In the Mitchell house football is such a big deal I decided I need some football activities for the classroom, too!
Every Monday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday my hubby Brian is watching football. Not only is he enjoying it, but his three grown children come home to watch it. They leave college to spend time with dad. This alone melts my heart. The big bonus is that Charlie gets to see her siblings a lot during football season. In addition, my triplets all played in the band and two are continuing in college. We are super excited about the Super Bowl, and I know the children are too. My Football Theme Day and Tailgate in a Cup are sure to be favorites in your classroom.
Football Theme Day
Before football day, send the letter home to have your students dress for the big day. I also included a snack letter that doesn’t involve any work on your end, just donations.
To begin Football Theme Day, you can print the center cards and the big sign to display it in the classroom. Hang that sign up in the classroom and you will bring instant excitement for learning.
Football Reading Comprehension
The first thing I like to do for nonfiction learning units is to begin with an anchor chart. This unit provides KWL posters or Schema and New Learning Cards you can plop on chart paper. A cute football chart would be fun too. Gather their schema on the sport using the printable worksheets and/or the anchor charts.
Next, read the football non-fiction book. I included a full-color version with real photos and a small mini reader to print that matches. My husband sat with me for this reader, he is an expert.
After reading the book, there are loads of activities to work on those informational text standards using the book. You can pick and choose what works best for your students.
Football Craft
Then, you need to make the adorable football craft! I have included four letters per page that spell out “Touchdown!” to make a great bulletin board display.
Football-Themed Centers
In the afternoon, I like to do centers using the different phonics, math, and writing activities. For math, I included a true false place value sort, a subtraction sort, and a football shorter or longer than activity where they move around the room exploring objects using their football. I also included no prep worksheets and football math games. Finally, there are two scoots – ten more and ten less and adding three digits.
For phonics, I have a real or nonsense goal post blend sort. There is a long E & A board game. I also have several no-prep worksheets you can print for phonics centers.
Writing includes creating a class book by designing a jersey, writing what they learned about football, and giving their opinion of football. Fun fact, I love football season because while everyone is watching it, I get to do what I want! It usually involves crafting, shopping, baking, and NOT football.
Tailgate in a Cup
Finally, I wanted to make a Super Bowl snack mix that you could use as a teaching lesson as well, so I made Tailgate in a Cup. This trail mix is very low prep, you just need the ingredients, a bowl, cups, and a spoon to mix. I have a donation letter for this as well.
I put all the ingredients in paper bags right before making it and I make sure I have a bag for each student. We read the mini-book and add the ingredients as we read about them. When you’re done, you have a yummy snack to enjoy.
There are several extensions for this activity too. You can graph and match the items. There is a sequencing activity and several writing extensions. You could do specific activities for the Super Bowl such as predicting, designing the jersey using the team colors, and graphing.
In addition, there are a few craft options for this as well. I like to make the craft and use them to make a large graph as a class.
Football Activities for the Classroom Bundle
Honestly, there are so many goodies in both resources you could make a week of it. Both activities are available in the Football Bundle.
Here’s what a few buyers had to say about my football activities for the classroom:
“This is a great resource!! My students had so much fun learning about football and doing all the center activities. It is so fun to do this activity with Super bowl right around the corner. Thank you for another great resource!”
“I have printed this and prepping it right now for our super bowl transformation next week. I am so excited, and this will be a GREAT addition to our stations and our fun.”
“My students LOVED this resource so much! It was perfect for a review of so many of our 1st grade skills! Thank you!”
If Football Theme Day and Tailgate in a Cup is a touchdown for you, be sure to read about more theme days and snack in a cup activities here:
