No Prep Kindergarten Games for Early Finishers

Have you ever had a moment when you have just a few minutes left before your next activity?

Maybe you are seeing your students are finishing assigned work early, or you may need to keep some of your littles busy while you focus on others.

In times like these, no prep Kindergarten games are the best way to bridge the gap!

With games, your students are instantly engaged and are getting extra review on important concepts.

What no prep Kindergarten games can you play in your classroom? Let me show you! 

Why Use No Prep Kindergarten Games 

As Kindergarten teachers, we are always looking for ways to blend fun and learning. Our littles are, well, little and their attention span isn’t super long.

Having fun, no prep games like a dice game are always fun to throw into the mix.

Plus, using games in the classroom helps create meaningful moments out of those five minutes before recess, the ten minutes before class, or the wait for pick up.

Because we are talking about no-prep games, they take no time to get out and set up in your classroom so even five minutes is more than enough time for fun and learning.

So, what do these magical no-prep games offer?

The following: 

• Math Dice Games – covering most Kindergarten Math standards
• Phonics Dice Games 
• CVC Dice Games 
• Letter Formation Dice Games
• Letter Recognition Dice Games

Roll the Dice with these Fun No Prep Games for Kindergarten 

Kindergarten students love to play games and they love to roll dice! Why not combine the two? Dice games are a perfect no prep Kindergarten game.

Why? Because there is some surprise or “chance” involved with the dice and they are perfect for helping with number sense and basic math skills!

Therefore, students have a blast and you know your students are getting extra math practice. 

If you’re looking for the perfect no prep math Kindergarten games with dice, check out my resource here!

These games are designed with key learning goals in mind: number recognition and number operations.

The dice games we have available are hands-on and will turn any early-finisher’s free time into an educational ball-pit of fun!

Some of the games in this bundle include “Roll and Color” and “Roll and Solve.” 

Roll and Color 

“Roll and Color” is all about number recognition. All students need to do is roll the dice, find the number on their sheet and color it.

This game helps students recognize numbers and helps them with their fine motor skills. 

Roll and Solve

This game focuses on addition and subtraction. Once students have enough practice with addition and subtraction let them play this game to practice!

Students roll the dice and then add or subtract the numbers in the row they rolled. Then, they find the answer on their sheet.

This is a fun no prep game for Kindergarten because it works on their fine motor skills as well as basic operations. 

Literacy and Phonics Dice Games: Sound Out the Fun! 

Phonics is a huge part of Kindergarten. Afterall, it’s what we do to help students learn to read. These games help students recognize letters and sounds.

Using games to practice these skills makes phonics fun and easy to use for Kindergarten students. 

My favorite no prep Kindergarten games to play with phonics are “Roll and Read” and “Roll and Trace.”

These no prep activities were created in such a way that they can easily fit into your regular classroom routine.

So, take out the stress of planning and prepping and check out these go-to resources for early finishers, morning work, or even part of your literacy and math centers with these dice games in our bundle. 

Roll and Read 

Roll and Read is a fun game for practicing letter recognition. Each student rolls a dice and the dice brings students to a column of letters.

The students then read the row that goes with the number on the dice. This game is perfect for repetition.

Even if students are struggling with some letters, their partners can help them out if you let them play in small groups. 

Roll and Trace

Another great game that for practicing fine motor skills is “Roll and Trace.” This no prep game for Kindergarten helps students focus on letter formation.

Have your students roll the dice then trace or write the letter that’s in that space.

This helps them practice their writing skills and they don’t even know they’re doing it!

CVC No Prep Dice Games 

Once you have your students all ready to read, you can use dice games to work on CVC games! As a teacher, we all know that CVC word are the bread and butter of hands-on word building.

The games in the bundle like “Roll and Blend” are perfect for CVC word practice. 

With “Roll and Blend,” students roll the dice, and then segment and blend the words in the row they rolled.

