Description
Be ready for an unexpected absence with these Emergency Sub Plans featuring 25 no prep, no print activities for elementary classrooms. These ready-to-use substitute teacher activities for Kindergarten through 5th grade include following directions, listening comprehension, reading, writing, vocabulary, math, movement, brain breaks, scavenger hunts, problem solving, and critical thinking activities.
Created by a certified occupational therapy assistant, there are 10+ hours of flexible activity ideas in this 55 page PDF so you’ll have plenty of options for an emergency sub tub or whenever you need a quick classroom backup plan.
No copies, special materials, internet, devices, or technology are required. Most activities use basic classroom supplies such as paper, pencils, crayons, dice, classroom objects, a word wall, and a whiteboard. Perfect for your emergency sub binder, substitute folder, no technology day, internet outage, early finishers, indoor recess, unexpected schedule changes, or extra classroom time.
What’s Included in the Emergency Sub Plans No Prep Activities for Elementary K-5?
This resource includes 25 ready-to-use elementary classroom activities covering a variety of academic and functional skills:
- Following directions and listening comprehension
- Reading, sight words, and vocabulary
- Writing and oral language
- Math, number sense, graphing, and estimation
- Problem solving and critical thinking
- Gross motor movement and brain breaks
- Visual attention and memory
- Classroom scavenger hunts
- Partner and whole-group activities
- Student-created challenges
Each activity includes specific substitute teacher directions, ready-to-use examples, approximate activity times, and extension or challenge ideas so activities can easily be adjusted for different ages and ability levels.
Perfect for Emergency Sub Plans and More
Keep these activities printed in your emergency substitute binder or sub plans folder so they’re ready when you need them. Because they require little to no preparation, they’re also useful for everyday classroom situations when your original lesson plans aren’t going quite as planned.
Use them for:
- Emergency substitute teacher plans
- No prep lesson activities
- No technology or no-device days
- Internet and Wi-Fi outages
- Early finisher activities
- Indoor recess
- Morning work
- Movement breaks and brain breaks
- Transition times
- Fun Friday
- End-of-day activities
- Unexpected schedule changes
- Before or after school breaks
- Occupational therapy push-in services
10+ Hours of Flexible Activity Ideas
Most activities take approximately 15–30 minutes, and several can be extended to 30–45 minutes with the included challenges and extension ideas. Choose a combination of math, literacy, writing, listening, movement, and critical thinking activities based on the amount of time available and the needs of your students.
Combined with lunch, recess, specials, transitions, independent reading, and normal classroom routines, these activities provide plenty of options for filling an unexpected school day.
Minimal Classroom Materials Needed
There is no need to prepare special supplies. Most activities use materials already found in an elementary classroom:
Paper • Pencils • Crayons • Dice • Classroom Objects • Word Walls • Whiteboard
No dice? Simply write numbers on scraps of paper and have students choose them randomly.
No Technology? No Problem! These screen-free classroom activities are especially helpful when the internet goes down, student devices aren’t available, the projector isn’t working, or you simply want a no technology classroom day.
Print the activity pages once and place them in your emergency sub plans binder. You’ll have 25 no prep substitute activities and 10+ hours of ideas ready for unexpected absences, technology problems, schedule changes, or any time you need an easy classroom backup plan.
