May is such a busy time in the classroom. I sometimes refer to it as May Madness because of all of the extra activities and events that take place. Everyone is super excited about summertime, but there are still things we need to cover to wrap up our school year. We have to think outside of the box to keep our student’s attention. Here are some of my favorite fun and creative activities for May.
May Madness
Buckle up! The fun is about to begin. With everything going on in May, it is important to plan meaningful and engaging activities that will keep everyone focused. It’s so easy to get lost in the fun and excitement of May. Instead, try tapping into all of the fun. Celebrate everything that is going on within your lessons. Here are some of my favorite days for fun and creative activities in May.
Let the Festivities Begin
Cinco de Mayo
Everyone loves a fiesta, so why not bring it into your classroom? Cinco de Mouse-O, written and illustrated by Judy Cox, is my favorite way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo in my room. This fun book celebrates the joy of Mexican-American culture with bright pictures and a fun story. I love to use it as a read-aloud.
The book is so great that I created a literature companion guide to go with it. It’s a great way to really dig into this fun book and work on some key reading skills too. There are more activities than you will likely have time for, so choose what works best for you and your students.
Then it is time to jump into learning more about this May Holiday. Using the informational text in this Cinco de Mayo Activities Unit, your students will learn all about this holiday, its traditions, and the culture it stems from.
What better way to wrap up than with a fun and engaging craft with a writing element too? Your students will love this free Cinco de Mayo Craft & Writing Activity! It’s the perfect review activity after students learn about the Cinco de Mayo holiday. Everything you need to create this cute craft is included in this free download.
When you are done, review everything you learned about Cinco de Mayo with this fun game show. Your students will love playing this game as a class as they show off all they learned about this May holiday.
National Limerick Day
Don’t let May 12 pass by without celebrating National Limerick Day. It’s the perfect opportunity to introduce this fun and often silly type of poetry to your students.
Limericks are rhyming poems that consist of 5 lines. They are pretty much a poem and a joke put together!
The read-aloud, Something Sure Smells Around Here by Brian Cleary, is just what you need for an awesome limerick lesson.
The book will keep your students attention while teaching them how limericks work and making them laugh along the way.
After the read-aloud, have your students create their very own limerick.
This is the perfect opportunity to practice those speaking and listening skills. Have your students share their silly poems with each other. This lesson is sure to be a hit!
Jumping Frog Day
Have you ever heard of such a day? May 13th allows you to celebrate!
You know I love a good read-aloud, and Mark Twain’s short story, “The Jumping Frog of Calaveras Country”, fits the bill.
This is the story that put Twain on the map as a famous writer.
After reading the short story, I love to have an origami lesson on jumping frogs. The Printables Fairy has some great visual instructions so you can make them with your students too!
The kids always love the opportunity to do something fun and different.
This is one of my favorite fun and creative activities for May.
Scavenger Hunt Day
May 24th is Scavenger Hunt Day and a great day to get outside and enjoy nature.
Take your students on a nature walk while hunting for things like flowers, butterflies, bird nests, and rocks.
There’s nothing more exciting than getting your students actively involved in their learning process.
Be sure to grab my FREE Nature Scavenger Hunt download to get the party started!
National Creativity Day
May 29th just might be my favorite day of the month. It’s National Creativity Day and the perfect time to get our students ‘ creative juices flowing.
Creativity is something we should always be intentional about incorporating into our daily lessons. It ignites a part of our brain that doesn’t always get to show off.
Grab my FREE Brainstorm Activity to add some intentional creative thinking activities int your day.
Your students will love the opportunity to think outside of the box and come up with some unusual, wild, and crazy ideas.
After they ping pong ideas off of each other, they’ll be stretched to come up with even MORE ideas! So much fun!
May is National Inventor’s Month
Celebrate all kinds of innovative ideas for the entire month of May!
National Inventor’s Month is the perfect time to introduce some STEM activities to your class.
My Stem/Engineering Activities is the perfect resource to use all month long. Not only will students have a chance to create, but they will learn about the engineering design process too! The 8 design challenges in this resource are based on the same engineering design process used by NASA.
Engineering is important to teach to our students. It allows them to be creative, teaches them to think critically, requires group work, teaches persistence, and is fun and engaging!
It’s a win all the way around.
The Possibilities Are Endless
As you can see, these fun and creative activities for May give you plenty of lesson options. Your students will be completely engaged while learning no matter what you choose. We all know this is no easy feat for May. I can’t wait to hear about which activities you will incorporate into your classroom.
Grab these fun and engaging May activities today from my Teachers Pay Teachers store!
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Be sure to save this image to your favorite classroom board. You’ll be so glad to have these fun and creative activities for May at your fingertips.