Writing is a skill that many kindergarten teachers focus on as the primary goal for the year. With special education students, a slower pace and more creative approach may be necessary to get students moving toward legible writing. Provide students with connect-the-dots worksheets for forming letters and encourage them to finger-trace letter shapes before trying to write them. Finger-tracing, in general, is a good activity to encourage as students can practice tracing letters in sand to get kinesthetic feedback.
Developing body awareness and kinesthetic sense is an important aspect of learning in a special needs kindergarten classroom. Gather the children in a circle and teach them to sing "Head, shoulders, knees and toes" while touching the appropriate body part on themselves. Add onto the song with other body parts as students start to get the game -- "Eyes, ears and mouth and nose," for example. Mix up the order to give students a challenge and see who gets the body parts right.
As with letter-tracing, drawing in the sand can help special needs students get in touch with their kinesthetic senses and work on forming basic shapes. Have students practice tracing simple shapes, such as triangles, circles, squares and rectangles, in a shallow container with a layer of sand in it. A worksheet where they can finger-trace the shapes can help students who have difficulty remembering the shapes initially. Encourage more advanced students to draw combinations of shapes in the sand.
Simon Says is an excellent game for teaching active listening and following directions, two skills that should be emphasized for all kindergarten children and, in particular, special needs students. Have one student be "Simon" and give a direction, such as "Simon says touch your toes." Students must perform the action but only if prefaced by "Simon says." Make the game more difficult by having Simon assign a series of actions, such as "touch your toes, clap your hands and spin around."