2-page PDF file
KS1
Years 1-2
Enjoy the fact that ‘an extra day means extra play’ with these cross-curricular leap year activities for the classroom.
Find out about ‘leaplings’ and learn the rhyme that helps you remember the days in each month. Try some number games using the four times table, and measure lengths of leaps to see who can jump the furthest. You can even hold a leap day party on or around the 29th, and pack it with as much extra fun as possible!
Leap year activities KS1 objectives
- What a leap year is
- Why the leap year was created
- How many days there are in each month
- Counting forwards and backwards in fours
- How to organise a party
Getting started
Introduce the term ‘leap year’. Begin by asking children if anyone knows what it means. Can anyone guess? Ask children which month we are in now. Do they know how many days there are in February? What is different about this February? Explain that this year there will be an extra day, or leap day. Invite children to think about how they would like to celebrate the extra day. What would they like to do? How could they make it into a special day?
Judith Harries is an experienced early years and primary school teacher. She specialises in teaching music and drama and creates educational content for a variety of publications.
