Spring is a great time in upper elementary classrooms. By this point in the school year, students understand the routines and things tend to start running smoothly. Of course, there is also the spring fever that tends to creep in and make students a little squirrely as the weather changes. Nothing says spring like the smell of damp socks and slushy halls after recess breaks.
We put together some of our favourite spring classroom activities that we use to keep students learning and moving forward. Come see which of these would work in your upper elementary classroom.
Spring Classroom Activities to Do Inside
In our neck of the woods, spring is a very wet time of year. We tend to take our students outside a lot more once the snow is off the ground. Our field of snow often turns into a giant icy lake for most of March and April. We do many of our spring activities inside where we can stay dry. In fact, the lake gets so big we’ve actually spotted wildlife in it.
Do Some Spring Writing
Our writing prompts feature three choices each day. We focus on the forms of expository, persuasive and narrative writing in our writing lessons, but these prompts have more leeway. There are some poetry prompts thrown in for good measure. Print the prompts on paper or show them to students using Google Slides. This means students can write on paper or any way they choose online. Our seasonal and holiday sets each contains ten days of prompts (which is thirty prompts in total). You can find our Spring Writing Prompts set on TpT (USD$) or our BN Shop ($CAD).
The seasonal prompts can also be found in our Seasonal Writing Bundle. It is available on TpT (USD$) or our BN Shop ($CAD).
Solve Some Spring Logic Puzzles
Logic puzzles can be used in lots of ways to encourage reading, critical thinking, problem-solving and they are fun. Read more in our post: How to Use Logic Puzzles in the Classroom.
We have a set of Spring Logic Puzzles with ten unique puzzles. Students can complete them on paper or using Google Slides (though they do need some dexterity to move the pieces). You can find this set on TpT (USD$) or our BN Shop ($CAD). It is also available in our Holiday Logic Puzzles Bundle on TpT (USD$) or our BN Shop ($CAD).
Want to try a logic puzzle for free? This logic puzzle is available in our Resource Library for ninjas on our email list. If you would like a copy sent directly to your inbox, you can sign up here.
We created a set of Spring Puzzles, Word Games and Writing Prompts all in one set. All the puzzles, games and prompts are exclusive to this set. Our winter set was so popular, this was requested several times. You can find it on TpT (USD$) or our BN Shop ($CAD).
Do Some Spring Math
If you’re looking to review different concepts throughout the year, one way is to use fun, themed worksheets. Our set of Spring Math Worksheets with Numbers up to 1000 contains a variety of different concepts for number sense, operations, patterns, graphing and word problems. Find it on TpT (USD$) or our BN Shop ($CAD). We have Spring Math Worksheets with Numbers up to 10 000. Find it on TpT (USD$) or our BN Shop ($CAD). Our Spring Math Worksheets with Numbers up to a Million. It is available on TpT (USD$) or our BN Shop ($CAD).
We like to turn our worksheets into games. Check out our post Math Worksheet Games Your Students Will Love. It has some free samples of math worksheets to get you started.
Get Growing
Plants in your classroom can be a great way to bring a little nature indoors. Whether you are teaching about plants in your science unit or just enjoying them, getting students to learn and care for plants is a great spring classroom activity.
Simple plants like beans, marigolds and radishes make good classroom plants because they grow quickly. Your students can keep track of their plant changes with this very simple Plant Observation Journal. Find it on TpT (USD$) or our BN Shop ($CAD).
Learn About Plants
Honestly, we ninjas are not great at physically growing classroom plants. Our classroom is often its own ecosystem that either requires a parka or is roughly the temperature of the sun. There doesn’t seem to be an in-between climate that plants enjoy. That doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy them.
We use this collaborative poster about Sacred Medicinal Plants to bring in a little greenery. Students each colour a piece and then we assemble the pieces into one big poster. Our poster sets include 18, 24 or 36 pieces and some follow-up activities. Find it on TpT (USD$) or our BN Shop ($CAD).
If you’re looking to learn more about medicinal plants and some of their other purposes, have your students practice their research skills. Our Ceremonial Plants Research Activity includes everything you need (even the research) for your students to learn different research skills and complete a short presentation. Find it on TpT (USD$) or our BN Shop ($CAD).
We have a set of reading passages all about plants that come with comprehension, word and grammar activities. They come in a complete Peculiar Plants Set on TpT (USD$). The individual topics are also available. These are not yet available in our BN Shop.
Carnivorous Plants on TpT (USD$).
Invasive Species on TpT (USD$).
Sacred Plants on TpT (USD$).
Xeriscaping on TpT (USD$).
Create Some Spring Art
Ok, this isn’t necessarily spring art, but plants and greenery remind us of spring. We created a whole set of art projects based on plants and nature. Each of the lessons includes step-by-step instructions for the teacher to walk their students through a project. We included sample photos and tips for making the process easier along with student, peer and teacher reflection pages in English and French.
You can find the Plants Inspired Art Projects on TpT (USD$) or our BN Shop ($CAD).
If you enjoy our collaborative posters, we made a few that are inspired by spring.
Spring Collaborative Poster will bring blossoms right into your classroom. Find it on TpT (USD$) or our BN Shop ($CAD).
Be the Sunshine on Someone’s Rainy Day Collaborative Poster was designed as an anti-bullying poster, but our students thought the sunshine on it warranted its use for spring. Find it on TpT (USD$) or our BN Shop ($CAD).
Spring Classroom Activities to Get Outside
Get outside and look at all the signs of spring. Our Nurturing Nature Scavenger Hunt is in our Resource Library. The library is available to members of our email list. If you’re not on the list yet, we can send the scavenger hunt directly to your inbox when you sign up.
While your tarmac might still be wet or icy, playground games are so much fun in the spring. Use your gym class to teach students some basic playground games. They can take what they’ve learned outside during recess (or an outdoor gym class if you dare), Our post Why You Should Revive Old Playground Games has lots of ideas for you.
Spring Classroom Activities to Celebrate
There are several different holidays and celebrations throughout the spring.
Holi Festival of Colours
The Holi Festival of Colours is a Hindu festival that celebrates spring. You can learn more about the traditions and history in our post: Quick and Colourful Activities for Holi the Festival of Colours. It is full of books and activities that you can use to teach your students about the different celebrations held throughout the festival.
April Fool’s Day
Don’t forget that spring brings with it April Fool’s Day. If you enjoy a silly but harmless prank with your students, check out our post How to Prank Your Students. It is full of free pranks you can use with most elementary classes. Even if you don’t prank your students, it’s worth a read for the laughs.
Easter
Christians celebrate Easter in the spring. We have several different Easter activities available on TpT (USD$) or our BN Shop ($CAD).
Earth Day
Our grade fours often learn about waste and recycling as part of their science unit. We use Earth Day to help students make real connections. You can learn more about the ways we use Earth Day in our upper elementary classroom in our post Easy to Use Classroom Activities for Earth Day.
Poetry Month
April is National Poetry Month. Poem in Your Pocket Day is a simple way to enjoy a little poetry with your students. Learn more in our post How to Celebrate Poem in Your Pocket Day.
What are some of your other favourite seasonal activities?
Do you have other favourite spring classroom activities? We’d love to hear all about them. Leave us a comment below.
