20 Back to School Centers for Kindergarten

Can you believe it’s time to start planning your back to school activities already? I know, I know! You’d rather be sitting on the beach with a cold drink than thinking about back to school centers for Kindergarten.

I get it! I’m right there with you!

That’s why I planned out 20 EASY PREP back to school centers for your kindergarten kiddos.

Your students are going to LOVE these back to school centers for kindergarten, and you’re going to love that you have more time to spend on the beach. ????

Planning Your Back to School Centers

Starting centers in Kindergarten is not for the faint of heart! You will want to slowly introduce and practice your math and literacy centers routine at the beginning of the year.

It’s also important, in my opinion, that your back to school centers for Kindergarten are semi-self explanatory and engaging enough to create buy in for the rest of the year.

These back to school math and literacy centers will make that easy for you, so you can focus on classroom management and building those routines.

Numbers Build and Stack

Isn’t it a saying, “If you add blocks, they will come?” If it’s not, it should be!

I run free flow math and literacy centers with a lot of student choice, and any center activity with blocks is an instant hit!

For this number building math center, students will use blocks to form the numbers (I got mine from The Dollar Tree if you need an alternative to the name brand).

Then, they will build a tower that many blocks tall. This is a great back to school activity for number recognition, number formation, and number sense!

Magnetic Letters and Numbers

I love any center activity that includes magnetic letters and numbers because I have approximately 3.5 million of them lying around my classroom! Plus, students love using them.

For this back to school literacy center, students will match magnetic letters to the chalkboards. You can easily differentiate by having them match uppercase to uppercase or lowercase to uppercase.

In this center, students will count the dots and match magnetic numbers or number tiles to the chalkboards. This is a great math center for building number sense in Kindergarten!

Back to School Clip Cards

Clip cards are an easy, predictable center activity that is always a hit with students. I love them because they are a great way to build the fine motor muscles we need for writing.

These alphabet clip cards combine alphabet tracing and letter formation with alphabet visual discrimination. There is also an option included for matching lowercase letters to uppercase letters.

How fun are these school bus shapes clip cards? For this back to school math center, students will clip the 2D shape that matches the wheels on the bus.

If you’re a kindergarten teacher, you know that our students come in all over the place ability-wise. That’s why I like to offer a variety of skills in my back to school centers for Kindergarten.

For these clip cards, students will look at the picture on the clipboard and clip the matching beginning sound.

Those first months of school, we will be hitting numbers and counting hard! We want our students secure in numbers and number sense so that we can get into more complex standards.

That’s why I try to have a variety of kindergarten back to school centers that practice counting and number recognition. These back to school clip cards are a great center activity for that!

Sorting and Matching Activities

Sorting and matching are important skills, and they are easy to target with our Kindergarten math and literacy centers.

Classroom Management Tip: At the beginning of the year, only put out a few matches at a time. Allow students to experience success without getting overwhelmed.

For this back to school activity, students will sort and match the crayons to their crayon box by matching letters.

If you have kindergarteners who are ready for it, you can also have students match the alphabet letters to beginning sounds.

For this back to school math activity, students will sort and match the lunch items to the lunch boxes by number.

If your students are not ready for all of these pieces, you can have them match only one piece or limit the numbers you out out.

We will be practicing rhyming words all year long! For this literacy center, students will match the rhyming word note to the picture on the file folder.

They can use paper clips to attach the, together. Great for fine motor!

Pocket Dice Centers for Kindergarten

I have no idea why pocket dice are so engaging for kindergarteners, but they are! And I’m not complaining, because they are so easy to prep!

These back to school pocket dice centers and activities are perfect for practicing letters and letter sounds, colors, counting, ten frames, and 2D shapes.

Just place the cards in pocket dice. Students will roll the pocket dice and then color the match on their recording sheet using the corresponding color. Easy peasy!

You can also try these out for and grab a pocket dice center for FREE at the bottom of this post.

Letter and Number Formation

It is so important to practice letter and number formation at the beginning of the year in Kindergarten so that we don’t have to go back later. I love any centers that build that practice in!

For these back to school centers for kindergarten, students can either practice writing the letter on the lines, or they can match magnetic letters to the notepads.

We love a center activity that can be used in multiple ways!

For this activity, students can practice tracing the number with either their finger or a dry erase marker. Then, they will build a link chain to match!

This literacy center can be used as either a basket center or a write the room center. Students will find the letters and trace it using the matching color on their recording sheet.

Color Words

I don’t necessarily expect my students to master color words in the first weeks of school, but we do practice them a lot.

For this color words center, students will put the color word puzzles in order to spell the color words. Then, they will color that object the matching color on their recording sheet and writing the color word.

Mini-Eraser Centers

I will be the first to admit I’ve collected a few too many mini-erasers through the years. The Target Dollar Spot just gets me! These back to school centers are a great way to use those mini-erasers (or any counters).

For this alphabet center, students will search for the target letter and cover it each time they find it.

For this math center, students will use either playdough or mini-erasers to form the number. Then, they will count out that many on the school bus ten frame.

Number Sense Activities

Counting is so important, but it can get boring with the same activities over and over again. These back to school math centers spice things up!

Your students will LOVE counting out crayons to match the number on the crayon box. You can use real crayons or crayon-shaped erasers.

For this math center, students will count out glue drops to match the number. You can use vase filler, white Pom-poms, or white beads as the glue drops.

Kindergarten Centers for the Year

Love the back to school centers for kindergarten? Want hands on math and literacy centers ready to go? You can grab these in the yearlong growing bundle at a STEAL of a discount for a limited time!

Grab the low prep Kindergarten Math and Literacy Centers for the Year H E R E!