Free Emergency Sub Plans for Kindergarten

There comes a time we all need emergency sub plans for kindergarten. Here are free beginning of the year emergency sub plans for kindergarten that you can prep in advance.

You can stash your plans, papers and read aloud all together and sleep better knowing if you have to call it in, you’re all set.

Because we can all relate to this –

Now, if you’re planning emergency sub plans for kindergarten – you’ll need something for reading, math, writing and probably a time filling project.

Let’s see if we can’t cover all of the bases, shall we?

A note about what I’ve dug up for you… I loathe worksheets. Seriously.

So, I made these emergency substitute plans as I would for my own class – with some interactive elements and a few supplies.

You should totally have everything in your classroom though even if you have little time to prep!

How to make these sub plans

1. Read through this post and pick a resource or activity from each section that applies to your classroom routine.
2. Click to the activities (made by other people) linked to in this post and print them.
3. Print the matching directions sheets I made for the activities you picked so you can easily give directions to your sub. [jump to directions]

Set the scene

It’s the beginning of the kindergarten year and your kiddos are pretty new to this whole school thing. Let’s make your sub’s day the easiest we can by planning a themed day.

Let’s make a monster-themed day for your beginning of the year emergency sub plans for kindergarten.

Today’s goal: training to become supermonsters!

Which of course – means learning lots of letters, numbers and being on your best behavior {wink}

Get them fired up about their training day with a free supermonster poster that the sub can introduce and post. (Print page 2)

It’s a great incentive to have great behavior in order to stay in supermonster training all day long! {wink}

Pick a read-aloud

Can you think of a monster-related book you (or your teaching neighbor) have? Grab it!

Here are some ideas to jog your memory (these are affiliate links to books on Amazon) or you can raid your school’s library to find these or any similar monstery book if you’re planning ahead.

• Go Away Big Green Monster
• Love Monster
• There Was an Old Monster
• If You’re a Monster and You Know It
• Glad Monster, Sad Monster
• Monsters Don’t Eat Broccoli
• Monsters Love School

No matter what book you pick, I’ve pretty much got the directions for it in the free download.

An alternative – or a bonus time filler – let Grover read The Monster At the End of This Book aloud to your class in this video.

It’s a sweet story where Grover pleads with the audience to stop reading and turning pages since he’s afraid of monsters. Only to find out he’s the monster at the end of the book.

Plan a reading group activity

If you’re planning ahead, then make 6-8 copies of these free monster emergent readers. (I personally like the book “Can You See the Monster” on pages 6 and 7)

If you pick more than one book, put each set into a ziploc baggie so the sub can easily grab the ones you want them to read. Note which ones on your sub plans you want each group to use.

If you’d rather go in a different direction, then print a set of sight words or alphabet cards and play this quick recognition game in small reading groups.

I’ve made a set of sight words and alphabet cards to use on the fly in your download too.

If you want your sub to do letter sounds instead of naming the letters with a group (or groups), be sure to note that in your sub plans.

Plan a math activity

Alright, let’s plan for math.

If you can scrawl a note to your sub to let them know where your class set of dice are, then you could use these free monster roll and color worksheets.

It’s basic numeral recognition and counting practice. You can decide on one dice or two and click print.

If you’d rather skip the dice, then these I Spy Numbers 0-10 free worksheets are what you want to print off.

Plan a brain break

Give your kiddos a few breaks during the day. Here are some ideas to plug and play:

Get your kiddos up and moving with a fun monster hokey pokey song. Instead of putting your hands in – you put in your claws, big hairy feet, fangs, and more.

I’ve included the lyrics in the download for your sub.

Or show this monster shuffle brain break video. It’s just shy of 5 minutes long and will get them on their feet.

Plan a writing activity

Kick-off writing time with monster writing pages. Choose the blank page and print off enough for your class.

Students could write their opinion of monsters or respond to the read-aloud story.

Another option: have kinders write about where they’d live if they were a monster.

Simply jot down your prompt onto your sub’s overview page and you’re set to go!

Plan an art project

If you think there is potential that you may be gone for 2 days, then insert this art project into your lesson plan stash. Have your students add a sentence with word cards to their completed piece.

Ask your sub to prep the art pieces for you (for the second day or say for after a prep period) and leave a copy of the words for them to make copies for your class.

I’d recommend breaking this project up into two parts/times of the day.

Students make a construction paper monster. They cut apart and reassemble an “I like the (color) monster” sentence.

If your class has some cutting skills, you could totally just have them make a body with construction paper and then color and add these monster body parts.

A simpler alternative is to use this free learning how to glue monster template.

Your sub could use glitter or potentially tissue paper squares or construction paper squares if you want to go beyond just gluing practice. Glue, stick on, done!

One more alternative is this gluing practice worksheet (in a star shape) with a monster on it – print page 3.

Now that you’ve seen all of the activities you could pick for an awesome set of sub plans – let’s get the direction sheets for each activity you’ve selected.

Get the download

Let’s pull your sub plans together.

Of course, you’ll need to decide which of the activities listed you
want to use, print them and put it all together.

But I hope having this resource makes it easier on you and can save you time – especially in a pinch. I’ll try to give you easy ways to jot notes to the sub so you have less prep work to do and less to explain.

I’ve got a planning sheet, directions for your sub and links to all of these resources from this post for your convenience in the download.

[Downloading help] [Terms of use]

Follow the directions in the PDF to pick your lessons, print the matching directions and jot down any quick related notes for the sub.

I hope this can truly save you time when you’re in a pinch and have to be out of the classroom.

What’s next?

If you like being prepared for a sub in advance you’ll love my substitute survival and thrive-al pack.

Here’s how I liked to lay everything out for a sub in my classroom.

If you like what I do here on KindergartenWorks, then be sure to subscribe today. I look forward to sharing ideas with you weekly.

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