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Space Themed Kindergarten Early Skills Unit – Out of This World!

September 23, 2021 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Learning basic concepts in preschool and kindergarten is the foundation of a good early elementary education.

By the time students leave kindergarten, we want them to have mastered learning colors, shapes, numbers, and letters.

This space-themed kindergarten early skills unit can help!

Fun Space Kindergarten Center for Early Learners

Educators often introduce these skills during preschool, but it’s in kindergarten when children really get a grasp of each area.

This unit is a great all-in-one when you’re welcoming students to a new school year. You can use it to test for mastery and to support kids who need a bit more practice before moving on to new concepts.

Read on to see how to pick up this early learning center for your class!

And, for more early math practice, take a look at our Apple Counting to Ten Center!

Learn basic concepts about shapes, counting, letter sounds, and colors with this fun space themed kindergarten center!

What’s In the Space Themed Kindergarten Early Skills Unit?

This kindergarten skills unit is packed with activities for learning four different skills:

Printable color matching activity cards (+ a digital version)
Printable shape matching activity cards (+ a digital version)
Printable beginning sound matching activity cards (+ a digital version)
and Printable counting to ten activity cards (+ a digital version)

Each of the materials in the resource is available in both color and blackline. Which can be a huge help if you need to save on ink.

Each of the materials also includes a set of instructions and detailed suggestions for use, including photos and a teaching script.

Digital Space Counting Kindergarten Activity

Each digital activity includes colorful movable slides for use with Google Slides.

Space Themed Digital Counting Activity for Kids

There’s also an answer key file for each activity, which makes grading a snap.

How to Use This Kindergarten Early Skills Unit with Kids

To use this space themed kindergarten early skills unit, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links are given below. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Printer (with ink)
Printer paper or cardstock
Laminator (optional)
Scissors
Clothespins
Dry erase crayons (optional)
Google Chromebooks or iPads (for the digital version)

I like to laminate the activity cards, so they’ll stand up to frequent use. But if you don’t laminate them, you might find it best to print them on cardstock.

Using Space Counting Activity Cards at Centers

Simply cut the activity cards apart and let students work with them to find the matching number, letter sound, shape, and color.

You can use the activity cards as clip cards by adding clothespins.

Or you can laminate the cards and let students use dry erase crayons to color the correct number, letter, shape, or color.

Blackline Space Kindergarten Center Shape Activity

If you use a blackline version, you can even let the kids color in the cards before working with them.

My personal favorite is using them at centers or in busy bags.

I like to put the cards on separate rings (by concept) and then I can hand them out all at once.

Using a Digital Space Counting Activity with Kids

Using the digital version of each activity is simple.

Just use the link in the resource to create a copy of each activity for use in Google Slides.

Students can move the yellow checkmark to mark the correct shape, color, letter sound, or number on each slide.

Digital Space Themed Color Matching Activity

There’s also an answer key for each activity. So you can grade each student’s work without having to navigate away from the assignment.

Digital Beginning Sounds Matching Activity

Get a look at one of the activities in use below!

Scroll down to get this space themed kindergarten early skills unit for your students!

Try some of these other early learning ideas!

This apple counting to ten math center for kindergarten is an excellent way to welcome students back to school with fun counting practice!

Learn the Spanish ABCs with this fun Spanish alphabet literacy center for early learners!

These shark themed counting to ten puzzles are wonderful for use at early math centers!

To get your copy of this Out of This World! Space Themed Early Learning Unit, click the image or the link below to visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

>>> Out of This World! Kindergarten Bundle <<<

10 Hands On Literacy Ideas for Kindergarten

June 15, 2021 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Kindergarten is an almost magical grade to teach.

The change between what students can do on the first day and what they can do on the last day is remarkable.

And that’s because we teach so many concepts during kindergarten that form the foundation of what our students will learn for years afterward – from reading to counting to working well with others.

Early literacy, in particular, is one of my passions. When we help our students learn to read, we help them learn how to learn.

And, if we can make it fun, they’re even more likely to stick with it. Which is why I’m sharing this list of 10 hands on literacy ideas for kindergarten!

Turning literacy into an interactive lesson is the best way to make sure our early learners stay engaged.

After all, we want them to learn to love reading, right?

These resources are excellent for building literacy skills and having fun at the same time!

Read on to see the full list and how to get a free early literacy resource too.

Need ideas for teaching math in kindergarten? Take a look at this list of fun counting books to read with kids!

10 Hands On Literacy Ideas for Kindergarten

Apple CVC Word Building Activity

Help your kindergartners practice phonics and spelling with this fun apple-themed word building activity!

