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.
Solids, Liquids, Maple Syrup!
Introduce your first grade scientist to the properties of liquids and solids. This fun experiment uses the sweetest thing on the breakfast table...maple syrup!
Play the Consonant Blend Scavenger Hunt
Combine your child's love for scavenger hunts with their budding reading skills to create a fun game that's perfect for everything from birthday parties to rainy days at home.
Grow Spring Grass!
Most of us start longing for the green season of spring when the days start getting shorter and cooler. This activity brings the green grass of early spring inside while teaching your child about the cycles of growth.
It's All Natural! A Materials Scavenger Hunt
For literal-minded first graders, it's a stretch to understand that so much that we use day to day came from something in nature. Here's a way to make that connection - and encourage a young environmentalist, too.
Create a Coiling Snake
In this activity your child will make a coiling snake out of simple household materials, and also find out why they coil. In the end, he will have a coiling critter to hang up and enjoy!
Build Up for an Edible Structure
Learning how to see the world and then translate it into 3-D can be challenging when in the two dimensional world of paper and pencils or crayons. This activity encourages a child to sculpt in free form with the only rule is they have to build 'up'.
Valentine Party Blower Messages!
Here's a hilarious alternative to those sugary conversation hearts...and a way to keep building first grade literacy skills while you're at it!
Make Thanksgiving Turkey Place Cards
Reinforce those first grade "conventions" of writing by having your child make these decorative place cards for the Thanksgiving table.
Make a Santa "Wish List" Holder
This fun holiday activity will help your first grader collect a list of her Christmas wishes … and without realizing it, she’ll also get extra practice in reading and writing!
Weave a Paper Thanksgiving Placemat
Let your first grader contribute to your Thanksgiving table with this fun paper weaving activity ... while extending handwriting and math skills at the same time!
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