If you leave the door open, the cat will get out. If you eat all of your dinner, you can have dessert. We use cause and effect language all the time with our children, so we assume they just know what it means. However, the truth of the matter is that it’s something we need to teach them. Introduce them to the exciting activities listed below, and they’ll soon be cause and effect pros!
1. Cause and Effect Anchor Chart
Introduce the idea of cause and effect with an anchor chart. Help your students better grasp the concept by helping them design a visual display of how one thing or action leads to a certain outcome.
Learn more: Pinterest
2. Teaching Cause and Effect Using A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon
Why doesn’t Camilla Cream eat lima beans even though she loves them? Because nobody else in her school likes them! With your learners, read this book with multiple examples of cause and effect to reinforce this important concept. By the end of the tale, your students will all be cause-and-effect experts!
Learn More: Amazon
3. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Lesson
If you give a mouse a cookie, he’s going to ask for a glass of milk. When you give him the milk…the mouse’s demands never stop! Teach your students that all of their actions (cause) have an outcome (effect) by reading this beloved children’s book.
Learn More: Amazon
4. Room Recess: Digital Activity
Teach the essential skill of reading by using interactive technology. Your kiddos will be asked to place the correct phrase, depicted on a scoop of ice cream, onto the correct phrase, written on the cone. Have them race against the clock to see how many cause-and-effect relationships they can get right before the time runs out!
Learn more: Room Recess
5. For the Birds Lesson
This cute, three-minute video has multiple examples of cause and effect. What causes the power line to go down? What makes the little birds lose all of their feathers? Have your students watch the video to find out!
Learn more: YouTube
6. Cause and Effect Jeopardy
Who doesn’t love a little competitive game of Jeopardy? This interactive game is targeted at upper elementary grades and is sure to engage all of your students. Break out the classroom devices, split the class into teams, and test their knowledge of cause and effect with this fun game!
Learn more: Jeopardy Labs
7. Cause and Effect Matching Game
Do your kids love hands-on learning activities? Cut up a few simple sentences and have your students match each cause with its effect.
Learn more: Florida Center for Reading Research
8. Bowled Over Graphic Organizer
As you go over a reading passage with your class, have your students fill in this graphic organizer about different cause-and-effect relationships within the story. They’ll then write the cause in the bowling ball, and the effect in the bowling pin! Afterward, you can ask them how changing one cause would lead to a different effect. This open-ended graphic organizer can be used at all different reading levels and is a great post-reading activity.
Learn more: The Mailbox
9. Reading Raiders
Living in the digital age, your students will surely love engaging with this internet game to learn about cause and effect. When your learners match the correct cause-and-effect relationships they can save their newly built kingdom!
Learn more: Room Recess
10. Cause and Effect Task Cards
A good way to get your pupils up and moving around the classroom is with task cards. Pair them up and have them walk around the room answering the questions provided on the different task cards. Remind your kiddos to reference the class anchor chart if they need help!
Learn more: Teaching Made Practical
11. Explore Signal Words with When I Grow Up by Peter Horn
After teaching your students a few different cause-and-effect signal words, read When I Grow Up and have them identify each time the author uses one of the learned signal words. If your students have individual whiteboards, you could even have them write the signal word at the end of each page and show you as a check for understanding.
Learn More: Amazon
12. Interactive Anchor Chart
Check your students’ understanding of this important topic by giving them each a sticky note to write their own effects to a given cause. Choose a few readers to come up and read some of their responses and have your class agree or disagree with whether or not they’re correct!
Learn more: Pinterest
13. Reading Lessons: No, David! by David Shannon
This fun picture book offers plenty of opportunities for your students to match causes- David’s actions, with their effects- him being told “No, David!” on a regular basis! Your younger elementary students will undoubtedly relate to this charming book.
Learn More: Amazon
14. Cause and Effect Charades
We’ve sourced a silly game of charades for your students to play! First, you’ll need to write multiple examples of cause and effect relationships on different slips of paper that your kids can easily act out. Next, you’ll place the scenarios in a cup and call on two students to choose one slip each. You can give them a minute to whisper their ideas to one another before asking them to start the scene! Without speaking, your pair will be responsible for acting out the relationship. Meanwhile, the rest of your class can guess who is demonstrating the cause and who is acting out the effect in their performance!
Learn more: YouTube
15. Cause and Effect Song
The cool thing about learning through songs is that they can reach a wide range of students, regardless of their skill levels. Use this engaging video to teach the complex skill of cause and effect to your students. Don’t be surprised when they’re singing this catchy tune for the rest of the day!
