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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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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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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Rhyming Card Game
A concentration style rhyming card game that can be used to consolidate students' knowledge of rhyming words.
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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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Make a Sentence Activity Task Cards
Boost early writing skills with this engaging Make a Sentence Activity designed to help students understand sentence structure through fun, hands-on learning.
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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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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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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 - 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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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.
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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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5th Grade Grammar Review Task Cards
Download these 5th grade grammar review task cards perfect for reading centers.
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Epic Editing Workbook – 3rd and 4th Grade
Use these paragraph editing worksheets to get your students practicing and refining their proofreading skills.
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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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Color by Pronouns Worksheet Pack
Use this set of color-by-pronouns worksheets to help your students learn these important parts of speech.
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Personal Pronouns Roll and Cover Game
Use this pronouns game as a fun and collaborative way of learning about personal pronouns.
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Possessive Pronouns Sorting Activity
Use this sorting activity in your grammar lessons to teach your students about possessive pronouns.
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Blending Words Game Boards
Engage students in blending a number of words using this set of leveled phoneme blending game boards.
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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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Subitizing Card Game
Utilize this subitizing card game to reinforce number recognition and subitizing skills with some friendly competition!
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Fast Finisher Task Cards (Lower Elementary)
Keep your fast finishers busy with this set of task cards targeted to lower elementary students.