Summer is finally here! After months of lesson planning, grading papers, and keeping little learners engaged, it’s time for a well-deserved break. While I fully believe teachers should spend plenty of time relaxing, sleeping in, and enjoying summer, I also know many of us can’t resist working on a few fun summer prep projects and crafts before back-to-school season arrives.
For me, summer is the perfect time to tackle all those creative ideas I’ve been saving on Pinterest throughout the year. Without the daily rush of teaching, I can finally make classroom materials, organize my supplies, and prep a few things that will make the first weeks of school so much easier. If you’re looking for a few low-stress projects that are both fun and practical, here are five of my favorites!
1. DIY Alphabet Letter Stones
One of my favorite summer prep projects has been making alphabet letter stones. They’re inexpensive, easy to make, and students absolutely love using them during literacy centers.
Letter stones are perfect for building CVC words, practicing letter recognition, matching uppercase and lowercase letters, working on beginning sounds, and even playing simple phonics games. Since they’re durable, they’ll last for years and can be used with countless literacy activities.
To make your own, you’ll need:
- Small smooth stones (I found mine at Dollar Tree)
- Alphabet stickers
- Mod Podge
- A small paintbrush
Simply place one letter sticker on each stone. I like placing mine on the flatter side of the rock so they’re easy for little hands to see.
Next, brush a layer of Mod Podge over the entire top of the stone, covering both the sticker and the surrounding area. Once everything has dried completely, your letter stones are ready to use!
They’re one of those simple classroom tools that students never seem to get tired of using.
2. Prep Alphabet Mats You’ll Use All Year Long
Not every summer prep project has to involve paint and glue! Sometimes the best use of your time is preparing materials you’ll pull out again and again throughout the school year. This one is a quick win, and won’t take long at all.
One of my favorite low-prep activities is my free Alphabet Mats. All you have to do is print them on cardstock, laminate them (if you choose), and store them in a folder or small bin. Once they’re prepped, you’ll have a literacy center that’s ready whenever you need it.
These mats work with so many different materials, including:
- Play dough
- Mini erasers
- Letter manipulatives
- Dot markers (no need to laminate!)
- Stickers (no need to laminate!)
- Pom-poms
- Dry erase markers
You can even print one copy for every student and bind them into an alphabet practice book for independent work. The possibilities are endless, and you’ll be so glad you took a little time during the summer to prepare them.
Be sure to grab your free Alphabet Mats before heading back to school!
3. Create a Lesson Planning Station That Saves You Time Every Week
One of the best organizational projects I ever completed wasn’t a craft at all. It was creating a simple lesson planning station. This is the summer prep project that keeps on giving all year long!
Using an inexpensive rolling drawer cart, label one drawer for each day of the week. Then create file folders for each of your reading groups, math groups, or table groups. At the beginning of every week, place all of the materials each group will need into its folder and file the folders into the correct day’s drawer.
When it’s time to teach, everything is already organized and waiting for you. No more scrambling to find copies or wondering where you put tomorrow’s small group materials.
This system takes a little time to set up during the summer, but it saves countless hours once the school year begins. You’ll spend less time gathering supplies each morning and more time focusing on your students.
4. Set Up Your Back-to-School Writing Center
One of my favorite parts of back-to-school season is creating inviting classroom centers, and my writing center is always at the top of the list.
Instead of waiting until students arrive, spend a little time over the summer planning how you’d like your writing center to function. Think about the materials students will need to write independently and how you can organize everything so it’s easy for little learners to access.
I like to include a variety of writing paper, pencils, crayons, alphabet charts, word cards, seasonal vocabulary, sentence starters, and other tools that encourage students to write with confidence. Having everything organized and ready before the first day of school allows you to spend more time teaching students how to use the center instead of scrambling to gather materials.
Not to mention, a thoughtfully planned writing center encourages independence right from the beginning of the year. Once students understand where everything belongs and how to use the materials, they’ll be much more confident writers throughout the year.
If you’d like more ideas for creating a writing center your students will actually use, be sure to check out my full blog post all about setting up a back-to-school writing center.
5. Create Classroom Supply Caddies
My last idea is another quick win that will help so much! Spending just an hour organizing supplies now can make your centers, small groups, and table activities run so much more smoothly later. Plus, school supplies are on sale over the summer, so it’s a great time to take advantage of that!
Start with inexpensive plastic bins or caddies from the Dollar Store, Target, or Walmart. Fill each one with the supplies your students use most often, such as crayons, glue sticks, scissors, pencils, dry-erase markers, erasers, and even a small container of colored pencils if you use them regularly. Instead of having students get up every time they need a new supply, everything they need is already within reach.
To make cleanup even easier, add simple labels with both words and pictures. Young learners quickly learn where each item belongs, which helps build independence from the very first weeks of school. You can even color-code your caddies by table group if that fits your classroom organization system.
This is one of those simple summer prep projects that doesn’t take much time, but you’ll appreciate it every single day. Your classroom will stay more organized, transitions will be faster, and you’ll spend less time passing out supplies and more time teaching.
A Little Summer Prep Goes a Long Way
The beauty of these projects is that none of them requires a huge time commitment. You don’t have to spend your entire summer working on your classroom to make a big impact.
Even choosing one or two projects can help you start the school year feeling more organized, prepared, and excited for your new group of students. Whether you’re making a set of alphabet letter stones, organizing your lesson plans, or prepping a center, every little bit of summer prep work you do now will make those busy first weeks of school feel much less overwhelming.
Oh, and don’t forget to grab your free alphabet mats before you start your summer prep projects!
So enjoy your summer, tackle a fun project when inspiration strikes, and remember that every little bit of prep you do now is one less thing you’ll have to worry about once your classroom is full of eager little learners.
Happy crafting and prepping!
Looking for More Back-to-School Ideas?
If you’re getting your classroom ready for a new school year, you might also enjoy these posts:
- Classroom Setup Tips to Organize Everything
- How to Set Up a Back-to-School Writing Center
- 12 Fun Fine Motor Alphabet Activities for Kindergarten
Save This Post for Later
Pin this post on Pinterest so you’ll have these easy classroom crafts and summer prep ideas ready whenever you’re planning for a new school year.
