Searching for kindergarten worksheets and printables that are free is something I do a lot. That is why I started creating them, and I will share the best I have created with you right now.
I know, “You are very welcome.”
As teachers, we have no time, and the curriculum that we are given is sometimes sterile and dry. We want kindergarten worksheets and printables that pertain to a particular topic or fun holiday.
That’s why I have compiled a fantastic collection of free kindergarten worksheets and printables to fill in the gaps and give you some choices.
This article has two sections: Math and English Language Arts (ELA), each with five fun and engaging worksheets designed to reinforce key skills.
Enjoy!
Math Worksheets
Sometimes, the curriculum workbooks we receive may have one or two problems on each page.
Umm, that is not enough practice. Students at this age need repetition and reinforcement.
Building a strong foundation in math is crucial for young learners. Our free kindergarten worksheets and printables on math topics are designed to make learning numbers, shapes and basic arithmetic fun and interactive.
These are kindergarten worksheets and printables that are completely free. They pertain to winter and have fun visuals and pictures. Downloading the PDF is easy.
3. Graphing Skills This graph is a St. Patrick’s Day theme. Students will count the different related items and color a square on the graph for each item. Many graphing skills are taught.
4. Teen Numbers Students will practice writing numbers up to 10. The visuals use ten frames to show that the number is made up of a ten and some ones.
5, Tens and Ones This free kindergarten worksheet PDF teaches students about place value. The tens and ones can be easily counted and colored.
ELA Worksheets
Developing literacy skills early is essential for future success. Our ELA kindergarten worksheets and printables focus on fundamental skills like letter recognition, phonics, and basic reading comprehension.
1. Alphabet Tracing Use playdough to create letters and fun shapes. This is great for fine motor skills.
2. Letter Writing Letter formation is an essential beginning skill. This fun worksheet teaches students the correct way to make letters.
3. Name Writing This kindergarten printable can be given on the first day of school to allow students to write their names. Students can also draw a picture of themselves to accompany their names.
4, Syllables Students will choose the correct number of syllables. They will color the box with one, two, or three syllables.
5. Simple Sentences This is a great beginning worksheet to learn how to use sight words to write a simple sentence.
How to Access the Free Kindergarten Worksheets and Printables
These worksheets are all available for free on Kindermomma. Simply visit the Freebies for You section to download and print as many as you need.
They are perfect for both classroom and at-home learning. These resources are designed to engage and support your kindergartener in mastering essential skills.
Drop me a line if there is anything in particular you are looking for.
Many teachers shy away from teaching narrative writing to kindergarten students. Not this teacher!
Teaching narrative writing to kindergarten students can be very engaging, and young students’ progress is amazing.
What is Narrative Writing in Kindergarten?
Narrative writing tells a story or shares an experience. It usually follows a sequence like “First,” “Next,” and “Last” or has a beginning, middle, and end. Opinion writing is a little more straightforward and taught more in the early grades, but teaching narrative writing to kindergarten students is just as important.
We know kindergarten students are not going to write pages and pages, and they find the concept of a beginning, middle, and end difficult to grasp.
But, teaching narrative writing to kindergartners can be engaging and effective with fun, hands-on activities that build their storytelling skills. Here are ten strategies to make narrative writing enjoyable and easy for young learners:
1. Model Storytelling.
Tell your students stories about what you did over the weekend using First, Next, and Finally. We know five-year-olds love to tell you what they do over the weekend and what they did last year on their birthdays. When they do so, direct them to tell you in the sequential format.
Model retelling different scenarios, such as brushing your teeth or getting ready for school.
2. Use Graphic Organizers.
The three-box organizer of beginning, middle, and end helps students retell their thoughts in order. This can also aid them in their writing.
3. Have them draw first.
The struggle of putting thoughts on paper and arranging them in a sequential order can be overwhelming for young students. First, have them draw their memories or retell the story with pictures. Then, they can write a sentence using sound-symbol relationships to accompany the picture.
4. Introduce Story Prompts.
We all know that teaching narrative writing to kindergarten students requires lots of scaffolding.
It’s always a good idea to give students easy prompts that they are familiar with to write about. Take a small moment that has a defined sequence. Some ideas are below:
What are the steps to brushing your teeth?
