Ahhh, beautiful Spring invites Spring Fever in the classroom! No worries; this post shares engaging spring-themed activities for upper elementary classrooms. These activities not only keep kids on task, but they also keep the learning going as the weather warms up.
Plus you can grab some FREE Spring reading activities below!
How Spring Themed Activities May Improve Behavior in Your Upper Elementary Classroom
With each passing season, I work hard to incorporate seasonal activities into my learning rotations. But it’s about more than just cutesy materials.
Seasonal activities can provide novelty and help jazz up the learning so students stay engaged all year.
This is especially true in the spring!
Your students (and you, too!) anticipate a much-needed Spring Break, which could cause student behavior to get a little crazy.
So, using some of these spring-themed activities in your upper elementary classroom may be the key to cutting down on behavior issues.
Here are some of my favorite ways to make learning fun around the springtime.
Go Outside for Some Sensory Poetry Writing
One of my favorite spring-themed activities involves using poetry. Since April is National Poetry Month, it fits perfectly with a sensory poetry walk outside.
I give each student a clipboard and a SPRING acrostic writing template. We head outside, and they work in pairs to write about Spring using their five senses.
It’s a clever way to get students writing more, while also getting some movement into your learning activity.
You can grab these acrostic poetry templates for FREE. No email address required. π
Do a Spring Reading Challenge
My students love reading challenges! Each season, we hold this challenge as a fun way to read more and earn prizes throughout the challenge.
I have gotten rid of all reading logs! Every year, my students didn’t use them appropriately or enjoy them when it came to reading.
Reading challenges are way more engaging and help motivate kids to read more at home AND school!
If you’ve never used reading challenges, you can get all the nitty-gritty details on how to use them from this post:
Play Hands-On Math Games
Since Spring also kicks off the standardized testing season, I love to pull out different games to review things we’ve learned throughout the year.
Here are two Spring-themed math games you can play:
- Easter Egg Math Matching: I buy plastic Easter eggs from The Dollar Tree and fill them with math equations.
Then I hide the eggs around the classroom, or we go outside, and I spread the eggs all over our school playground.
Students bring paper on clipboards to use as they open the eggs and solve each math equation.
- Matching Math Games: Another engaging math activity to use during the Spring are these Matching Math Games that review addition, subtraction, fractions, multiplication, division, and decimals.
You can click the image OR Click HERE to see more hands-on math games that you can use for the Spring!
These math games also have a digital version allowing students to drag and drop the answers for engaged math learning online.
Both ideas get your students moving and allows them to collaborate with others for fun ways to review and keep the learning going!
Complete a Spring-Themed Interactive Bulletin Board
Another one of my favorite Spring-themed activities for upper elementary is an interactive bulletin board that practices having a growth-mindset.
This writing craftivity uses flowers to help students think about how they’ve grown throughout the school year.
Each petal of the flower gives them a mini-writing prompt to complete. Once each petal is glued to its center, I take pictures of my students to put on their flowers.
Then we hang our “growth-flowers” on a bulletin board that is not only beautiful for the Spring, but it also makes students feel proud to see their progress for the year.
Combine Art and Grammar with a Spring Adjectives Collage
The fifth spring-themed activity I recommend for upper elementary is a fun twist on art and grammar called a Spring Adjectives Collage!
If you have lots of magazines at home or if you know someone with lots of magazines, this activity may be perfect for you.
Here’s what you will do:
- Give students templates with spring images like the one shown here:
Grab this Spring Collage for FREE by clicking the image OR by clicking HERE. No email address required. π
- Then give them magazines to find and cut out adjectives that help describe the spring picture.
Depending on your students’, you may have to tear the appropriate pages out of the magazine for them instead of just giving them the full magazine.
- They will glue the adjectives they find to the picture, then write a paragraph that also describes their spring image.
It’s a fun and easy way to teach grammar with a spring-themed focus.
Make Reading Fun with Spring Reading Passages
With the Spring season comes the final stretch of the school year. Many teachers work extra hard to find engaging reading activities that work well for this season.
And if you’ve spent any time on this site, you know that I’m always on the hunt for fun nonfiction reading activities, too.
That’s why I enjoy incorporating March and April Spring Informational Text Passages. Whether you teach in-person or online, these goodies make reading centers for upper elementary students so interesting.
You can choose printable or digital–Google Slides options.
Each topic in this set shows a high-interest and popular subject that upper elementary readers will enjoy.
The best part is that each quick-read can be used in a variety of ways, such as:
- morning work
- lesson warm-ups
- quick but targeted reading homework
- early finishers activity
- AND MORE
Your students will enjoy color-coding their answer choices, which also makes it much easier for you to grade them if you want to.
More Spring Activities You Can Do
Hopefully, after reading the first part of this post, you have found some fun and engaging activities you can do in your upper elementary classroom this Spring!
If you are still looking for more inspiration, I have come up with a few more things that I have seen my fellow teachers doing with their classes.
Try one out; it may be just what your students need to stay motivated this Spring!
Plant a Classroom Garden
Involve students in starting a garden. Whether it’s a window box garden with herbs or flowers or a small plot outside, the process of planting, caring for, and observing the growth of plants can teach students about the life cycle of plants, responsibility, and the environment.
Bird Watching and Identification
Spring is a great time for bird-watching. Students can learn to identify different bird species and their calls. Set up a bird feeder near a window and keep a log of the birds that visit. This can be linked to lessons on local ecosystems and animal adaptations.
Spring Weather Science Experiments
Explore spring weather phenomena through experiments. For example, create a simple rain gauge to measure precipitation or demonstrate how rain clouds work using water, shaving cream, and food coloring.
Spring Cleaning and Organizing Projects
Embrace the theme of renewal by organizing a classroom cleanup or a community service project. This can teach students about teamwork, community responsibility, and the importance of taking care of their environment.
Eco-Friendly Projects
Focus on sustainability and how to care for the Earth on Earth Day! Projects can include making birdhouses from recycled materials, starting a classroom recycling program, or learning about renewable energy.
You may also want to incorporate some of my Earth Day Reading, Writing, and Math activities on this day as well.
Still need more ideas for teaching in the Spring?
This additional post offers more ideas for things you can do in your classroom during the Spring!
15 Ideas to Keep Students Engaged Around Spring Break
As spring unfolds, I hope you can get your classroom to buzz with activity, from outdoor poetry sessions to engaging math games. This blog post was full of spring-themed activities that should help you keep your students engaged in their learning.
So, as we enjoy the warmer weather and the excitement of upcoming breaks, let’s remember the value these activities bring to our classroom.
Here’s to a season filled with growth, learning, and plenty of reasons to smile.
Happy Teaching π¦
