Sorting activities are easy ways to engage students in learning to differentiate objects by shape, size and color. Customize each sorting activity to your specific unit or lesson plan. For example, if the unit is spring flowers, prepare flower cutouts of various sizes, shapes and colors. Task students with organizing the flowers by their different properties: for example, first all of the red flowers together, then all of the big flowers together. This versatile lesson plan can be used multiple times without growing stale.
Using physical movement as a tie-in to lesson plans about animals allows students to activate their bodies and link academic learning with physical activity. Prior to students getting up out of their seats, discuss as a class different types of animals and how they move. For example, talk about how animals move in the water, on the land, and in the air. Ask what are fast animals and slow animals. Guiding a classroom through animal movements provides a kinesthetic link, important for many students.
While not all kindergarten students may enter first grade with a firm grasp of numbers, kindergarten is the perfect time to begin introducing counting. Many counting rhymes exist, making learning to count a fun activity. Here is one example, "Five Little Ducks":
Five little ducks
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said
"Quack, quack, quack, quack."
But only four little ducks came back.
Four little ducks
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said
"Quack, quack, quack, quack."
But only three little ducks came back.
[Continue with Three and Two]
One little duck
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said
"Quack, quack, quack, quack."
But none of the five little ducks came back.
Sad mother duck
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
The sad mother duck said
"Quack, quack, quack."
And all of the five little ducks came back.
Popsicle sticks and nontoxic glue make for easy-to-use construction materials. Prompt students to build specific structures -- houses, animals -- or simply create beautiful abstract art. Place wax paper on the work surface to avoid gluing sticks to the table. Once the stick crafts have dried, encourage students to color them, add glitter, paint, or whatever other craft supplies are available. When everything is completed, have an art show for students and parents.