25 Ideas, Resources, and Projects for Learning Together in May

Inside: Looking for ideas for your May kindergarten plans? Here are 25 ideas to help you create a more meaningful month with kids.

Our May Kindergarten Plans

In May, a certain freedom sets in and it’s a great month to experiment and try something new! You know your kids well, are confident in their growth, and know that everyone would benefit from a little novelty.

The world outside your window has become vibrant and beckons you to take learning outdoors. Kids welcome the opportunity to take learning walks, read under a tree, or eat their snack outside.

Listed below you’ll find a few of my favorite May experiences in kindergarten.

But first, here are a few special May dates that you might use as a springboard for some fun learning opportunities in your own classroom.

May 1: May Day and School Principals’ Day
May 3: Teacher Appreciation Day
May 8: Mother’s Day
May 11: School Nurse Day
May 16: Love a Tree Day
May 24: Scavenger Hunt Day
May 26: Paper Airplane Day
May 30: Memorial Day (Last Monday in May)

25 Ideas for Creating a Marvelous May

Why not try something new this month by adding one or more of these ideas to your May kindergarten plans.

Place some fresh flowers in your Art Center on May Day and let children paint them.

Pair how-to writing with real-life experiences such as How to Grow a Sunflower.

Learn about the life cycle of butterflies, paint a butterfly, and invite children to write about how they have grown and changed in the last year.

Launch a force and motion unit with a Push and Pull Walk where kids look both indoors and out for objects that require a push and pull to make it move.

Do some spin art or marble painting and let children use the paintings to create flower or animal collages.

Bring in a Mystery Object, such as an avocado seed, for children to guess.

Set up Animal Research Groups where each group is responsible for learning about a different aspect of the animal (i.e. body features, diet, habitat and life cycle). Invite each group to do a project to show what they have learned such as building a habitat, creating a “menu,” making a life-size drawing of the creature, and making a life cycle diagram poster.

Begin a 10-day Kindergarten Countdown where each day’s activity centers around the number for the day (i.e. 10 colors, 9 exercises, 8 jokes, etc.)

Learn about Bees and what makes them beneficial and then let kids write their own informational book about the insect of their choice.

Designate a Dandelion Day, where kids are invited to make dandelion bouquets for their teachers. Bring the bouquets inside and place them in the take-apart tub or on trays for children to dissect.

Invite kids to make chalk drawings of themselves and give themselves wings.

Give each child a small canvas from the dollar store and invite them to paint a floral still-life for a special someone.

Host a Mother’s Day Event, where the child and caregiver do a collaborative directed drawing, sing a song, play a game, listen to a read aloud, and share a piece of writing.

Let kids write adventure stories by first planning the story on a map and then creating a picture that illustrates both the characters and the setting.

Research and write about animals that live underground, such as worms or ants, and create an underground mural to show the passageways and tunnels that these animals create right under our feet. 

Do a plant experiment where you plant one seed indoors and one outdoors to see which one sprouts faster.

Challenge children to an engineer design project where they design, build, and test a bubble wand.

Create bubble prints using dish soap, paint and straws.

Add Block Play Blueprints to your Block Center to give your young architects opportunities to make a plan for their building.

Honor your principal, school nurse, bus driver, custodian or other school staff member by writing a thank you note or card or creating a class book, (i.e. Our Principal Rocks) where each child creates a page.

Host a Teddy Bear Picnic where children bring in a stuffed friend and use their imagination to spend a day in the woods with some fun-loving bears.

Use the song Five Green and Speckled Frogs to help children understand the concept of subtraction.

Set up a build a bug challenge in your Classroom Makerspace and invite children to create an insect that has all the correct body parts (i.e. 6 legs, 3 body parts, antennae, etc.).

Take a “beauty walk,” to look for beautiful things. Ask each child to bring in something that they think is beautiful to share and create a mini museum on a shelf or counter.

Challenge children to create a maze using Legos and marbles.

That’s it for May!

What new ideas will you try out this month and add to your May kindergarten plans? Make the most of the time you have left with your littles, because it will soon be time for them to leave your kindergarten “nest.”

For more end-of-year ideas, check out these posts:
End of the Year in Kindergarten: Moving Up to First Grade
The Kindergarten Countdown: Simple End of the Year Fun
6 End of the Year Ideas for Distance Learning
The Kindergarten Slide Ceremony: An End of Year Tradition