Math Early Finisher Activities and Packets, Kindergarten to 5th Grade

Every class has the students who finish in four minutes. They look up, and unless something is ready, the next twenty minutes belong to them. A second copy of the same worksheet does not work for long. What works is a folder of different things, each one a single page, each one something a student can start without asking.

That is what these packets are: thirty one-page math activities per grade, for Kindergarten through 5th grade, kept in one place and done in any order. This page explains how they run and what each grade gets.

How the folder runs

• One page, one activity. A student takes a page, does it, and checks it off on the student checklist of all thirty.
• No teaching. Every activity uses math the grade has already met. The teacher note up front explains the routine in one page.
• Keys that name their page. The answer keys at the back are labeled by activity and page, so you or a helper can check a page in a minute.
• Nothing dated. No seasons, no holidays, no unit numbers, so the folder is still right in May.

Where early finishers fit in the day

The folder works best with one rule: finished work goes in the tray, then the student takes the next page from the folder. No asking, no waiting. On the days you are out, the same folder is already in the room, and the math sub plans end each day with an early finisher page of their own, so the substitute has an answer for the student who is done first too.

Math early finishers kindergarten

At kindergarten the useful early finisher is a page with very little to read. The Kindergarten packet is 37 pages: thirty one-page activities with counting mazes, ten frames and teen numbers, comparing groups, making 10, shape hunts, and picture patterns. Show the first few pages to the class once, and after that a student who is done can take the next page alone.

Early finishers 1st grade

The 1st grade packet is 38 pages: number mazes to 120, facts within 20 as secret codes, magic squares, tens and ones, riddles, and story problems. It is the same fact practice the class already does, set as puzzles.

Early finisher math activities 2nd grade

The 2nd grade packet is 38 pages: skip-counting mazes, facts within 100, place value to 1,000, coins, arrays, and two-step story problems.

3rd grade

Thirty one-page activities, 39 pages: facts within 100, addition and subtraction within 1,000, rounding, equivalent fractions, and two-step problems. The 3rd grade early finisher packet page goes through what is in it.

4th grade

Thirty one-page activities on multi-digit operations, 39 pages: magic squares, logic grids, cross-numbers, find the mistake, and more. The 4th grade early finisher packet page covers it in full.

5th grade

The 5th grade packet gives early finishers 5th grade math they can do alone, 39 pages of decimal magic squares, logic grids, cross-numbers, error analysis, and two-step challenges. The 5th grade early finisher packet page has the details.

November early finisher packets, 3rd to 5th grade

November has its own edition. The 3rd, 4th and 5th grade November Early Finisher Packets are 40 pages each, the same thirty-activity folder with every puzzle new and none repeated from the year-round packets. The word problems and logic grids are set around food drives, pies, the parade and the Turkey Trot. The November 3rd-5th bundle (120 pages) carries all three for $14.95, against $20.85 bought separately.

K-2 and 3-5 bundles

Each grade above is its own packet at $6.95. Two bundles carry three grades each:

The Kindergarten through 2nd grade bundle (113 pages) carries all three of those grades for $14.95, against $20.85 bought separately, for a team, a resource room, or a family with children in more than one grade.

The 3rd through 5th grade bundle (117 pages) carries all three of those grades for $14.95, against $20.85 bought separately, for a team, a resource room, or a family with children in more than one grade.