How do you get ready for bed?How do you make a sandwich?
What do you do when you read a book?
5. Model Story Writing.
Teaching kindergarten students narrative writing is simpler if you show them daily how to do it. I have a daily news shared writing with the students. I pick a student to share an event such as going to the movies.
I model and they help me sound out the words.
Make it as simple as possible. You can use a whiteboard or chart paper. Chart paper is good as you can assemble a book of all your students’ narrative experiences.
First. I get my ticket,Next, I get popcorn.Finally, I found my seat and watched the movie.
6. Use picture cards for sequencing.
Use picture cards of well-known stories (like “The Three Little Pigs”) and have students arrange the sequence.After they arrange, students can pair up and retell the story using familiar language.
7. Introduce “Who, What, Where” Questions.
Teach students to answer who is in the story, what is happening, and where it takes place. This basic structure can guide them in developing the ideas to create a sequential narrative.
8. Make Storytelling Booklets.
Provide each student with a blank mini-book in which they can write and illustrate their own story. Use one page per part (beginning, middle, end) so they learn to break down their narrative into sections.
9. Use Mentor Texts.
In order to teach kindergarten students narrative writing, short stories or picture books with simple plots can model how authors create narratives.
Students can be assigned to listen to the story’s beginning, middle, or ending. They can then be grouped to share their section.
10. Encourage Personal Narratives.
Personal narratives are the best approach at his age when students are so egocentric. Students love writing about places they went or things they do. Having a word bank for words that they will typically use is very helpful to students.
Teaching narrative writing to kindergarten students is important.
These techniques will help kindergarten students develop into confident writers who can put their thoughts down on paper. Verbalizing their thoughts is a great place to start. Using the other strategies that are listed is a great way to ensure that kindergarten students have success with narrative writing.
Developing fine motor skills in kindergarten is harder than it sounds. It takes time and practice. Kids at young ages have often developed bad habits like holding their pencil with their fists or even stranger grips. I have seen them all.
It is very important to break these habits early on. There are fun activities and products that can aid in developing fine motor skills in kindergarten with your students and your own children. Here are some:
Develop Hand Strength
There are so many fun ways for students to develop their hand strength while developing fine motor skills. Kids will love the following:
Use a spray bottle– Give your children or students a spray bottle and tell them to water the grass. If you are at school, you may not want them to squirt each other with them.
Crumple paper– Have students write their names or a sight word. Afterward, have them crumple it up and shoot it in the trash can. Big fun!!
Use tongs and pom-poms- At a center or a sensory bin, have students use tongs or child tweezers to pick up colored pom-poms or small pieces of paper.
Teach students how to hold the pencil
In order to develop fine motor skills in kindergarten, students should practice, practice, practice. A good pencil grip is a key to success. But, students often come to you with bad habits. Here are ways to break bad habits.
Use golf pencils- Ticonderoga has some great golf pencils that force students to use the correct fingers and not grab the pencil with their fists. Because they are tiny, there is a need to pinch the pencil at the bottom.
Hold a small object with pinky and ring finger- Have students pinch the pencil at the bottom with their thumb and pointer and use the middle for support. Have them hold a pom pom with their pinky and ring finger in their palm. This will make sure they are using the correct fingers.
Use a pencil grip- These pencil grips show students the correct way to hold the pencil. It is easy for them to remember. They have a place to rest the middle finger. Students put their thumb and pointer in the correct spots.
How to Cut with Scissors
Open shut, open shut. That’s the way we cut cut cut. Fingers on bottom and thumb on top. Do not let the paper drop! Open shut, open shut. That’s the way we cut, cut, cut!” That is just one cute little chant that helps aid in developing fine motor skills in kindergarten. Here are some more fund activities.
Have kids lay on their tummies- Have students lay on their tummies on the carpet with scissors and paper. They have to use their elbows to hold themselves up, so this forces proper technique. They will not be able to turn their hands around. Students also love this.
Teach students about Allie the Alligator. They love to stick their thumb in the alligator’s eye and their fingers in the belly and chomp, chomp, chomp.
Use Playdough for developing fine motor skills in kindergarten.
Students in pre-school, kindergarten and first grade, and even much older love to play with playdough. There are many task cards that students can use to build letters, numbers, and fun pictures.
