Teaching main idea in first grade and second grade can feel like a struggle. It can be a difficult skill to teach. So often, students focus too much on the tiny details or miss the big picture entirely. If you’re tired of repeating “What is this passage mostly about?” only to be met with blank stares, you’re not alone, teacher friend!
Why is main idea so challenging to teach? For young learners, distinguishing between what is important and what is an interesting detail takes practice. First and second graders are still learning to summarize and they naturally focus on small, concrete facts instead of the big picture.
The good news? Hands-on activities can completely transform how your students understand and identify the main idea. When students can sort, move, create, and collaborate, the concept finally clicks. Gone are the days of simply reading a passage and expecting young readers to just “get it.” Instead, we can engage all learning styles — from visual to kinesthetic — to make sure every learner has a way to succeed.
In this post, I’m sharing five tried-and-true main idea activities that are perfect for first and second grade. Best of all? These different ideas come straight from my Main Idea Reading Unit, so you can grab everything you need in one spot and save hours of planning time!
What Is Main Idea?
The main idea, or central idea, of a text is the message the author is trying to convey. It mainly summarizes the key message of a text. When determining the main idea of a story, it is important to think about the big idea. The supporting details, or key details, support the main idea. You can typically determine the main idea from the first sentence or last sentence of a short paragraph.
When teaching primary students about the main idea and supporting details of a text, I like to use our main idea reading passages, which have a short passage and comprehension questions. The short passage states the main idea in the first sentence, gives three supporting details, and restates the main idea in the last sentence. The easy and simple structure of the reading passages helps first graders (and struggling second graders) easily see and spot the main idea of the story and what the short story is about. They can also determine the important ideas that support the main idea because of how the story is organized.
The main idea questions include:
- What is the main idea of the story?
- What is a supporting detail of the story?
- Which is not a supporting detail of the story? (multiple choice)
Such questions give students lots of practice in identifying the main idea and supporting details, but also force students to think about what is not a supporting detail of the text, even if it could be. When using these short passages, I like to do them together as a whole class (read and answer questions together) and then with the gradual release of responsibility, students will eventually be able to complete them as independent work on their own.
Why Hands-On Main Idea Activities Work
Worksheets alone just don’t cut it when it comes to teaching main idea. Our youngest learners need movement, manipulatives, and collaboration to make the concept stick. In my own classroom, I’ve noticed that my students remember hands-on experiences far more than anything they do on paper. When using engaging activities that involve our students getting up a moving, our students will remember the concept better.
That’s exactly why my Main Idea Reading Unit is packed with interactive, movement-based activities to make main idea lessons meaningful — and memorable!
It’s easy for students to get lost in the weeds of too many small details, especially in first and second grade. Main idea is an abstract concept, and young learners often struggle to distinguish between important details and minor information. That’s why hands-on activities are crucial. Students need to actively engage with the material rather than passively reading through it.
Through these activities, they can physically manipulate information, work with tangible objects, and experience learning in a multi-sensory way. For instance, when they sort items in the mystery bags, they’re practicing categorization, which is a critical thinking skill. Similarly, when they get up and move around the room during a scavenger hunt, they start making real-world connections between reading comprehension and physical action, which reinforces learning.
This means that when students are actively moving, creating, and collaborating, they’re much more likely to remember the main idea of any given passage. Research consistently shows that students retain more information when they actively engage in a lesson through movement, discussion, and hands-on experiences — compared to passively listening or reading.
1. Main Idea Mystery Bags
If you’ve spent time on Pinterest or Instagram, you’ve probably seen main idea mystery bags before — and trust me, they’re popular for a reason! This is a fun way to introduce the topic of main idea to primary students.
Here’s how they work:
- Fill brown paper lunch bags with related items.
- Students look inside and figure out the main idea of the bag based on its contents.
- This activity helps students see the connection between the “big picture” and the supporting details in a hands-on, concrete, easy way.
Need some ideas?
- Pool Day Bag: sunglasses, sunscreen, goggles
- Snack Bag: goldfish, crackers, cookies
- Writing Tools Bag: pencil, marker, crayon
The best part? This activity is already included in my Main Idea Reading Unit, so you can print the recording sheets and be ready to go! There are 4 cards included for bags so you do not have to search for the physical items, which makes it even easier for you to plan and prep!
2. Write the Room: Main Idea Scavenger Hunt
Need to get those wiggles out while practicing main idea? This activity is a teacher and student favorite!
