January and New Year’s Activities for K-1
Need some fun and meaningful activities for January and the New Year? I’ve got you covered! There are so many fun activities to do with your class during the Winter season and I’m sharing my favorites with you below!
New Year’s Activity Pack
This New Year’s Activity Pack includes lots of different fun print and go activities for your students to complete, and it also includes this fun New Year’s Resolution craftivity!
These Snowmen at Night writing responses always make the cutest bulletin board display, plus they just make me happy!
There isn’t any template for these though- they’re done “the old school way.” I cut squares of construction paper and teach students how to make little houses, roofs, windows, and snow with construction paper only. They glue their houses on a piece of black construction paper to make them pop!
I read Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner and we discuss what we would do if we were snowmen at night, and then we write about those things! I always love seeing the funny responses. The writing response paper for this activity was just typed up on PowerPoint and I typed “Snowmen at Night” at the top. Easy peasy!
Penguin Art Project
I try to do a fun art project every once in a while, and I usually have students complete it on Fun Friday. I LOVE this project from Deep Space Sparkle and it can be found HERE. We always do it right after reading Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester.
New Year’s Crown Templates
Who doesn’t love a good crown?! Just print, color, and stick these on a sentence strip to make a little crown/hat to wear.
This crown template can be found HERE, but if you are part of the Firstie Fam, you get it for free!
Firstie Fam members can find it in the Exclusive Freebie section of my website HERE. You’ll need a password to enter, and you can grab it if you sign up to join on my website!
Winter Read Alouds
There are SO many fun read alouds to do during the Winter season! You can grab any of these books (and so many more) all right HERE on my Amazon list.
Print and Go Snowman Writing Craftivity
Students always love a sweet writing craftivity! All my craftivities come with the pieces needed to make them (they can be printed on colored paper or you can have students color them) and several different writing responses for you to choose from!
You can grab my Craftivities for the Year Bundle at a discount HERE.
Grab the Snowman Writing Craftivity Here.
Word Work for Any Word List
Students always love these fun word work pages! I put a new one into our word work bin each week so students to have one choice that is a little more festive than the other word work that we usually do. Students practice writing word family words, phonics pattern words, heart words, sight words, word wall words, or whatever words your class is currently working on!
You can grab this word work HERE.
You can read more about my word work station HERE.
No Prep Winter Math Games
These print and play math games are the easiest math center to prep! They’re also great because they review lots of math concepts that students should be working on consistently.
You can grab the math game bundle HERE.
Winter Color By Codes
Color by Codes are perfect for reviewing concepts that have already been taught! I print these out and keep them in a “busy bin” for students to grab from if they are a fast finisher and have nothing else to work on. Each pack includes several math and phonics concepts.
Grab the Winter Color By Code HERE.
Polar Bear Place Value
This craftivity is easy to differentiate and it requires little prep! Just print the pieces and go! I love using craftivities on Fun Friday in our math centers. They make the best review activities!
Hands-On Winter Word Hunt
Looking for some fun, low-prep, hands-on word work to add into your word work center? This one is sooo easy to prep, and students love it!
January Editable Phonics Game
If you haven’t played my editable phonics games yet, you need to ASAP! This is always a class favorite and it’s SO easy to prep, print, and play! You can type in ANY phonics skill words (or any words that you’re working on) into this template to use for the game!
How to Play:
1. Set the sand timer and make a stack of word cards
2. Take turns picking a card and reading the word
3. If you grab a sound word card (beep beep, boo, gobble, crunch, brrr, hugs, hee-hee, peep, or splash) card, all your cards go back in the stack!
4. The person with the most cards when the timer goes off is the winner!
For a fun review, play this game as a class- students VS. teacher!
Reviewing Expectations with Behavior Incentive Charts
No matter how amazing your classroom management is, students will need to review classroom and school expectations after they return from Winter Break.
These Project and Trace (or print) charts are perfect ways to keep students on track. Each time students have a great transition, are all on task, etc., I’ll add a picture piece to the chart. When students earn all the pieces, they get a reward/treat. Rewards/treats can be as simple as earning an extra recess, having a dance party, or getting a Hershey’s kiss to munch on while they are working. Simple and fun!
I also love leaving these charts for a sub because it helps to remind students to stay on track with the expectations I’ve set for them.
Math Around the Room
I love these Winter Math Around the Room centers because they are so easy to set up (just print, cut, and go) and students are always engaged when they are moving around the room “hunting” for the math cards.
Each pack includes over 20 math concepts so it doesn’t matter if you are currently working on number bonds, place value, shapes, or any other K-1 math concepts because they’re all in the pack for you!
You can grab the Math Around the Room Bundle at a discount HERE.
Positive Behavior Notes
I love sending home positive behavior notes with deserving students each day! I keep a stack of these on my desk, and when I see a student go “above and beyond” I’ll write their name at the top of the note, sign my name at the bottom, and tape a little Starburst candy to the top for them to bring home to show their families. This is such a quick and easy way to make a positive connection between school and home.
Grab the Winter Positive Behavior Notes HERE.
I hope your Winter/New Year is off to a fantastic start, and I hope you’ve found some great ideas to help fill your Winter or January!
