Back to School Butcher Paper Activities

Are you getting ready to head back to school? Or maybe you have already started and are looking for some new activities for your students? I have got you covered with these back to school butcher paper activities to help teach and introduce students to various sool tools and manilpulatives! Start with the basics like letters, numbers, sorting, feelings, and following directions with these simple but engaging back to school butcher paper activities for pre-school age, pre-k, and kindergarten students.

If you aren’t familiar with butcher paper activities, let me give you a quick overview. They are hands-on activities that are on a large scale so that students are up moving around while learning. This helps them burn off energy and build their larger muscles to help their fine motor skills develop. These are great for moving larger body parts while developing gross motor skills. They help students learn with their peers in a multi-sensory, play-based activity that is educational. They also help students develop social skills while focusing on math and literacy concepts. Butcher paper activities are great for morning time, table time, small groups, or center time.

This is a perfect time to teach students what various school tools and manipulatives are called, how to clean them up (show the label on the bin and match it to the shelf), and where they go in the classroom!

Grab the Butcher Paper Activity Guide of fun ideas for the whole year! Grab my favorite kraft paper rolls and butcher paper supplies from Amazon here.

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Back to School Butcher Paper Activities for Fine Motor

Sports Connect! Have students place stickers all over the paper and then connect the stickers. Students will be working on fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and crossing the midline. I like this simple butcher paper activity because it can easily be switched out to match your theme. We talked a lot about the tools in your classroom and how we could use them, and sports equipment was one of the areas we touched on. General supplies for school, emotion faces, recess equipment, center toys, etc., are all great ideas you could incorporate into this back-to-school butcher paper activity, and different ways to use the same idea all year long. 

Pre-Writing Lines! To make this fun activity, I drew various lines in bright colors. Then, students used mini erasers to follow the lines. Students begin the writing development spectrum by copying lines that they see. So, this activity could easily be done with young children with little writing experience at the beginning of the school year.

Build a Line! To begin, draw different kinds of lines on the piece of paper. Then, give students manipulatives to build the lines. Lots of different manipulatives might also provide you with some sensory solutions for little learners.  I made this one an Itsy Bitsy Spider theme, but this simple project would work great for any books or songs that you are doing with your students. If you are doing the song “Going On a Bear Hunt” during music and movement time, give students nature manipulatives or bear-themed items.

Birthday Pre-Writing Lines! This butcher paper activity is great for an all-about-me theme or when you are talking about birthdays and how old everyone is. I drew a giant cake, and students added lines for decorations. I made these line dice with a variety of lines on them. If these lines are too difficult for your students, make simpler ones that work for your students’ needs. Students rolled the die and added that kind of line to the cake. They used all kinds of colors to make it even more fun.

Back to School Butcher Paper Activities for Letters

Letter Building! Have your little learners practice building letters with this simple activity. Write letters all around the butcher paper and then give students manipulatives to build the letters. I used magnetic bingo chips because students can use magnet wands to clean up their area. It makes it so much fun for little hands. I also set out mini erasers and pom poms for another manipulative option.

Before doing this activity, we talk about how to use the manipulatives, where they are in the classroom, where they go at clean-up time, etc. This prepares the students for success later on.

Letter Dot-It! I love having students create this large letter dot-it paper because I use it for my bulletin board or hallway decor for the first month. It is easy, and everyone helped make it. To do this activity, I write capital and lowercase letters on the paper; then, students use dot-it markers to trace the letters. Another reason I like this activity at the beginning of the year is to practice using dot markers. Some students may not have been exposed to dot markers, so this activity allows them to practice opening and closing them and applying the correct pressure to use them.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Letter Trace! Draw a coconut tree and add letter pairs all around. I used markers to make the butcher paper activity, and then the students used crayons to trace the letters. I wanted them to use crayons so that the marker would be brighter and stand out more than their work. That way, if a student is just scribbling on the letters, other students can still trace the marker letter. Another way to prolong the life of this activity is to give them letter manipulatives to match on the first day and then let them trace on the second day.

Back to School Butcher Paper Activities for Shapes

Shape Match! Draw shapes in various sizes your students are working on identifying and give them shape buttons or manipulatives to match. If you don’t have shape manipulatives, cut shapes out of foam. You don’t have to make the activity complicated for students to learn and enjoy. Students can simply pick a button out of a container and match it to a shape. They could also roll a shape die, find the matching button, and then match it to the shape on the paper. To make these shape dice, I cut shapes out of paper and taped them to a wooden cube.

