Many 4- and 5-year-old children enjoy expressing themselves through art. Set out baskets of crayons and stacks of white paper in one area of the classroom. Ask kindergartners to draw a picture of themselves or their families. Photocopy a stack of a back-to-school themed coloring picture and a basket of colored pencils. Allow children to freely color the page. Alternatively, assign children to fill a white paper with a variety of color crayon designs. They must then cover the entire design with black coloring using crayon as well. Set out toothpicks for children to scratch patterns and designs in the black coloring. Avoid using paints and markers until you are able to properly prepare and supervise all pupils to minimize potential messes.
Patterns are a foundational math skill for kindergarten students. Make a tower of Lego blocks or Unifix cubes in a color pattern such as A-B-A: red, blue, red; or A-B-B-A: green, yellow, yellow, green. Assign students to replicate the pattern in the model tower. A second math station could require to count. Children build five towers consisting of five blocks each.
Allow kindergarten children to begin exploring with letters. A magnetic alphabet set and a white board will invite children to manipulate letters and arrange them pretending to make words. Write a few letters on the board for pupils to make a match. Instruct children to find the first letter of their name or even spell out their name on the board with the magnets. Ask children if they can say any of the sounds specific letters make.
Games encourage kindergartners to begin interacting with each other. A classroom scavenger hunt moves young children about the classroom and helps them become familiar with their new environment. Take pictures of various items in the classroom. Create a thumbnail list of the images for each student. Ask students to roam around the classroom marking off the images they locate. Another game to play is a variation of hide-and-seek in the classroom. Purchase a set of fun erasers in bulk with enough for each student to have at least five. Hide all the erasers throughout the classroom. Invite students to look around the room and collect five erasers to keep. Students will enjoy exploring the room while on a treasure hunt.