September is such an exciting time in the kindergarten classroom! All of the beginning-of-the-year nerves are wearing off and students are beginning to feel more comfortable in the classroom setting. Once this happens, students start their lightning pace of learning! In this post, I’m going to share some engaging kindergarten activities for September that you can use to make the most of this momentum at the beginning of the year.
The Kindergarten Classroom in September
Depending on your district’s school calendar, you might be up and running in September or you might be just starting the school year. Either way, September is a month that’s important for getting your routines established.
You have likely taken the time to introduce the daily procedures to your class and given your students time to practice these routines. In September, your attention will shift to starting your important instructional routines.
Your curriculum in September will likely focus on foundational literacy and math skills that will help your students get ready for a year of learning! The time you take to practice these important skills in September will set up your students for success all year long.
Kindergarten Activity Ideas for September
Here are some of my favorite kindergarten activities for September that will help you build effective instructional routines that will last all year long!
Use Thematic Units
Thematic units are a fantastic way to get your students excited about learning! In September, you can introduce thematic learning to your class with fun seasonal units!
One of my favorite kindergarten units for September is an apple unit! This set of apple activities can help students learn more about the apple life cycle while also practicing important literacy and math concepts.
There are also fun apple crafts that give students some much-needed practice with school supplies at the beginning of the year.
Another fun unit for September is a scarecrow theme! This unit has several scarecrow read-alouds that can help students practice skills like listening comprehension, attending to a read-aloud, and sitting at the carpet with their peers.
There are several literacy and math activities that go along with these read-alouds, which will make skill practice even more engaging for your students.
If you’re interested in using these thematic units in your classroom this September, you can find them in one easy-to-download bundle. This resource includes all of the printables, templates, and lesson plan suggestions that you need to put together these fun units for your students. Just click below to find this bundle in the A Spoonful of Learning shop or on TPT.
Start a Centers Routine
If you were waiting until the school year was up and running before introducing centers to your students, September is a great month to get that started! I have written an entire post about how I introduce centers in kindergarten.
A great way to keep your students on task during these independent learning stations is to use engaging seasonal activities. There is just something about themed centers that grabs students’ attention and motivates them to work on their tasks independently. This is really important during centers time!
This set of themed fall centers is perfect for September! It is full of engaging math and literacy activities that focus on important skills for the beginning of the year.
These printable activities include recording sheets as well as illustrated “I Can” direction cards to increase independence and accountability during centers time. Students can practice literacy and math skills that will help them build a strong foundation for learning all year long.
Would you like to use these fall centers in your classroom this September? Just click below to find them in the A Spoonful of Learning shop or on TPT.
Practice Letter and Sound Identification
One major focus of academic instruction in September is letter and sound identification. Students need lots of repetition in order to identify letters and the sounds they make! These hands-on apple-themed activities are a great addition to centers, morning work, or small group practice.
For example, students can practice identifying uppercase and lowercase letters as they find the matching cards. They can also put their letter identification skills to the test as they find the apple letter cards needed to match the sight word written on an apple basket.
When they’re ready to put together letter and sound identification, they can use a word building activity to represent sounds with letters! They will find the apple letter cards needed to build a word on the tree that matches a given picture card.
Improve Number Sense
It’s also important for students to build a strong foundation of number sense early in the school year. Hands-on activities can keep students engaged in the repetition need to master skills like number identification, counting, and more.
This apple seed activity gives students the chance to represent a number in many different ways. Each apple seed has a different model of a number: Ten frame, fingers, apples, and a die. Students can match these apple seeds to the correct number.
Students could also practice their counting and number identification skills with this matching activity. They will find the two halves of an apple by counting the seeds and then matching it to the correct number.
Finally, a fall-themed number game is always a hit in September! Students will roll a die to determine which numbered apple to remove from the tree.
The letter identification activities and number sense activities can be found in one easy-to-download freebie! You’ll find six free apple centers that will help students review important early literacy and math skills with a fun fall twist! To take a closer look at everything included with these free centers, just click below to find them in the A Spoonful of Learning Shop or in my TPT store.
Save These Kindergarten Activities for September
Be sure to save this post so you can come back to it later! Just add the pin below to your favorite kindergarten board on Pinterest. You’ll be able to quickly find these activities when you’re putting together your kindergarten lesson plans for September.