Looking for bridge learning for summer? A quick, print-and-go pack to take on the go? Or maybe just something for a rainy summer day. With more than 25 pages of fun activities, this free summer printable pack for PK-1st is just the ticket. It’s also available in Spanish or as a bilingual pack here.
Learning Focus
These summer printable activities for preschool through first grade are aimed at roughly kindergarten but, with a little help, work for PK students and, as independent-learning or morning basket activities, for first grade.
- Acquiring new summer vocabulary
- Introducing, practicing, and/or reviewing numbers 0-9
- Developing and improving fine motor skills, including tracing, cutting, gluing, etc.
- Introducing, practicing, and/or reviewing simple verbs
- Completing a bar graph (count and fill)
- Introducing, practicing, and/or reviewing the alphabet and individual letters with a specific focus on the letter S and related words
- Practicing visual discrimination
What’s Included
Because this download is colorable, it’s meant for low-in, black-and-white/colorless printing. Coloring is totally optional, but some kids love it so much that we included it as an option. Huge thank you to Creative Clips and P4 Clips for the amazing summer clipart!
Numbers
Why are numbers such a focus for PK-1st grade students? Simply put, math starts with numbers. And while numbers are endlessly useful and fun, it takes most kids years of seeing and working with numbers to truly master them. If you’ve ever heard a kid skip a number when counting or seen a student mix up the letter S and the number 5, you know what we mean.
Number emphasis is especially important during the transition between numerals and numbers written as words. Here, students work with 0-9 in both implicit and explicit ways and as words and numerals.
Fun and Interchangeable Puzzles
You’ve heard many people say “make learning fun.” And, where appropriate, we totally agree. One method of making learning fun, and probably the most impactful, is gamification. Basically, if you can turn learning into a puzzle worth solving or a game worth playing, students are more likely to let down their defenses and therefore be open to learning.
Numbers are especially easy to “gamify” and “puzzle-fy,” so used puzzles here to make learning and reviewing fun. If you happen to have very young learners who can’t pincer-grasp yet or learners who don’t have their numbers down yet, consider using uncut puzzles as flashcards first then cutting them to create puzzles.
Fine Motor Skills Activities
Kids love to manipulate, cut, color, trace, crumple–you name it. In this summer printable download, you’ll find lots of this type of motor skills practice, such as tracing, finishing patterns, cutting, lacing, and more.
Letter S
Letter S is one of the trickiest letters to get form correctly because it is difficult to size and because it looks like the number 5 at first. So here the practice is not just with recognition but also with forming the letter correctly. We recommend even older students do the letter formation pages because many kids need reinforcement on this letter well into first or second grade.
And More!
You can download the free summer printable pack for PK-1st below, so if you’d like to see what other fun activities are included, scroll to the download button. We know you’ll find something your learners will love in it.
Ideas for Free Summer Printable Pack for PK-1st
Below we’ve outlined some ideas for this free summer preschool activities pack for PK-1st. Drop us a line if you have an idea to share; we’d love to hear from you or to read your comments below.
Pacing and Reusing
Your sure to have noticed this, but young learners have short attention spans. That’s why we spread this printable out over a few days or a week.Moving through concepts in small increments helps learners to avoid getting overwhelmed.
If you want to reuse the pages, dry-erase markers and lamination, inexpensive sheet protectors like the ones that go in binders, or clear contact paper all work. Just write, swipe, and pass (or store and save for another learner, class, etc.).
Head Outside
Heading outside is fantastic for hands-on learning and allowing young kids to run off energy. You’re sure to find ideas that work for you, but a few we have tried are: hiding pieces of the numbers puzzles in safe locations; playing “I spy” with the summer vocabulary; and, using real objects to take counting to a new level.
Also Available in Spanish
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