Kindergarten teachers are magical people. It takes a special person to be able to manage the littlest students without breaking a sweat! Teaching kindergarten is also a special opportunity to introduce children to school and instill in them a love of learning. In honor of those of you who teach this grade, we’ve scoured our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook to bring you the best tips, tricks, and ideas for teaching kindergarten.
“Be ready for kids who are readers, kids who have never seen letters, and everything in between. I love my kinders dearly and find so much joy in watching their little light bulbs go on for the first time! They’re a different bunch to be sure, but they’re a blast!” —Maggie V.
Need ideas? We’ve gathered real-life kindergarten classrooms for you to browse!
With so many teachers receiving new devices, make sure you’re using them fully as a normal part of your day. Check out some of Keri from Enchanted Kinder Garden’s favorite tech tools for a kindergarten classroom.
The science of reading has been all the buzz lately. Are you aware of what it truly means for your classroom and your students? Check out this article to learn more about the science of reading.
Not sure exactly what you need for the kindergarten classroom? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with this list of essential kindergarten classroom supplies.
Make circle time short, sweet, and active. Incorporate these amazing carpet spots for easy seating.
In kindergarten, teacher planning and prep time are precious. It makes life a lot easier when you can purchase existing lessons, bundles, books, and pages. And why not support other teachers while you do it? Check out our favorite Teacher Pay Teachers sellers.
If there’s one thing you want your kindergartners to walk away with at the end of the year, it’s the message that reading is fun! Make reading time extra special for them by setting up one of these awesome reading nooks.
Early childhood teachers know that hands-on learning is essential. Sensory play encourages open-ended thinking, language development, and collaboration and builds fine motor skills. Sensory materials are magically both engaging and calming. Here are our favorites!
Writing is so important for our early learners. Even when students are just learning to write, it’s important to encourage the process. Having a dedicated writing time helps shift a child’s focus. Some classrooms even have a dedicated space for writing. Here is an easy setup for a writing center.
As you prepare to meet your brand-new students, think of inviting ideas for both parents and students. A scavenger hunt around the room to complete forms, sign up for things, and explore the room helps to move families around the classroom as you introduce yourself.
Even though your students haven’t had time to come into the classroom yet, make sure there are spaces and places to display student work. You want the classroom to be a shared space. With that art and work proudly displayed, they will feel a connection with the room.
“Kids go to their first day of kindergarten expecting to learn how to read that very day. So you have to do some choral reading of big books or poems so that they know that they have begun to learn to read. Just one big book. Read it many times that day. If they go home seeing themselves as scholars on the first day of school, you will have set the tone for the whole year.” —Becky N.
“You will have a room full of parents on the first day, so to have a smooth goodbye, I wrap a box with Kinder Bear (any stuffed bear) inside. After the kids are sitting on the carpet, I tell them that I have a friend I’d like them to meet, but that he’s shy. I pretend to listen to the bear and tell the kids he wants you to say bye to Mom & Dad so he can come out and play. The parents will ‘get’ the message and leave, and the students will be eager to meet Kinder Bear!” —Denise B.
“Don’t assume they know how to do anything. Teach them everything. How to knock at the bathroom door, how to close it behind them, how to wash hands, throw away towels … routines, routines, routines.” —Shannon T.
“Remember, they are 60-month-olds! That always gives me perspective the first few weeks teaching kindergarten.” —Michelle K.
As soon as you get your class list, add your students’ names to their areas in the classroom. This may include tables or desks, book bins, cubbies, and even pencil pouches. Allow them to take ownership of the things that they will need to take care of over the school year.
Go ahead and “add to cart” on Amazon to get first-week read-alouds and back-to-school books they’ll love.
“I would have them do a self-portrait the first day and then another one the last week and look at the difference! You will want to start and demo one of yourself just to give them an idea of what to do. You might be surprised at the results, and your parents will save it forever—mine did. I still have one I drew as a kinder or first grader.” —Julia A.