Learn more: YouTube
16. Alice in Wonderland Worksheet
Identifying cause and effect is a vital reading skill that’s required to comprehend most texts. As you read through Alice in Wonderland as a class, give your students a worksheet to work on pinpointing the cause-and-effect relationships of each character’s actions.
Learn more: K12 Reader
17. Cause and Effect Scoot Game
Try this energizing scoot game to get your learners to understand the concept of cause and effect. The directions are simple- have your students take their recording sheet to the first station and answer and work on answering their task cards. When they’ve had enough time to answer, you’ll say “scoot” and they’ll have to move on to explore the next station.
Learn more: Foreman Teaches
18. Cause and Effects Tutorial
This classroom-friendly cartoon introduces cause and effect and gives multiple examples to help your children understand it. It also proves a useful aid if some of your students are still struggling with the concept after you have introduced it to the whole class.
Learn more: Story Bag
19. Everyday Lives and Cause and Effect
Use the real-life examples on this site to teach your students that cause and effect relationships are around us every day. Why does the light switch come on? Because someone flips the switch. An extension activity could be to have your learners write down cause and effect events from their daily lives.
Learn more: Your Dictionary
20. Cause and Effect Board Game
Kids are more likely to be engaged when play is involved! Follow the link below to be inspired to either create your own cause and effect board game or be taken to another link to purchase a premade game. This game will give your students ample opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of cause and effect.
Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers
21. Domino Effect Demonstration
Here’s a great anticipatory activity to get your students excited to learn about the concept of cause and effect! Meticulously line up some dominos and allow your students to push the first one over. The reaction will beautifully demonstrate the essence of cause and effect before applying it to reading comprehension.
Learn More: Exploratorium
22. Balloon Pop Surprise
Your kinesthetic learners will love this activity! Inflate balloons with notes inside- each containing a description of a cause. Your students will then get to experience the joy of popping them open and discussing the myriad of effects that could result from each cause.
Learn More: Scholastic
23. Clouds and Rain Experiment
Bring a little science experiment into your next cause and effect lesson! Guide your students in using a glass jar, hot water, and ice to emulate the natural phenomena of cloud formation and rainfall. Discuss the various causes and effects throughout the process.
Learn More: Kid Spot
24. Plant Growth Observation
A leafy, green classroom awaits! Here, your students will plant seeds and either provide or withhold sunlight and water. Then, they’ll observe the effect that these elements have on plant growth to unveil nature’s cause-and-effect relationships.
Learn More: Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History
25. Chain Reaction Craft
Before introducing this super cool chain reaction to your class- watch this video on your own. Then, instruct your class on how to do the “cobra weave” by building a chain out of craft sticks. Next, you’ll have one person pull a stick out at random and your class will be able to marvel at the chain reaction they’ve induced; a tangible lesson on how one action can have a large impact.
Learn More: YouTube
26. The Tug of War
Who would’ve thought a classic game of tug of war could help your students understand the concept of cause and effect? You’ll need to lay out a long, thick rope with a flag tied to its center. Then, place a cone on the ground to mark where the center point is. With equal players on 2 teams, get your learners to stand facing each other on opposite sides of the cone- grabbing the rope with both of their hands. When you blow the whistle, your students will pull with all of their strength (the cause) until the flag crosses over the center point- declaring the winning team (the effect).
Learn More: YouTube
27. The Red and Blue Water Experiment
Here’s a great visual representation of cause and effect relationships! Invite your students to mix hot red water with cold blue water before standing back in awe of the magical transformation of colors that occurs. This vivid display of cause and effect shows how temperatures interact to create new forms and shades.
Learn More: Rookie Parenting Science
28. Baking Soda and Vinegar Reaction
Chemical reactions create the best unexpected results! In this experiment, your students will be able to witness a bubbling spectacle once they combine baking soda and vinegar.
Learn More: YouTube
29. Egg Drop Challenge
Calling all future engineers! Task your students with designing a container that will protect an egg from a tall drop. As they test their prototypes, the effect (their egg surviving or breaking) will be a direct reflection of their design choices (the cause).
Learn More: Generation Genius
30. Cause and Effect Puzzles
This one’s for all of your puzzle lovers! To set things up, create a set of unique puzzles where one piece illustrates a cause and another its effect. Your students can then engage in this matching game- honing their logical reasoning skills as they practice identifying cause and effect relationships.
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
31. Simulated Oil Spill
Here’s an introspective activity that your students can apply to a real-world problem. Simulate an oil spill with 2 different cups filled with water and oil. You’ll fill one cup with “magic sand” (nanotechnology) and the other with regular sand to demonstrate the different effects that each type of sand has on the oil spill. You can then challenge your students to brainstorm and implement clean-up strategies and share the devastating effects that oil spills have on wildlife and ecosystems.
