Interest Centers for Preschool or Kindergarten Classrooms

Greet students and parents when they arrive to your classroom. You might have an Open House time prior to when your class starts so the parents and children can meet you and see the room. Have your classroom set up. Have places for where the students store their belongings and coats with nametags on cubbies. (You might just want to put their coats on the back of their chairs because the spread of lice). Show the children the classroom and where their things go.

*Have an organized, warm and welcoming classroom. Hit a religious store that sells stuff for classrooms.

*Make sure you have a paper where parents can sign up to help in the room or by doing work for you at home (cutting things out, make games, etc.).

*You can put names on chairs and carpet squares where you want the students to sit (they will learn their name if they have not already done so).

*Have a schedule posted with what you are going to do in the classroom:

Example:

9:00 – 9:15 Centers

9:15 – 9:25 Circle Time (Bible Story)

9:25 – 9:40 Bible Crafts

9:40 – 9:55 Bible Games

9:55 - 10:00 Snack

10:00 Pick Up


Centers: Focuses for learning areas can include dramatic play, construction (blocks), fine motor (puzzles, pegboards, plastic snap together toys, lacing boards, play dough, etc.), art (water based paints, crayons, etc. or you can just put some crayons in a container with blank paper to color on at a table), library, investigation, etc.

Investigation Centers could be: Art, Block, Book, Creation, Home Living, Manipulative, etc.



First Day

Arrival: The staff greets children as they enter the classroom and exchanges written or verbal communication with the parents. Children are encouraged to hang up jackets and put their things away in the proper place.

Centers: Students then are invited to move from center to center, interacting freely with various environments after they have put their things away.

Circle Time: Say to the students- “It’s Circle Time. Put everything back where you found them and meet me at the circle.” (Chairs or carpet squares that are in a circle). Have pictures on index cards where things go with the word of the object. Pictures can be found at Google. Type in the word and click on images. Or you can cut up a catalog for pictures. Or use these picture cards.



1. Introduce yourself again to the students. Go over your rules for the class and post it. Example of rules:

Classroom Rules
We will be kind to everybody.
We will raise our hand when we want to speak.
We will use inside voices.
We will walk inside the room.
We will listen to the teachers and follow directions.
We keep our hands, feet, and objects to ourselves.
We respect others and their property.
We will clean up after ourselves.


2. Start with Ice Breaker games (getting to know you games). You might want to do these for a few weeks.

scholastic.com- Welcome Back! Give students a warm welcome with these fun getting-to-know-you activities.

awesome-kid-birthday-parties.com- Scroll down to: 12 More Fun & Exciting Icebreaker Games

kimskorner4teachertalk.com- Icebreakers & Energizers

wilderdom.com-Icebreakers, Warmups, Energizers, & Deinhibitizers

mftrou.com- Icebreaker Games for Small Groups


3. Bible Story. Read a colorful Bible story that is easy for them to understand. Example: *The Usborne Children's Bible by Heather Amery. A collection of 44 favorite Bible stories, all very accurate retellings from Scripture that are easy for children to understand and enjoy. Very colorful and beautiful illustrations.

After the story, ask the students questions.

Incorporate music and/or finger plays about the Bible story. Finger plays are a great way for preschoolers to play along. However, some finger plays have so many finger motions that it is difficult for even adults to keep up with them. Here are some easy Bible finger plays that can be used for a variety of lessons. This section also includes standard and play-along songs, most of which are sung to familiar tunes (the songs) so that preschoolers will have no trouble learning them.

Finger plays and songs:

dltk-bible.com- Rhymes and Songs for Kids

preschooleducation.com- Music & Songs: Praise God

childbiblesongs.com- Child Bible Songs

abcjesuslovesme.com- Rhymes, fingers plays, and songs

childrensbiblesongs.us- Children’s Bible Songs (lyrics, chords, and more)


4. Have the students sit at a table with chairs. Do a craft that emphasizes the Bible story. Introduce the art project. Example: Who built the ark? Noah. What did it look like? What was it like on the ark? Let’s find out!


5. Have student sit where it is appropriate to play the game. Do a game that emphasizes the Bible story. Introduce the game. Example: What was on the ark with Noah and his family? Can you find what animal is missing from the ark?


6. Snack Time: Say to the students- “It’s Snack Time. Put everything back where you found them. Meet me at the table.” Have a snack that emphasizes the Bible story. Example: Say to the students- “What was the sign that God did that promised that He would never flood the whole Earth again? A rainbow.

Rainbow in a Cup


7. After Snack Time, have the students put trash in trashcan. Students then get to play in the Centers until their parents come.


*Sometimes what you have planned takes less time than expected. Be sure to have other activities to fill in if you have extra time in your lesson.

dltk-bible.com- Sunday School Time Fillers


Do you have any Preschool/Kindergarten classroom ideas to share?