Fun Ways to Review Math and Literacy Skills Before Winter Break
You and your students have worked too hard all year to let those key math and literacy skills slip over winter break. With these ideas, games, and no prep worksheets, to review before winter break, your kindergarten students will have meaningful skill review going into the break.
The Importance of Kindergarten Review Before Winter Break
After months of hard work in the classroom, teachers want to ensure they are giving their students meaningful opportunities to review key math and literacy skills before winter break.
This helps prevent the “winter break slide” and solidify those skills before several days off of school.
It's also important for teachers to assess their students' progress on key skills before winter break. This allows them to see how far they've come and plan targeted instruction for the new year.
The days leading up to winter break and holidays is hectic in the kindergarten classroom. With these fun pre-winter break kindergarten review ideas, games, and no prep worksheets, you can rest assured that your students are getting the math and literacy skill review they need while giving you the opportunity to assess their skills.
Fun Kindergarten Review Before Winter Break Activities
The key to keeping students on task before winter break is keeping the review activities fun, engaging, and interactive.
Using a mix of review games and no prep winter break review worksheets for kindergarten is a great way to keep the learning fun, but also give you the information you need to assess their skills and plan instruction for the new year.
Check out these kindergarten review before winter break games, ideas, and no prep holiday-themed math and literacy worksheets.
Sticky Note Review Game
This review game is super simple to prep, highly effective, and easy to differentiate. All you need is sticky notes!
To begin, write 6 answers on separate sticky notes. You can do 6 answers for the same skill, such as simple addition problems or sight words, or mix it up and review a few different skills.
Next, ask a question and have students choose the sticky note that has the correct answer.
For example, you may ask students what number 3 and 2 make. They would choose the sticky note with the number 5.
Another example is to ask students which sight word is spelled c-a-n. They would choose the sticky note with the word “can.”
Literacy Winter Break Review Worksheets For Kindergarten
Incorporating no prep literacy review worksheets into your lesson plans before winter break is a great way to review multiple skills such as sight words, CVC words, word families, decoding skills, and more.
These literacy worksheets can also be used as quick skill checks to assess your students in a no-stress way before winter break. You could also send these literacy worksheets home with students over winter break for at-home practice.
There are so many ways to utilize them for kindergarten review before or during winter break.
White Board Review Races
Another fun and simple way to practice math and literacy skills before winter break is to have white board review races.
To begin, split students into teams. You can do either 2 or 3 teams depending on the size of your class.
Have 1 student from each team go up to the large classroom white board. Ask a question and have the students race to solve on the white board.
The first student to write the correct answer wins a point for their team. Keep track of score using tally marks (bonus number sense practice!).
The next set of students comes up to the board to solve and play continues until all students have had a turn. The team with the most points at the end wins!
You can easily differentiate this game by reviewing 1 skill at a time, all literacy or all math skills, or a combination of math and literacy skills.
A few examples of skills you can practice with this review game are CVC words, sight words, uppercase/lowercase letters, number writing, ways to make 5/10, number order, etc.
Scoot Review Game
Scoot is a kid-favorite review game that allows students to get up and moving while they review math and literacy skills.
To begin, place notecards or basic task cards with math problems, sight words, CVC words, etc, on your students' desks.
Students will start at their desk and solve the problem or write the word on their own individual white board.
Once all students have solved, after about 1 minute or so, the teacher will say “Scoot!” and all students will scoot to the next desk and solve that problem. Continue until all students are back at their seats.
Math Winter Break Review Worksheets For Kindergarten
Similar to using no prep literacy worksheets, you can also incorporate no prep math winter break review worksheets for kindergarten into your lesson plans for skill review, quick skill checks, or at-home practice.
This time of year, it's important to review math skills such as 1 less, 1 more, counting on, ten frames, counting skills, and number sense skills before winter break.
When students return from winter break, they'll build on these skills as they begin learning about addition and subtraction, teen numbers, and number patterns.
Team Winter Break Review Games
Another way to keep review before winter break fun and engaging for students is to do team review games.
First, split students into 2-3 teams depending on the size of your class. Supply each team with manipulatives, magnetic letters, and whiteboards to help them solve problems as a team.
Ask students a math or literacy question and have them work as a team to solve and come up with the answer.
This is a great way to involve all students and give them a hands-on way to review math and literacy skills. Plus, students will learn from each other and see different ways to solve problems.
Partner Review
Another way to have students review skills before winter break is to pair them up and have them do partner review.
Pair students up and have them a complete a math or literacy winter break review worksheet for kindergarten. After they've completed the worksheet, have them switch worksheets and check their partner's work.
This allows students to review skills and think about them in different ways by checking their partner's work, seeing how they solve, and checking for errors.
Hands-On Activity Mats
Using hands-on math and literacy activity mats is a great way to incorporate kindergarten review before winter break.
You can add these FREE Christmas activity mats to your lesson plans by using them for math and literacy centers, partner practice, or independent review.
These activity mats give students a hands-on, interactive way to practice numbers to 20, making 10, middle sounds, and word families.
Fill out the form below to get your free download sent straight to your inbox!
I hope you've enjoyed these kindergarten review before winter break ideas, games, and no-prep worksheets.
If you'd like to grab an entire set of holiday-themed no prep math and literacy worksheets to use all December long (and even to send home over winter break), check out these December Grab and Go Worksheets for Kindergarten!
Do you have a fun review game or idea that you like to use before winter break? Comment below and let me know!
