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This post has been co-written with Ben Wolfson, a full-time educator and assistant principal in the USA.
Kids of all ages love to crack secret codes (and most grown ups too!) and this crack the code free printable is full of spring themed surprises. Spring makes for a great theme in your kindergarten classroom as it lasts for 3 months and encompasses numerous holidays (St Patrick’s Day and Easter to name but a couple). This means that you can keep your base decor up for a few months while rotating the holiday specific items. In terms of academics, these spring code words are a great way to build independence and problem solving during your literacy centers rotation.
Why Choose Code Breaking For Kids
Code breaking puzzles make for excellent activities at any time of year for your kindergarten students. They require a whole host of skills: visual discrimination to match images from the code page to the answer key, transfer of letters back to the code page and the ability to check for the reasonableness of an answer (e.g. if they get the letters “SPWING”, they might have made an error along the lines. It’s a self-checking activity, meaning that you won’t get swarmed by students looking for you to check their work, and there are a multitude of follow up activities that you can add with these secret code spring words.
Preparing Spring Code Words
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Extension Tasks for Spring Code Words
The obvious way to use this crack the code free printable is to give students the code pages and an answer key and have them transcribe the words using the picture puzzle. However, with a little preparation, you can extend the learning that these secret code spring words can provide:
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Partner up – you can turn this code breaking for kids activity into an opportunity for social and emotional learning by pairing students up. One student has the code page, while the other has the answer key. The student with the code key tells the name of the images they see, and the student with the answer key has to find and report out the letters. This teaches simple social interactions as well as collaborative learning.
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Create their own messages – again, you can use these spring code words for some partner work. Once students have solved the original messages, you can have them create a message for a partner to decode. You can either give them cut out versions of the pictures, or for an extra challenge have them draw the pictures out.
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Create their own code – for those students who really get into this crack the code free printable, you should have them invent their own code for a partner to solve. They’ll need to create an answer key, and it’s over to you whether to keep a spring theme, pick another holiday to work with, or even use words that start with each letter of the alphabet.
Like this? Then you’ll love my 10 Bugs and Butterflies Themed Literacy and Math Centers. These easy-prep games will get your students working on letters, phonics, numbers and more!
Games included:
1) Bugs Playdough Counting Mats – Blank ten frame to count out playdough ball ‘insects’ + playdough number formation
2) Butterfly Spots Counting Clipcards to 20
3) Bugs Arrange By Size – 5 different bugs, 6 sizes each
4) Bumblebee Match By Math – Match the bee to the correct flower by solving the simple addition sums to 10
5) Caterpillar Complete The Pattern Strips – Use pompoms, dot markers, dot stickers, or other colored manipulatives to complete the patterns. Includes ABAB, AABB, ABCABC and ABCB patterns.
6) Butterfly Alphabet Match – Upper and lowercase matching cards. Single color and multicolor letter cards included
7) Catching Butterfly Beginning Sounds – Match objects to the correct letters.
8) Caterpillar Order Alphabet Strips – Look at the set of 5 letters and decide if they’re in the correct order then choose thumbs up or down.
9) Ladybug Tracing Lines – Fine motor pre-writing practice, 4 mats included.
10) Leaves for Lunch Ants Alphabet Sort – Divide up letter cards into vowels and consonants.
Check it out for more ready-to-go fun!
Some Spring Book Recommendations:
Other Spring Printables You’ll Love:
1) May Spring Printable Worksheets Pack – 50 pages of free printable worksheets including a variety of literacy, math, and fine motor activities.
2) Spring Flowers Draw and Count – Students will need to draw the number of flowers stated on the page.
3) Spring Code Words – Solve the coded puzzle to find out the Spring themed vocabulary words.
4) Spring Counting Clipcards – This activity is perfect for preschool number recognition, one-to-one correspondence, and counting skills.
5) Spring Color By Number Pack – There are 6 spring-themed color-by-number pages included in this pack.
6) Bird Theme 3 Part Cards – Set up this free printable as proper 3 part cards for a spring literacy activity or as a preschool science center to help your students learn the names of different birds.
7) Weather Math Worksheets Pack – 9 different math worksheets inside this weather-themed activity pack for working on number order, shapes, counting etc.
8) Count The Kites 1-10 – Practice counting while strengthening their little hand muscles at the same time with this set of counting clip cards.
9) Raindrops Counting Frames – Keep your kids busy indoors with this rain-themed counting activity.
10) Missing Number Eggs – Practice counting from 1-20 with this cut and paste activity.
