Everyday Ideas That Work In an Early Childhood Classroom
These are tried and true ideas and suggestions that have worked for me and
others in a classroom filled with young ones! The key is to always be ready, always be
willing to change the plan. Always be excited about anything you teach!
While we all thrive on rituals and routines, sometimes we need to be able to
change it or tweek it to make it work for the moment.
The comfort and calmness that routine provides can and will be preserved as
long as you are calm. At the school where I was director and teacher, my day started out
normal for a great Valentine’s Day. After my teachers left on the bus to pick up the kid’s, I
finished preparing the room for our party day. After the teachers had been gone for about
20 minutes, I received a phone call from the bus driver telling me that the windows on the
bus had been shot out on the route. Thank goodness there were no children on the bus,
and they were unharmed, but this was going to have a serious effect on my staff. After
making sure they were o.k., I called the parents on the route to tell them we had had an
incident, and would not be using the bus that day. Also, I let them know that our party
would be postponed, until all the children could get to school. Then, I cleaned up the party,
and put out more toys and paint stuff, so that we would have fun, but a bit more stress
free. As the children who did not ride the bus were arriving, I told them and the parents
that some of our friends could not get in so we would be postponing our party (Only a
couple of the parents were actually upset, and they did apologize after we let them know
what really happened) My teachers arrived, refused to go home, and our day continued,
albeit very subdued. There were a lot more hugs and love that day. We celebrated
Valentine’s the next week and everyone had a great time. (While this is an extreme
example, I am also pointing out that sometimes the special need is the teachers that you
work with)
There are days when nothing goes as planned and everything you have set up
just will not work. The children’s moods, the weather, something they saw outside are
things we do not know about until they arrive. We have to be able to “wing it’ so to speak,
in order to meet the needs of the children in class. Does it really matter if you do not talk
about Penguins and the letter P, when someone comes in with big news about a new baby
or that last night their dog died? It turns out, the letter P and the Penguin can wait, while
we as caregivers, huggers, smile makers, funny people, dancers, and teachers of young
children focus on the needs of the children in our care. I promise, letter P will still be
around later!
Classroom Mascots- Always a great way for children to share about what they do at home.
Each week, a child is chosen to bring home the classroom Mascot, either something chosen
together or possibly the name of the classroom-for example: The Penguin Class has a
Penguin. The child takes it home over the weekend and has all kinds of adventures. They
can write up what they did, take or draw pictures, and be able to share the fun with their
friends. This is a great way for children who are shy to be involved in the process of what
they will share with their friends.
Clean-Up Chimes- I use small wind chimes in class to signal clean up. They are rung after we
have done a countdown of when we will start cleanup. I tell the children “we will start
cleanup in 5 minutes”. This prepares them to listen carefully for the chimes. I am fond of
this idea as I do not like clean up songs! The kid’s have always responded well to this.
Always remember, free playtime can be extended if the day is just not right for learning.
You are causing more stress by trying to “fit it all in” rather than just waiting.
We have Crazy Group Days on a day when things are not exactly right. I make a list and we
talk about it, and when a day occurs when we need an extra, we have a list. The days I use
are as follows:
Monday- Monster Face Day
Tuesday-Turn Around and Twist Day
Wednesday-Is for Wiggles
Thursday-Thinking Things Thursday
Friday-Funny Day Friday
I add in songs or a story that will go with the day and a fun art project as well. Painting in a
different way always works!
Always have a good library of books on Hand that talk about the issues kid’s have with each
other. Books on sharing, getting along, copying, being selfish, teasing, listening, tattling,
and caring for others are a few of the things that we encounter everyday.
We have a Tattle Wall in class as well as a tattle Journal at the writing center. The children
can go tell the wall, or go and write down how they feel. The teachers in class also shared a
Tattle Phone to make a call. Great idea!
Create search and find bottles with anything in them. Use rice or noodles and little fun
buttons or toys. Play search and find games in the classroom.
Play musical chairs using colors, numbers, letters, or names. Use flashcards on the chairs
and the children have to tell you what it is when they sit down. Also, always take chairs
away. I strongly believe in teaching the children that everyone does not always win. It is a
fun group that sits and cheers on the other friends.
Kindness Jar or CanWe have a kindness can in our classroom for extra special things that the children do to help
out. Make sure that they understand that everyone is supposed to help, that extra things
are what the teachers are looking for. We put in tickets, and at the end of the week, we
count them up to see how many there are. The first time we do this, everyone gets a prize,
usually a kindness coin or bracelet, available at teacher stores or Oriental Trading. After
this, we encourage kind words and actions all the time. The next phase is the children get
their name put on the ticket and after a couple weeks, we add them up and they get an
“extra”. Maybe an extra time on the bikes or a few extra minutes to play. Something that
they all want to strive for. Every once in a while, they earn a special treat!
Here are some more fun ideas!