What happens as a result? Students get so much practice segmenting and blending sounds, they become super awesome readers!

This helps them increase their phonics skills and creates a perfect foundation for reading. 

These no-prep games for Kindergarten also incorporate reading simple sentences.

In games like “Roll and Read Simple Sentences,” students roll the dice, then read the sentence in the row they rolled.  

All of the games above can be found in our “Ultimate Early Finishers Activities Bundle,” which gives you a perfect collection of no-prep activities to use in your classroom right away!

With the bundle, you’ll be ready for those “spare” moments in your classroom that were once a bit of free time.

That free time will be transformed into learning experiences that are still fun and a bit of a break from the norm.

This all helps create a space where learning never stops! 

These no-prep Kindergarten dice games and activities blend learning with fun easily, so students don’t even realize they are learning.

They are just having a good time! So, get some dice, and roll your students into a fun review activity in your classroom today! 

How to Use No Prep Games in Kindergarten 

These no prep activities are simple as it gets! Because there is little prep, all you need to do is make sure you have dice, game sheets, and students in your room who are ready to roll. 

For example, if you dig out “Roll and Color” number recognition, each student will just need one die and a game sheet.

They can pull this out of an early finisher folder they have in their folder or in a designated spot in your classroom. This is true for all the games in the Ultimate Early Finishers Bundle.

However, don’t let the name limit you. You can use these no-prep activities in a variety of ways whether that’s individually, in pairs, or in small groups. 

When to Use No Prop Dice Games in Your Classroom 

Dice games are great because they are so versatile. You can use them for early-finishers, centers, morning work, or for substitute plans. 

Using these dice games for early-finishers is great for soaking up every minute students have in your classroom for learning.

Have a space in their folder or in your room with a few on hand. Even if they do the same game sheet more than once, repetition can be super helpful! 

You can also use these dice games in centers.

These games are great for both math and literacy centers because you can work on number recognition, addition, subtraction, phonics, CVC words, and more!

Because the dice games are easy to use, you don’t have to worry about reteaching how to use them in each center. 

No prep activities are great for morning work because you don’t have to do much to get them ready. Plus, the dice games will keep students busy and get their minds working right away in the morning.

This also helps you get your students ready to learn! 

Finally, no prep dice games are perfect for substitute plans. You can have this bundle in a sub binder. So, if you have to be gone on a moment’s notice, they can always pull them out.

These games can be used in a variety of ways, so your students will be able to easily navigate them leaving less stress for your substitute teacher. 

Why Use No Prep Activities in Kindergarten 

Beyond the no prep dice games being simple and versatile, they have so many learning benefits! These benefits include engagement, reinforcement, social skills development, and differentiation. 

These games increase engagement because students are learning through play. These no prep activities will keep students interested because of the game aspect.

Plus, with dice, you never know what’s going to happen next. 

In addition to being engaging, these dice games help reinforce skills all students are going to need to be successful in future lessons.

From number recognition to phonics, the repetition will help students build fundamental skills. 

Because these no prep activities can be played with partners or groups, these games can be great for creating strong social skills.

Some skills that these games help students work on include: taking turns, sharing, and good sportsmanship. 

In Conclusion

Finally, these no prep activities are easy to differentiate. Giving students game sheets that have numbers, letters, sounds, or words they need to work on most is simple.

You already know what students need, so give them the game boards that have just that! No prep and easy differentiation, what more do you want out of a great game? 

Overall, no prep Kindergarten dice games are perfect for any classroom. They are the perfect learning tool to reinforce skills, require little to no set up, and can be used in a variety of ways.

Plus, students love them! That’s why using these games in your classroom can help you avoid the dread, “What’s next?” question because students will always have a dice game to play. 

Making learning enjoyable is a great way to keep students engaged. Having no prep games in your pocket can leave you stress free!

So, what are you waiting for? Check out these dice games and have a slew of resources at your fingertips!

XO, Kisha

kisha@phonicstofluency.com