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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Comparing Integers – Math Mazes
Compare positive and negative numbers while you work your way through this set of math mazes.
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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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Comparing Collections Sorting Activity
Support students in comparing quantities by providing an easy, hands‑on activity that lets them sort items and decide if they can be shared evenly.
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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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High Frequency Word Mats
Use these high frequency word mats for your Kinder and 1st Grade students to experience a hands-on way of learning high frequency words.
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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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Rhyming Card Game
A concentration style rhyming card game that can be used to consolidate students' knowledge of rhyming words.
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Base Word and Ending Clip Cards
Support your students' understanding of word structure with this Base Word and Ending Clip Cards activity.
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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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Color by Number Addition and Subtraction Worksheets
Combine math and art with our color by number addition and subtraction worksheets that feature problems with solutions up to 20.
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Literary Comparison Task Cards
Encourage deeper thinking through literary comparison with this engaging set of task cards designed to prompt meaningful analysis between two texts.
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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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Science Sparks - 4th Grade Science Activities
Give your students a little science boost with Science Sparks 4 – our newest set of fast finisher science activities for 4th grade!
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Science Sparks - 5th Grade Science Activities for Fast Finishers
Review science standards during classroom downtime with Science Sparks, a set of 5th grade science activities for fast finishers.
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Science Sparks - 3rd Grade Science Activity Cards
Give your students a little science boost with Science Sparks 3 – our newest set of fast finisher science activities for 3rd Grade!
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2nd Grade Fast Finisher Activities - Math
Engage your 2nd grade early finishers with these printable fast finisher activities that focus on math.
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3rd Grade Math Task Cards
Use these 3rd Grade Math Task Cards as fast finisher activities during your math lessons.
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Bloom's Taxonomy Reading Comprehension Task Cards
Deepen your students' reading comprehension with a set of reading task cards based on Bloom's taxonomy.
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Science Sparks - 1st Grade Science Activities for Fast Finishers
Grow your students’ scientific understanding during classroom downtime with Science Sparks, a collection of 1st grade science activities for fast finishers.
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Science Sparks - 2nd Grade Science Activity Cards
Review science standards during classroom downtime with Science Sparks, a collection of 2nd grade science activities for fast finishers.
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Preposition Game – Roll and Cover
Use this preposition game as a fun and collaborative way of learning about these important parts of speech.
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Volume of Composite Figures Activity — Triple Match-Up!
Challenge your students with this volume of composite figures activity that will have them matching compound rectangular prisms with equations and volumes.
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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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Differentiated Vocabulary Menus
Use our Differentiated Vocabulary Menus to give your students daily independent vocabulary practice.
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Preposition Images Matching Game
Download these preposition images to help students master prepositions through visual, real-life examples.
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Fast Finisher Task Cards (3-5)
Keep students engaged and learning with fun fast finisher activity cards.
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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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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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Unit Fraction Match Task Cards
Explore unit fractions with your students using this unit fraction match template that can be used for a variety of classroom activities.