If you're looking to spice up your literacy centers, here are some awesome ideas from Julie over at Mrs. Lee's Kindergarten! Do them all or pick and choose; these centers would go great with a spring, plant/gardening, or even insect theme!

What's Planted Underneath?

Check out these cute carrot containers! They are potentially Dollar Tree finds, but Oriental Trading has a ton of cute favor/candy containers (including carrots!) that would work great for this exercise too! Julie placed letter tiles in each carrot and 'planted' them in a bin of Easter grass, then invited students to select a carrot, use the letter tiles to spell a sight word, and record it on their worksheet. Fun, right!?

Sight Word Butterflies

This is a simple center, but is still a great way to get your kiddos some sight word practice! To create the center, Julie printed butterfly clip art onto ten different colors of card stock, cut out the shapes, and added a sight word to each cutout. Provided with recording sheets, students were invited to select a cutout, read the sight word outloud, then color the butterfly on their worksheet to match and print the sight word.

Roll-A-Letter... To Write

A fun, interactive way to provide your kiddos some handwriting practice! Start with a blank paper die template (you can find a bunch with a simple google search) or a blank wooden/foam die, and add a letter to each side. To complete the center, invite students to roll the die, identify the letter, and practice printing the letter in the appropriate column on their worksheet. You might 'raise the stakes' a little by turning this activity into a small group game. Each player takes turns rolling the die and filling their columns. The first student to completely fill one of their columns 'wins' the race! Students, of course, should continue 'playing' until all of their columns are filled.

Planting Blends

To create this center, Julie first printed out 12 flower pots onto brown construction paper and added a different blend to each. Next, she printed flower clip art onto 12 different colors of card stock and added a different image to each. To complete the center, students were invited to match the image/word on the flower with the appropriate flower pot blend and record their answers!

Butterfly Spots

This activity will have your kiddos brush up on their counting skills as well as their color words! Julie added a different number of colored spots to eight butterfly cutouts, then invited her kinders to count the number of spots and identify/write the color of the spots on their recording sheet. We just love the repetition that'll give your beginning readers confidence as they read and complete each sentence!

Springtime Sentences

This is a fun exercise that will provide your kiddos with the opportunity to create simple sentences! Julie chose five different spring themed items, printing images of them onto sheets of different colored card stock, and then added a sight word to each picture. To complete the center, students were invited to identify both the picture and sight word, and use both in a sentence. A great way to see how your students respond when given a few 'pieces' of the puzzle and asked to fill in the blanks!

Plant-A-Sound

This last center offers a great way for your kiddos to practice with ending sounds! Julie created a worksheet filled with flowers/flower pots and on each flower she added an image. Students were then invited to identify the image/word on each flower and write/stamp the appropriate ending sound on the corresponding flower pot.

Don't you just love all of the themed work!? Julie is so creative and we always enjoy checking out the literacy and math centers she creates for her kiddos! For these and lots of other great ideas, be sure to check out Julie's blog, Mrs. Lee's Kindergarten!

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