April 27, 2024
Spring is in the air and it’s time to brighten up your classroom library with some fun, seasonal books. Plants, Earth Day, Mother’s Day, insects, and seasonal changes are all hot topics to include in your book selection. Check out these 5 spring read aloud books and activities that are must for your classroom!
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This book follows a boy and his dog as they take a nature walk out of winter and into spring. They point out small changes that we begin to see as spring makes its appearance.
Activity Idea: Take your students on a spring nature walk after reading this book. Give each child a checklist of items to find or work together as a whole group to find each item. Students can draw a picture to compare/contrast spring and winter after your walk. Some ideas for your spring scavenger hunt are below.
Resource Pairing: Transform your writing center to include spring writing activities. Students can use spring word bank cards to label a picture, write sentences, create a book, or respond to a story prompt. Grab your spring Word Bank Vocabulary cards and writing activities HERE at Simply Kinder +.
You don’t think about spring without thinking about plants. This read aloud covers the life cycle of a plant and the needs of a plant. Students will follow along with two children as they learn how plants grow.
Activity Idea: It makes sense to let your students get their hands dirty and plant their own seeds to learn more about the life cycle of a plant. Students can observe their plant as it grows and record their observations over the course of a few weeks. Students will learn about plant needs and parts as they care for their plant. Taking their plants home is always the most exciting part of this activity.
Resource Pairing: Simply Kinder’s Interactive Planting Plants Life Cycle book is the ideal resource to incorporate when learning about plants. Students can interact with each page as you explore and learn more about plants. Grab your interactive book HERE.
This read aloud is a great opportunity to tie in spring with math. Students go on a journey with 100 ants who find different ways to group themselves in hopes of reaching a picnic feast.
Activity Idea: Students can make snack ants out of Oreo cookies, pretzel sticks, and M&M’s in this hands-on activity. You can also have students practice grouping themselves in 2s, 5s and 10s to practice different ways of counting and number patterns.
Resource Pairing: Explore more insects by completing insect research, reports and crafts. Students can choose an insect to learn more about from Simply Kinder’s Insect Report Bundle found HERE. Students will enjoy gathering information on their chosen insect, writing about what they learned, and creating an insect craft to accompany their work.
Spring means it’s time to celebrate Mom. This silly book celebrates the relationship between a mom and her children. Siblings provide funny ideas on how to raise a happy mom. Students will laugh along with this read aloud.
Activity Idea: Practice creating patterns and strengthen fine motor skills by making straw necklaces for Mom. Students will use pre-cut straw pieces (striped or bright colors) and beads to string a necklace for their mom. Yarn or string work well for the necklace. Encourage students to create a pattern as they make their necklace.
Resource Pairing: Pair this read aloud with Simply Kinder’s Mother’s Day Craft found HERE and each student will have a personalized gift to take home to their mom. Students will assemble the word MOM using bright letters and then add a picture of their mom through directed drawing or provided craft pieces.
Spring can bring wild weather as we transition from cold to warm. April showers bring May flowers! This read aloud tells a delightful rhyming story. Spring is introduced as a roaring lion who eventually releases a lamb that brings the peaceful sunshine of spring.
Activity Idea: Rain Cloud in a Jar is an exciting activity that you can do with kids to help them understand the relationship between clouds and rain. Fill a glass cup 3/4 of the way with water. Fill the remaining space with shaving cream. Add several drops of blue food coloring to the top of the shaving cream. Explain to students that when the clouds (shaving cream) get too heavy with water (food coloring), it falls through the clouds as rain.
Resource Pairing: Check out Simply Kinder’s Counting Raindrops Task Box as a pairing for this read aloud. Students practice representing numbers with a quantity. This can be done using Play-Doh or mini erasers. Grab your Counting Raindrops Task Box HERE.
What are your favorite spring read aloud books for the classroom? Let us know! Please make sure to tag us on Instagram here or share inside the Simply Kinder Teacher Facebook Group here.
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