Center time is every preschoolers favorite time of the day.  I am going to share with you a peek into my classroom center time.  We try to incorporate a lot of open ended centers for my pre-kinders to engage in along with a sprinkling of games. Students learn to take turns, share, build vocabulary as well as practice skills taught during small groups in an open ended way!  
The alphabet center consists of all things language.  We play games like Roll and Cover, write on the magic boards and use LOTS of alphabet manipulatives!  Some days there is an adult stationed there to help facilitate a game and other days the children work and play independently with alphabet materials and writing instruments.  


The Math Center offers a variety of maniplatives that are often open ended and games that might need some teacher direction.  Some days students ask us to leave the materials out from our Small Groups (read more HERE) to explore further.  I do have a plan for what materials will be set out each day, but the students often take the lead and embrace our choice or change it quickly.


The Block Area is limited to four students as it makes sense for the amount of blocks available.  There are several types of blocks such as Legos, colored blocks and Bristle Blocks in addition to the large wooden blocks so more than one type of block is allowed out if there is enough space on the large carpet.  Manipulatives such as cars and animals are often added after building structures and roads.

So many preschoolers and kindergarten friends come to school  with little fine motor practice.   The first thought when fine motor comes up is pencil, paper activities,  but the reality is there are so many ways to build fine motor BEFORE children are ready for pencil, paper activities.

Clothes pins and larger tweezers offer children practice with the pincer grasp.   We practice using pop poms and small objects  as they are grabbed and moved from one place to another.   Alphabet Mats and sensory tables provide a place for integration with these skills.

Learning the alphabet in pre-k is front and center in our classrooms. The KEY is making it fun and meaningful for our kids!
Children learn better when they have connections to things. What better way to learn the alphabet than to start with students' names? The excitement becomes contagious and as they learn their own names  they want to learn to learn their friends names too! Bottle Cap Letters is a FREE download on TpT.    My pre-kinders love anything with texture. Salt trays are a busy place in our room. Learning is at an optimum when I set up one tray  and call students over for some one on one time to practice writing their name.  EVERYONE wants a turn! When we do set it up as a center,  a teacher is sure to be sitting at that table to supervise.     Alphabet Mats are a FUN way to practice letters and sounds  with some fine motor practice! We roll play dough to form the letters, use tweezers  and small objects like pom poms to cover the letters  as well as just picking up objects like glass gems with our little fingers too.   The alphabet mats that I use have two matching pictures  for sound and vocabulary development.   This is especially important for my English Language Learners.

Alphabet games and puzzles are sure to be a crowd pleaser! A few of our favorites include alphabet fishing, matching spoons and puzzles.  I found several versions of alphabet spoons on Pinterst and then made my own with Target Dollar Spot stickers. You can follow me on Pinterest HERE. We offer lots of practice in small group before moving these activities  to the alphabet center for independent play.
We use LOTS of songs, nursery rhymes and poems  to build on oral language, vocabulary and phonological awareness. One of our daily activities during story time is to learn a new poem. The rebus pictures help my pre-kinders connect to the text and build vocabulary. We are working on beginning letters and sounds now,  will move onto medial sounds and  ending sounds as well as sight words later in the year.

On Fridays, my students add the poem to their Poetry Journal and we work on 

letters and vocabulary during small groups.

Starting in October, we will send home the Poetry Journals once a month 

for students to share with their families.  

It becomes one additional way to build that home-school connection.

October Poetry Journals with Rebus Pictures is available HERE.  

The first week of pre-k and kinder is all about establishing routine. So many of my little friends come in  and have no connection to their written name.  I have started using picture symbols with student names to help all students identify their names, places and spaces in the classroom. This works with all children including non-English speakers and our ESE students as pictures are universal! The most obvious use of symbols and pictures is with student name tags.  I actually put our name tags in a pocket chart so my pre-kinders are able to use this card during small groups and center time- no matter where they are sitting in the classroom.  Cubby tags are another great place to use  symbols and names together... unless you don't have cubbies! You guessed it, I don't have cubbies in my classroom, so we put our backpacks over out chairs sideways so they don't fall off. I used the cubby tags on the back of their chairs so everyone has a home base in the classroom and a place to park their bags!
These are the perfect size for folder labels, lanyard necklaces, graphing cards,   and even cafeteria cards with bar codes to scan on the back! And last but certainly not least, I use the symbol cards on colored bins for easy water bottle storage! These would also be great for storing individual supplies at tables! The picture name tags help my kiddos connect to their names in a meaningful way while helping me organize our room and develop routines especially during the first few weeks of school. The possibilities are endless with Picture Name Tags! You can find them HERE in TpT. Be sure to pin this post for easy, back to school organization!