they say BOO! and put all of their letters back in the container and it’s the next player’s turn or they can start over again if playing alone.

There are both uppercase and lowercase letters. You can choose to use them both or just one set, the game will work the same either way.

My little friends just love playing this game and said, “So basically you are saying BOO! and scaring all of the letters back into the container?” YES, EXACTLY!!

You can download the BOO Beginning Sounds Game below.

If you’re looking for more beginning sound activities, we share all of our favorites in this blog post here.

Do you have any other fun games you like to play to practice beginning sounds?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post BOO Beginning Sounds Game appeared first on Primary Playground.

When teaching the alphabet, we’re not just teaching the letters but the beginning sounds they make as well. These Free Printable Beginning Sound Puzzles are a fun way for your little learners to practice their letter sounds.

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The Prep

The download contains 26 different puzzles for your students to put together for each letter of the alphabet. Simply download the puzzles at the bottom of the post. Print and laminate them. Laminating is suggested so they hold up to being played over and over again. Then cut out each of the puzzles on the lines and you’re ready to go!

To Play

These Free Printable Beginning Sound Puzzles work great as a center or in a small group setting. Simply mix together all of the puzzle pieces. Have a student choose a puzzle piece with an object on it.

Have them say what the object is out loud, and then search through the puzzle pieces to find the matching letter-beginning sound. The letter X puzzle is a picture of a fox use the /x/ as the ending sound.

You can start with just a few letters to begin with and continue adding until your students have learned all of their sounds. And to continue to make it a little more challenging, after they have done all of the puzzles, have them put them into alphabetical order.

We like to store our puzzles in photo boxes from Michaels, sandwich baggies, or plastic snack containers that we find at Dollar Tree to keep them nice and organized.

You can download the puzzles below.

If you’re looking for more beginning sound activities, you might like our beginning sound letter bingo which is fun for the whole class.

Or our color by code beginning sound pages.

Do you have any other fun ways you can think of to use the Free Printable Beginning Sound Puzzles in your classroom?

See you next time!

Jenette

You might also want to check out our Free Printable Uppercase and Lowercase Puzzles.

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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.

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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

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What are your favorite ways to reinforce CVC words that the students have learned? My kids have been loving these color by code CVC word pages!

This color by code CVC word is an activity that can be used in a variety of ways. Color by code CVC words works well for morning work, early finishers,  literacy centers, or as homework. It’s a great way to reinforce the CVC words they’ve learned at school and for them to practice them at home again easily.

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Color By Code CVC Words Printable

The first time the students do this activity, I always encourage them to color the crayons first so they can easily see which color the CVC word needs to be.

To do the color by code CVC words, the students will carefully color the picture one area at a time using the matching color for the CVC words. This one is a bit more challenging than the color by code sight words, as they will look at the picture next to the crayon and have to color in the area of the word that matches. The students will continue coloring the CVC words until the entire picture has been completed. They will then be able to see their hidden picture!

\If your students enjoyed this free printable color by code CVC words, they’ll love these spring-themed color by code CVC words. There are 5 different spring-themed pictures for the students to color in by CVC word. There are 5 pages of each middle sound, a, e, i, o, u, and another 5 pages that are mixed.

or these space-themed color by code CVC words.

Click below to download the free printable color by code CVC words page.

What are some other ways you have your students practice their CVC words?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post Free Printable Color By Code CVC Words appeared first on Primary Playground.

Do your students need a little extra help skip counting by 2’s? This free printable skip counting by 2’s game is a perfect addition to your math center rotation.

Songs to help your little learners

These are 2 of our favorite songs to help learn how to count by 2’s.

Jack Hartman / Dancing 2’s

Dancing 2’s is a fun way for kids to learn to skip count by 2. Children follow along doing different dances as they count to 100 by 2.

Scratch Garden / The Counting by Two’s Song

The kids also enjoy this song, helping to count by 2’s as the rocket ascends.

Prep – Work for Skip Counting Games for the Classroom

To make the center, you’ll need to download and print the free printable below.  Cut and laminate the cards so the game can be played over and over again.

To Play

There are a few different ways you can have the student practice their skip counting. Start by only giving them 5 cards so they can practice skip counting by 2’s. 2, 4, 6. 8. 10. Once they have that concept you can continue to add cards and have them place the stars in order again skip counting by 2’s.

To make it even a bit more challenging, when they are ready, have them choose a higher number to start with. For example, the student chooses 36. Then have them continue to skip count on by 2’s.

The recording sheet will help keep the students accountable for their center time.

You can download the Free Printable Skip Counting By 2’s printable below.

If you are looking for another fun way for the students to practice their counting by 2’s, check out this free skip counting board game.