Reading books and acting them out with props
Building with empty boxes
Creating wave bottles or search and find bottles
Parachute play with soft balls, balloons or pompoms
Painting with a paint and shave cream mixture
Printing with cookie cutters
Paint at the easel with many kinds of brushes
Play search and find games with theme or seasonal objects
Use a bag and put something in it and give clues
Play charades for kids
Search and find in the room letter objects, shape objects and color objects
Sponge or toothbrush paint over screens
Paint with frozen waffles
Bubble wrap paint
Play Pass the Secret at group time. Whisper a word around the circle and see what
happens!
Doggy, Doggy, Where’s Your Bone!
DANCE SILLY
SING LOUDLY
Make up silly stories
Scramble letters of children’s names and see who can guess.
Paint to music, fast and slow
Paint with your eyes closed
Sensory Table
Shells and shovels
Noodles, spoons and bowls
Fake bugs, nets, and sand
Pom pom’s, bowls and spoons
Colored water, plastic cups, and ice cubes
Feathers
Small rocks
Little people and furniture
Baby dolls and water and washcloths
Toothpaste freeze- squeeze toothpaste in a Ziploc with some ice. Close. Ask “how
does it feel? What happens to it? What does it look like?”
Make Glurch with cornstarch and water. Play with it in a sensory table and use
bowls and spoons
Play with shave cream
Make ice cubes in different colors and use them to mix and make new colors.
Make paper clip necklaces
Create colored rice or noodle pictures
Paint on foil. Cover a piece of cardboard and paint a picture
Paint with yarn worms. Use yarn pieces with clothspin.
Paint with straws. Put paint dots on paper, blow around with straws.
Find the letters to the kid’s names in magazines
Glue noodles on the first letter of the child’s name
Paint with kitchen utensils
Paint with cups of all different sizes. Draw faces in the cirlcles!
ALWAYS HAVE FUN!
Remember, the children look to you to have fun. Be excited about everything you do
and everything you would like them to try!
Creative Fun With Favorite Books!
My Daddy Snores-Nancy Rothstein
Play recordings of all different sounds and write guess them and make a chart.
Ask who has heard snores and ask what they sound like. Make a chart.
Draw or paint pictures of people painting and write what the children describe.
Play music fast and slow and loud and soft.
Paint to loud and soft music.
Smelly Socks-Robert Munsch
Sort a basket of socks.
Hang up socks on a cloths line strung across chairs.
Put different smells on cotton balls in plastic eggs.
Paint sock cutouts.
Dinosaurs Love Underpants-Claire Freedman
Science-Talk about dinosaurs and fossils. Dig for dog bone snacks in the sand.
Create a pair of painted underwear. Hang on a line.
Do the “Dinosaur Stomp” and “We are The Dinosaurs”.
Make a chart of favorite dinosaurs.
Sorting and counting dinosaurs.
Paint dinosaur feet cutouts.
Create shape dinosaurs.
Underpants, Thunderpants-Peter Bently
Talk about rain and storms.
Raindrop counting.
Sort socks and hang on a line.
Play with socks on a parachute.
Paint with sponges on raindrops.
Create an umbrella child walking in the rain.
Make sparkly glitter raindrops.
The Apple Pie Tree Book-Zoe Hall
Ten Apples Up On Top-Dr. Suess
Counting Apples
Pile 10 apples up on top and count them.
Make mini apple pies.
Make applesauce.
Paint with apples .
Create an “Apple Man”!
Create a tissue tree or apple.
Make an apple tasting chart.
Old Black Fly-Jim Aylesworth
Fly swatter paint at the easel.
Create a painted bug collage with fingerprints and all paint colors.
Counting bugs into bowls.
Sorting flies and other bugs.
Brown Bear-Bill Martin Jr.
Make stick puppets of all the animals.
Make a book of the animals with hand prints.
Button puppet bears.
Counting buttons.
Bear headband.
Create the animals in the book.
(Collage cat, fancy fish, button bear, pocket bear, blue horse etc.)
The Napping House-Audrey Wood
Make a house with the story people in it.
Make a letter H house.
Use the animals in the story to sort.
Little Blue and Little Yellow-Leo Lionni
Paint with blue and yellow.
Do color mixing with all colors.
Find all kinds of blue and yellow things in the room.
Make a color book.
Make friendship salad.
Mouse Paint-Ellen Stoll Walsch
Paint with little plastic mice.
Eat crackers and cheese.
Mix colors.
Water color paint on mice cut outs.
Make mouse ears.
Guess How Much I Love You-Sam McBratney
Roses Are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink-Diane DeGrout
Make puzzles with valentines.
How many hearts do we have?
Make a person cut out with handprints that stretch wide.
Have a heart hunt.
Play musical hearts.
Blob paint hearts.
Count and sort hearts.
Make valentines for friends.
The Hungry Caterpillar-Eric Carle
Make circle caterpillars
Make tissue butterflies.
Taste fruit in the story.
Make toilet tube wings with tissue paper streamers. Fit onto wrists.
Counting plastic fruit.
Make blob butterflies.
Coffee filter butterflies.
Create butterflies with handprints.
Create name caterpillars.