I don’t know about you guys, but I just LOVE springtime! After a long and dreary winter, planning some fun, spring-themed lessons is just what I need! If you’re ready to start spring with a bang, you’ll love this list of engaging March activities for primary learners. Let’s sprinkle some leprechaun magic and embrace the seasonal change for a fun-filled month of learning!
March Activities and Themes
When it comes to teaching in March, there are some pretty awesome themes to explore with your students. Whether you want to focus on plants, St. Patrick’s Day, weather patterns, or seasonal changes, there is so much to draw from! Taking a thematic approach in the classroom not only offers educational opportunities but also helps to up the engagement factor easily. After all, we all know that teaching the same old skills month after month can get a tad boring. Using a fun new theme will help snag attention and keep it all month long!
If you’re not sure how to weave thematic teaching into your routine, you’re in for a treat! Let’s take a closer look at all the ways I use thematic teaching in my March activities to help my kindergarten students learn important math and ELA skills throughout the month.
March Lapbook Activities
My favorite way to set the stage with any new theme is with lapbooks. These mini-sized versions of interactive notebooks are perfect for exploring new themes and topics in a fun way. These are infinitely more fun than standard worksheets, adaptable to your crew, and make learning about new topics fun and engaging. In March, our lapbooks cover the following themes:
We use these as a whole-group activity after we’ve read some books on our topic. Personally, I like to work on one lapbook per week. We’ll start with a read-aloud on our topic and then spend a little bit of time filling out foldables to add to our lapbooks. The great thing about this is that you can pick and choose the activities for each one that work best for your group. You can also complete the whole thing in a day, or do a little at a time throughout the week! For a closer look at our Plants Lapbooks, be sure to read through this post!
It’s also worth mentioning that these March activities come in a digital format as well. The digital activities are great for displaying up on the SmartBoard and completing as a class together. You could use this as your teaching example before allowing your littles to create their own. The digital format also makes a great assignment for students who have been absent as well!
March Activities for Center Time
As a primary teacher, I’m sure you already know the value of center time. This is an opportunity for our students to interact with each other, get some hands-on learning in, and practice important skills. When it comes to center time in my classroom, I’m all about using learning games!
Games provide a perfect mix of fun and learning, allowing students to practice essential skills without even realizing they’re learning. Not to mention, they encourage friendly competition, teamwork, and strategic thinking. It’s amazing to see how games can ignite a spark of enthusiasm in even the most reluctant of learners. And let’s not forget the joy and laughter that fills the room as they engage in friendly banter and celebrate their successes as a group! If you’re ready to include more games in your lessons, I’ve got a few that will be the perfect addition to your March activities.
St. Patrick’s Day 2D Shapes Games
This set of games is all about mastering two-dimensional shapes. Every year that I have used these with my students, they have been an absolute hit! The games included in this resource have helped my students identify and recognize basic shapes with ease while bringing St. Patrick’s Day spirit to life. Even better, these activities are the perfect addition to my March math centers, allowing my students to practice independently or with a partner throughout the entire month.
This March activities collection includes games like Bump, Match It, Roll and Cover, BINGO, Dominoes, and so much more! No matter what type of game you’re looking for – there’s a little something for everyone! Trust me, this St. Patrick’s Day shape unit will be a fantastic addition to your classroom. I can’t wait for you to see your students’ faces light up as they engage in these captivating activities!
St. Patrick’s Day Snap Cube Games
Snap cubes are such a fun and versatile learning tool for the primary classroom! I love using them for a variety of math and literacy games. For example, my Roll, Snap & Graph game is a perfect addition to small group activities or math centers. It can be used independently, making it a great choice for early finishers and morning work too.
Here’s how it works: your students will roll a die, then identify what color cube to pull according to the number they rolled. Then, your students will place the matching snap cube on a corresponding spot. Each time they roll, they also fill in a square on the recording sheet to practice using a basic bar graph. They’ll keep rolling, matching, and graphing until the entire mat is filled with snap cubes. Talk about a hands-on and interactive way to reinforce counting and graphing skills!