Use the word cards at centers and let students practice threading the CVC words for themselves. Check out this resource.

Literacy ideas for kindergarten with highlighters

Use highlighters for phonics practice.

When you’re working with printed worksheets, add a little fun by letting students use highlighters!

They can write a new word and then highlight isolated letter sounds, such as the beginning sound, the vowel sound, the ending sound, and more.

Cupcake Letter Matching Activity for Kids

Cupcake Uppercase and Lowercase Letter Matching

Working on recognizing uppercase and lowercase letters?

This hands-on cupcake letter matching activity is a perfect activity for early centers! Check out this resource.

Letter manipulatives for word building in kindergarten

Use magnetic or foam letters at centers.

Letting students move letters around is a fun way to show them how word sounds change, depending on the position of each letter.

Hand out individual magnet boards and let the kids spell out words for themselves. Here is a great magnetic letters kit for early readers. (affiliate link)

Sidewalk chalk as a literacy idea for kindergarten

Use sidewalk chalk for outdoor literacy practice.

When the weather’s nice, take the class outside for the day’s reading lesson!

Draw a few vowels on the pavement and let the kids run to the vowel sound you say. You can also write a few CVC words on the concrete and let them find each one, based on how it sounds.

Sign Language Alphabet Learning Cards

Help your early readers practice recognizing written letters while learning sign language! And they make a fantastic addition to your collection of hands on literacy ideas for kindergarten.

These printable sign language alphabet learning cards are excellent for building hand-eye coordination and learning to spell in ASL! Check out this resource.

Hands On Short Vowel Sounds Activity for Kids

Vowel Houses Short Vowel Sound Activity

If you take a few minutes to prep a reusable activity, you can set up a center lesson that kids will use again and again.

This Vowel Houses CVC Word Activity is fantastic for centers! Students can practice placing the pictures in the correct houses by reading the words and listening for the vowel sound. Check out this resource.

Rhyming Word Puzzles

Kindergarten is the grade for learning about rhyming words. These printable rhyming word puzzles are awesome for centers and morning tubs!

Plus, they come with a non-labeled set, so students can practice listening for the rhyming sound and reading it. Check out this resource.

Using a dry erase board as a hands on literacy idea for kindergarten

Use a whiteboard to introduce early ELA skills.

As your students build reading fluency, you’ll start introducing them to what sentences should look like – capitalizing first letters, ending with the right punctuation, and so on.

I like to use a whiteboard to write sentences incorrectly and then ask my students what I need to change. They love pointing out my mistakes!

Cookie and Cupcake Themed Alphabet Practice

If you need a quick take-home activity for students, this cookie and cupcake themed alphabet practice set is perfect!

These alphabet worksheets feature five literacy activities for early readers that help them practice recognizing and using letters – with a fun dessert theme.

To get your copy of these printable Sweet Treats! Literacy Worksheets, click the image or the link below to have them sent directly to your inbox – free!

You’ll also get our newsletter this Sunday night!

>>> Cookie and Cupcake Alphabet Worksheets <<<

Did you like this list of hands on literacy ideas for kindergarten? Try some of these other ideas for building early literacy skills!

Help early learners to recognize letters and letter sounds with these Alphabet Animal Flashcards!

Use this printable Space Color by Sight Word Activity to help early readers practice literacy skills and have an art activity too!

Practice helping early learners memorize the letters of the alphabet with these printable finish the alphabet worksheets for kids! Great for learning alphabetical order!

Spring into Counting! Spring Counting to Ten Math Center

April 6, 2021 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Teaching during spring is the best time of all, in my opinion.

Fall has the excitement of back to school, which I love. But springtime teaching is filled with bright and sunny themes, like birds and bees and flowers.

Plus, everyone (students and teachers) knows that the end of the school year is quickly approaching. Everyone just seems to be in a better mood.

During kindergarten, counting to ten is one of the most essential skills for students.

It’s generally taught early in the year, but reinforced later on, particularly if your district uses standardized testing before year’s end.

Which is where this Spring into Counting! Spring Counting to Ten Math Center can help!

Fun Spring Themed Counting to Ten Math Center

This counting to ten math center is filled with fun, hands-on activities for early learners.

It’s aligned to several standards for counting, and it can be used in several ways.

Read on to see how to get your copy. And how to score a sample of it – free!

For more ways to bring learning to life during spring, take a look at our list of 40 spring science ideas too!

This spring counting to ten math center is excellent for kindergartners to use during spring months!

Spring into Counting! Counting to Ten Math Center

This spring kindergarten math center is loaded with resources for reviewing counting objects from one to ten.

