Early Finishers - Indoor Recess Activities – Busy Boxes - Fun Boxes BUNDLE

Designed to fit into photo storage boxes, these early finishers and indoor recess fun boxes are easy to store, quick to assemble, and great for encouraging positive attitudes about school. Each of these 16 busy box activities will fit in a 4” x 6” container and requires few or no additional supplies. Fast to clean up and requiring little introduction, these games work well for indoor recess, early finishers, and as incentives for reaching goals.

What’s included in this early finishers set?
This bundle includes 16 simple and engaging space-saving printable activities. These activities can be completed independently or with partners and are ideal for short periods of free time.

The 16 included early finisher activities are:

▶ Mazes
Students use a dry erase marker to complete any one of nine different mazes.

▶ Missing Piece
These puzzle cards each contain a design with a missing piece. Students sort through the missing pieces to match them with the correct puzzle cards. This activity can be completed alone or with a partner.

▶ Spot the Difference
Students closely examine six nearly identical pictures to find the one that has a few small differences. Students can mark their answer with a dry erase marker or by placing a counter on the card.

▶ Symmetry Pictures
Students use a dry erase marker to draw the missing half of the picture.

▶ Paper Pals
Students create various outfits for the paper pals by mixing and matching the clothing cards.

▶ Trace and Color
Students lay a sheet of thin white paper (or tracing paper) on a picture card. After tracing the picture, students color their copy with crayons or colored pencils.

(Most copy paper is thin enough that students can see through enough to trace. Check yours before cutting into quarter-size sheets.)

Other options: Have students trace on a light table or against a window or use tracing paper.

▶ Animal Matching
Students play this memory card game with a partner. Players turn all cards face down, mix them up, and arrange them in an array. Players take turns turning two cards over to look for a match. If their two cards do not match, they flip the cards back over and their partner takes a turn. When students make a match, they keep those cards. Play continues until all matches are discovered. The player with the most cards wins.

Print the cards on card stock back-to-back with a patterned page to avoid images showing through.

▶ Road Building
Students use these open-ended puzzle cards to design their own road. Include one or two small toy cars (Matchbox™ or Hot Wheels™, for example) so children can play with the completed road.

▶ Add the Eyes
Using the idea card as inspiration, students practice drawing cartoon eyes to show various facial expressions.

▶ Dot-to-Dots
Students connect the dots beginning with the number one in order to reveal a picture.

▶ Castle Creation
Students use these open-ended puzzle cards to design their own castle.

▶ Monster Mix-Up
Students mix and match puzzle cards to make various silly monsters.

▶ Find Five
Students look at the item in the lower right corner of the card and then search for five of that item within the picture. Also included are two cards with extra items to search for. Students can mark the items with a transparent counter or circle them with a dry erase marker.

▶ Squiggle Art
Using the squiggle card as a starter, students imagine what they can make and then complete the picture. Encourage students to turn a card to look at it from different angles!

▶ Directed Drawing
Using the idea card as inspiration, students practice drawing cartoon eyes to show various facial expressions.

▶ Tic-Tac-Toe
Students play this traditional game with a partner, attempting to match three symbols in a row.

How to Use These Early Finishers Activities:

Any time you want students to have a little fun while keeping quietly and independently occupied, just have them grab a box and get started playing! In addition to being fun for students, these early finisher activities contribute to the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills, perseverance, and a positive attitude toward school.

These activities are perfect for:

✔ early finishers

✔ indoor recess

✔ incentives

✔ busy boxes

✔ transition times

✔ after-school programs

Each of these activities is sized to fit in a plastic container designed to hold 4”x 6” photos. They also fit neatly in quart-size zip-top bags. Each activity includes a label and an instruction card. For best results, print the activity pages on card stock and laminate them for durability. Once you have these set up, you can use them year after year!

You may also like:

▶ Geoboards Task Cards
▶ Fine Motor Skills Task Boxes
▶ Patterning with Pony Beads

Please see the preview file for more detailed images. If you have any questions, email susan@myhappyplaceteaching.com or use the “Q&A” feature on this page.

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Susan Jennings (My Happy Place)

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