Students are learning their common core standards while developing these skills in an age-appropriate manner.
This will strengthen the fine motor skills of young students. Have them cut playdough with playdough scissors as well. Students love this.
Also, picking up tiny balls of playdough with tweezers is a motivating and productive activity in developing fine motor skills in kindergarten and pre-school students.
Have fun with fine motor skills
Students need these prerequisite fine motor skills to be successful in school. It is the foundation in which readers and writers are built upon.
Using engaging activities that are developmentally appropriate is always necessary in order to build student confidence and success.
Students will not get frustrated if they are having fun.
Teaching kindergarten is tough, but virtual learning in kindergarten is tougher. These distance learning tips for kindergarten will make this transition easier. Hopefully, it will make distance learning more fun for your students.
If you are like me, you would have never ever imagined that you would be teaching five year olds online. Who would have ever guessed these difficult circumstances that we find ourselves in.
But, here we are. Thrown into the unknown: Google Classroom, Canvas, Google Meet, Zoom, Nearpod, Seesaw, Jamboard, Google Slides, Kami, The new buzzwords are endless and completely overwhelming. I am an older teacher, and I thought I could never do it.
Guess what? I am doing it and I am finding my groove. Here are my best distance learning tips for kindergarten that will allow you to get your groove back.
Sing, Sing, and Sing some more.
Even if you don’t sing well, give it a shot. Have a few students unmute their mics and sing with you.
Pick one to do a duet. They love that.
I love to find familiar songs and use them to count, spell sight words or basically teach whatever. We count by 10’s to the song Hi Ho the Derio. I spell “like” to It’s a Small World. Spell “there” to the tune Celebration.
I teach a song about learning to cut to the tune of ” Where is Thumbkin?”
Who is cutting? Who is cutting? Thumb on top. Thumb on Top. Fingers on the bottom. Fingers on the bottom. Chop, Chop, Chop
Or, here is one for the vowels to the melody of “Bingo.”
There are five vowels in the alphabet and we will sing their Name-o’s.
A-E-I-O-U A-E-I-O-U A-E-I-O-U And that is all their Name-O’s
There is a vowel. It’s name is A
And “A” is their Sound-O
“A” “A” “A” “A” “A” “A” “A” “A” “A” “A” And that is what is sounds like.
You can do this for each short vowel sound. The kids can get up and dance as they sing. I have some great dancers.
Un-mute for awhile.
This is very important to build relationships with you and their classmates. Small kids need and love this.
It is very tough to have all students un-muted at the same time. Small groups work a lot better. I always give them the first few minutes to talk to one another. Muting my mic and camera helps them feel more at ease to talk to their peers.
Having students bring something to share for show-n-tell also really, really gets the ball rolling. Students at this young age love to share their toys and items that mean a lot to them.
Mix it up.
I don’t want to overwhelm my parents. Also, I don’t want kids to not have enough to do if they want to do more. I give a lot of optional assignments.
We use Canvas, so I just list optional assignments and link a Google Slide. I have created many google Slides for math,rhyming, sight words and short vowels.
Young students need a little practice to drag and drop slides, but they learn quickly. The below activities will help you to mix it up and keep it fresh. Your students will be more engaged if activities are varied.
During live sessions, I throw in Number Talks, share my screen for online books with RAZ-Kids and Discovery, and complete worksheets together.
Google is your friend.
Jamboard is engaging and fun for students. Let me walk you through the steps. Also, I will give you a freebie to start.
So, find a picture or worksheet that you want to use.
Screenshot editor and tool is an extension on Google Chrome that makes this easy. Save anything as a Png. Open Jamboard that is located in your Google Waffle.
Click the plus sign on the bottom right. Go to your toolbar on the left side, and choose the add image icon. Find what you would like to add. Matching activities are great.
Share and change settings to anyone with the link can share and edit.
Put the link in your chat box when doing small groups.
Share your screen and explain the steps to your kids. Show them how to find the drawing tools. My students loved this and being able to draw with their friends.
A simple favorite is “Simon Says” but use your name instead. I like to include this game with my learning objectives. When I teach shapes, I say, Mrs. Barton says, “Make a triangle with your fingers.”