Shape Build! Use the same shape butcher paper to complete this shape-building activity. Students will use manipulatives to make the shapes. I set out magnetic bingo chips because students can use magnet wands to clean up, and that is always a hit in my classroom! Young children can also practice matching the colors while they build the shapes.

Back to School Butcher Paper Activities for COunting

Pete the Cat Dot-It! Read any Pete the Cat book and create a butcher paper activity to accompany it. This is a shirt for Pete’s buttons. Students roll a color die and put one dot on the shirt, practicing one-to-one correspondence. This allows students to work on self-regulation, how to properly use dot markers, following directions, and colors. Easily differentiate this activity by giving students number dice and having them work on counting or addition skills.

Birthday Count! This activity is a great way to practice counting, one-to-one correspondence, colors, sorting, and number identification. I drew birthday cakes and wrote the number and the correct number of dots on each cake in case some students don’t recognize numbers yet. Students then used magnetic bingo chips, candles (or cut-up pipe cleaners), and number candles to put that many decorations on the cake. A birthday theme is great for the beginning of the year, as students get to know each other, or you do an all-about-me theme.

Crayon Count! For this back-to-school counting fun, students place cut-up pipe cleaners in sets of 10 in each box. They can use a magnet wand to clean up their manipulatives when they are done. If this tens counting math skills activity is too hard, draw crayon boxes in certain colors and have students work on sorting the pipe cleaners by color instead.

Number Counting Graph! Create this number graph to use for tons of activities the whole year. For back-to-school time, I had students use chain links to create a chain that is the correct number long. Chains are great for fine motor development and problem-solving skills. Don’t have chains; use mini erasers, pom poms, math counters, building blocks, beads, and any other manipulatives you have.

People Color Sort! Create a simple color sorting activity by drawing a sorting area and giving students a manipulative to sort. I drew color houses and gave my students the people counters to sort. They rolled a color die and placed one manipulative onto the paper. This was great for an all-about-me theme at the beginning of the year.

Color Sorting Graph! I made this non-themed color sorting graph so that it could be used year-round for all kinds of themes. At the beginning of the school year, I had my students sort loose parts and pom poms. There are also tweezers on the table for students to use to grab the manipulatives to strengthen fine motor muscles. I keep a box out for students to place any manipulatives they find on the floor and don’t know where they belong. This is what I gave them to sort; it allowed them to see all kinds of learning tools that would be in the classroom.

Back to School Butcher Paper Activities for Measurement

Tape Measurement! Create a simple measurement activity by placing pieces of colored masking tape on the butcher paper. Students can use different manipulatives to practice non-standard measurement skills. I gave my students linking cubes for more fine motor development. If you don’t have butcher paper, use plain wrapping paper or turn some patterned wrapping paper over. 

Back to School Butcher Paper ACtivities for Art

Art Collage! I turn butcher paper activities into multi-day art projects and an introduction to all the tools in the art center. Plus, they can work on social skills students are craving at the beginning of the school year. It makes the perfect multi-sensory activity. 

• Day 1- students paint the paper and use Legos to stamp paint.
• Day 2- they practiced using gluesticks and glued scrap paper onto the project.
• Day 3- children glued on the foam letters.
• Day 4- students used dot markers to decorate the paper (pictured above)
• Day 5- it would be fun to give students colored masking tape and scissors to practice cutting pieces and sticking them on the paper, gluing pieces of tissue paper, or popsicle sticks.

Once they are done, I use this art collage for the hallway or as a classroom decoration.

Back to School Butcher Paper Activities for Social Emotional Learning

Feelings Sort! Practice identifying and sorting emotions with young children on a large scale with a piece of butcher paper. This paper has six emotions, which I would use for kindergarten or older students. For my 3-year-olds, I would only give them three emotions to sort. I had some feeling blocks set out, and the real and clipart images can be found here. The emoji images are a FREEBIE here. Be sure to set out shatter-proof mirrors so students can practice making the emotions. This is the perfect way to introduce social emotional learning skills to your early childhood classroom. 

Back to school time is so stressful, and you can easily become overwhelmed by all the prep work for everything. I hope these back to school butcher paper activities help you create meaningful, educational activities that won’t take you all night to prepare. Grab your lesson plans and a roll of butcher paper, and pick your favorites to get started! Make butcher paper activities a powerful classroom tool for your little learners.

Don’t forget to grab the butcher paper guide from the Pocket of Preschool TpT store to get ideas for the whole year!

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