A Fun Graphing Lesson Plan for Kindergarteners

Fun Graphing Lesson Plans for Kindergarteners at HomeWhen working on one of my son’s Kindergarten graphing lesson plans from school, we reached a total impasse. It was confusing and boring (for both of us!). I knew that I could make a more fun graphing activity. 

There’s a secret in how to teach graphing to young children. Don’t try to jump right into graph interpretation and understanding. It’s much more helpful if you start at the beginning. 

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Easy Graphing Lesson Plans

I’ve done all the hard work for you. Here’s a completely FREE Kindergarten graph packet for you to print out. 

So first, let’s gather everything you’ll need:

Although technically optional, I HIGHLY recommend the laminator. I use mine all the time! Way more than I ever thought I would.  

It helps me reduce the amount of paper we use (since you can use wet erase markers and simply wipe away) and also helps strengthen pictures/documents.

Not only is it great for schoolwork, but we also use it to laminate important papers (voters card, insurance stuff in our glove compartments, etc), printables to create games, party and room decorations, you name it!

How to Teach Graphing 

For my fun graphing activity, we’re going to be talking about favorite colors of the rainbow. 

Start With Gathering Information

It’s best to start at the beginning, with collecting the information. 

You can do this one of two ways:

1) Call (or video chat with) family/friends and have your child ask them their favorite color of the rainbow. Mark their answers on the recording grid (page 2).

-or-

2) Have them roll the dice and record their rolls on the recording grid. 

You can either secure the tabs of the dice with packing tape (recommended!) or a glue stick. 

Easy and Fun Graphing Activity for Kindergarteners at Home

Make Your Graphs 

I’ve included two templates for graphs in my printable, a bar graph and a pie chart.

For the bar graph, show your child how to use a ruler to make the “bars” at the correct heights. 

Side note, did you know there’s a proper ruler technique? Turns out you’re supposed to first place your pen/marker on the page where you want your line to start, then place the ruler against it, line up the ruler to the desired ending location, secure the ruler, then draw your line. I’ve been using a ruler wrong for years! 

For the pie chart, you need to make sure you only have 12 answers recorded in your grid. Use crayons (or colored markers) to color in the appropriate number of slices. 

Interpret Your Results 

NOW we can actually work on higher-level graphing ideas.This is where we ask the questions to make sure they understand what they’ve done. 

Here are a few examples of comprehension questions:

  • Which color was the most popular?
  • What color was the least popular? 
  • Does a taller bar mean more or less people liked the color? 
  • How many total people did you poll? Or, how many times did you roll the dice?
  • Which graph was more fun to make? Which one is easiest to read? 
  • How many people liked one of the colors with blue in it? 

Repeat 

Erase the grid and have your child repeat the activity in a few days and let them work on it more independently to ensure understanding. 

The Fun Graphing Printable! 

And that’s all there is to it. 

Click here to get your FREE copy of this Fun Graphing Learning Activity for Kindergarteners.    

Fun and Easy Graphing Activity for Kindergarteners at Home

About Author

Jo

Hi, I’m Jo!

I have two small children, Ry and Lily, only 19 months apart. It’s usually crazy around my house, but thankfully my wonderful husband is around a ton and helps keep the peace.

I also own my own business and work full-time. I’d love to list all these amazing hobbies I have, but honestly I can barely handle keeping the kids entertained, the house clean, and food on the table. Although on days I’m too tired to do housework, I love to pour a glass of wine and watch Supernatural or Murdoch Mysteries on Netflix.

My husband and I like to stay very busy and drag our kids everywhere with us. Weekends often include relaxing at wineries, festivals, exploring Washington D.C. and other short getaway trips.

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