Spring Learning Activities for Kids
Spring is such a fun time, with no shortage of great outdoor and indoor learning activities for kids! Here are some of our favorite early learning ideas for this time of year!
Nature-Based Process Art
We had a blast one beautiful Spring morning collecting leaves, sticks, and rocks to use for our nature-based process art! Fresh air + nature’s gift + paint! Just can’t beat it!
Minimal Mess Toddler Sensory Play: Waterless Flower Soup
We love a good flower soup, but when my 1yo was still in the “dump it all out” phase of exploration, we needed to make some modifications to our typical Spring learning activities... so… cue the WATERLESS soup!! Super low prep, too! Cut up some wilting flowers or pick some from outside, toss them into a container with some scoopers and spoons, and it’s ready to go!
Pull off the petals off the flowers for fine motor work
Scoop & Dump
Color Vocabulary
Investigate Capacity & Object Permanence
Touch & Smell & Sight
Sunflower Soup
We had some sunflowers that were on their way out, so I combined them with our Flower Breathing Board for some sunflower soup mindfulness play!
Practicing deep breathing when a child is calm and focused is a great way to help them develop healthy coping skills for difficult and emotionally charged situations! Water play is also often a super calming form of play (I know my kids both will happily play with water for extended periods of time!), so the two just paired perfectly!
Like our deep breathing board?! Check out the Breathing Exercises for Early Learners resource in my TpT shop! It’s part of a set of printable resources that includes eight unique Deep Breathing Boards (duplicate printer-friendly versions, too!), and so much more for only $3.50!
Springtime Art Inspiration
With the arrival of Spring, some literacy and art learning activities based on the artwork of Van Gogh are a great way to increase young children's learning depth while maintaining age-appropriate accessibility!
This is such a simple set-up, and you can adapt it easily by using books about any artist you want, and then pairing some inspiration with the art supplies. I paired this book with some floral inspiration since I happened to have some fake sunflowers and other cloth flowers laying around, but there are endless combinations of books and props that would work!
Book-based play encourages literacy and language development
Expose children to famous works of art and inspire them to create their own
High-interest find motor work
Extension of biographies and nonfiction texts helps build background knowledge, vocabulary, and content-based interest
Colors and shapes
Props and inspiration materials can be used for playing and exploring as well
Adapt this play to reach all learners by:
Offering multiple mediums for art creation (choice inspires motivation!)
Choosing artists that are globally and racially diverse and represent various time periods and subject matter
Use natural materials for extra sensory experiences
Rainbow Road
Want to create a fun zone hallway or space in your classroom? Great news: All you need is tape!!
Indoor Gross Motor Play
Color Recognition
Balance and Movement
Add Toys (cars, trains, balls, etc.)
Place Tape Strategically (increase cooperation during routines and transitions by adding some fun movement!)
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Sensory Story Play
Book-based sensory play is always a huge hit! Whether you read while the play, help them reenact the story together, or just let them explore, this combination offers endless benefits! Remember, your materials don’t need to match the book exactly- use what you have!!
Sensory Play/Fine Motor Skills
Sequencing
Story Structure
Connect Words and Illustrations
Imaginative Play
Adapt this activity by removing the sensory base and focus only on the retelling, use real food and turn this into a "snacktivity," or by substituting another favorite book to increase engagement!
Spring Learning Activities for Kids... Made Easy!
Springtime Flower + Water Sensory Play
This setup came out so beautifully but it was truly SO simple (and totally free!!)
Tulips + Painted Poms + Shamrocks + Water + Food Coloring + Muffin Tin + Easter Eggs + Kitchen Tools
Sensory Play (including the sense of smell because of the flowers!)
Easter & Spring Themed Play
Color Science
Liquid Capacity & Volume
Measuring & Comparing
Plant and Flower Scientific Investigation
Scooping, Pouring, Fine Motor Skills
Modify this play to increase engagement by choosing flowers, food coloring, and Easter eggs that match your children’s favorite colors!
Garden Work
Several years ago, this sweet child of mine helped his dad every single afternoon in their gigantic vegetable garden, and one year, I decided to get in on the fun by planting some new seeds in our flower bed! Of course, Mr. Gardener was by my side the entire time- helping me to pull weeds, dig up dirt, plant seeds, and water! I have zero gardening skills (which is sad because my sister is a Professional Gardener) but for the sake of a good experience for this little guy I really tried super hard to get those flowers to bloom!
Benefits of Gardening With Kids:
Heavy Work
Outdoor Exploratory Learning
Biology & Botany for Toddlers
Plant Life Cycle & Survival Needs
Full Immersion Sensory Experience
Self-Confidence & Sense of Accomplishment
Observations & Changes Over Time
Bonding Time
Earth Tones
Blue Paint + Green Paint + Toilet Paper Tubes+ Large Paper = Earth Day Art!
High-Interest Fine Motor Work
Process Art for Emotional Processing
Spark Earth-Themed Discussions
Artistic Expression
Self-Confidence, Self-Directed Exploration, and Sense of Pride
Spring Garden Sensory + Book-Based Play
Springtime learning activities for kids are often super colorful and engaging. I made this setup using dyed chick peas, some loose shape puzzle pieces, sensory bin tools, and a book to match!
