May is a crazy busy month in the classroom! We’re approaching the end of the year and there’s more than ever to do! So how do we manage to keep those excited students engaged through the final countdown? With hands-on learning activities of course! Come along to see this roundup of my favorite May activities for kindergarten!
Finding Balance in May
We all know that the end of the year is busy! It feels a lot like the beginning of the year in many ways to me. My to-do list is long, my hours feel shorter, and there are a lot of special events going on. I usually find myself planning a kindergarten graduation, parent events, and end-of-the-year parties. Not to mention our regular lessons of course!
Since this can feel a little chaotic, I like to set some expectations for myself in May before the madness gears up. For me, this just means being realistic about what I can accomplish and taking some time to cross non-essential items off my list. I know it’s hard to admit we can’t do it all – but I promise it will save your sanity!
I try and remember that I don’t have to do everything and that above all, my kids need a present and calm teacher to facilitate some fun lessons as the year winds down. This mental pep talk is really helpful for me, so I actually put it on my calendar at the beginning of the year to remind myself to make a quick time audit when this time comes around. If it’s not essential, cross it off!
Planning Engaging May Activities
Now that we’ve covered that, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of lesson planning for May. So what should we focus on this month? By May, your students are ready for an in-depth review of what you’ve been learning all year. You might work a few new things into the mix as well, but for the most part, May usually involves lots of review and individual assessments as we prepare for end of the year report cards.
I like to choose activities that will help them practice working with some of the trickier skills and concepts we’ve learned this year. Many of the no-prep snap cube activities in my April Roundup also work well in May for this purpose! The spring themes work well in May and allow my kiddos some extra practice with math and literacy skills.
I also lean heavily into reviewing many of the phonemic awareness skills we’ve learned throughout the year. I’m a big fan of using small-group games for this! Games make practicing skills such as segmenting, rhyming, and blending fun and easy! Once you pull out a game like BINGO or Feed Me, it doesn’t take much to get your students to perk up! Games are great for those points in the day when engagement seems to drop a bit. In my classroom, this is usually in the afternoons and definitely on Fridays! Try using a fun phonics game to boost student attention during these times!
Aside from these review activities though, I really focus on FUN in May! I want my kiddos to end the year on a positive, happy note. I want them to remember kindergarten as a fun-filled year of learning! By choosing some hands-on learning activities that make them smile, I’m pretty sure I’m doing just that. Here are 5 ideas to try if you’re hoping to infuse some fun into your May activities plan!
Flippy Flaps Lapbooks
The name “flippy flaps” just sounds fun, doesn’t it? If you’ve been around here for any length of time, you probably already know how much I adore using lapbooks with my students. We use them to explore many different science and social studies topics, all while weaving in ELA and fine motor skills at the same time. If you only have time to add one activity to your May lesson plan, make it a lapbook!
What Are Lapbooks?
Lapbooks, also known as Flippy Flaps in my classroom, are one of my favorite learning tools. The ones I use are a bit smaller than your typical interactive notebook, making them perfect for kindergarten. They target high-level thinking and focus on a specific topic. Plus, they encourage hands-on learning as students fill out the prompts and foldables for each one. The best part though is that they are self-contained in a manilla folder. At the end of our activity, every student has a neatly packaged, visual record of everything we’ve learned!
To make them, all you’ll need are the resources linked below and basic classroom supplies such as glue, scissors, and crayons. These are always a huge hit with kids and the parents love to see them each month! Here are the 3 lapbooks I like to include in our May activities.
1. Bees Lapbook
First up, BEES! Have you studied these fascinating, buzzy creatures with your students? If not, this Bees Lapbook is the perfect way to introduce them. Students will love learning about the different type of bees, their lifecycle, and their jobs in the hive! I love to use these activities alongside some fun books to help facilitate deeper learning. This book is a great option to work through little by little. There’s a LOT of information inside so you’ll want to read bits and pieces as you go. Students will love the “lift the flap” pages!
Once you’ve read a book on the topic, you can begin working through the foldables included in this resource:
- Bees can/have/are
- Bees KWL
- Label a Bee
- Bee Facts
- All About Bees
- Life Cycle of a Bee
- Bee Adjectives
- Bee Vocabulary
- Favorite Bee Book
- Compare Bee/Wasp
- Class graph and more!
Personally, I love to complete our lapbooks as a whole class. You might choose to break this up over the course of a few days, or just tackle it in one go! Either way, these are a great way to allow your students some time to think about what you’ve learned and apply it in their writing. Plus, these are great for facilitating fine motor practice in a fun way!
