Early Finisher Activities Teaching Resources
Explore early finisher activities created by teachers to help you answer the question "I'm done, now what?" when your students complete work ahead of their classmates!
This collection of worksheets, quiet activities and more for those "fast finish" students is packed with options that provide students with a challenge that will keep them occupied — and keep them learning — while classmates complete a task!
Looking for ideas for early finishers and how to build this important part of classroom management into your classroom routines? Read on for a primer from our teacher team!
What Is an Early Finisher?
Whether it's completing a test before their classmates or wrapping up an assignment in half the time that you allotted, some students work more quickly than their peers.
The reasons are varied. Some kids speed through work because they aren't taking time to carefully read what's in front of them or address the assignment, but others are finishing early simply because they can.
Early finishing could come down to:
- Differences in Abilities — We know our students have individual learning styles and abilities, and with that comes an ability for some to work at a faster pace than others.
- Prior Knowledge — Your early finishers may possess prior knowledge or skills related to the task, whether from a previous class or even something learned outside of the school setting.
- Motivation Levels — Some students may be highly motivated and focused, leading them to complete tasks efficiently.
What to Do if a Student Finishes Early
Before you decide what to do with your early finishers, you need to consider why and how your students are completing their work at a rapid pace.
If the "why" is that a student is not appropriately addressing the assignments, you'll need to work with them to slow down and focus on the task. If you're looking at students who finish work early simply because they can, the next question is how to keep them engaged so they're not disrupting their classmates and getting value out of this class time.
How Do You Engage Early Finishers?
We recommend you focus your early finisher activities on a mix of practice and enrichment work rather than focusing on "fun" that may tempt students to speed through their work. As you explore this collection of activities, you'll find they're focused on skill building, rather than simply giving students a chance to goof off!
We didn't stop there! Here are some clever ideas from our teacher team to engage fast finishers.
- Establish early finisher procedures. Let students know from the first week of school what to do when they've completed individual tasks so that they can move on directly to early finisher work. You may want to establish a "must do," "may do" and "may not do" structure for this procedure so students know what they should — and should not — be doing when they've completed a task! The actual procedures will look different depending on your grade level — a kindergarten early finisher activity procedure will likely be simpler than one for fifth grade — but having it set in stone is key to good classroom management!
- Set up an early finisher destination. Minimize classroom disruptions by setting up a spot in the classroom where students know they can go to find their early finisher work such as a set of busy bins, a "what do I do now?" station or even a bulletin board with folders where students can find challenging worksheets to complete for extra credit.
- Have fast finishing students help you keep classroom supplies in line. Do you have puzzles that may or may not be missing a few pieces? It's an all-too-common problem in classrooms, and it's one that you can solve by having your fast finishers count out the pieces to ensure everything is in place. Similarly, students can use this time to ensure board games are still in working order and so on.
- Assign a classroom job. If some kids are always finishing ahead of their classmates, why not assign them a job such as helping classmates who could use their assistance?
- Differentiate your instruction. If you recognize that the same students are always finishing their work ahead of their peers, plan ahead with extension activities, independent research projects or creative assignments that encourage critical thinking.
- Have early finishers work together. You can challenge your early finishing students to work together on group projects such as a STEM challenge which can help them build their teamwork and social skills.
- Extra reading. When in doubt, allow students to spend time reading to keep their brains active (and their mouths quiet) while their classmates finish up a task or test.
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Finding the Area of Composite Shapes Task Cards
Calculate the area of rectilinear shapes with a set of Finding the Area of Composite Shapes Task Cards for 3rd grade.
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Multiplication and Division Word Problem Task Cards (Facts 1-12)
Use a range of strategies to solve multiplication and division problems for times tables facts 1-12.
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CVCC Word Work Mat
Practice segmenting and spelling simple words with this set of 24 CVCC picture task cards.
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Coordinate Plane Games — "Roll and Graph"
Play our coordinate plane games in your classroom to enhance students’ ability to plot points and find the distance between them.