Learn More: NISE Network
32. Create Your Own Cause and Effect Comic Strip
Your little learners will love this app that allows them to create digital comic strips! Your students can manipulate each frame with characters and dialogues to tell a narrative that incorporates examples of cause and effect. Let them present their storyboards to partners who can then spend time identifying which cause and effect relationships they’ve devised.
Learn More: Technology Is Loose In The Library
33. The Leaning Tower Challenge
In this tactile exploration, your kids will try to replicate the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Challenge your students to build towers using a material of their choice to learn that their structural decisions can lead to either a magnificent skyscraper or a heap of ruins.
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
34. The Melting Ice Experiment
Before engaging your class in this fun science lesson, have them make predictions of how each variable will affect ice cubes. Begin by placing ice cubes in a muffin pan and following the instructions to see which conditions alter the speed of melting. Your students should be given an opportunity to test their hypothesis and see if the results match their predictions!
Learn More: The Chaos and the Clutter
35. Trash Sorting Activity
How do actions impact what happens to our environment? Teach your kiddos how to sort waste into appropriate bins, so they’ll be able to recognize how their small actions contribute to larger environmental goals.
Learn More: Twinkl
36. Energy Conservation
This lesson will help bring tangibility to abstract concepts like energy conservation. Start by turning off the lights and ask your students to ponder what effects this action may have on their environment. Then, use the worksheet found in the lesson plan and prompt your students to identify which situations cause energy waste and which situations conserve it. Finally, have each learner write about how they can conserve energy to have a positive impact on their environment.
Learn More: Teach Engineering
37. Cause and Effect in History
Tie cause and effect skills into your history lessons! Pick a pivotal moment in history and delve into the causes and subsequent effects. Your students will walk away with not only a richer understanding of the past but also a new perspective on how actions and consequences are deeply interwoven into the fabric of time.
Learn More: School History
38. Wind Erosion Experiment
Illustrate the impact of wind erosion with this interesting simulation! Task your students with using a baking pan, rice or grains, leggos, marbles, toothpicks, or other household materials to replicate a desert environment. Using a straw they’ll then blow a pile of sand into the deposition and see how the wind affects the rocks and trees. After the simulation, have your kiddos write about how erosion impacts the environment on a larger scale.
Learn More: YouTube
39. Design a Cause and Effect Poster
Grab some large poster paper and task your students with illustrating causes and their possible effects in this visual approach to learning. Working in groups- they can co-create their learning to then be displayed around the classroom!
Learn More: Twinkl
40. Exploring Cause and Effect in Art
Let your little artists create colorful and abstract art and then notice how they feel when exposed to one another’s art pieces. This lesson will teach your kiddos how shape and color choices in art can impact a person’s mood and interpretation.
Learn More: Pinterest
41. Earthquake in a Box
Shake up conventional wisdom with your very own earthquake simulation! By jostling a box filled with sand and blocks, your students can examine how earthquakes affect structures. This simulation is hands-on geology at its best and will effortlessly help you illuminate the cause and effect behind seismic shifts.
Learn More: Scientific American
42. Butterfly Life Cycle
Metamorphosis meets the classroom! Teach your children about the captivating life cycle of a butterfly. They’ll see how each stage leads to the transformation of a caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly!
Learn More: Butterfly Identification
43. The Noise Pollution Activity
Here’s a PowerPoint to help you teach the effects of noise pollution on our environment. This auditory exploration will show your students the impact that sound can have on their environment as they try to focus and learn!
Learn More: Twinkl
44. The Power of Words
Choose your words wisely! Spark a dialogue among your students about how the language we use has an effect on the feelings of others. In your discussion, aim to underscore how a simple word can wield immense power; affecting emotions and relationships at large.
Learn More: Harvard Business Review
45. The Broken Toy
Here’s another great anticipatory set to engage your students in analyzing possible causes of a presented problem! Present to them a fractured toy and challenge them to hypothesize about what led to its demise.
Learn More: Design Swan
46. Gravity Experiment
Drop various objects from the same height and encourage your children to observe the force of gravity at work. As they watch items plunge toward Earth, the effects of the invisible force of gravity become vividly clear.
Learn More: Science Sparks
47. Experiment with Magnets
Time to feel the pull—or the push! Using magnets, string, and wooden dowels, let your students discover firsthand how proximity affects magnetic attraction and repulsion. It’s a hands-on physics experiment that will undoubtedly enhance their understanding of magnetic forces.
