February is a busy, busy month but hopefully you can squeeze in a little fun with these fun Valentine’s Day centers! The best part- most are completely free!
Valentine’s Day Center #1: Our Favorites Carousel
One of my favorite Valentine’s Day writing activities is this ‘carousel’ we do about things we love!
I make 5 charts and place them around the room. Kids move from chart to chart, drawing and labeling one thing on each chart. My 5 categories are:
- PEOPLE we love
- ANIMALS we love
- THINGS we love
- PLACES we love
- FOODS we love
Some tips:
- Brainstorm a few ideas for each category before starting
- Draw an example on each so they remember the categories
- Group kids heterogeneously
- Time each station and rotate after about 5 minutes
- Remind kids to leave space for others 🙂
This carousel activity is great for many concepts- 5 senses, ways to make different numbers, word families, etc!
Valentine’s Day Center #2: Labeling Poster
This Valentine’s Day station has a poster with clipart and pre-labeled post-it notes. I stack these out of order and kids figure out where they go.
Valentine’s Day Center #3: Labeling
These labeling sheets are perfect for kindergarten and first grade! My students just love them because they are free to label whatever they want.
With built-in differentiation, they are perfect for all writing levels. Beginners can stick to labeling, while more advanced writers can add a sentence.
They are part of my Labeling for Emergent Writers pack, which is 40% off for a little while longer.
To read more about how I use these, plus more tips on helping emergent writers, read this blog post: Tips for Emergent Writers
Valentine’s Day Center #4: Mailbox riddles
I have to say, this station has been a bigger hit with my students than I expected! I simply bought a Valentine mailbox from the dollar store and filled a basket of mini-objects. Kids hide an object in the mailbox, then give clues to their peers.
It’s such a great way to develop language, especially for my English Language Learners.
Some tips:
- Practice a few whole-group, discussing what makes a good clue
- Give prompts: It is a food/animal/game, etc., It lives in —.
- Tell student guessers they can ask questions, such as, “Does it move?” Is it something you eat?” etc.
- Any objects will do, so if you don’t have an alphabet mini-set, go around your classroom gathering things: marker, eraser, cube, pattern block, crayon, paper clip, etc.
I love this center so much, I will have to modify it for every month: Mystery Leprechaun’s Hat, Mystery Easter Bunny Basket
Valentine’s Day Center #5: Math Mats
I made some simple math mats for practicing addition. I used double-dice and mini-erasers. Kids rolled and placed the numbers from both dice onto the Valentine carts, then completed the sentence.
Valentine’s Day Center #6: CVC Hearts
Oh, I love this one! I found these little hearts at Walmart and knew it would make a great activity. My good friend Jennifer from CrayonsandCutiesinKindergarten suggested a CVC guessing game and I loved that idea! So, I printed out some CVC clipart and wrote the words on the outside. Kids read the word and check the picture to confirm.
Tips:
- Place clear tape over the words so they don’t get erased.
- Glue the pictures to the inside if you want them to stay (I found out kids love to take them out and mix them up).
- OR, let them take the pictures out and make a game of matching them back!
Valentine’s Day Center #7: Spin-a-Word
Do your students love working on your interactive whiteboard? My students just love coming up to the ENO board! So, I made a morning station out of it. I simply display this Spin-a-Word mat on the ENO board and kids use the spinner (another Dollar Tree gem) to build words.
This mat is included in your freebie (link below), but I also have a pack of Spin-a-Word mats you can display on your ENO board for whole-group work and also use for centers. They have recording sheets, too!
Valentine’s Day Center #8: Valentine’s Day Bags
Here is a simple bag craft for all their V
Valentine’s Day Center #9: Valentine Card
Ready for your freebie? You can grab almost everything you see here for FREE! Just sign up below and get the instant download.
GET YOUR FREE Valentine’s Day Centers below.
I also have a pack with even MORE Valentine’s Day literacy activities for $4 here.
If you like these ideas, I’d love for you to share or pin this post! And, of course, feel free to share your ideas in the comments below.
Have a Happy Valentine’s Day!