2. Ants Lapbook
In our May activities, we learn a lot about insects… next on the list? Ants! Ants are incredible creatures and they deserve a space in your May lesson plan. To get started, I like to introduce some fun facts about ants to my students with books, posters, visuals, and fun videos. This video is filled with cool facts about ants that will fascinate your students!
These lapbooks feature tons of activities about ants and their characteristics. A couple of my favorite activities in the resource are the writing prompts. One asks students what they would do if they were an ant, and another has them consider what they’d do with a pet ant. The responses on these really crack me up! I’m not sure if there’s anything that makes me smile more than kindergarten writing prompts.
We work through the many different activities as a group, just like we did with the bee activities. As students work on each prompt, I like to circulate in the room and see how they’re doing and help as needed.
3. Ladybugs Lapbooks
Yes, more bugs! But Ladybugs are everyone’s favorite, right? I’m not sure why, but even my kiddos who are afraid of other insects seem to LOVE ladybugs. They certainly seem more friendly, so perhaps that’s the appeal! In any case, this final lapbook will likely be everyone’s favorite. Your students will love learning all about ladybugs as you work through the included activities:
- Ladybugs can/have/are
- Ladybug KWL
- Label a Ladybug
- Ladybug Facts
- All About Ladybugs
- Life Cycle of a Ladybug
- Ladybug Adjectives
- Ladybug Vocabulary
- If I was a ladybug… writing prompt
- Would you want a pet ladybug…writing prompt
- Favorite Ladybug Book
- Compare Ant/Ladybug
- Compare Bee/Ladybug
If you really want to wow your students, consider purchasing a Ladybug Terrarium to finish out the unit! It even comes with a certificate to redeem for ladybug larvae. Ladybugs go through quite a metamorphic change that your students will love having a front-row seat for.
TEACHER TIP: While it might seem repetitive to feature 3 different lapbooks about insects in your May activities, I think that it offers a valuable learning opportunity! Students will have fun comparing and contrasting bees, ants, and ladybugs throughout the month. This gets those lightbulbs going off and facilitates critical thinking skills in a fun way.
4. May Activities for the Writing Center
Next on my list of fun May activities to add to your list are new writing center materials! If you don’t have a dedicated writing center in your classroom, take a look at this post to learn how it can help your students. In my room, I swap out the materials in the writing center every month to align with the holidays and seasons. This helps keep engagement high and facilitates excitement for writing! Plus, using a variety of activities ensures that all of my students can work at the level that’s just right for them!
In my May Writing Center resource, you will find so many fun activities! From list building to vocabulary to prompts, there’s a little something for everyone! Here’s a sample of what to expect:
- Vocabulary Cards: These picture and word cards are perfect for students to refer to as they explore the monthly writing center activities.
- Letter Formation Cards: Students can use these cards to practice fine motor skills by tracing each thematic letter card.
- You Pick: This is a favorite prompt that has students practice opinion writing by picking an image and writing about their choice.
- Finish and Write: Another prompt option has students look at the image and finish drawing the picture, then write about the it.
- Make a List: Students will use the picture cards to draw a picture and write the word.
- Spin a Silly Story: This prompt has students spin two pictures and use them to create a silly story.
- Build and Write This is one of everyone’s favorites! Students will use dough to create the picture, then trace the word and write a sentence about the picture.
These activities are so versatile too! You can swap them out each week in your writing center, assign them as tasks during the day, or use them for independent practice activities. In May, our writing center themes are zoo, space, camping, picnics, dinosaurs, and pets. These engaging themes are fun for students and will help keep kiddos on task as the year winds down!
5. Low-Prep Math Activities for May
Last on my list of May activities are these Ocean Counting Games. As summer approaches, what’s more fun than ocean-themed games?! These low-prep games will make it easy to sneak in some additional practice with counting numbers 0-10. There are 5 different activities included in this pack:
- Count and Graph Worksheets
- Count and Tally Worksheets
- Task Cards – Clip Cards
- Cut and Paste Counting Worksheets
- Count and Color Worksheets
Aside from the task cards, these worksheets are print-and-go! Students will enjoy counting the objects on each page and recording their answers with tally marks or a graph. These activities are perfect for morning tubs, low-prep centers, and fast finishers! If you’re looking for digital options, be sure to check out the bundle! Inside you’ll find Boom cards that practice the same skills in an interactive format. I love using these on the interactive whiteboard with my whole group!
Grab These May Activities
There you have it friends, 5 fun, hands-on May activities your students will love! I hope one of these ideas caught your interest. I’ve returned to these lessons year after year since they promote engagement and keep my students interested in learning all the way through the end of the year. You can find all of these May activities and many more in my TPT shop. Head over if you’re looking for more inspiration to fuel your lessons!
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