Are you looking for hands-on and engaging summer preschool activities for math & literacy? Keep reading to check out what’s a part of Littles Love Summer, our summer math & literacy packet!
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Summer is finally here, and everyone is so excited for the fun that’s to come! Whether you’re going on vacation, going camping, or just spending time reading at home, summer is a great chance to engage your little ones in learning to avoid that dreaded summer slide.
Want a free editable summer schedule that you can use with your little ones? Check out this post!
If you’re still teaching this summer (maybe in your classroom or just at home with your own little ones!), then you’ll want to check out Littles Love Summer. This summer learning pack is designed for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten and is aligned with the Arizona Early Learning Standards.
These activities encourage your littles to explore foundational math & literacy skills through play, plus there’s a book project that goes along with the book And Then Comes Summer by Tom Brenner. Keep reading to see everything that’s included and how you can grab your own copy!
Looking for some great summer books for preschool? Check out this post!
SUMMER PRESCHOOL ACTIVITIES
These summer-themed word cards can be used in so many different ways! This download includes 15 summer-themed words, and each word comes in 4 different fonts: Uppercase, lowercase, uppercase traceable, and lowercase traceable. This activity also comes with a set of JUST the words (uppercase and lowercase) and JUST the pictures (giving students the chance to match them up). The possibilities with these cards are endless! You also get 3 activity pages for students to write these words if you choose to do a “Write the Room” activity with them and 1 page of pictures for them to “Color the Room.”
Looking for just the summer word cards? Check them out here!
Working on letter identification? This is a great activity to try! Students can sort the letters into different groups: Uppercase vs. lowercase, In My Name vs. Not In My Name, Holes vs. No Holes, and Straight vs. Curvy vs. Both. You can also review letter sounds, match uppercase and lowercase letters, and talk about letter formation. Laminate & use with a dry-erase marker to re-use over and over!
Want to add these cards to a fun beach sensory bin? Check this one out!
Clip cards are so popular these days because they combine fine motor practice with an academic skill, which is a double win! This clip card activity asks students to find the words that begin with the letter on the cone. There are two pictures on each cone that start with the letter. Have students use clothespins to clip the correct answer, or you could also have them use another small manipulative like mini-erasers, gems, pom poms, or cotton balls.
Another preschool summer activity that’s sure to be a hit: Fishing for Rhymes! Students will use the fishing pole to catch a rhyming fish. Rhyming is such an important skill since it helps little ones develop their phonological awareness skills. The more often you can practice it, the better! Includes 24 fishing pole/fish matches and an activity page for little ones to complete about rhyming.
This activity is great for fine motor practice. Students can connect the animals by tracing the lines, or they can create their own lines on the blank page (either with a pencil, beads, play dough, or anything else they can think of!) Or they can use scissors to cut apart the lines on the cutting pages. So many different ways to practice!
I love this activity because it helps little ones see themselves as readers, no matter their level! Each card has 3 pictures on it. Students will add the beginning sound to build the name of each picture. This is another great one for phonological awareness practice (you can talk about how the 3 pictures on each card rhyme). It’s also great for blending sounds together to read the word! Includes 20 cards (4 cards for each vowel). Also includes an activity page to record their answers.
Working on syllables? Little ones can usually hear the different syllables in a word even before they can read the word themselves. Work with students to clap out the syllables in each word, then have them sort the words into the correct columns. Make this activity even more hands-on by hiding the words around the room (or outside) and asking little ones to go on a scavenger hunt to find them! Maybe they can even carry their backpack or their own DIY binoculars while searching!
Out of all of the preschool summer activities, this one is by far my favorite! How much fun would this be as a kid? (It’s actually still fun for me as an adult!) Students will work on matching the uppercase and lowercase letters, then they can write the letter in a tray of sprinkles. Great way to practice letter identification and fine motor skills. To increase the fun, have them use the pointy end of a real sugar cone to write!
I love having preschoolers work on patterns for so many reasons…they help with critical thinking skills, visual discrimination, and they set the foundation for future math & literacy development. This set includes 8 different patterns for students to complete and 4 blank cards to make their own patterns. Reviews AB, AAB, ABB, and ABC patterns.
Here’s a great way to combine math & literacy in one center! If you don’t have a spinner, you can make one with a paperclip and a pencil. For this activity, little ones can spin the spinner, then read the sight word and record it on their sheet (use either the Tally Chart or the Graph, depending on which skill you’re working on). They can also find the matching sight word sun in the pile of cards. Spin lots of times to see which word is the winner! Includes 5 sun spinners that review these sight words: that, the, of, and, to, in, is, you, with, it, he, was, for, on, are, as, I, a, they, his.
Here’s another way to combine math and literacy together! Students can match the dots on the bug to the correct number jar. Great for them to practice counting, one-to-one correspondence, and reading number words…plus how cute are those bugs?! Includes both color and black/white options for the bugs.
Going to the beach is one of my favorite summer trips, and this activity transports me to that happy place! Students will roll a die and cover the number on the mat with a small manipulative (or laminate these and have them mark off the number with a dry-erase marker). This set includes 2 mats. The first mat has numbers 1-6 and the second mat has numbers 1-12 (for students who are ready to roll 2 dice and add up the numbers!)
Another beach activity that’s sure to be a hit! Have students choose a number card and match it to the correct ten frame. This helps them practice counting and one-to-one correspondence. Or, as a challenge, have them fill in the blank ten frame to represent the number they chose. Includes numbers 1-10.
Want to add these cards to a fun beach sensory bin? Check this one out!
Here’s a fun way to introduce measurement to preschoolers! Have them use the summer rulers to measure different summer pictures. You can also have them use standard rulers and discuss the differences between standard & nonstandard units of measurement.
Want to add any of these activities to a summer sensory bin? Check out this post!
SUMMER BOOK PROJECT
And last but not least, Littles Love Summer comes with a book project based on the book And Then Comes Summer by Tom Brenner. (Note: The book is not included in this download. You will need to buy the book yourself or borrow it from your local library. You can find it on Amazon here.
This book project comes with comprehension questions, a poem, a song, directions for Ice Cream Art (with a printable), and a recipe for Waffle Ice Cream. Yum!
We know that reading aloud to our little ones is the most important part of helping to prepare them for success in school and beyond, and doing book-themed activities increases the enjoyment level for our kids! So don’t skip this part!
THE BEST SUMMER PRESCHOOL ACTIVITIES
Phew! I think that covers everything! I’m so excited for you to check out these summer math & literacy centers and tell me what you think! If you have any questions about this download, you can always email me: [email protected].
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What are your favorite summer preschool activities? Comment below or find me on Instagram (@littleslovelearningblog). I’d love to hear about them!
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Happy Learning!