Mrs. Barton says, “Find a cylinder in your house.” This incorporates movement, fun and learning together.
On Fridays, I like to play a different game. We have dance parties. I let them request songs that I find on my phone to play.
Go Noodle is, of course, also a favorite.
Give paper and pencil work.
Students in kindergarten need to cut, glue and write. These are essential skills that cannot be learned on the computer.
Deployment of materials is essential. This is how I have the students turn in work also. We have two bins for pick-up and drop off. One packet for the month has worked for my school.
Including fun art projects to go along with stories and social studies and science units has been a hit with the students.
They love to show me their finished projects on our live sessions.
Directed Drawing
Students love directed drawings. They also learn how to follow step-by-step directions. The below robot is one that I used during my shapes unit.
I drew it out first on a whiteboard.
During the live lesson, I gave directions very slowly and made a few things easier for the students. They absolutely loved this.
Some of their robots looked better than mine.
Don’t give up!
I hope these distance learning tips for kindergarten were helpful. We are in un-chartered territory. This is hard. But, it will get easier, and your tool belt will get larger.
Join Facebook groups for distance learning. They have been so helpful to me in learning new skills.
There are positives here. I feel like I am able to talk to my students in small groups and really form relationships. In the classroom, I always felt rushed and had to deal with the behavior of the other students in the room.
Guess what? Students are learning, and they will continue to learn. Let’s stick together and help one another.
Opinion writing in kindergarten is my favorite concept to teach. But, it’s an all-out struggle. Rightly so, five year old students come to our classes without any previous experience with getting their thoughts on paper.
Teachers often think that opinion writing has to be started in the second semester of the year in kindergarten. I disagree.
Opinion writing in kindergarten is often the best way to get students motivated to use that pencil and paper quickly.
Get started immediately.
Of course, students need to know how to hold their pencils. Once students grab their pencils and begin writing, it is very hard to change their grip.
So, pencil grip should be modeled by pinching the bottom of the pencil with the pointer finger and the thumb and the rest of the fingers should support those two fingers.
For students who grab the pencil with their whole fists or students with other awkward grips (I have seen them all) purchase or borrow a pencil grip from another teacher.
Students should write for twenty minutes a day. “How is this possible?” you ask. Read on.
Teach Skills in Context.
There are certain skills students need to write a sentence. First, they need to have knowledge of sounds of letters.
Having an alphabet chart and a sight word personal word wall gives students the tools they need to develop confidence while writing.
Practicing handwriting together while modeling how to write the letters in the words “I like you “accomplishes two goals. Students are learning how to form letters while they learn to write and spell a word.
I like to teach the sight word like by singing the spelling of the word like. I sing it to the tune of It’s a Small World.
l-i-k-e that spells like l-i-k-e
l-i-k-e that spells like l-i-k-e
l-i-k-e that spells like l-i-k-e
l-i-k-e like
In the beginning weeks, I model how to write short sentences that contain sight words such as I like you and I like mom.
This is opinion writing in kindergarten. Later on, they can expand to more than just the topic sentence.
Use Portable Word Walls.
I have always had a class word wall. I place the words up that are most used by students when they are writing in their journals.
The problem is sometimes it is hard for students to copy the word when it is so far away from them.
“I can’t see, Mrs. Barton,” they yell as if I am down the hall in the cafeteria.
Then, they move closer, and slowly but surely the whole darn class is standing by the word wall.
This led me to create a portable word wall that I laminate and add words as the students need them. Some students want to always write about their sister, and some students don’t have a sister.
This enables the word walls to be personalized to each student’s individual writing needs. My free portable word wall also helps students with letters and sounds as it has a picture of a word that the letter sound makes. This makes opinion writing for kids in kindergarten easier.
Use Mentor Texts to teach opinion writing in kindergarten.
There are many great books that teach opinion writing in kindergarten. Main characters often have a point of view. This can provide an opportunity for students to agree or disagree with the main character. In addition, I like to have students put their thumbs up or down in agreement or disagreement.
Turning to their shoulder partner to discuss their opinions is also helpful. One of my favorite books to teach about opinion writing for kids is I’m Trying to Love Spiders by Bethany Barton.
This book is great because it weaves non-fiction with a cute and colorful story. Click on the freebie that goes along with the story. There are so many great facts about spiders.
