Do you struggle to make adjective worksheets for 1st graders fun? I did when I first started teaching first grade! Although adjectives are a crucial piece in first-grade grammar, it can be difficult to find hands-on practice for our students. One of the main reasons we need to teach adjectives in first grade is so they can learn to use them when they write and speak. For students to become comfortable using adjectives in their writing, they need to write as much as possible! We can play all the fun games, but sometimes we need adjective worksheets for first graders so they get concrete practice. Let’s dive into how to make adjective worksheets for 1st graders fun!
During my first year of teaching first grade, our grade level assessed students on nouns, verbs, and adjectives three times each year to track progress. All of the adjective worksheets for 1st grade that I came across seemed effective but boring. So I went to work on trying to spice up our adjective worksheets for 1st graders. In my opinion, you can make anything in the classroom a game! That’s exactly what I did for our adjective worksheets.
Turning Adjective Worksheets for First Graders into a Game
Our reading series has tons of adjective worksheets for first grade and I didn’t want to recreate the wheel. So I created a set of engaging games to play while using the worksheets. These games are meant to be played with adjective worksheets for 1st graders that you already have on hand in your classroom. Just pass out the printables and get to playing!
Freeze Dance: Adjective Worksheets for 1st Grade
To play this game, pass out your adjective worksheets for first grade and get your class’ favorite tunes ready. Tell the students that we have to answer a certain number of questions on the adjective worksheet before we get to “freeze dance.” I typically work through 4 questions and then we dance! You simply play music and let the students get up from their desks to dance. Randomly stop the music and make them freeze until you start it again. We only dance for about one minute and then we get back to work on our adjective worksheet for 1st graders. I love this game because it gives the students short brain breaks so they don’t get antsy.
Rock, Paper, Scissors: Adjective Worksheets for First Grade
This next game is just as easy because you don’t need anything but your adjective worksheets for 1st grade! Pass out the printable and decide if you are going to complete the adjective worksheet together as a whole group or have the students complete it on their own. If you are playing as a whole group, have the students help you answer the questions on the adjective worksheets for first graders. If they get the correct answer, then call them up to play Rock, Paper, Scissors against you (the teacher!). I love playing this game because it keeps the students engaged and makes them work hard to find the correct answer.
If you want the students to complete the adjective worksheet for 1st grade on their own, you can set a timer for 3-4 minutes and tell the students that you are watching a mystery student work. If they have been working hard up until the timer goes off, they get to play Rock, Paper, Scissors against the teacher. Continue working on the adjective worksheet for 1st graders and playing the game as long as you prefer! It’s all about giving students short brain breaks so they don’t get burnt out when working.
Don’t Use the Typical Adjective Worksheets for 1st Grade
We all know the types of worksheets I’m talking about. You know . . . the ones from your reading series that provide zero engagement. Let’s skip those and replace it with an adjective game your students will love! Brain, Body, or Bust is hands-down one of my favorite adjective activities for 1st grade. My students are always so sad when the game is over!
Let’s play Brain, Body, or Bust: The best review for adjectives for 1st graders.
Brain, Body, or Bust is an adjective activity for 1st grade that can be played as a whole group. Split your class into two teams and provide them with the provided recording sheet. The students will then choose numbers from the game board to reveal a brain, body, or bust slide. On brain slides, the students answer an adjective review question to earn points. Body slides provide the students with a quick brain break. Bust slides take away all points for your team! This game is so effective because it offers review without the redundancy of your typical adjective worksheets for 1st graders. I love it because it provides students with the quick brain breaks that they need. Kids are meant to move. So let’s embrace it and help them learn while they are moving! Watch the video below to see the game in action.
Use Food with your Adjective Worksheets for First Grade
I don’t know a student out there who isn’t motivated by food! My first-grade friends love a good activity when snacking is involved. After using some of my previously mentioned games for adjective worksheets for first grade, I love to wrap up our unit with the Adjective Cafe.
Host an Adjective Cafe with these unforgettable adjective activities for 1st grade.
This is one of my favorite adjective activities to do with my first graders! Check out this blog post to read all about hosting an Adjective Cafe. I make a menu of snacks and decorate our classroom like a cafe with these tablecloths. I also hand out these fun aprons and chef hats to the students. The best thing about the Adjective Cafe is that it includes adjective worksheets for 1st graders, but it makes it so much more fun! The students get to sample each food on the menu and give it a rating. Then they write an adjective to describe the food on the provided adjective worksheets for 1st grade. If you need a list of food adjectives for first graders, check out this list!
Follow up with more engaging adjective activities.
After hosting our Adjective Cafe, I like to do some follow-up adjective activities for 1st graders. I have the students work together to complete an adjective sort. The sort not only works on adjectives, but it also helps with categorizing words and it will boost your students’ vocabulary. It’s a win-win!
Then for a fun homework assignment, I send home a secret snack first-grade adjective worksheet where students choose a snack and write down adjectives to describe it. They can bring the snack to school with their completed adjective worksheet. Then I have the students take turns giving their adjective clues for other students to guess their snack. I love that this adjective activity gets the students up in front of the class!
After a full unit of fun adjective activities for 1st grade, I end it with a first-grade adjective worksheet for an assessment. My students always do well on the assessment and talk about some of these adjective activities all year.
If you are in need of more worksheets or activities, check out the links below. I hope you have found some great ideas to make adjective worksheets for 1st graders fun!
https://www.education.com/worksheets/first-grade/adjectives/
https://www.k5learning.com/free-grammar-worksheets/first-grade-1/adjectives
https://www.turtlediary.com/worksheets/first-grade/adjectives.html