Need to get your students up and moving? Hang short paragraphs or a short passage around the room and challenge your students to read each one and record the main idea on their recording sheet. Some of the cards have three or four illustrations and students will determine the main idea.
Other cards have a main idea and students must write a supporting detail that would match. For example, a card says “Dogs need many things” and students would need to think of what a supporting detail of that main idea would be. Some examples are water, food, play time, and walks. There are also cards where students look at the illustrations and decide what picture does not belong with the others.
This active learning activity is the perfect blend of reading comprehension and movement, and it’s also part of my Main Idea Reading Unit — so no need to reinvent the wheel.
3. Main Idea and Details Crafts
I love weaving in crafts to my reading lessons — and main idea is no exception! These crafts can be read with any book that has a strong and clear main idea, so you can add these any main idea lesson.
Inside my Main Idea Reading Unit, you’ll find two easy-to-prep crafts that make the perfect bulletin board display:
- Warm Up With The Main Idea: Students write the main idea on a paper mug and the supporting details on marshmallow cutouts.
- Main Idea Ice Cream Craft: Students write the main idea on an ice cream bowl and the supporting details on each scoop.
These crafts are great for a bulletin board, especially when you glue them on bright construction paper. Both crafts can be paired with any picture book — and if you need a list of my favorite books for teaching main idea, I’ve got a whole blog post full of recommendations here!
One mentor text I like to use for these activities is The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown. The Important Book has a repetitive and organized structure that helps younger students easily identify the main idea of the entire book.
4. Small Group Warm-Ups
If you are like me, then you love having a quick warm-up to kick of your small groups. One simple idea is with our main idea warm-up ladders, which have the main idea written at the top, then in between each rung on the ladder is a picture. If the picture could not be a supporting detail of the main idea then your students would cover it with a counter. If it does match, then they leave it alone. Using these quick warm-up cards quickly shows you if your students are grasping the concept of main idea and main topic.
This quick, no prep activity helps students practice in a low-stress way, while also giving you a chance to check their understanding in those first few minutes of getting settled during small group rotations.
5. Main Idea Sort
This activity works well for both small groups and whole group lessons. Give each student one of the main idea cards. Some cards with have a main idea and others will have supporting details. Their job is to match the details to the correct main idea. For this activity, I like to play quiet music and let students walk around the classroom until they find their partner. This hands-on sorting activity helps students see how all the pieces fit together. Once everyone has their match, we put them on an anchor chart paper for everyone to see.
You can also use an activity like this in a Four Corners format, or two sides. For example, you read a small passage or a few sentences like, “Today is a snow day. I put on my snow gear to go play in the snow. I built a snowman. My mom made hot cocoa. What a fun snow day!”
Then, you tell students if what you say next is the main idea they go to the left side of the room and if it is a supporting detail they go to the right side of the room. You say, “I put on my snow gear to play in the snow” so students should go to the right side of the room since it is a supporting detail.
What Is Inside the Main Idea Reading Unit?
When you grab the Main Idea Reading Unit, you’re not just getting one activity — you’re getting everything you need to teach main idea in a fun, engaging, and meaningful way all year long. Here’s a quick breakdown of what you’ll find inside:
- Printable Worksheets & Activity Sheets: Easy-to-use worksheets that reinforce the main idea concept.
- Mystery Bag Templates and Recording Sheets: Save time with mystery bags already done for you!
- Main Idea Crafts: Fun, hands-on projects like the Ice Cream Craft and Warm-Up Mug for the bulletin board.
- Main Idea Passages: Short, fun passages designed to help students practice identifying the main idea.
- Sorting Cards & Activities: Ready-made cards to help students categorize main ideas and supporting details.
- Write the Room Scavenger Hunt: Get your students up and moving to practice identifying the main idea and details.
This unit is designed to save you time writing lesson plans while giving your students an exciting way to master main idea.
Click on the links below to grab your main idea reading unit.
Click here to shop on our website.
I hope you enjoyed these different ways to teach and practice finding the main idea of a text. If you’ve been struggling to teach main idea and supporting details in a way that actually sticks, I hope these activities help you teach such an important skill! By making your lessons hands-on, engaging, and interactive, your students will finally feel confident identifying main ideas — and you’ll feel confident knowing your lessons are working.
Looking for blog posts about other reading comprehension skills? Check out these related posts below.
