Work centers give kindergartners a wide variety of options, rather than forcing them to all follow the same lesson plan. The textbook Child Psychology reports that allowing children to choose from an array of activities can foster independent thinking and help children become more interested in learning. Teachers can help kids learn by explaining how to use each center and checking in with children every few minutes to see if they need help. Work centers that encourage children to build upon concepts they're learning already are ideal. Try, for example, putting blocks of various shapes and colors at a work center or adding books you read during class time to a learning center.
While the independence that learning centers afford can improve learning, it can also cause some problems. A 2011 article published in Dimensions of Early Childhood reports that children often conform to gender stereotypes when they're given the opportunity, and Child Psychology emphasizes that these stereotypes can interfere with educational and career options down the road. For example, boys might monopolize the blocks, limiting girls' opportunity to learn spatial reasoning skills. Try adding "learning center time" to your daily curriculum and setting a timer. When the timer goes off, children have to go to a different work center. You can also establish daily "work center leaders." The leader of the day is in charge of teaching other children about the work center; this approach can prevent strong-willed children from monopolizing the work centers.
Try setting up work centers that focus on each learning objective you have for your class. You might, for example, establish a reading and listening center, a counting and math center and an art center. Each center should have several activity possibilities. This ensures that children don't get bored and allows several children to use the center at once. Centers that encourage cooperation and group work -- such as a center that requires one child to turn the pages of a book while another child presses a button to listen to the book -- can improve social skills and learning.
Your work centers should be easy to clean and stable. Avoid using heavy or expensive furniture. Instead, a center can simply be a bin of tools and a flat surface or a sturdy plastic table bolted to the floor. Don't put all of your centers or all of your tools out at once. Instead, you might make the art center a painting center one week and then turn it into a clay or drawing center a few weeks later. This keeps centers fresh and interesting and encourages kids to keep using them.