Free lesson plans and activities
Coin feely bag: a 15-minute Pre-K money activity
What it is: a Pre-K money game where students reach into a cloth bag, feel one coin without looking and decide whether its edge is smooth or bumpy. It…
Inflation basket: a 6th grade lesson on rising prices
What it is: a 6th grade math and economics activity where students build a pretend basket of 5 things, price it this year and next year, and compute the…
Receipt detective: a 3rd grade money math activity
What it is: a 3rd grade math activity where students read pretend store receipts, check each line and find the one mistake hidden on each receipt: a…
How many hours of work? A 6th grade prices and wages activity
What it is: a 6th grade math activity where students turn prices into hours of work. Using the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour and two other…
Pay stub decoder: a 7th grade lesson on gross and net pay
What it is: a 7th grade math and life skills activity where students read a pretend pay stub, find gross pay, compute the Social Security tax (6.2…
Coin riddles: a 20-minute 1st grade money game
What it is: a 1st grade math game where students solve riddles about U.S. coins using real clues: color, size, edge and value. The surprise that the dime…
Rule of 72 race: a 7th grade compound interest estimate game
What it is: a 7th grade math game where teams use the Rule of 72 to estimate how long money takes to double at different interest rates, then check with…
Count up to make change: a 2nd grade number line money game
What it is: a 2nd grade math game where students make change the way many cashiers do: they start at the price and count up to the amount paid. A tape…
Insurance pool dice game: an 8th grade lesson on managing risk
What it is: an 8th grade game that shows how insurance spreads risk. Each player starts with 30 tokens. Insured players pay a small premium into a shared…
Number parking lot: a 15-minute preschool math activity for numbers 1 to 10
What it is: a preschool math game where students drive a toy car into a parking spot that matches a number card. It links the number they hear, the…
Number bonds with hula hoops: a 20-minute kindergarten math activity
What it is: a kindergarten math activity where groups of students stand in two hula hoops to show the ways a number can be split into two parts. It makes…
Domino addition sort: a 20-minute 1st grade math game
What it is: a 1st grade addition game where students add the dots on the two halves of a domino and sort the dominoes under sum cards. Students see that…
Skip counting relay: a 15-minute 2nd grade math game
What it is: a 2nd grade math relay where teams put skip counting cards in order as fast as they can, by 2s, 5s, 10s and 100s. Fluent skip counting helps…
Fair share division: a 30-minute 3rd grade math activity
What it is: a 3rd grade math activity where small groups deal out a stack of cards (or counters) so each person gets the same number, then write the…
Factor rainbows: a 20-minute 4th grade factors activity
What it is: a 4th grade math activity where students list all the factors of a number in order and connect each factor pair with a colored arc, making a…
Volume of a box: a 35-minute 5th grade measurement activity
What it is: a 5th grade measurement activity where students fill small boxes with unit cubes, count one layer and the number of layers, and discover the…
Measuring cups and fractions: a no-cook recipe for 4th grade
What it is: a 4th grade life skills and math activity where small groups follow a no-cook recipe, such as fruit and yogurt parfaits, using measuring cups…
Dot plate quick look: a 10-minute preschool number sense game
What it is: a short number sense game where you flash a paper plate with 1 to 5 dots for two seconds and students say how many without counting one by…
Teen numbers with egg cartons: a 25-minute kindergarten place value activity
What it is: a kindergarten activity where students build teen numbers with a ten frame made from an egg carton plus a few extra counters. They see that 14…
Hundred chart puzzles: a 20-minute 1st grade place value activity
What it is: a 1st grade math activity where students put a hundred chart back together after it has been cut into puzzle pieces. To fit the pieces, they…
Arrays scavenger hunt: a 25-minute 2nd grade math activity
What it is: a 2nd grade math activity where students hunt for arrays around the school (egg cartons, window panes, tiles, cubbies), describe them in rows…
Rounding roller coaster: a 20-minute 3rd grade place value game
What it is: a 3rd grade place value game where students place numbers on a roller coaster hill drawn from one ten to the next. Numbers past the top (5 and…
Decimals and fractions match: tenths and hundredths in 4th grade
What it is: a 4th grade math activity where students shade hundred grids and match each picture with a fraction card and a decimal card: 3/10 = 0.3 =…
Coordinate plane mystery picture: a 30-minute 5th grade math activity
What it is: a 5th grade math activity where students plot a list of ordered pairs on the first quadrant of a coordinate plane and connect them in order…
Jump rope skip counting: a 15-minute 3rd grade movement and math break
What it is: a 15-minute movement break for 3rd grade where students jump rope (or jump in place) while chanting a skip counting pattern, landing on each…
Footprint measuring: a 20-minute pre-K measurement activity
What it is: a measurement activity for pre-K where students measure the rug, a table and the door with paper footprints. They learn that measuring means…
2D shapes with craft sticks: a 20-minute kindergarten geometry activity
What it is: a kindergarten geometry activity where students build triangles, squares, rectangles and other flat shapes from craft sticks and count the…
Paper plate clock: telling time to the hour and half hour in 1st grade
What it is: a 1st grade math activity where students make a clock from a paper plate and use it to show and read times to the hour and half hour. Building…
Inch and centimeter hunt: a 30-minute 2nd grade measurement activity
What it is: a 2nd grade measurement activity where students estimate and then measure classroom objects in both inches and centimeters. They discover that…
Fractions on a clothesline number line: a 3rd grade math activity
What it is: a 3rd grade fractions activity where the class hangs fraction cards on a string stretched across the room to build a number line from 0 to 1.…