To use this resource, you’ll need the following: (This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Counting to Ten Math Center for Kindergarten

This spring math resource features several counting activities for kids.

Depending on your students, you might use some of the printables as one-time lessons (or for homework) and others as reusable activities at centers.

Each set of activities comes with a line art version and an answer key.

So if you’re trying to save on ink, use the line art version and let students color in the pictures themselves!

Spring Circle the Number Worksheet for Kindergarten

There are two count and circle the number of objects worksheets.

A count and write the number activity is included.

Two count and color the number worksheets are inside.

Spring Counting to Ten Cut and Paste Activity

Plus, students can use the cut and paste counting activity to boost fine motor skills!

If you’re using this at centers, laminate the pages and let students practice completing each one with dry erase markers.

For the cut and paste activity, simply laminate the page and then attach hook and loop sticky dots to the number boxes. Then students can match them up again and again.

See the cut and paste spring counting activity in action in the video below!

Printable Spring Count and Clip Cards

At the front of this spring math center resource, you’ll find two sets of count and clip cards with a fun spring theme!

Spring Count to Ten Math Center for Kindergarten

Again, a full line art version is included.

Using Count to Ten Clip Cards with Kindergartners

There are also answer key sets of each spring count and clip card.

You can place these in morning tubs or let students practice matching up their cards to the answer cards.

And – if you’d like, you can get the first page of these Spring Count and Clip cards sent to your inbox free! (With the line art version!) Keep reading for details.

See the count and clip cards in action in the video below!

Scroll down to get your copy of this Spring into Counting math center!

Take a look at these other early learning ideas for spring!

This butterfly life cycle activity is such a fun way to help kids learn how butterflies grow! Great for science during spring and summer!

This spring flower themed size sorting activity is so much fun for early learners! Students can use it to practice separating big and small flowers during spring!

To get your free sample of our Spring Count and Clip Cards, click the image or the link below to have them sent to your inbox!

You’ll also receive our weekly newsletter – coming this Sunday night!

>>> Spring Count and Clip Cards <<<

To take a look at the complete Spring into Counting! Counting to Ten Math Center, click the image or the link below to visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

Spring into Counting Math Center for Kindergarten

>>> Spring into Counting! Math Center – Teachers Pay Teachers <<<

Rainbow Number Word Matching Activity for Kids

April 8, 2020 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Our smallest learner has been recognizing numbers for years.

She can count all the way to 100 and she is so proud to tell you about it.

Every. Single. Chance. She. Gets.

But I noticed that she needed a little more help recognizing number words, so I wanted to make learning that as fun as possible.

Which is how we ended up with this rainbow number word matching activity! I thought this would be a wonderful early math lesson and so I’m sharing it with all of you too!

Digital and Print Rainbow Number Word Matching Activity

Read on to see how to get this number word recognition activity for your little ones!

Need to use it as a digital activity that your students can complete online? Keep reading to see how to grab it as a digital lesson!

And, for more math learning, don’t miss our list of 10 math activities for kids with ADHD.

They’re all hands-on and easy to set up, so your active learners won’t have to sit around waiting.

Use the digital or print version of this rainbow number word matching activity to help early learners recognize number words!

Rainbow Number Word Matching Activity for Kids

This number word activity is a perfect fit for early spring math centers!

Since it involves basic literacy skills, it’s best suited for kindergartners. But if you have preschoolers are who are ready for number words, feel free to use it with them.

For this activity, you’ll need the following: (This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Rainbow Numeral and Number Word Matching

Once you print out the product, use scissors to cut out the rainbows and the cloud number words.

Time to break out the sticky dots!

Rainbow Number Word Matching Activity for Kids

Just place one on each side of the rainbow and one on the back of each cloud.

Then let the kids practice matching up the number word clouds with the correct number rainbows!

One cloud goes on each side of each rainbow.

Printable Rainbow Number Word Matching Game

Like so!

Printable Rainbow Themed Number Word Puzzles

There are rainbows and clouds for the numerals and number words all the way to ten!

Rainbow Number Word Puzzle Activity for Kids

These would make a great busy bag activity for little ones too! Just assemble them and store them in a bag for later.

Need to save on ink? Use the lineart version!

Let the kids color the rainbows themselves, then laminate them and assemble like usual.

Rainbow Themed Number Word Matching Activity

Digital Rainbow Number Word Matching Activity for Kids

If you’re using distance learning or just prefer digital activities with your students, you can pick up the digital version of this activity!

This resource is compatible with Google Slides and you can use it on a tablet or on a desktop computer with a mouse.

Digital Rainbow Number Word Matching Activity for Kids

All ten rainbows are included, along with the number word clouds.

