Have students assist you in taking attendance each day. Create a large poster to be displayed on a wall near your circle time area. Write each student's name on the poster. You can allow kids to draw a small picture next to their name if you wish. Take a picture of each student and put tape on the back of it. During morning circle time, have students go up to the poster in pairs and place their picture next to their name. After each present student has a turn, ask students questions like, "Who is not here today?" and "How many girls are there? How many boys are there?" This activity helps strengthen observational and counting skills.
Use songs to educate students on the days of the week, colors and body parts, among other lessons. Teach your children the days of the week by using tunes from well-known TV shows, "The Addams Family" and "Happy Days." During morning circle, have students sing one of these songs. Using the tune of the Addams Family, students can learn the days of the week by singing the following:" There's Sunday and there's Monday, there's Tuesday and there's Wednesday, there's Thursday and there's Friday, and Saturday ends the week. Days of the Week (clap twice); days of the week (clap twice); days of the week, days of the week, days of the week (clap twice)." Using the tune from the "Happy Days" theme, students can sing the following: "Sunday, Monday, happy days; Tuesday, Wednesday, happy days; Thursday, Friday, happy days; and Saturday ends the week. Leaving seven days for you, there's seven days in a week; yours and mine -- happy days!" As kids begin to remember the days, you can limit the amount of times you sing the song to about once or twice a week.
The "Hokey Pokey" can help teach children about their body parts. (After all, students have to learn what their left arm or left leg is before they can move these body parts in accord with the song's lyrics.) "Red is an Apple" is a song that relates colors to objects. For example, the lyrics are, "Red is an apple, yellow is the sun, blue is the sky" -- and so on. The song helps students identify everyday objects by their colors, which helps them to better understand the world around them.
Have students participate in an interactive number game called Jolly Jump. You will need construction paper and markers to play. Write one number on each piece of paper. Show the sheets to students one at a time and have them call out the numbers they see. After every few numbers, say "Jolly Jump," and allow students to jump around on the floor until you say stop. Repeat the routine as often as you wish. In addition, use this activity to review shapes and letters. Jolly Jump can help students awake and prepare for the day. Most important, however, is that it helps kids learn their numbers, allows them to practice their motor skills, and gives them exercise.
Poor Kitty is game that helps some children learn composure while others develop their sense of humor. Choose one student who will pretend to be a kitten or "kitty." Tell the child to crawl over to various children and meow to them. The student whom the kitty comes to must pet him on the head and say "Poor Kitty" without laughing or smiling. Meanwhile, the child playing the kitty must do his best to elicit a smile from the other child, using as much obnoxious meowing and other tactics as it takes. If the student petting the kitty laughs, she will become the kitty. The kitty has five seconds to make the other child smile; if the teacher calls time before the other child smiles, the kitty must try to make another child smile.