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Kindergarten Back to School Centers

Are you ready for back to school season? It'll be here before you know it! Do you ever feel like there's so much to get done and never enough time to do it? There's organizing to do, labels to be made, bulletin boards to get ready, and kindergarten back to school centers to be planned.

And while I can't help you put up bulletin boards (although I'd love to!), I can help you plan centers.

That's why today's blog post is full of great Kindergarten Back to School Centers! I've also put together a little freebie that I'll share with you at the end of this blog post.
 
Early on in my teaching career, planning centers was a challenge for me. I struggled with providing hands-on activities that would keep my kindergarteners engaged. I wanted activities that would challenge them but could still be done independently. And honestly, I didn't have the resources or time to come up with fun and fresh activities.
 
I knew there had to be other teachers like me with the same struggles. So that's where I got the idea to create the Kindergarten Math and Literacy Centers: Year Long Bundle.
 
While that bundle includes 260 centers made just for Kindergarten – today, I want to share the Back to School Centers resource.
 
Kindergarten math and literacy centers
 

Back to School Literacy Centers for Kindergarten

The back to school centers include 26 center activities – 13 math and 13 literacy centers.
 
These centers are perfect for August and September in Kindergarten. It's important to keep center activities very simple at the beginning of the school year. The last thing you want is for a student to be frustrated during the first few weeks of school.
 
All 26 centers include “I Can” visual directions and recording sheets as well as a follow-up practice page which can be used for homework or small group work. Answer keys are also included for easy checking.
 

Letter Match

Kindergarten back to school literacy centers

Students match the uppercase letter cards to the lowercase letter cards. Letter/picture cards will have the same theme – either a lunchbox and sandwich or apple and juice, so there is no confusion. An optional recording sheet is included for students to record their work.

Sound Match

Kindergarten back to school centers

Students decide if the two pictures on each clip card have the same beginning sound. Students then place a clothespin over either the checkmark or X mark on the clip card. Then they record their answers on the recording sheet.

Letter or Word?

Kindergarten back to school centers

Students decide if what's on the card is a letter or a word. They sort it under the correct heading and then list it on their recording sheet.

Tracing Shapes

Kindergarten back to school centers - tracing Shapes

Students will look at task cards with different shapes. Students will find the matching number on their recording sheet and then trace the shape that matches the task card.

Colorful Patterns

kindergarten back to school centers

Students will look at task cards with different patterns. Students will find the matching pattern on their recording sheet and then find crayons that match those colors. Then, students will color the cubes to match the pattern.

Counting Supplies

Kindergarten back to school centers

Students count how many items are on each clip card. Students then place a clothespin over the number if things shown on the clip card. Then they record their answers on the recording sheet.

 

Back to School Freebie

This freebie includes a letter matching activity and a math matching activity. Both freebies provide yours students with hands-on practice with back to school skills.

Planning for Kindergarten back to school centers? Check out this blog post with tons of ideas. You'll find hands on activities to teach letters and numbers. The center activities for kindergarten are student-friendly, hands-on, and simple enough for the first few weeks of school. You'll also find two FREE centers on this blog post, so click through and download your copy.

You'll want to print, laminate, and cut apart the “I Can” cards and the matching cards. Print a recording sheet for your students. Students match the ketchup and mustard cards (or the scissors and glue) to create a match. They record their matches on the recording sheet.

Planning for Kindergarten back to school centers? Check out this blog post with tons of ideas. You'll find hands on activities to teach letters and numbers. The center activities for kindergarten are student-friendly, hands-on, and simple enough for the first few weeks of school. You'll also find two FREE centers on this blog post, so click through and download your copy.

You can download the back to school freebie by clicking here.

Thanks so much for reading along as I shared about our Kindergarten Back to School centers! For more back to school ideas click here.

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18 Comments

  1. Love this post, so many great ideas! Any chance you could create a letter matching recording sheet for the milk and cookie cutout from Dollar Tree? I’ll happily pay for them.
    Thanks

    1. hi Lee Ann,
      You would need 3 packages of cut-outs (52 total pieces) to make a match for all 26 letters of the alphabet. During the first few weeks of school, I don't give my students all of the letters to match-up because that can be a lot of pieces and overwhelming for a Kinder brand new to the classroom, especially the little guys who are new to letter recognition. For the recording sheet they only need 8 matches, which is what I will give them at first so that they can be successful. A few weeks later I would give them the whole set and use the recording sheet again. Hope that helps!!
      -Melissa

    1. Hi I was just wondering if it is at all possible for you to post a clear individual picture of each cut out so it can be copied and laminated in order for us to use the worksheets. I live in Australia (and I understand these are a year old so may not be available still) but would appreciate this if possible?

  2. I was JUST @ The Dollar Tree Store yesterday and completely ignored these cut outs, choosing another set. I'm going to have to go back! Thanks for the idea. I'll modify it for my 3rd graders with synonyms or the alphabet in cursive!

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