Angle hunt with a paper protractor: a 4th grade geometry activity
What it is: a 4th grade geometry activity where students fold a paper circle into a simple protractor, then hunt for angles around the classroom…
Egg carton fractions: adding unlike denominators in 5th grade
What it is: a 5th grade fractions activity where an egg carton with 12 cups becomes one whole, so halves, thirds, fourths, sixths and twelfths all fit in…
Sticky note class graph: a 15-minute preschool data activity
What it is: a first data activity for preschool. Each student answers a simple question by placing a sticky note in a column on a big floor or wall graph…
Hanger balance scale: a 25-minute kindergarten measurement activity
What it is: a measurement activity where kindergarten students make a balance scale from a clothes hanger and two cups, then compare classroom objects to…
Fact family houses: a 25-minute 1st grade addition and subtraction activity
What it is: a 1st grade activity where three related numbers "live" in a paper house, and students write the four addition and subtraction facts that…
Time bingo to the nearest 5 minutes: a 2nd grade math game
What it is: a 2nd grade bingo game where you show analog clocks and students find the matching digital time on their cards. It practices telling time to…
Elapsed time field day schedule: a 30-minute 3rd grade math activity
What it is: a 3rd grade elapsed time activity where students plan a field day schedule: each event has a length, and students figure out start and end…
Place value to a million: a 25-minute 4th grade card game
What it is: a 4th grade place value card game where players draw six digit cards, arrange them to make the greatest (or least) number possible, read it…
Restaurant menu decimals: a 35-minute 5th grade math activity
What it is: a 5th grade decimals activity where students order meals from a pretend restaurant menu, add the prices, compare the total with a budget and…
Rocket countdown: a 10-minute pre-K counting backward game
What it is: a movement game that teaches counting backward from 10 to 0. Students crouch like rockets, rise a little with each number and jump at zero…
Counting collections: a 20-minute kindergarten counting routine
What it is: a kindergarten counting routine where partners count a bag or cup of everyday objects and then show on paper how they counted. Over time…
Make new shapes from triangles: a 1st grade geometry activity
What it is: a 1st grade geometry activity where students fold and cut paper squares into triangles and put the triangles together to make new shapes: a…
Even or odd partner line-up: a 15-minute 2nd grade math activity
What it is: a 2nd grade math activity where small groups of students try to pair up. If everyone has a partner, the number is even; if one student is…
Liquid volume estimation station: a 30-minute 3rd grade measurement activity
What it is: a 3rd grade measurement station where students estimate how many liters or milliliters different containers hold, then measure by pouring…
Line symmetry art: a 25-minute 4th grade geometry activity
What it is: a 4th grade geometry and art activity where students fold paper, paint on one half, press it closed, and get a design with a line of…
Order of operations target game: a 20-minute 5th grade math activity
What it is: a 5th grade math game where students roll four dice and use the numbers with +, -, ×, ÷ and parentheses to make an expression that equals a…
Arm span scatter plot: a 40-minute data activity for grades 5–8
What it is: a scatter plot activity where students measure their arm span and height, plot each pair of numbers as a sticky note on a giant wall graph…
Halloween candy math: mean, median and mode with dice, grades 6–8
What it is: students roll dice to collect pretend candy at five houses, then find the mean, median, mode and range of the class data and see what one big…
Pumpkin patch dramatic play: a 30-minute business activity for K–2
What it is: students run a pretend pumpkin patch, taking turns as farmers, sign makers, cashiers and customers, and learn what a business needs: something…
Race to 100 place value game: a 20-minute dice activity for K–2
What it is: a place value game for 1st grade where partners roll dice, collect ones, and trade every ten ones for a ten, racing to reach 100. Students…
Multiplication war card game: a 15-minute math routine, grades 3–5
What it is: a multiplication card game where partners flip two cards each, multiply, and the bigger product wins the round. It turns fact practice into a…
Area and perimeter project: design a dream bedroom, grades 3–5
What it is: an area and perimeter project where students design a dream bedroom on grid paper, then calculate the space each piece of furniture covers and…
Human number line for integers: a 25-minute activity, grades 6–8
What it is: an integers activity for middle school where students stand on a number line taped across the floor and move to model comparing, adding and…
Thanksgiving math game for 2nd grade: a roll-and-color turkey race
What it is: a Thanksgiving math game for 2nd grade where partners roll two dice, add, and color the turkey feather that matches the sum. Every turkey has…
Pumpkin pie fractions game: a 25-minute Thanksgiving activity, 3–5
What it is: a pumpkin pie fractions game where students roll for slices, shade them on pies they draw and race to fill two whole pies exactly. They name…
12 days of Christmas math: a 40-minute pattern activity, grades 6–8
What it is: a 12 days of Christmas math activity where students work out how many gifts the song's giver sends in total. They build a table, spot…
Fall leaf sort and graph: a 30-minute math activity for K–2
What it is: students collect fallen leaves, sort them by a rule they choose (color, size, shape or smooth versus jagged edges), then build a real graph on…
Fraction strips from paper: a 30-minute hands-on intro
What it is: students fold paper strips into halves, fourths, eighths, thirds and sixths, then use the strips to compare fractions and find equivalent ones…
Coin sort and class store: a 30-minute money lesson for K–2
What it is: children sort real or play coins, learn each coin's value, then use them to "shop" at a pretend class store. It suits kindergarten through…
Number talks: a 10-minute warm-up that builds mental math
A number talk is a short daily routine where students solve one problem in their heads and explain how. The goal is not speed. It's to hear several…
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