Opposites Activities for Children

Left, right, high, low… our favorite opposites activities are all here! This post speaks mainly to K-1 teachers, but working with higher level antonyms is part of building a rich vocabulary. The work you’re doing now will set your kids up for success as they move into the higher grades.

As a primary teacher though, if you have kids who are ready, you can introduce them to more robust opposites like inflate and deflate, or rigid and flexible. Terms like this often come up during science lessons. Another next natural step is to show children how prefixes impact root words, sometimes creating opposites, such as happy & unhappy, or approve & disapprove.

FINE MOTOR ACTIVITIES

There’s a time and place for worksheets, but I don’t know many kids who’d prefer those to a project where they can get their hands involved. I’m paraphrasing, but remember the saying? “Tell me, and I may forget. Let me do it, and I’ll remember.” I know that’s not exactly how it goes, but you get the gist. Hands-on experiences are key to learning.

Weaving👆 is a fun way to repeatedly practice the opposite words over and under. And lacing activities👇 provide an opportunity to use up and down motions to create a piece of art. Both are simple opposites activities that also develop hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.

Threading can be challenging for little hands👇, but plastic beads and sturdy pipe cleaners make it a little easier. This is a simple way for children to learn the difference between few and many, or long and short… another one of our favorite opposites activities.

Want to show the difference between full and empty? Plastic cups and pom poms can be used over and over.👇 And there are a variety of ways kids can get them in there. Encourage them to grab each pom pom with tweezers or a clothespin before dropping it into the cup. OR… make a game of it. Let teams work together minute-to-win-it style to see who can fill their cup first. Once the pom poms are in the cup, pour them out and play again!

There are many other ways to demonstrate opposites using classroom supplies. For example, have fun discovering objects that sink and objects that float. Use blocks to build towers that are tall and towers that are short. Make a dirty mess and then clean it up. Turn dull pencils into sharp pencils. Start something and finish it. As your students learn new opposite words, keep a chart you can refer to as you go along.

And check out this NIGHT & DAY PAPER PLATE CRAFT from Non-Toy Gifts. It’s adorable! One way to modify this activity is to list opposite pairs on a chart and let children choose their own for this craft. This puts some of the creative decision-making in their hands and will yield a wider variety of results to share when finished. You can even make a game of it, letting children guess which opposite words each student chose.

GROSS MOTOR GAMES

Some of our favorite opposites activities are games where we can get our whole bodies involved. Charades and Simon Says are familiar to most kids, so they’re easy to transform into a game of opposites. The twist is the kids have to do the opposite of the prompt. For a game of Simon Says Opposites, it might look and sound like this:

“Simon says walk forward.” Children walk backwards.
“Simon says stand up.” Children sit down.
“Simon says shake your hands slowly.” Children shake them quickly.
“Simon says hop on your left foot.” Children hop on their right foot.
“Simon says say hello.” Children say goodbye.

We also like to play Two Points Charades. To prepare this game, make a deck of cards with one opposite word per card. To play, the child acts out the opposite of the word on the card. For example, if the word is hot, the actor has to get the team to say cold. One point is given for a correct answer and another point is given if the team can correctly guess the original word on the card.

You can also turn a simple Freeze Dance or game of Musical Chairs into an opposites activity by using paddles or signs that say freeze / thaw or stop / go.

CHILDREN’S BOOKS ABOUT OPPOSITES

There are many children’s books about opposites, but a lot of them are board books designed for toddlers. Finding larger picture books to read aloud in a K-1 classroom takes a little more work, but they’re out there. These are our top three:

Big Bear, Small Mouse by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman
Dogs by Emily Gravett
Drive: A Look at Roadside Opposites by Kellen Hatanaka

I also want the kids to have an OPPOSITES BOOK they can call their own. This one provides them with simple words they can learn and read independently, plus it includes blank pages where they can write and illustrate their own ideas!👇

PRINT & PLAY GAMES

When you’re looking for opposites activities, don’t forget small-group and partner games. Bingo games are easy for teams to play together and a game of Opposites Memory is a fun make-a-match activity for partners. You can find both games in this TEACHING OPPOSITES resource for K-1 teachers.

If you print the games on sturdy card stock and laminate them, they’ll last a long time. You can even send them home with children so they can keep playing when they have a little extra time. If your families are like ours, they’re always looking for ways they can support their children at home.

OPPOSITE DAY

There’s a day for everything… Popcorn Day, Bubble Gum Day, Pizza Day… so why not Opposite Day? Technically, it’s on the calendar for the end of January, but if that doesn’t fit your schedule, do it whenever you can. It’s a fun way to break up a wintry stretch of school, but honestly the kids would have fun with it any day of the year. If a warmer-weather, outdoor event is more your style, plan it closer to your spring holiday.

As a grade-level team, write a letter about Opposite Day to send home with the children. This is a great way to inform families while generating a little hype for the day. The letter just needs to outline whatever you decide to plan for the day. We think it’s fun to have the children prepare for the celebration beginning the night before school. How? By sleeping in school clothes, underneath an upside down blanket, with their head at the foot of their bed! Then, in the morning, they can change into their pajamas and have dinner for breakfast before heading to school. (We suggest something simple for parents, like macaroni and cheese or chicken nuggets.)

Any of the opposites activities shared throughout this post would work perfectly for your Opposite Day plans, but here some MORE IDEAS we love:

Wear your clothing backwards or inside out. Maybe put your socks on your hands and wear your shoes on the opposite feet for a little bit. Pajamas and slippers are also a fun option for Opposite Day attire.
Flip your daily schedule. If you normally do science in the afternoon, do it first thing. If you usually have snack after lunch, enjoy it after arriving in the morning.
Switch locations. Do a read-aloud in the cafeteria and eat lunch in the classroom.
Call everyone by their last name instead of their first. Or challenge kids to write their name backwards on every assignment they do.
Switch hands for a directed drawing activity… something simple, like a flower, house, or butterfly. If time permits, do it with both hands and let kids compare their drawings. The vocabulary for this activity could range from left & right to familiar & unfamiliar, or dominant & non-dominant. For fun, display the non-dominant drawings upside-down.
Make FROZEN HOT CHOCOLATE or UPSIDE DOWN CUPCAKES. Both are fun treats for Opposite Day!
If you normally work with the lights on, turn them off. When kids would normally sit, have them stand. Maybe even walk backwards as you head to recess.
Read a whole book backwards… start at the last page, ending at the first.

No matter which opposites activities you decide to do, it’s sure to be a fun day!

TEACHING RESOURCES

For more resources, including worksheets for additional skill practice, check out LEARNING ABOUT OPPOSITES for K-1 teachers. It includes the printed resources pictured above, plus teaching posters and additional activities.