5 Minute Activities for Elementary Students

If you work as a substitute teacher, or even if you are a certified teacher or teacher's assistant, there are always times when you find yourself with five to ten minutes to fill and nothing to keep the kids occupied. Sure, you can always offer silent reading time, homework finishing time, or read a book to the students, but when students have been sitting for a long time they get very restless. Sometimes it is nice to have some other "go-to" activities to keep students busy, but also stretch their creativity and have some fun too. Try these easy "go-to" five minute activities for teachers and substitute teachers that require little or no equipment or preparation.

Imaginary Objects

Choose an object (cell phone, pencil, ruler, calculator, etc). Sit or stand students in a circle. Tell them that the object in your hand is no longer what it seems. It instead is anything they want it to be. Show an example by acting out what the object is (maybe a cell phone becomes a razor or a stick of deodorant, a pencil becomes a conductor's baton, etc). Let each student hold the object and act out an imaginary use. The students do not need to guess what each object is supposed to be. They should just do their action and pass it to the next student. This is a great 5 minute activity for elementary students.

Mrs. (or Mr.) "so and so" Says

This is a great game to keep kids quiet while waiting in line. Just play classic "Simon Says" but insert your own name. This 5 minute activity for elementary students is especially popular with kindergarten and 1^st grade students.

Which One is Your Favorite?

Have the students stand up. Tell them two different things such as "Curious George" or "Clifford." Tell them if they like Clifford walk to one side of the room. If they like Curious George better, go to the other side. See which side has more students and declare that character, object, or whatever the "winner." Then bring the students back into a large group and do it again. You can do book characters, subjects in school, foods, holidays, anything. This 5 minute activity for elementary students is a great way to learn about the kids' likes and dislikes.

Fun Line-Up

If you just have five minutes left in class, take a little more time lining up by encouraging observational skills. Tell the students, "if you are wearing red, you may line up," or "if you have letters on your shirt you may line up," etc. It is a fun way to line up and the kids enjoy looking around to see who has it and who doesn't.

Letters and Categories

Pick a category such as cartoon characters, foods, etc and start with one student. Have that student come up with an item that fits the category that starts with "A." Then go on to the next student who has to come up with an item that starts with "B" and so on. Students can help each other if they get stumped on a difficult letter. Your kids will love this 5 minute activity for elementary students.

Adjective Descriptions

Go around to each student and have them try to think of an adjective that starts with the same letter as their name "Jumpy Josh," "Crazy Cayden," "Energetic Emily," "Lovely Lisa," etc. Help out the students that can't come up with something. This is a great way to practice knowing what an adjective is and recognizing the word "adjective" as a describing word. This 5 minute activity for elementary students will make the kids smile and you may find them using their adjectives well beyond the activity.

Keeping students busy and occupied is very important during school, particularly for substitute teachers. Try these fun 5 minute activities for elementary students and never have a dull moment in the classroom again.