“Don’t worry about the curriculum. Just focus on the routines and rules. One of the best bits of advice I got from a professor was that the kids WANT to love you so don’t be afraid to be strict with the rules and set down your boundaries right out of the gate. I’ve been teaching for 20 years, and I learned that the hard way. Have fun, play games, let them see your playful side, but take the time to let them know what is expected of them.” —Julie S.
Don’t expect that they will come to you knowing what listening looks like. Here’s how to teach them.
As you teach classroom expectations, routines, and procedures, do not forget to introduce callbacks. Teach your students three or four ways to stop, look, and listen. This can be done with hand motions, responses, and more. One of my favorite ways is when I say “Macaroni and Cheese,” they all say “Everybody Freeze!” They also place their hands on top of their head. This allows them to put down whatever they are touching or using and put their attention on me. It’s one of the quickest callbacks to teach.
Engage students with captivating videos and eliminate the need for internet access. Seamlessly manage digital rotations with built-in timers, creating a personalized and efficient learning environment. With everything you need in a digital presentation, you’re ready to rock and roll through your day in style.
Some of your students will make friends naturally, while some will need your help. How to be a friend is one of the most important lessons they can leave their first year of school with. Here’s an activity you can do to help them.
“For my lines in the hallway, I say ‘There’s a cloud with marshmallows falling down (wiggle fingers like they’re falling from above), everyone catch a marshmallow!’ Pretend to catch and say, ‘now put it in your mouth and chew chew chew chew and keep your finger on your lips so it doesn’t fall out’ until you get to the cafeteria, playground, etc. They’ll walk around with their cheeks puffed up pretending to chew. Some might say they ate it, so tell them to catch another or it’s too big to eat the whole thing so keep chewing! I’ve heard teachers say ‘catch a bubble.’ It’s the same concept. When I need instant silence, I say, ‘Catch a marshmallow!’ and there is quiet immediately.” —Heikel F.
“I teach routines and rules, but I also go on some kind of ‘adventure.’ My adventure is going through the school to find where everything is: the bathrooms, the nurse, the front office, the cafeteria (which we practice going through the line), library, etc. I’ve done fishing where I have fish (or a jungle animal if that was my theme) hanging at each place, and they collect them in a bucket as we go around taking turns and collecting through the whole school. They love it.” —Dana H.
“Plan lessons/activities that last no more than 15 minutes, with some kind of movement activity in between. (Moving from the circle to the table counts, as does clapping a pattern, or Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.)” —Anne H.
Teachers need to ultimately adapt their teaching to suit students’ needs. You want all of your students to be successful; that’s why these kindergarten assessment ideas are so important.
Teach children number sense and fine motor skills at the same time. The kids will love using the hole punch in this activity and will improve their number sense at the same time.
Teaching with centers is one of the easiest ways to work through your curriculum while teaching kindergarten. And kids love them! Check out our kindergarten literacy centers for more ideas.
Incorporating brain breaks will help all of your students when they just need a break from learning!
“I have my kids line up on numbers. They stay on the same number all year. This saves so much time. We can line up in less than 15 seconds. Their toes touch the number but don’t cover it, so I can see it.” —Debbie N.
“Glue sponges! There are several videos online for making them. So awesome to not deal with the bottle-of-glue mess or those littles who can’t close the bottle and spill glue in their supplies!” —Anita D.
Low maintenance (essential for teaching kindergarten), high fun! Kids will love taking turns bringing the “class pet” home to care for it over the weekend. Check out this classroom pet from A First for Everything.
Veterans who’ve been teaching kindergarten for years said this again and again on our Helpline: Probably more than any other age group in elementary school, kindergartners thrive on their routine. “Plan fun and easy activities for the first week so you can keep focused on the routine.” —Sarah S.
Creating anchor charts for and with your students helps them learn and remember lessons about topics like friendship, shapes, counting, letters, beginning writing, and more.
Helping children manage their emotions is essential in classrooms. One way to do this is by incorporating SEL books for kids. Start social-emotional learning with your morning meeting time to have it as part of your daily routine.
These STEM challenges are designed with your kinders in mind. Try one each day or each week to get their minds thinking outside the box.