Sensory Play: Chick peas are a GREAT sensory bin filler- interesting shape, sound, texture, and turn them any color you want!
Modify this setup to work with lots of timely seasonal play- Easter, Holi, Springtime, etc.
Literacy-Based Play: read while they play, recreate scenes from the book, or just leave it there for inspiration and exploration!
Shape recognition and exposure
DIY Sun Number Match + Puzzle
So many mamas and educators share their artistic and creative cardboard DIY’s that I had to try it out! To anyone who thinks “Oh gosh that’s wayyyy too much work I am not even going there!” I totally understand! I did this and a few other DIY activities a little at a time over a week or two and honestly it was fun for me. Plus, I still have them years later, which is. a bonus! Painting crafts like this is actually really calming and therapeutic!! I totally encourage everyone to try it out if you even feel mildly inspired!
Number Recognition & Matching
Counting
Fine Motor & Hand Muscle Work
Puzzle Skills
Letter Recognition and Matching
Alphabetic Principle (words are made of letters!)
DIY Earth Day Fine Motor Play
With some cardboard & paint, I was able to create these DIY Threading Boards and DIY Beginner Jigsaw Puzzles!
Fine Motor Practice
Book-Based Play
Earth Day Conversations
Persistence & Patience
Puzzle Skills (pre-reading & pre-math!!)
Shape Orientation and Recognition
Spring Learning Activities for Kids... Made Easy!
Nature Spy Sensory Play
For this setup, we are keeping it simple with our base of dyed green beans and tossing in some woodland nature figurines for some book-based play that has all the springtime vibes!
Book-Based Play
Nonfiction Connections/Vocab
Sensory Play
Animals & Habitat Science
Imaginative Play
Easter Egg Letter Hunt
Get the most out of your plastic Easter eggs by using and reusing them in all different ways, such as adding in a focus on letters!
Lowercase letters are a whole different ballgame for kids who are used to only seeing capital letters! But, most of the letters our children see in context are lowercase, so kids have to be able to recognize them and know their sounds before they can read. Already have a reader? This activity can easily be adapted to build words!
Easter-Themed Play
Letters, Sounds, Words
Uppercase vs. Lowercase
Alphabetic Principle
Sensory Play
Colors
Fine Motor Work
“Acoustic Rooster’s Barnyard Boogie Starring Indigo Blume”
by Kwame Alexander
We love this book so this setup was a perfect extension and way for my preschooler to reenact and extend the story! This picture book is filled with joy, personality, clever humor, liveliness, and fun- a perfect read aloud that is sure to be a favorite of music lovers of all ages! Farm play is a great springtime learning activity for kids that can easily be used as a warm up for hatching chicks, a field trip to a petting zoo or a visit to an actual farm!
Counting Eggs Book-Based Math Play
Any time we can combine math, literacy, and sensory play, it’s a huge hit! So many ways to play and learn!
Counting & Number Recognition
Number Representations
Sensory Play
Read & Play
Imaginative Play
Fine Motor Work
Spring Learning Activities for Kids... Made Easy!
Looking for high-quality and inclusive Spring learning activities for kids? Check out these birth-3rd grade Springtime learning resources from Love and Excellence!
Little Blue Truck’s Springtime
We love all things Little Blue Truck, so of course we had to do a springtime setup with one of our favorite characters!
Retelling/Sequencing
Characterization
Imaginative Play
Alphabet Recognition
Sensory Play
Emotion Eggs Book-Based Sensory Play
The first time I set this bin up, my heart was heavy with the weight of the news of so many preventable tragedies in our world. To say I had big feelings was an understatement.
Our children also have big feelings, and they look to us to help them process, learn, and help them grow. I feel strongly that we must teach them to be kind and teach them to be mindful, but if we aren’t rooting our parenting work in what is necessary to dismantle white supremacy, we are going to see our children grow up in a place that functions increasingly like a fascist war zone.
White parents- what are we doing.. I mean really DOING, to use our societal power to change this?
Helping our kids heal using mindful practices and process their emotions in a healthy way is a pathway to create intentional space for reconnecting to our humanity, which is essential for the work of dismantling oppressive systems and building something new that uplifts us all.
Dandelion Butterflies
I had to try this super easy and fun activity based on examples I saw several other creative mama educators do, and I will say it is still a favorite even years later!
Too bad we had just mowed the grass so we were slightly lower than normal on our dandelion inventory, but my son turned his into a nature butterfly, using lots of different flowers and leaves! The best part is, we have used these boards over and over again to create all sorts of nature-based art!!
Word Building Tray
Jumbo plastic eggs make great word family practice tools! Just twist them to change the beginning sound and read a new word! Once they read the word, let them build it using letter tiles to help reinforce phonics and spelling skills, without ever needing to write.
Keeping literacy activities at a developmentally appropriate level for preschoolers and early readers is essential for skill acquisition, confidence building, and fostering a love of learning!
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