Kindergarten, first grade, and second grade are influential years in a child's learning. It is where they lay the foundation that will be built upon in later years. To ensure students succeed in every aspect, make sure the resources you are using have the following characteristics, and keep reading for some of my suggested resources that include all three!
Engagement
This one may seem obvious, but young students NEED to be engaged, especially kindergarteners. Using fun and creative resources in your classroom that keep students engaged while learning can help students foster a love of learning and help build their attention spans. Opt for a theme or activity you know your students will enjoy. This is the perfect time to pull out those interest inventories from the beginning of the year. If most of your students like monster trucks, work them into your lessons!
Motor Skills
Young students need the opportunity to practice building their motor skills. Academic crafts allow students to improve their motor skills. Cutting, gluing, and coloring are great ways to practice! This will, in turn, assist students with pencil grip and writing later on, making it easier for them to have neat penmanship.
Creativity
As with adults, no kid wants to do monotonous tasks all day. Kids need the opportunity to be creative. You will be surprised with what K-2 students can come up with. Children are meant to explore and create - allow them to do so in a safe environment.
3 Suggested K-2 Resources
Between my teaching experience and years of creating resources for teachers, I have begun to perfect my products to keep students engaged, improve their motor skills, and allow them to be creative. Here are some of my best-selling K-2 resources that include all three characteristics. Click on the pictures to see more. PLEASE NOTE: I am writing this in November, so Winter and Christmas are on my mind! I am linking mostly seasonal activities, but I will offer a link to find the same resource for other seasons.
Directed Drawing and Writing
Directed Drawings are a big hit nowadays. If you've never tried a directed drawing activity, trust me when I say that your students will be SO engaged!! Regular directed drawings do hit all of the three characteristics mentioned above, but I took it a step further and added a writing component. This gives them another opportunity to be creative and improves their writing skills. While it is fun to do activities in the classroom, they should serve an educational purpose and shouldn't be fillers or busy work. You can find all of my directed drawing resources HERE.
Writing Crafts
Writing Crafts, as you have probably already noticed, are the perfect activity for K-2 students. They allow students to be creative, keep them engaged, work on motor skills, AND serve an educational purpose (building and improving writing skills). You can view all of my writing crafts HERE.
Math Crafts
Now, I am not trying to be redundant, but crafts like these are perfect for K-2 students!
Motor Skills? Check!
Engagement? Check!
Creativity? Check!
Educational Purpose? Check!
Adorable Bulletin Board Display? Check!
Okay, so I added that last one in, but it's true! These Addition Santas are too cute!
Check out all of my math crafts HERE.
I hope this blog post has helped you understand why it's crucial to focus on engagement, creativity, and motor skills in K-2. With TPT offering millions of products, it is essential to evaluate them before purchasing. Now, I am not saying that you can't purchase worksheets to use in your classroom, but instead of using only worksheets, you can mix it up with a few worksheets, a craft, and a game. I also suggest evaluating TPT resources anyway because anyone can add resources to TPT - they do not have to be a teacher or homeschooler and do not need any teaching experience at all.
I'd love to know what you thought of this blog post! Leave me a comment below with your thoughts!
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