Free New: free teacher tools — name tracing, bingo cards, certificates, a classroom timer and more. Try them →

PreKPrints
Columbus Day Activities for Kindergarten, 1st Grade, and 2nd Grade with a fun nautical voyage theme!

Columbus Day Activities: Vocabulary, Ship Craft, Science & Writing

Columbus Day activities with a nautical voyage theme for K–2: vocabulary cards, a reading chant, a sailing-ship craft, a sailboat science experiment and writing.

Suitable for
Kindergarten–2nd Grade
View Resource on TPT

Opens Teachers Pay Teachers, where you can see current details and pricing.

Save to Pinterest

Learning goals

  • Learn voyage and ship vocabulary
  • Read and recite a simple chant to build oral language
  • Build fine motor skills by cutting and assembling a ship craft
  • Predict and observe in a simple sailboat science experiment
  • Draw and write about a voyage

Preview pages

What’s included

  • 8 illustrated vocabulary cards
  • Hooray for Columbus reading and oral-language chant
  • Build-a-sailing-ship craft
  • Sailboat scissor practice
  • Introductory sailboat science experiment
  • Family Sailboat Challenge
  • Long-voyage sorting activity
  • Draw-and-write voyage response
  • 10 pages, with black-and-white student pages

Materials and preparation

  • Crayons
  • Scissors
  • Glue sticks
  • A tub of water, paper and foil for the sailboat experiment

Print the student pages in black and white. For the science experiment, fill a clear tub with water and set out paper and foil so children can test their boats.

How to use it

  1. Introduce the vocabulary cards and read the chant together several times.
  2. Practice cutting with the sailboat page, then build the sailing-ship craft.
  3. Predict which boats will float, test them in water and talk about what you observe.
  4. Sort the items for a long voyage.
  5. Finish with the draw-and-write voyage response.

Family connection

Send the Family Sailboat Challenge home so children can build and test a boat with their family.

Adaptations

  • Kindergarten: pre-cut the ship pieces and focus on the chant and vocabulary.
  • 2nd grade: ask children to write their predictions and results in full sentences.
  • Use the vocabulary cards in a literacy center.

Questions

Are the pages in color?

The student activity pages are black and white for easy printing and coloring; the cover and completion page are in color.

How many pages are included?

10 pages.

Get this resource

Columbus Day Activities: Vocabulary, Ship Craft, Science & Writing is available from our store on Teachers Pay Teachers.

View Resource on TPT

Published · Updated