From invented spelling to punctuation and using words in context, these tips will help your newbie writers catch on quickly.
Go on a scavenger hunt, play with shaving cream, and much more. These alphabet activities are perfect for your kindergarten class.
We’ve gathered writing prompts that you can download and use to get your kinders practicing their writing skills.
Put an astronaut stick down when you get to the end of a word so students know where to start the next one!
Keep track of important sight words in fun ways and keep them visually front and center like this growing word-a-pillar.
Check out our guide to teaching kindergarten online for tips on using technology when teaching kindergarten.
“I like playing ‘I have, who has’ games. I take their picture on the first day of school and create an ‘I have who has’ game with their photos. It’s a great way for them to learn names, plus I use their picture for everything.” —Lisa G.
When you structure your lessons thematically, you provide your kids with more “hooks” for learning. Check out this blog by Fun-a-Day for some great ideas.
Number sense is key in kindergarten. You’ll want to cover it again and again. Here are some ideas for teaching number sense.
Kindergarten offers so many opportunities to help students find learning truly enjoyable. These kindergarten math games teach concepts in fun and meaningful ways.
Making math more engaging for kids can be difficult. But teaching math will be anything but boring when you introduce students to some of our favorite subtraction and addition videos on YouTube.
Learning shapes is one of the earliest concepts we teach kids. Shapes ready them for geometry in the years ahead, but it’s also an important skill for learning how to write and draw. Get started with these activities.
There are so many different fun ways to celebrate the 100th day of school. We’ve got a whole collection of activities for you!
“Music is needed and is a good way to transition. Find a welcome song and an afternoon song (can be the same tune with different words) to start and close your day. It makes a world of difference.” —Anne H.
Stumped on an idea for creating a lesson? Try using AI to help you plan your lessons. ChatGPT is one way to add in some creativity and ideas you may not have thought of before. There are also alternatives you can try when it comes to using AI in the classroom.
Have a routine with journals. This can be a daily freewriting journal, math journals with prompts, science journals, or even a fun twist on sight words with a journal.
One of the most repeated pieces of advice in our WeAreTeachers Helpline Facebook group about teaching kindergarten is that you should always overplan for this age group. These activity sticks from Keep Calm and Teach On are a fantastic safety net when you suddenly find that your lesson went twice as fast as you expected.
Kinders are a wild bunch, and taking them anywhere might seem daunting. But field trips provide kids with the kind of real-world learning that really sticks with them. These kindergarten field trips will keep your young students interested and (mostly) out of trouble. We even have virtual options!
These fun and free science activities were put together just for kindergarten students. They’ll learn how the world works through play and experiments.
Teaching is hard! Join our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE Facebook group and connect with other teachers to talk about challenges and triumphs and ask questions.
Keep a pulse on what’s happening in your grade level with our favorite teachers sharing about topics ranging from crafts to addressing important multicultural issues.
Kindergartners love to laugh as much as the rest of us! These funny books will add some humor and levity to your day. Plus, check out these jokes just for kindergartners!
Fill your sub tub with all the lessons and activities your sub will need in case you have an unexpected absence.
We most often celebrate large accomplishments, but it’s also OK to celebrate the small things. Did you turn in report card grades on time? Celebrate! Did you do attendance for an entire week without having to be reminded? Celebrate! Take a moment and write down simple tasks that you can celebrate. Small wins also matter and can benefit your mental health.
Whether it’s Cupcakes With Caregivers, a fall feast, or a spring BBQ, kindergartners love traditions. And they love to include their families. Here are some tips on making these events inclusive for all your students.
Teaching kindergarten requires a different kind of energy. Eat well and try to get an extra hour of sleep if you can. “When I switched from teaching second grade to teaching kindergarten, I was exhausted for the first two months. It’s physically taxing.” —Karen E.
Here are some teacher self-care ideas to consider.
“Playtime teaches kids how to get along with others so that they can effectively learn in a classroom. It’s so important, especially in kindergarten.” —Michelle S.
