This comprehensive list is amazing for elementary teachers. Each list focuses on a different concept or type of activity that teachers can include in their classroom. Even better, each list is high interest and engaging for students. These educational activities are tried and tested by teachers and students alike. Teachers can use the lessons to bolster lessons they already have, or they can use the lessons on their own. Here are 30 amazing activities for elementary students.
1. Team Building Activities
From Escape Rooms to human knots, these indoor and outdoor activities for kids are great for bringing your classroom together. Kids will work together and use quick thinking to problem solve and build trust among each other. The classroom bonding activities are perfect for any time of year.
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2. Language Arts Activities
Teachers know that there is a heavy focus on language arts, especially at the elementary level. This list of 50+ activities will give you lesson ideas that will meet rigorous academic standards. From grammar to reading and writing, this list of activity ideas is the perfect classroom resource.
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3. Mindfulness Activities
In today's digital age with access to so much information online, teaching children to be mindful is more important than ever before. Each of these activities focuses on a different method and reason for being mindful. These lessons challenge elementary students to slow down, control impulses, and think before acting.
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4. Hands-On Activities
Elementary teachers know how busy K-5 kids are. These hands-on activities are great for helping kids develop an outlet for their creativity and energy. From making sock puppets to making maps, your students will love these creative activities.
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5. First Week of School Activities
The first week of school is arguably the most important time for teachers and students. This list of community-building activities is great for establishing rapport and developing a fun learning environment for your kiddos.
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6. Active Learning Activities
This list of active learning activities focuses on engaging students in tactile activities. This list is broken into large groups, small groups, and individual activities for kids so you can pick the lessons that fit best for your classroom and your goals.
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7. End-of-Year Activities
The end of the year brings a lot of joy and energy to the classroom. As kids celebrate moving into the summer and moving up in grade level, kids need high-energy activities to stay engaged. These activities from teachers are the perfect way to keep kids learning at the end of the year.
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8. SEL Activities
Social-emotional learning and development are at the forefront of education today. These SEL activities for kids teach the value of social-emotional skills, as well as how to develop social-emotional awareness. These are cross-curricular activities that you can use any time of year.
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9. First-Day Ice Breakers
The first day of school can be daunting, especially for our youngest learners. This list of creative craft ideas and fun games will set the tone for the year. Kids will love bringing home the first day of school craft or getting to know their classmates.
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10. Aviation Activities
This unique list of aviation educational activities is perfect for a mini-unit in your classroom. Teach kids about flying while challenging students to problem-solve and ask questions. This list of activities comes with printable activity sheets to minimize your prep!
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11. Transition Activities
Transition activities are great for filling unstructured time in the classroom. These high-energy activities only take 1-2 minutes, but they will do wonders for the structure of your classroom and the learning environment. Plus, kids will love how fun each activity is.
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12. STEM Activities
This list of STEM activities is another great list of science experiments that challenge students to think critically. Each activity engages students in learning and using the scientific method and analytical skills to solve problems.
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13. Responsibility Activities
Elementary school is an important time for kids to learn responsibility. Each of these activities focuses on an element of responsibility in order to foster a growth mindset, cooperation skills, and self-reflection. Each skill also focuses on setting goals and following through on them.
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14. New Years Activities
Speaking of goal setting, New Year is a great time to encourage students to self-reflect and set SMART goals for the new year. Each of these activities has a fun, engaging element that also relates to celebrating the new year.
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15. Music Activities
You can never go wrong with music activities in elementary school. Whether you use music to introduce a concept, practice a concept, or help students memorize a new concept, elementary kids will love the musical element in the classroom.
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16. Spring Activities
When the weather breaks, and kids finally get to go outside after a long winter, these spring activities will add an element of fun outdoor engagement to your lesson plans. Students will love the fresh air and they enjoy these spring-themed activities.
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17. Growth Mindset Activities
A growth mindset is an important concept in education right now, and the earlier students learn how to focus on improvement, the sooner they will experience success. These activities are perfect for any time of year, but they also pair well with first-day activities and New Years' lessons.
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18. Movement Activities
Do you have a high-energy class? Let's face it--what elementary kids aren't high-energy? These movement activities can be incorporated into any lesson to help break up the day and encourage students to burn off some energy.
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19. Cultural Diversity Activities
Cultural diversity is another important concept that kids should begin to learn about early on in their academic experience. These diversity activities will help you create culturally effective lessons that teach diversity, inclusivity, and acceptance.
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20. Map Skills Activities
This set of lessons is perfect for both indoor and outdoor learning. Kids will learn valuable mapping, direction, and spatial awareness skills that will help them navigate their world. These lessons are also great because they teach kids to be independent thinkers.
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21. Reading and Writing Activities
These reading and writing activities focus on literacy skills for elementary learners. Students will use their literacy skills to decode information and practice critical thinking skills to write about what they read.
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22. Social Skills Activities
Learning social skills is important, especially early on in elementary school. This list of activities focuses on introducing and practicing social skills in the classroom. Incorporate these activities into your daily lessons, or use them on their own.
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23. Compassion Activities
In today's world, it seems like kindness and compassion have gone by the wayside, but these activities will teach kids how to be compassionate. These are easy lessons and activities to include in your weekly plans and they will directly impact the learning environment of your classroom.
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24. Project Activities
Project activities are important even at the elementary level. Students need to learn how to complete multi-step learning tasks in order to prepare for middle school and high school. These project activities are multi-faceted and encourage long-term learning.
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25. Dinosaur Activities
What elementary kid doesn't love dinosaurs? Almost every school and curriculum includes a unit on dinosaurs. These dino activities are engaging, high-interest, and hands-on. Kids will love them!
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26. ESL Activities
The ESL population is growing each year, which means you likely have a population of ELs in your classroom. These activities are great for all learners, but they focus specifically on culturally inclusive lessons that help ELs learn.
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27. Comprehension Activities
These activities focus specifically on reading comprehension. These lessons encourage students to practice decoding, active reading, and summary skills to better comprehend rigorous texts. These activities are great for any reading level and text.
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28. Flipped Classroom Activities
Do you want to include more flipped classroom activities in your student's learning? The flipped classroom offers benefits for students, but the lessons and activities take a lot of prep time and effort to create. Here are several activities to get you started!
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29. 5-Minute Activities
Sometimes we just need 5 minutes for a brain break, or we have 5 minutes to spare in between lessons or at the end of the day. These 5-minute activities are the perfect way to fill time without losing instruction or rigor.
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30. Kindness Activities
Like compassion, kindness is an important element in the elementary classroom. Although these concepts are similar, this list is unique and focuses on teaching individuals to be kind to one another as well as to themselves.
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