1st Grade Activities
First grade is a year of firsts: your child's first full day of school, the first time she'll write a small story herself, and the first time she'll read a complete book cover to cover. We've got dozens of wacky reading and math activities, cool science experiments, and indoor and outdoor games to keep the learning fun.
If your child aspires to be the next Frank Lloyd Wright, we've got some tips on building a castle that lasts.
Admit it. Sometimes you just don't feel like rolling out of bed in the morning. Well, with Mother's Day, Father's Day, and a host of other excuses (er, holidays) on the calendar, letting your kids make breakfast in bed every now and then seems only fair. Plus, it helps them practice fractions!
More activities for 1st grade:
Paint for Learning at "Sidewalk School"
Help your child practice new writing and math skills with a fun outdoor activity that will have your child teaching you! By using watercolor paints to practice writing letters, sentences, and math problems, your child will practice essential first grade skills in his "Sidewalk School."
Design a Diorama!
Help your child make an imaginative scene come to life by designing and detailing a diorama. Your child will be practicing two and three dimensional thinking, plus the essential language arts skill of constructing a narrative!
Make a Labor Day Career Book!
Celebrate Labor Day and give your child a jump start on the school year by taking a walk through your neighborhood and talking about the different jobs that people do, then showing him how to make his very own "career book."
Practice Stick Writing!
First graders will get a kick out of creating a written message and practicing their letters using sticks they find in nature. This also helps to practice their letter formation and handwriting strokes.
Make Your Own Pinata!
A longtime staple of birthday parties, the candy-filled pinata is a part of everyone's childhood. Now, your family can make its own pinata!
Chalk it Up! An Outdoor Classification Activity
Classifying and sorting into groups is also a large part of the first grade math curriculum. The outdoors offers an abundance of learning tools for children, and classifying in the natural world gives your child an added lesson in scientific observation and classification.
Get Your Head in the Clouds!
First graders are eager to learn about science - especially using large objects to observe like clouds. Let your child daydream a little and use those science and writing skills, too!
Play Rainbow Bingo!
First graders need to be able to read color words quickly and accurately, without taking the time to sound them out. Here's a fun bingo game designed to give your first grader fun, colorful practice learning to recognize words like "red" and "purple."
Put Together a Sight Word Puzzler
First graders benefit greatly from learning to read words quickly and automatically, but practice doesn't need to be a chore. In this "out-of-the-box" approach to practicing sight words, practice looks a lot like play!