I hope this fun little activity makes for a fun and engaging activity to help your student practice their skip counting.

See you next time!

Jenette

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Every time we go to the Children’s Museum in our city, one of my kid’s favorite areas is the dramatic play area that is a full garden. They can plant and pick flowers, fruits, and vegetables. Over the years, I’ve had a special garden play area set up with supplies that I’ve found at Dollar Tree over time. Aprons, gloves, pots, rocks, fake flowers, shovels and I made seed packets for them to play with.

I wanted to take it a step further and have now turned it into a new center! I’m sharing with you today how to make your own DIY garden for the classroom to use as a center. It is super easy to make and doesn’t cost but a few dollars!

Supplies you’ll need

A cardboard box – I used an empty Girl Scout cookie box since I have a ton laying around right now. It measures 15inches  x 8 1/2 inches
1 or 2 pool noodle (depending on how large your box is)

Fake leaves _ I found mine at the local thrift store for a dollar

2 or 3 pieces of brown felt – I used 12in by 18in pieces  (depending on how large your box is)

Glue gun

Scissors

Steak knife

Wide craft sticks

Brown craft paper roll (not a necessity)

To make the DIY garden for the classroom

First, you will want to measure the length of your box. Measure that length on your pool noodle and use a sharp knife to cut through the pool noodle. Continue to cut pieces to the length of your box from the pool noodles until you have enough to fit the width of your box. I used one pool noodle cut into three with a bit left over.

Next, take a piece of your brown felt. Lay the pool noodle on top and cut to size. You do not have to wrap the felt all the way around the pool noodle, it just needs to go around the noodle enough that you can no longer see the noodle when you place them side by side in the box. In doing this, I was able to use just 2 pieces of felt for my project.

Next, use your glue gun to glue the felt around the pool noodle. After you have your noodles wrapped. Place them in your cardboard box so they fit snuggly.

Depending on how tall your box is, you may need to stuff some newspaper under the pool noodles to keep it sturdy in case the kids press down too hard later when playing. At this point, I also chose to wrap my box in plain brown craft paper since it wasn’t a plain brown box.

Next, I cut apart my green foliage and hot glued pieces of it to large craft sticks so they can easily be put in and taken back out of the “soil”.

UPDATE: I was so excited when I walked into the Dollar Spot at Target the other day. I found these small wooden baskets, the perfect size for your garden! I moved over the same 3 pool noodles and they fit perfectly! They also had a bunch of fun felt food, garden tools, gloves, and aprons. Perfect for your center!

Now your garden is ready to go! You could just add this as part of your dramatic play area with fake flowers and maybe some felt fruits and vegetables.  But I wanted to turn it into a hands-on learning experience and take it a step further.

I created a garden center bundle to use throughout the year. It comes with everything from matching uppercase strawberries to lowercase baskets, building CVC and sight words with flowers and carrots, to practicing number sense with turnips. Change the centers out as the students progress along the school year.

I hope your students enjoy these hands-on learning activities!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post DIY Garden For The Classroom – Garden Centers appeared first on Primary Playground.

Everyone likes chocolate chip cookies right?! I made these free printable cookie counting puzzles to go along with one of our favorite books If You Give A Mouse A Cookie.

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Have you seen the animated show they’ve created on Amazon? It’s been a huge hit with my kids and they’re up to 3 seasons now!

I’m always looking for new ways to make practicing math fun. These free printable counting cookie puzzles work perfectly as a center or for small groups. You could even print them and send them home with your little learners that may need a little extra help.

To Start

Start by downloading the free printable cooking counting puzzles at the bottom of the post. If using in the classroom in small groups or a center, you’ll want to print them on card stock and laminate them for durability.  Cut out all of the puzzle pieces and you’re ready to play!

To Play

Mix up all of the puzzle pieces. Have the student choose a number card with Mouse on it.

Have them look for the matching number of cookies to make the puzzle match and set it aside. Have them continue matching all of the puzzle pieces. There are numbers 1-10 for them to practice counting.

To store them, you can save them in a plastic baggie, or my favorite way is to store them in small plastic photo boxes that I get from Michaels for $1.00 They are nice because I can stack them and easily find what I’m looking for in the future.

You can download the free printable counting cookie puzzles below.

Another favorite activity to do alongside these free printable counting cookie puzzles are these milk and cookie counting mats. The kids love using mini chocolate chip cookie cereal to physically count out the numbers and practice writing.

And this milk and cookie real and nonsense word sort is perfect to add as one of your ELA centers.

Or even turn it into a craft and writing activity with this mouse craft with writing prompts. They look adorable hanging in the classroom!

I hope your students enjoy all of these fun chocolate chip cookie activities as much as mine do!

We’ll see you next time!

Jenette

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