Unfortunately, for many the days of traditional play in kindergarten are long gone. But as kindergarten teachers, we know how important play is and so we find ways to incorporate reading, writing, and math into those play-based centers. And so here is an idea for your Classroom Train Center with a free printable.

This idea is so simple and you can really do any concept you want. All we did to add some reading and writing to our train center is add some Avery labels with sight and decodable words. Now when kids are playing trains, they will be rolling past and reading words.

This resource goes well with:

Because they are on sticky labels, you can change out the words as your students advance. You can either peel them off or just put a new label right over the first one.  We used Avery 8167 labels that are 1/2 by 1 3/4.  Here is an affiliate link to order yours: labels we used.  They were the perfect size to not get into the track yet were big enough to see the words clearly.

This center works great whether you have a full size train table in your classroom or just a bucket of Ikea trains with tracks in a storage bin like we do. Either way, the kids will love it.