Low-Prep, High-Fun! 14 Hands-On Summer Themed Centers for Kindergarten (with 3 Freebies!)

May 20, 2025

As the school year winds down and the excitement of summer builds, keeping your kindergarteners engaged can be a challenge—but maintaining a consistent routine alongside fun, hands-on summer-themed centers can make a HUGE difference 💛

In this post, I’m sharing summer themed centers for Kindergarten that are perfect for the month of June. These activities are designed to keep your students learning through play, with fun and purposeful options for fine motor, literacy, and math. They’re just the thing to end the year on a high note while reinforcing key skills in a hands-on, seasonal way. And don’t miss the 3 fine motor freebies included in this post—I purposely made them print & go because I know EASY is what we need at the end of the year!

1. Catch the Ice Cream Truck! Tracing Pre-Writing Lines

There always seems to be a handful of students—or sometimes the majority—who still need extra practice with tracing and forming pre-writing lines. This summer-themed activity is a fun way to reinforce this important foundational skill! Just laminate the pages and set them out in your writing center for an easy-prep, engaging fine motor activity.

All printables shown in this post (except for the freebies) are in my “Kindergarten Summer Centres: Literacy, Math, Fine Motor & More” pack on TPT. Here’s the link if you’re intersted in grabbing it: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Kindergarten-Summer-Centres-Literacy-Math-Fine-Motor-More-13558312

2. Beach Themed Find & Trace/Match

Who doesn’t love kinetic sand? Its irresistible texture makes simple letter recognition and handwriting practice way more fun! I paired it with these Learning Resources letter beads, plus a few shells and a plastic shovel to give it an extra beachy vibe. Mats for both uppercase and lowercase letters are included, so you can easily differentiate based on your students’ needs. This sensory-rich center is always a hit!

The Learning Resources letter beads fit on top of the letters almost PERFECTLY!

3. Summer Words Chart + Mini Book

This one’s a staple in our classroom! We love rotating our word charts with each season or holiday, and the matching mini books are always a favorite. Students can use the mini book to draw and label a picture, write a sentence using a summer word, or simply use the chart to help complete their writing. The prep is super low, and since we’ve usually introduced this format earlier in the year, students know exactly what to do—one less center to explain! 🩷

4. Summer Themed Build & Trace

This center has been such a hit in classrooms this year, I knew I had to make a summer version too! Students use snap cubes to build fun summer items, then trace the word at the bottom of the mat to practice letter formation. It’s a hands-on way to strengthen the fine motor muscles needed for pencil grip—all while keeping things fun and seasonal!

5. Summer Themed Dab & Read

Bingo dabbers are always a hit in my classroom, so this center makes an appearance every season and holiday! It’s a super simple, no-prep way to practice letter formation—without even picking up a pencil (except to write your name). Students start at the image, then dab along the dots to form the matching letter. Want to mix it up? These mats also work great with sticker dots or self-inking stamps for a fun twist on fine motor practice!

Since it’s the end of the year and many of you told me you have already covered digraphs, I added 2 digraph mats too😉

6. Roll, Say, Find & Cover/Trace/Dab/Write

This center is always a favorite—and one that gets requested every season! Here’s the summer version, just like the fall, winter and spring packs. The best part? The letters and words are editable in PowerPoint, so you can customize them to fit whatever your class is working on.

Students can play solo or with a partner. They roll the dice, identify the letter or word, then find and cover it—followed by tracing, dabbing, or writing, depending on your goal. Keep going until the mat is full, or turn it into a game: whoever fills their mat first wins!

7. Fish, Read & Match – CVC Words

The ice fishing center I shared over the winter was such a hit with my own kids—and many of your classes! Since CVC practice was one of the top requests for the summer pack, I combined the two for this fun, summer-themed lake fishing activity!

To make the fishing pole, I attached a piece of string to a wooden dowel (I found mine in the craft section at Dollarama) and tied a magnet with a hole at the other end (I used these magnets). Each fish has a paperclip attached, so students can “fish” for words using the magnet. My own little one absolutely loved this center and said it was so much fun!

While I didn’t use the recording sheets with my kiddo, there are several included in the pack if you want to offer those as options for your students.

8. Seashell Read & Record: Digraphs

Digraphs were another top request for summer centers, so I created this fun activity using some cute shell eggs I picked up around Easter at Dollarama!

This center is pretty straightforward—students crack open the shell eggs, read the words inside, and record them next to the matching picture on the recording sheet. I only had five shell eggs, so I put two words in some of them, and it still worked perfectly! My kiddo loved this one, and after finishing the reading and recording, he had a blast making stories with the shell eggs and ocean figurines from the Safari Ltd. TOOBS Coral Reef set.

Don’t have shell eggs? No problem! I included versions with shell clip art so you can easily use those instead. Plus, there are multiple recording sheets—tracing, handwriting lines, and open writing—so you can pick what fits your students’ needs best.

9. Make a Lemonade: 1:1 Correspondance

Is there anything more summery than lemonade? For classrooms without AC, adding this activity to your water bin—complete with some real ice!—is the perfect way to help kids cool down on a hot June day while practicing counting skills.

If you choose the water table version, I recommend taping the cards to the wall nearby. Even laminated cards can get soggy if they come into contact with water, and nobody wants soggy center materials!

If a water table isn’t an option, or if you prefer to skip water play altogether, here’s a dry setup that works just as well.

10. Popsicle Colour Sort

This one was a popular request! Sorting beads onto pipe cleaners is fantastic for strengthening the fine motor muscles in little fingers—an important foundation for pencil grip and writing. Plus, it’s a fun way to practice sorting by color at the same time!

11. My Summer Patterning Mini Book

I always have a few kids who are obsessed with mini books so I try to have at least one mini book out at all times! Here is a summer themed version of my patterning mini books! Again, there are many options for easy differentiation!

12. Summer Measure & Record

Measure & Record is another centre that is always popular and it works on so many skills at once (non-standard measurement, fine motor, 1:1 correspondence, number formation). It’s a nice low prep centre too, simply cut out the cards and set them out with snap cubes and the recording sheet!

13. Roll & Add: Bug Edition

This simple and engaging activity is a fun way to practice addition using hands-on manipulatives! Students roll the dice twice to get their two numbers, place magnetic numbers in the first two boxes, and then use bug manipulatives to count and find the sum.

No bug manipulatives or real jar? No problem! There’s a printable version included so you can still enjoy all the addition fun without the extras! 👇

12. Ice Cream Subtraction

This hands-on, pencil-free subtraction activity is a favorite for good reason! Students match the subtraction equations on the scoops to the correct cone labeled with the difference. I especially love this one because it helps reinforce the concept that different equations can have the same difference—such an important foundational idea for young mathematicians!

Again, all of the centres shown above can be found in my summer centres pack by clicking here or on the image below

AND I have some FREE low/NO-PREP centres for you! For those days in June when you’re crawling to the finish line and need just ONE. MORE. CENTRE that you can just print and set out! I hope these help! Scroll to the end to download them all!

Freebie #1: Summer Themed Scissors Skills Printables

You can cut them out and put them in a tray like the photo above or just print them full page (see below) to make this fine motor centre print and go!