This author has other books such as I’m Trying to Love Math that would be great for opinion writing also. The kids love it, and so did I.
Before I start my journal writing each day, I teach a mini lesson. This is sometimes referred to as shared writing. It is a huge help to get students writing and expressing ideas.
Each day, I model something that the students want to write about. I choose one skill to focus on each day. Skills can be:
Capitalization
End punctuation
Topic sentence
Sight word spelling
Stretching out words
Word spaces
I write this on a white board easel. Students help me sound out words and correct mistakes.
Use Engaging Writing Prompts
Sometimes, it is beneficial to have students expand their horizons and write on a pre-determined writing prompt. When teaching opinion writing for kids, I have found that students (and teachers) are always motivated by food.
Second, another motivating topic seems to be anything holiday related.
Use Personal Journals
I use journals to let students express themselves on any topic they choose. Also, I don’t worry if they are writing on the same topic daily.
Much the same way that students learn how to read by becoming confident reading the same book over and over, students develop confidence with writing the same sentences and sight words continuously.
Using I like and having a list of their friends enables students to engage in opinion writing about their friends. I find that this is the most motivating for them. As they get better at writing and using their portable word walls, they can describe why they like their friends. This is important to teach opinion writing for kids in kindergarten.
Share, share share
When we write something, we want to publish it by sharing with others. Maybe, that is why so many teachers have blogs. We like to share.
Just like teachers, student writing is more motivating when they get to share it with classmates and beam with pride. So, I like to read the writing of one table a day. Also, I ask the class what they did well, and use their writing to point out great things they have done such as putting a period at the end of the sentence.
Pointing out positives goes along way to get gets excited about sharing their thoughts on paper.
Social-emotional learning is very important to teach in kindergarten, and I have found the perfect book to teach it: Jellybeans.Even the title makes me happy.
This book lends itself to teaching about kindness, anti-bullying topics, and likenesses and differences.
Rhyming is incorporated throughout, so this is also a skill that can be taught with this book.
Kids have always loved jellybeans, but now they can actually relate to them. Really.
All of the jellybeans are different but the same. The book makes it known that we all have different talents, shapes, sizes and personalities but yet we are alike on the inside.
Jellybeans are different colors.
Social-emotional learning is based on acquiring an understanding of inclusivity and diversity.
Jellybeans highlights diversity by using beautiful and colorful illustrations to metaphorically connect jellybeans to people.
“Much like a dish of jellybeans, each of us brings a different flavor.”
Children usually see anyone outside of their “normal” as undesirable in some way.
Students start to realize that they are different when it is pointed out to them.
Because, the book Jellybeans shows our differences in a positive light, it challenges the idea that there is a “normal.”
We are all unique and have very special characteristics.
“Be your own jellybean. Be proud of who you are.” This statement from the book is powerful and inherently teaches social-emotional learning to our young students.
There is the Sassy Jellybean. We all have sassy jellybeans in our classes.
There is the Bubblegum Jellybean who is snappy and loud.
Toasty Marshmallow Jellybean is light-hearted and mellow.
This is a prime opportunity for social-emotional learning to take place.
Social-emotional learning is based on the ability of students to regulate emotions and adjust to their environments.
A study based on a national principal survey “found that students who receive high-quality social-emotional learning instruction have achievement scores on average of 11 percentile points higher than students who did not receive SEL instruction.”
Kids in the classroom will recognize these emotional traits in themselves.
Also, traits viewed as negative can be looked at in a positive light.
Jellybeans is a great conversation starter on how to regulate our emotions and appreciate different emotions in our environments.
Discuss how we can all have diverse traits at various times and some personalities might be appropriate in different situations.
Role play situations like a football game where it might be appropriate to be snappy and loud.
Lesson Extensions for Social-Emotional Learning:
Have students share with a shoulder partner their similarities and differences.
Talk about when you feel like the Sour Cherry Jellybean who is grumpy or the Tutti Frutti Jellybean who is lots of fun.
Brainstorm all the ways that the jellybeans are the same.
Role play situations where students may feel a certain emotion that is similar to the jellybeans.
Have students finish the sentence, “ I am……. . This will show the similarities to the jellybeans and other people.
