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FREE Kindergarten Math Centers Your Students Will LOVE

kindergarten survival, Math

Math centers are a fun and effective way to get kindergarten students engaged in learning and applying important math skills and strategies that we are working on in the classroom. 

Your students get to have a more active role in their learning when you use engaging centers, and it gives you a chance to do more one-on-one instruction with the students who need it. This gives students an increased sense of independence, which is always a great thing! 

They will also get the opportunity to work with hands-on manipulatives. With students this age, this improves their motivation to learn which then increases their outcomes and helps them hit benchmarks with ease. You can do individual testing once they know how to do centers independently. 

I love coming up with fun and creative centers to get my students excited about math. The opportunities are truly endless! 

My favorite math centers theme is a “Math Salad Bar” or “Math Café”. 

math centers

You can make your Math Café (or Buffet or Salad Bar) out of a bookcase or a rolling cart. A student pulls out the manipulative cart and then they choose a recipe card that functions like a task card. It includes the material list, number of people who can participate in the math activity, picture cues, and directions. They will choose their partners if required, fill their tray with materials, and do the activity anywhere in the room! They can easily clean up by using a tray to hold their materials.

Here are three fun activities to include in your café. 

  • Roll and Cover Caterpillar
  • Sorting Bears by Color
  • Fish Match-Up Addition

The best part is, you can get all three of these math centers for FREE by visiting my store here.

math centers

You’ll get everything you need to get started with your own Math Salad Bar or Math Café. 

Check out this video on how to set it up in your classroom!

For more tips, you can also check out my post here.

If you love these and want some more activities, you can get more with the full bundle here! This yearlong bundle includes digital cards, blank recipe cards, assessments, posters, and crafts as well as more math centers. 

What is your favorite thing about math centers? Let me know in the comments!

Math Centers for kindergarten

Math Centers for Kindergarten

Math, Teacher's Pay Teachers
I’m so glad you’ve stopped by my blog. Some bloggy friends and I have joined together for an old fashioned FREEBIE BLOG HOP! Not familiar with a blog hop? Here’s how it works…
Kindergarten Math Centers Freebie
blog hop      Kindergarten math centers

Each blogger has a “forever” freebie to offer you. That means it is not seasonal but can be used in your classroom at any time of the year. The freebies range from PK-5th grades. You start here and “hop” to the other blogs to download the resources that are appropriate for you and then end up back here at my blog. It’s a giant circle that will give you 23 awesome resources if you go to them all! There are 14 for PK-2.

Along the way, you will see pictures of and read about each freebie. You can download them all (to save for later) or only the ones that you need right now. If you don’t have time to go to all 23, click on one of the buttons below for your grade level.

Math “Salad Bar”

When I was teaching kindergarten, I attended a conference where someone talked about keeping a “Math Salad Bar” as a way to organize your manipulatives. You would take your manpulatives and keep them labeled and in one spot so students could easily find what they needed for a math task. I decided to take that idea and put it on steroids! I created recipe cards (task cards), used bowls for them to collect their materials, bought cafe trays and even had a rolling cart that the kids would roll to the middle of the room to begin the math centers.

Student Choice Works

Students would pick a recipe card that had the list of materials (ingredients) to complete their math activity. The card would say how many people it serves. The student picks partners if required. That group goes anywhere in the room to complete their activity. I would have several ways for students to learn one concept. So even though they all were working on the same standard, they were doing something different. They loved being able to choose their activity. My job was to observe, solve conflicts (which was rare after the first week) and take data on who needed more help in different areas.

Kindergarten Subtraction Math Centers

Math Center Problems

When we first began kindergarten math centers this new way, there were a couple issues to iron out. The main issue was how some students would react negatively if they were asked to join the activity. The person I called on would got to ask for people to join the activity, if needed. Some students were not happy about being called by certain students and it made a great discussion about feelings during circle time. After a week of students seeing that I would rotate who got to choose their task first, and talking about how sad it makes someone feel if you are rude when they were happy to pick you, they really took off and were begging for our Math Salad Bar time. Matter of fact if they had to do a traditional lesson and work alone, they were not happy about it.

