Fall Math Activities for Kindergarten
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🍁Fall is such a fun time in kindergarten! New students, new routines, new supplies, new experiences, and so much more “NEW”! I love incorporating various fall math activities for kindergarten into my math centers and lessons.
In the fall, kindergarteners are most likely still learning your classroom routines and expectations, so it is SUPER important to choose math activities that are easy to implement, and developmentally appropriate. Activities should allow children to learn your expectations while practicing important foundational skills through play and peer interaction.
Since the Common Core came about in 2009, many kindergarten classrooms have been forced to eliminate most play-based learning and replace it with more direct instruction and assessments.
Sadly, that is the story for most of our kindergarten classrooms. We, as teachers, need to find ways to incorporate learning through play into our daily instruction and assessments. Through my findings and creations, I have come up with fall math activities for kindergarten that are both fun and developmentally appropriate for the beginning of the school year.
Let’s jump right into my favorite fall math activities for kindergarten!
Write the Room Kindergarten
Writing the room is so much fun! This is a great activity, especially at the beginning of the school year because the activity incorporates movement, i.e., “gets the wiggles out!”
I like to start “write the room” with simple ten frames for kids to gain more exposure to the tools they will be using all school year. In Write the Room, students walk around the room with clipboards and pencils and work together to search for the hidden cards. As they find the cards, they record the correct number in the matching space.
I always start with numbers up to ten, unless some kiddos are ready to move onto higher numbers. This activity can be easily differentiated for your unique group of kiddos.
Ten Frame Activities for Kindergarten
Ten frames, ten frames, ten frames!
Did I say ten frames?
In this activity, students place the correct number of manipulatives onto the ten frame. Then they write the number along the bottom. I use this ten frame math center all school year long with varying themes. As the year progresses, I change the difficulty of the ten frames that I use.
I LOVE using mini erasers for this math center activity that I find in the Target Dollar Spot. Another place to find mini erasers is Amazon. There are so many adorable erasers!
Also, not pictured, at the beginning of the school year I also have my students shape the number with play-dough! There are so many fun ways to use these mats!
Count and Clip Cards
Count and Clip Cards are such an easy center activity to implement at the beginning of the school year. Students simply count the objects on the task card and clip a clothespin on the correct number of objects. As an added bonus, students are building fine motor strength with the clips!
Just like the mini erasers, there are so many varieties of fun clothespins!
Playdough Counting Mats
Math activities and play-dough just seem to go hand-in-hand! Play-dough is an AMAZING tool to use in all areas of your classroom!
This fall math center has so many benefits!
- Creative learning
- One-to-one counting
- Number recognition
- Fine motor strengthening!
I also have four choices of fall counting mats, so I can use this math center for four different center sessions!
Fall Sensory Bins
Sensory bins are so fun in kindergarten! There are so many options for fillers, many of which you probably have in your own classroom. I like to fill my sensory bins with seasonal items that I either find outside or at a discount store.
Pictured above, I am using ten frame cards along with fabric leaves that I had found at the dollar store. Pictured below is the recording sheet I use to go along with this center. It’s so easy for beginning kindergarteners and can be done with little teacher direction!
If you want to see more sensory bin ideas, see fall sensory bins and Halloween sensory bins!
Fall Counting Books
Counting and Crafting.
Kindergarteners LOVE❤️ to craft (and so do their teachers)! I love this simple counting book activity because it is an INDEPENDENT math activity incorporating counting and fine motor skills. Prep is easy!
To Prep:
Grab colored tissue paper and cut into small 1’’ squares
Print the books (2 books per sheet)
Cut the books down the middle and staple
Place all materials in a center bin along with glue!
I use many themes of counting books throughout the school year, so over the summertime, I cut several colors of tissue paper into squares. When I need the tissue paper squares for a math activity, all I need to do is grab the colors that I am looking for and put it in my center bucket! With having the tissue paper squares already prepped, I shave almost ten minutes off of my preparation time! I am all about making prep EASY!
Count & Chain for Fall
Strengthen those fine motor muscles while practicing 1:1 counting!
Fall Poetry
Poetry in kindergarten is developmentally appropriate all school year long in SO many ways!
My girl, Sarah over at the Little Learning Corner, has fantastic fall poems that can be incorporated into math and math centers! I LOVE her poem, 10 Little Apples. When reading this poem, you can have the students act out the poem by using their bodies or little apple props! There are so many fun ways that poems can be integrated into fall math activities! You can find Sarah and her adorable Fall Poems for Kids here.
Other Blog Posts You May Like:
Dear First Year Kindergarten Teacher, I’ve Got You!
Johnny Appleseed Day Activities for Kindergarten
Fall Sensory Bins for Kindergarten
The Sensory Bins Master Guide & a Freebie
The Sensory Bin Kit For Kindergarten And Preschool!
Sensory Bin Kit
Some of the most difficult parts of sensory bin implementation are the gathering and preparation of the bins, aligning activities to curriculum and standards, and then the storage of all the materials. I have heard your struggles and been in the trenches with you! This is why I have created the Ultimate Sensory Box.
The Ultimate Sensory Box is the complete sensory bin toolkit that helps preschool and kindergarten teachers teach state standards while remaining developmentally appropriate and adding more opportunities for students to learn through play. Each box contains 16 intentionally-planned and creative activities along with everything that is needed! The only item not included is the sensory bin itself.
You can view the Ultimate Sensory Box listing on Cratejoy here!
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Fall Math Activities for Kindergarten
So there you have it! Fun, developmentally appropriate fall math activities for kindergarten. I hope this post is helpful in planning your own fall math activities for your kinders!
Tag me on Instagram @sparkling.in.primary with your fun fall math activities! I love to see others in action!
If you are looking for a FREE Classroom and Procedure Planning Workbook. I talked about it in this blog post for kindergarten teachers. Download the workbook, it is FREE!
As always, keep on shining in the classroom!
See more Hopping Fun Friday fall ideas!