An answer key is also provided for ease of grading.

Get a look at this digital math activity action in the video below!

Scroll down to pick up these Rainbow Number Word Matching Puzzles!

Check out these other fun math ideas for early grades!

Use the digital or printable version of this Spanish Counting to 10 activity to practice number recognition in English and Spanish!

Help early learners practice recognizing shapes with these printable shape identification flashcards!

To get your copy of our Rainbow Number Word Puzzles, click the image or the link below to visit our Store!

>>> Rainbow Number Word Puzzles <<<

Want to use this activity as a digital lesson for distance learning?

Click the image or the link below to pick up the digital version of this product from my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

>>> Digital Rainbow Number Word Matching Activity – Teachers Pay Teachers <<<

Uppercase and Lowercase Cupcake Letter Matching Activity

March 30, 2020 by Selena Robinson 3 Comments

Working with a kindergartner is kind of like walking on a tightrope.

They don’t want to do anything too “baby-ish”, but they’re not quite ready for “real school” either.

Except for my four-year-old.

She wants to do EVERYTHING her older siblings are doing, including learning subjects and predicates, as well as order of operations.

Naturally, I’m trying to put the brakes on a little, especially since she’s our last child we’ll ever homeschool.

But she’s ready to go on to more advanced concepts and there’s no stopping her!

So I thought she’d love this fun cupcake-themed letter matching activity for learning about lowercase and uppercase letters!

And she did.

She thought it was one of the most awesome activities we’ve done yet!

Read on to see how to get a copy of this printable alphabet activity for your little ones and score a digital drag and drop version too!

And check out our cupcake playdough mats for even more fun PreK learning!

Cupcake Uppercase and Lowercase Letter Matching Activity

To make this cupcake uppercase and lowercase letter matching activity, you’ll need the following: (This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Printer (with ink)
Printer paper
Laminator (for durability)
Scissors

To get started, just print out the cupcake pages. Then cut out each cupcake.

Finally, cut the “frosting” with the lowercase letter away from the “cake” bottom with the uppercase letter.

How to Use the Cupcake Letter Matching Activity

Once you cut apart the uppercase cupcakes and the lowercase frosting pieces, just mix them up and hand them to your eager early learner!

Piglet wasted no time in getting started matching up each frosting and cake combination.

As she found each matching letter set, she’d reassemble the completed cupcake.

It didn’t take long for her to start working her way through the entire alphabet.

And making quite a lovely batch of cupcakes!

This was such a fun and cute letter matching activity!

And, as you can see, she absolutely loved it!

Ready to try this with your kids?

Scroll down to pick up this cupcake-themed alphabet matching activity!

Don’t miss these other fun early learning ideas!

To get your copy of our Cupcake Letter Matching Activity, click the image or the link below to visit our Store!

>>>>Cupcake Letter Matching Activity<<<<<

Want to score the printable activity and a digital version you can use on your computer or tablet?

Stop by my Teachers Pay Teachers store to get the printable + digital bundle of this cupcake letter activity for preschoolers!

>>> Printable + Digital Cupcake Letter Matching – Teachers Pay Teachers <<<

Simple Minimalist Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum

September 4, 2017 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

My last little one is learning at kindergarten level this year. She’s working at first grade in some concepts, but there are a few important kindergarten objectives that I want her to grasp before we move on.

So we’ll be focusing there and then moving forward as she becomes comfortable.

In keeping with my desire to make homeschooling a lot less stressful than it has been previously, I’m practicing minimalist homeschooling this year.

Basically, that means using as few resources as possible to make lesson planning, teaching, and guiding as easy as possible.

And so…here’s a look at my minimalist kindergarten homeschool curriculum!

This is a great list if you’re trying to keep your homeschool plans simple this year.

By the way, if you’re teaching older kids, take a look at our minimalist fourth grade curriculum plans too!

A Simple Minimalist Homeschool Curriculum for Kindergarten

Image c/o: eskaylim / depositphotos

Note: This is a very minimalist homeschool curriculum for kindergarten. So this truly focuses on the basics: reading, writing, and arithmetic.

I also include science, because I believe it is essential to introduce science to kids as early as possible. Thinking scientifically comes so naturally to young ones and it’s wonderful to encourage that way of exploration from the start.

All-in-One Program: ABC Mouse will be our primary homeschool program for kindergarten. We got to try it earlier this year and my little one has absolutely loved it. After working with it over the summer, her reading ability has skyrocketed. So, we’re sticking with it for this entire school year.

Reading: While ABC Mouse is a great core program, I want our kindergartner to get some structured practice in reading and responding, so we’re using 180 Days of Reading for Kindergarten to give her some regular reading practice daily. It’s also a good way to make sure we hit all the sight words for this grade level.