Try these 3 center activities for FREE.

Free Kindergarten Math Center Activities
Free Kindergarten Center Activities

Why Kindergarten Math Centers?

You can still teach whole group lesson right before centers. Math centers frees you up to learn about what your students are learning. One task card is for the teacher to use called Teacher’s Table. This is where you can hand it to a couple students who you see are struggling with a math skill for remediation at your table. I never use the entire center time for remediation so they get some time to do an activity. If students finish one activity, they clean up and pick a new “recipe” card. There are assessments for the students for each nine weeks, data recording sheets to share with families and detailed plans for set up with suggestions.

What is Stopping You

What is stopping you from having math centers? I promise, if you try this you WILL LOVE IT!

Find the yearlong bundle here:

Kindergarten Math Centers YEARLONG BUNDLE

Watch a tutorial VIDEO about my set up here: How to Set Up Math Centers for Kindergarten

If you need EVERYTHING to teach Kindergarten, you can get the Kindergarten Curriculum which has ALL SUBJECTS Bundled for the entire school year. Homeschoolers love this bundle!

 

Do you do anything special for math to celebrate the 100th Day of School? Read about my ideas.

3 Creative Ways to Teach Math Concepts in Kindergarten

Math

Looking for some math activities for kindergarten that will engage your students and make math fun? You’re in the right place! 

math activities for kids

How can I make math fun for kindergarten or 1st grade? 

As early elementary teachers, we understand the importance of laying a solid foundation for mathematical understanding. So I’m sharing some of my favorite math activities that your students are sure to love. 

Math in Motion

Incorporate movement into your lessons by using activities like counting hops, jumps, or claps. This not only reinforces counting skills but also helps develop gross motor skills. Consider organizing a math scavenger hunt where students search for a certain number of objects in the classroom or even outside, turning learning into an exciting adventure.

Everyday Math Explorations

Bring real-life context into the classroom by exploring math in everyday scenarios. Create a pretend grocery store or a mini post office where students can use play money to practice addition and subtraction. This hands-on approach not only enhances mathematical skills but also cultivates a practical understanding of how math is applied in daily life.

Math Through Art

Fuse creativity with mathematics by incorporating art into your lessons. Have students create number collages, where each number is represented by a corresponding number of objects or images. This not only reinforces number recognition but also allows for self-expression and creativity. Additionally, explore geometric shapes through crafts, connecting visual arts to basic math concepts.

The sky is the limit with these math activities for elementary students! If you are looking for some math resources that your students can enjoy without much prep on your end, you’ll love these ready-to-go math activities! 

Spring Math Crafts

math crafts: math activities for kindergarten

Students LOVE crafts! What better way to engage students in learning math than incorporating some crafts with these differentiated activities? Students can review addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division and you can use the editable PowerPoint to create your own problems if you can’t find what you are looking for with the pre-made worksheets.

Measurement and Data Math Centers

math activities for kindergarten: measurement and data math centers

Looking for a new way to engage your students in learning math? Creating an Addition Math Cafe or Math “Salad Bar” is an engaging way to hit target skills, ignite the students learning, and free you up to monitor learning or remediate. You can use these Measurement and Data “recipe” cards as task cards, set up a math cafe in your room for easy cleanup, or just use the printables in small or whole groups.

Kindergarten Math Centers Year-Long Bundle 

kindergarten math activities: math centers yearlong mega bundle

Looking for some kindergarten math centers for the entire year that will keep your students engaged in learning and hits all the standards? I have you covered with these Math “Salad Bar” or “Cafe” Centers. Students love it and you will too! Each center comes with printables, and a recipe card (task card) to help students identify materials to participate in the activity. 


If you are looking for more math fun, check out my post here for some free math centers!