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Multiplication Arrays Mini-Book
Teach your students about multiplication and array models with this printable mini-book.
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Multiplication Color By Number Worksheet Pack
Use this set of multiplication color-by-number worksheets to help your students learn these important number facts.
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Multiplying Decimals Math Mazes
Complete decimal multiplication problems while finding your way through this set of three math mazes.
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Dice Roll - Content Vocabulary Activity
Use our ‘Dice Roll’ Content Vocabulary Activity as an opportunity to help your students grow their vocabulary skills in the classroom.
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Compound and Simple Sentences Task Cards
Use these compound and simple sentence task cards to help your students identify the difference between these types of sentences.
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Place Value Color by Number Worksheets
Share these place value color by number worksheets with your students for a fun way to review place value up to the hundred thousands place.
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5th Grade Grammar Review Task Cards
Download these 5th grade grammar review task cards perfect for reading centers.
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Color by Letter Worksheet Pack
Help students with their recognition of the letters – s,a,t,p,i,n and c,k,e,h,r with this color by letter worksheet pack.
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Time to the Hour and Half Hour - Math Mazes
Engage your students with exciting telling time practice activities with a set of printable Time to the Hour and Half Hour Math Mazes.
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Array, Array, Go Away Dice Game
Reinforce how to match arrays and multiplication facts with this printable dice game.
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Addition to 10 Modeling Mats
Familiarize students with adding single-digit numbers using this set of practice mats.
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Comparing Integers – Math Mazes
Compare positive and negative numbers while you work your way through this set of math mazes.
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Tricky Words Activity Mats
Use these printable tricky word mats as a hands-on activity when introducing high frequency words that have an irregular spelling pattern or one your early readers haven’t learnt yet.
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Roll, Read and Write – High Frequency Word Game Pack
Practice reading high frequency words with this set of Roll to Read and Roll to Write High Frequency Word Game boards.
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Shape and Number Pattern Task Cards
Support early math learning with repeating patterns task cards designed to help students recognize, continue and create patterns while identifying the repeating unit.
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Uppercase and Lowercase Matching Activity Pack
Use these uppercase and lowercase matching cut and paste activities to help students identify and name both forms of each letter.
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Alliteration Sorting by Beginning Sound Activity
Explore beginning sounds and alliteration with this engaging and age-appropriate picture sort activity—perfect for your phonics and early literacy lessons.
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Roll an Adventure Story - Storytelling Dice Game
Roll and write an adventure story using our Roll An Adventure Storytelling Dice Game.
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Adventure Story Starter Task Cards
Print and use these Adventure Story Starter Task Cards to inspire adventurous narrative writings.
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Sentence Building Cards and Mat
Use these Sentence Building Cards with Mat to explore the main features of a simple sentence with your Kinder students.
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Pattern Block Design Cards
Build shape recognition and have fun building composite figures with our printable Springtime Pattern Block Design Cards.
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Epic Editing Workbook – 5th and 6th Grade
Use these editing and revising worksheets to get your students practicing and refining their proofreading skills.
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I Spy Alphabet Sounds Mat
Use these ‘I Spy’ Alphabet Sounds Mats to explore the different letter-sound correspondence of the alphabet.
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3rd Grade Grammar Review Task Cards
Download these 3rd grade grammar review task cards perfect for reading centers.
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4th Grade Grammar Review Task Cards
Download these 4th grade grammar review task cards perfect for reading centers.
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Improper Fractions Activity Cards
Provide these improper fractions activity cards to your students to give them a variety of ways to practice converting improper fractions to mixed numbers.
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Genre of the Month - Writing Prompt Grids (Upper)
Introduce your students to a variety of writing genres with our printable genre-specific writing prompt grids.
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Number Recognition Activity Mats (Numbers 0 - 10)
Use these Number Recognition Activity Mats to give your students hands-on practice building and writing the numbers 0 - 10.