These graphing mats are available in 10 different designs, each with a delightful St. Patrick’s Day theme. This engaging game encourages critical thinking and is a fantastic way to introduce basic data analysis skills to your kindergarten students. Looking for a way to practice ten frames instead? Check out these mats that use the same concept, but have students fill in tens frames as they go, instead of graphing. No matter which one you choose, these are a fun, hands-on way to sneak some essential math skills in!
Math and Literacy Snap Cube Mats
If you think snap cubes are only for math games, think again! I use these St. Patrick’s Day Snap Cube Centers to practice skills such as letter recognition, beginning sounds, number recognition, and subitizing dot patterns. I love that I can assign both math and literacy-based activities to students when using these mats. To use, students will use the code on the side of the mat to determine where each color snap cube goes. Simply provide them with a bucket of colored snap cubes, and a printed mat, and let the learning begin! I like to laminate these so that we can use them again and again during centers, or as a morning tubs activity.
St. Patrick’s Day Pattern Blocks Center
Pattern blocks are another great learning tool, perfect for center time! When planning my March activities, these Spin and Match mats always make an appearance. To use, students will use a paper clip and a pencil to place on the spinner and spin a shape. The student will then name the shape, find a pattern block of the same shape, and place it on the mat. Students will keep spinning and match until the mat is full. When the mat is complete, the student will count how many of each shape was used and write it in the box. Each page features a cute St. Patrick’s Day picture to add to the fun!
Additionally, there are black and white Spin and Color mats included. The process is the same, except students will find the matching pattern block, and color it the same color on their paper. Students will keep spinning and coloring until the mat is full. When the mat is complete, the student will count how many of each shape. This activity also comes in another option where students will use dice instead of a spinner to play! I like to mix things up by using both options throughout the month.
March Counting Activities
Do you need engaging March activities to get your students to practice counting numbers 1-10? If so, these St. Patrick’s Day counting and graphing worksheets are a great way for you kindergarten students to practice one-to-one correspondence and number sense skills!
In this resource, you’ll find:
- Count and Graph Worksheets
- Count and Tally Worksheets
- Cut and Paste Counting Worksheets
- Count and Color Worksheets
- Clip Cards
Since there’s quite a bit of variety here, I think you’ll find that these come in handy for more than just center time! While they’re great for quick and easy center activities, they’re also perfect for independent work, morning tubs, and even homework! Anytime I can easily sneak in some extra counting practice, I’ll count that as a win!
March Activities for the Writing Center
Do you have a writing center in your room? As a primary teacher, I find the writing center to be one of the most important spaces in the classroom. Whether your students are just beginning to learn to print, or are already writing stories – this is such a valuable space for learning!
With that in mind, what if planning your March activities for the writing center could be quick, easy, and simple to differentiate? With my March Writing Prompts resource that dream becomes a reality! This resource includes over 100 pages of primary writing practice pages with themes like St. Patrick’s Day, basketball, spring, weather, and farm animals.
I like to add the March activities in this resource to my writing center throughout the month. I start out by introducing the letter and word tracing cards, and then gradually progress through the other materials in the unit. You can also assign these activities by skill level during center time as well. Or, use the printable pages for whole-group teaching throughout the month. The options are endless! My students love the March-themes and I love all the fine motor and writing practice they are completing! It’s a win-win.
Even More March Activities
Love the March activities you saw in this post and looking for even more to add to your lesson plan? Check out my TpT store for more fun March activities like Boom cards, writing activities, beginning sound practice, and digital resources! You’ll find plenty of fun activities to keep those kiddos engaged in learning all month long!
Save These March Activities for Later
Make sure you save this post on your favorite classroom Pinterest board so that you can find these March activities when planning your own classroom lessons!
