FREE New Year's Activities for the Primary Classroom

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone is rested and ready for the second half of the school year.  January offers lots of special learning opportunities.  One of which is New Year's themed classroom activities.  New Year's holds a special place in my heart because it is a time to focus on goals and can be a clean slate (if you want it to be).  New Year's Day is also my birthday, so I really enjoy extending New Year's past January 1st with my kids at school.
There are loads of free New Year's themed resources out there.  Here are some that I've used in the past and some I'll be using this year.

First up is a new math center I created to go along with my monthly math centers (Baby I's Cold Outside {10 Math Centers for January}).  It is called New Year Number Sense.  It provides students practice with identifying and ordering numbers that are 10 less, 10 more, 1 less, and 1 more than a given number.

The center includes colorful number cards and a blackline master recording sheet.  The recording sheet can be a stand alone activity if you would like.  Click on the picture below if you would like a FREE copy of this New Year's themed math center.

Another free resource I love (that includes some great centers) is Cara Carroll's Happy New Year! packet.  She shared this a few years ago and it's still a go to for me when we return from winter break.  It has activities for time to the hour, basic addition facts, abc order, antonyms, and for making words.  

You can click on the picture below for more details.

Last year we did a little non standard measuring with backed peas.  It turned out really fun, although I'm fairly certain some of my kids ate the uncooked peas.  Not to worry, we had plenty.

Students estimate how many black-eyed peas it will take to measure each picture.  Then students use black-eyed peas to measure.  

For this activity there are color and blackline master options for the picture cards.  There is also a blackline master recording sheet.  If you would like a FREE copy of this packet, click on the picture below.

An adorable New Year's freebie that I just recently came across is from The Glyph Girls (pic is from their blog).  At their Teachers Pay Teachers store they are sharing this colorful craftivity that students can write about their goals for the new year.  

Again, you can click on the picture for more details about this project.

If you are looking for a writing activity along the same lines, but do not have time for a craftivity.   You should check out the First Grade Buddies' New Year's Writing printable.  Students get a chance to write about their accomplishments from the past year and what they want to accomplish this year.  This print and go activity has been updated it for 2015.  You can visit their blog for your own copy.

If you are working on or would like to review number comparisons, you may want to check out my free greater than and less than printables I put together a few years ago.  If your students are like mine, they need constant practice recognizing and comparing numbers.

You can get your own free copies by clicking on the picture below.

Finally, I'd like to share my math word problem mini book for the New Year, Out With the Old and In With the New.  I'm all about using seasonally inspired word problems with my students and this booklet is a perfect way to do that.  

I've updated my New Year's themed math mini book through 2025.  You can have your FREE copy by clicking on the picture.

There are all sorts of fun classroom activities to go along with the celebration of the New Year.  I hope the suggestions above make your planning a little easier.

Best.