Valentine’s Day Centers for Kindergarten
It’s always nice to have low-prep kindergarten centers organized and ready to go for the entire school year. However, when a holiday rolls around, it can be fun to pull out themed centers for a little bit of seasonal excitement. If you’re looking for some hands-on centers activities for February, your students will love these Valentine’s Day centers for kindergarten!
Valentine’s Day Literacy Centers
By the time you reach February, your students will be ready to practice a variety of literacy skills independently, with a partner, or in a small group. The addition of these Valentine-themed center activities will bring some welcome variety to the repetition needed for mastering kindergarten literacy standards.
Phonological Awareness
Phonological awareness is a foundational literacy skill that we practice and reinforce all year since these skills are directly related to reading ability. At this point in the school year, students are ready to identify more than just the initial sound of a word.
For example, the Broken Hearts center helps students practice identifying ending sounds by matching the picture to the corresponding sound while the Love Bug Spin and Cover center allows students to practice identifying the middle sound of a word.
Letter Identification and Classification
By February, most students are ready to identify letters within the context of commonly-confused letter pairs. The Love Letters center has students identify and count lowercase letters from sets that often include some visual similarities.
Reading CVC Words
When the young readers in your class are growing more confident with decoding, it’s the perfect time to add some CVC word reading opportunities to centers. In the Make and Bake Valentine’s Day center, students have the opportunity to read CVC words and classify them as real or nonsense words. After sorting the words, students can also use the recording sheet for additional handwriting and spelling practice.
Sight Words
Identifying and spelling sight words is a skill that requires multiple practice opportunities. The Love Notes center allows students to practice building sight words with letter tiles or magnets and then write the sight words on their recording sheets. This center is also editable if you would like to focus on different high-frequency words that align with your curriculum.
Writing & Conventions
By February, kindergartners have been working on conventions of grammar for several months. Centers can provide an opportunity to apply this knowledge to new situations. For example, the Colorful Cupcakes and Happy Hearts centers allow students to practice sentence structure by unscrambling words and then writing complete sentences. Students can use their knowledge of conventions to look for clues that will help them put the cards in the correct order, such as capital letters or punctuation.
Valentine’s Day Math Centers
As we all know, repetition is key for helping students master important math skills, particularly counting. Your kindergartners will love the opportunity to practice counting, comparing, and calculating with a fun Valentine’s Day twist!
Counting
Sometimes all it takes is a little friendly competition to get students excited about practicing a skill! In the Racing Hearts center, students take turns rolling dice and filling in the corresponding number of hearts on the recording sheet. The first student to the finish line wins!
If your students could use more practice with counting on from a given number, then Honeycomb Counting is a fun and engaging option. Students will draw a bee card, then write that number and the two numbers that follow. You could also use manipulatives or dry erase markers for a low-prep, reusable option!
Comparing Numbers
By the time your class is ready to celebrate Valentine’s Day, students will have a good understanding of the concepts of more and less. Often, it’s the greater-than and less-than symbols that require a bit more repetition and practice. This Valentine’s Day bundle contains a fun Greater and Less Than Goodies center that allows students to practice counting and comparing objects! The best part of using centers to compare quantities is that you can choose the themed counters from any manipulatives that you already have on hand. Check out this post to see some of my favorite manipulatives for centers!
Addition and Subtraction
When it comes to addition and subtraction, there is often a wide range in skill level and understanding by the middle of the school year. Some students might still rely on tangible objects to represent addition and subtraction, while other students are comfortable solving written equations.
To support all learners, it’s helpful to have centers that provide visual representations of addition and subtraction, as well as an opportunity to practice writing equations.
The Match Makers center is a fun way to practice making ten by finding the bear that will fill the ten frame indicated by the spinner.
Students can continue to practice one-to-one correspondence while they count the treats on a card and match it to the correct Sweet Treat Train. Then, they can extend the activity by representing the two different treats in a written equation.
Finally, students can apply their knowledge of equations by solving Sweet Subtraction problems. After placing the chocolates in the appropriate heart-shaped boxes, students can practice writing these equations on their recording sheets.
Valentine’s Day Low Prep Centers
Teacher life feels a little extra busy around Valentine’s Day, so these holiday centers have been designed to be easy to implement using your favorite manipulatives and minimal prep time! Are you ready to bring some Valentine’s Day fun to your classroom with these low-prep Valentine centers? You can find them in the shop!
Valentine’s Day Math and Literacy Centers for Kindergarten
If you’d like even more holiday supplements for your centers curriculum, these Valentine’s Day Centers are also included in the Hands-On Holiday Themed Kindergarten Centers Bundle.
Kindergarten Holiday Themed Centers Bundle
Kindergarten Low-Prep Centers
Holiday centers will bring some novelty and excitement to your existing centers curriculum. Be sure to check out the Low-Prep Centers Bundle for a comprehensive centers solution for the entire school year, especially if holiday-themed centers are not a good fit for your classroom. The year-long bundle corresponds with the progression of the kindergarten year, so you’ll still find some fun seasonal options that aren’t as holiday-specific.
Low-prep centers will help you provide additional literacy and math practice in a fun and engaging way, without the stress of figuring out what you’re doing for centers each week.
Low Prep Kindergarten Centers Year Long Bundle
Save These Valentine’s Day Centers for Later!
Make sure to save these Valentine’s Day Centers for Kindergarten to your favorite classroom Pinterest board so that you can easily find them later!