Learn More: KiwiCo
48. Cause and Effect Chain Story
Weave a collaborative tale with your class! Create a cause-and-effect narrative where each of your children must work together by contributing a sentence. With each addition, the story will evolve and demonstrate how one event can trigger a cascade of outcomes.
Learn More: Pinterest
49. Role Play Scenarios
Here’s a great conversational activity that will benefit your ESL students. Assign your students scenarios to act out; illustrating the positive or negative consequences of their actions. This role play is sure to get them talking and thinking about cause and effect.
Learn More: Grammar Monster
50. Reading The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
The Lorax is an environmental tale that can be used to spark an interesting discussion about the ecological effects that humans have on their environment. Watch the video together before assessing whether or not your students understand what caused the last Truffula tree to be cut down.
Learn More: YouTube
51. News Report Analysis
Breaking news: media literacy is all the rage right now! Challenge your pupils to dissect current news stories- identifying cause-and-effect relationships. It’s a lesson in critical thinking that will provide them with a deeper comprehension of various world events.
Learn More: Scribd
52. The Healthy Eating Chart
Let your children explore how their food choices impact their health by introducing them to this healthy eating chart. From energy levels to long-term wellness, they’ll come to grasp the links between their diet and their overall well-being.
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
53. Drawing Shadows
Through this outdoor activity, your students will gain insights into the fascinating mechanics of light and shadow. Demonstrate how the sun’s position causes shadows to change in terms of size and direction.
Learn More: YouTube
54. Experiment with Sound
Strike a chord with this fun activity! Allow your learners to explore how the intensity of striking a musical instrument alters its sound. In doing so, they’ll learn that both force and technique can significantly influence both volume and pitch.
Learn More: YouTube
55. What Happens When We Litter?
Highlight the dire consequences of littering by showing videos and photos of polluted locations. Then, have your pupils brainstorm ways that they can have a positive effect on the future of the world whilst discussing what causes pollution.?
Learn More: World Animal Foundation
56. Weather Charting
As humans, we make choices based on the forecast of the day. Have your kids track the daily weather and how it affects their outfit choices as well as their participation in various activities.
Learn More: Osmo
57. Cause and Effect Diary
Tell your students to get out their notebooks and start to record their daily actions and outcomes with images and text. This introspective exercise will foster a greater awareness of the ripple effects that emanate from their choices.
Learn More: Twinkl
58. Sugar in Drinks Experiment
Sweet revelation ahead! Expose your students to the sugar content in various drinks and ignite a dialogue about its effects on their health. This nutrition-based discussion will then hopefully have a lasting impact on your students’ choices!
Learn More: Science Sparks
59. Sharing Stories from Personal Experiences
Teachers- nurture a stronger classroom community by inviting your students to share personal stories from their lives. Once they’ve written their narratives, have them analyze the cause-and-effect dynamics within them.
Learn More: The Storytelling Nonprofit
60. Building Paper Planes
Spark your children’s curiosity through this engaging aerodynamic lesson. Let your students fold paper planes in any way they’d prefer. Next, they can let their planes take flight and observe how their different designs dictate the flying pattern.
Learn More: The Art of Manliness
61. The Exercise and Heart Rate Experiment
Get your class ready to investigate how exercise affects heart rate! First, have your kiddos design a plan that details what kind of exercise they’d like to do. Then, ask them to develop hypotheses about their anticipated heart rates and recovery time. Finally, teach your learners how they can measure their heart rates before and after physical exertion to demonstrate how activity affects their cardiac function.
Learn More: The Biology Corner
62. The Dissolving Salt Experiment
This is an excellent science experiment that can be used to help you crystalize the relationship between temperature and solubility for your kiddos! Simply ask your students to dissolve salt in two different cups; one with warm water and the other with cold water. As they do so, ask them to observe and record the differing rates at which the salt dissolves.
Learn More: Science Notes
63. Cause and Effect with Wordless Picture Books
For this lesson, you’ll need to gather some wordless picture books! As you flip through the pictures, have your readers deduce cause-and-effect sequences. This literacy activity will empower them to find meaning without words and hone their inferencing skills.
Learn More: Where the Magic Happens
64. A Sunburn Experiment with UV Beads
Here’s a light-activated lesson that your students are sure to love! Use UV-sensitive beads to show your kiddos how sun exposure causes color change. The result is a vivid analogy for the effects of UV radiation on their skin and a colorful way to approach health education!
Learn More: Steve Spangler Science
65. Cause and Effect in Fables
Read between the lines! Explore classic fables like The Boy Who Cried Wolf with your students; identifying cause-and-effect mechanisms woven into the tales as you go. Then, use the provided worksheet to check your student’s understanding.
Learn More: Kids Academy