Handwriting: Since she already knows the alphabet and how to write each letter, we’ll be focusing on improving her overall handwriting. To do this, we’ll be using a standard Roselle Paper Primary Pad to do some basic copywork each day. We’ll try to complete one sentence each morning to warm up and see how her handwriting progresses through the year.

The Ultimate Guide to Brain Breaks eBook

Math: Our supplemental math practice will be the Early Math section from Khan Academy. When this grade level was first introduced, I leapt for joy. We love Khan Academy, but I was looking for something to help my younger kids with basic math skills and this is it. Our kindergartner loves it.

Science: Finally, for science, we’ll be working through the Usborne First Encyclopedia of Science together. I used this book with my boys when they were younger and it was a big hit. In fact, our Floating Egg Experiment came out of this book!

In addition to these core subjects, we’ll be sharing plenty of crafts and stories together this year. Look out for list of reading choices for kindergarten – coming soon!

What are you using to homeschool your kindergartners this year? Share your curriculum picks in the comments!

Want to see more of our minimalist homeschool curriculum choices? Check out these posts for suggestions!

See more tips for getting your homeschool year started on my Homeschool Planning Pinterest board!

This post is part of the Back to Homeschool Blog Hop hosted by iHomeschool Network! Click over to read more curriculum choices from our fellow bloggers!

The Simple Homeschool Kindergarten Method We’re Using This Year

May 23, 2017 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Piglet is my very last child to homeschool. *sniff* And I probably have enough homeschooling books, workbooks, toys, games, and printables to teach twelve more children after her. (I wish I was kidding.)

But last year, we decided to streamline our homeschooling materials and practice minimalist homeschooling. Which is using the least amount of materials necessary to teach our kids. Instead of feeling tied to using up everything for each grade level, we focused on what they needed to learn and let them explore the rest on their own. It was life-changing.

So when it was time to plan to move on to planning our homeschool kindergarten program for her, I decided to stick with the least amount of materials necessary to do it.

Which is why I was thrilled to have an opportunity to try ABCmouse – an online early learning academy for kids ages 2-8! With this program, we’ll be using a simple homeschool kindergarten curriculum that requires almost no prep at all from me. And I’ll need all the extra time I can find, since my oldest is starting seventh grade this year. *scream*

Read on to see how we’re using this program to get our kindergartner off to the right homeschooling start!

Disclosure: I received access to this program in exchange for this post. All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review. This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.

Simple Homeschool Kindergarten with ABC Mouse

ABCmouse is the most comprehensive digital early learning resource for kids in grades PreK through 2. The program covers over 8,500 different educational standards, so you can easily find out which ones your child knows and which ones he or she needs to master.

To get started, just go to ABCmouse.com and sign up for the 30-day trial. You can set up your parent profile and then enroll up to three children. From there, your child can create an avatar (Piglet loved this) and then take an assessment to find out what lessons they should start with.

The assessment takes about 45 minutes from start to finish, but that’s 45 minutes straight, which my four-year-old couldn’t handle. We ended up breaking it into three separate sessions of about 15 minutes. That way, she didn’t get irritable from sitting too long.

Since she’s already been doing preschool work for the past nine months, we gave Piglet the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment, which tested her on 13 different skills, including shape recognition, picture recognition, early phonics, counting, and more.

Want to see the assessment in action? Take a look at this quick video!

So, while you’re not supposed to offer assistance with the questions, you should be nearby to help with navigating the menu. At least at the kindergarten level.

The third time we had Piglet sit down to work on her assessment, we wised up and used the ABCmouse app on our tablet, which is super easy to navigate and follow. She could just select the answers with her little fingers and move along at her own pace.

Simple Homeschool Kindergarten with ABC Mouse

By the way, when you sign up for ABCmouse, there are several apps you get access to that you can use without Wi-Fi, including ABCmouse Zoo, ABCmouse Music Videos, and ABCmouse Mastering Math. These apps are available in the Apple AppStore and in the Google Play Store. In fact, we used it with our Amazon Kindle Fire just fine.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg with ABCmouse.com! There are so many lessons, games, and activities that make learning fun! In fact, we had to tell Piglet “That’s enough school for today. You can do more tomorrow.” Which is a pair of sentences I didn’t think I’d ever utter in my life.

Ready to get your early learner off to the races? Visit ABCmouse.com and sign up for a free 30-day trial to see how much fun your child can have learning!

Check out these other early learning resources!

Want more tips for homeschooling early grades? Follow my Learning for Little Ones board on Pinterest!