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How to Get the Classroom Ready for the First Day of Preschool

July 24, 2015 by Sheryl Cooper

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Inside: How do you set up your classroom for the first day of preschool? Here are my tips to get your school year off to a good start!

The first day of preschool is around the corner. You have the keys to your classroom. Then you realize you aren’t quite sure how to get ready for the first day of school. You need tips on setting up the preschool classroom!

Good news! I’ve been taking notes for over 18 years. And now I actually look forward to it!

You’ve seen how we pay attention to detail when setting everything up. I take into consideration how our mornings will go during our 2 year olds’ schedule and our 3 year olds’ schedule. While we don’t put all the same activities and materials out for both classes, they do share the same classroom and I am mindful of that when setting up wall displays and other details.

I thought I’d share with you all how we set up for the first day of our 3 year old class. Anything with smaller pieces is removed for our 2 year old class and replaced with more age-appropriate materials. And teachers, if you have anything else to add that has helped you, please let me know in the comments!

 

 

How do you set up your classroom for the first day of preschool? Here are my tips to get your school year off to a good start!

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.

 

How to Get the Classroom Ready for the First Day of Preschool

 

Introducing the Teachers

 

How to Get the Classroom Ready for the First Day of Preschool

 

In the hallway, as the preschool families arrive, they can read about their teachers. We keep these up for a few weeks and the children love looking at them. (They can’t believe I was ever that little girl, though!)

 

Love Notes From Parents

How to Get the Classroom Ready for the First Day of Preschool

On parent night we hand out pieces of card stock, stickers, and markers. The parents write love notes to their children, wishing them a fun year in preschool, and we read them during snack on the first day. They then get hung over the cubbies in the hallway all year. At the end of the year, these notes are placed in their memory books to take home and cherish forever.

 

Extra-Clothes Baskets

 

How to Get the Classroom Ready for the First Day of Preschool

 

We keep a gallon Zip-Lock bag for each child in these baskets all year long. They contain a full set of extra clothing.

 

Birthday Bulletin Boards

 

How to Get the Classroom Ready for the First Day of Preschool

 

The first week of school each child in both classes decorates a birthday crown. The bulletin board starts off blank but will soon be filled with crowns.

 

Cubbies

 

How to Get the Classroom Ready for the First Day of Preschool

 

Every child in our preschool has a cubby in the hallway for parents to check each day. We use these cubbies for parent communication and work that was done by the children. The 3 year old class also has a set of cubbies inside the classroom, next to the writing area, to put any immediate work they’ve done (that doesn’t need to dry) into. This is just one of the many ways we work on name recognition.

 

Displays

 

How to Get the Classroom Ready for the First Day of Preschool

 

The tops of shelves and cabinets are nice for displays. We love to display natural materials and also a variety of textures.

 

How to Get the Classroom Ready for the First Day of Preschool

 

Centers

 

We start our day in both classes with free-choice centers time.

 

Note:

Before the first day of school, you might want to place signs in each center that distinguish what the children are learning. This is especially helpful during open house, so parents can also understand all the learning that is taking place. You can download center signs here.

Printable-Center-Signs

How to Get the Classroom Ready for the First Day of Preschool

 

Science Shelf

 

How to Get the Classroom Ready for the First Day of Preschool

 

Art Activities

 

How to Get the Classroom Ready for the First Day of Preschool

 

Dramatic Play

 

How to Get the Classroom Ready for the First Day of Preschool

 

Puzzles and Manipulatives
How to Get the Classroom Ready for the First Day of Preschool

 

Sensory Table

 

How to Get the Classroom Ready for the First Day of Preschool

 

Play Dough

 

How to Get the Classroom Ready for the First Day of Preschool

 

Reading and Writing Area

 

How to Get the Classroom Ready for the First Day of Preschool

 

Light Table

 

The classroom is now ready for the first day of preschool. Just add children!

 

 

How do you set up your classroom for the first day of preschool? Here are my tips to get your school year off to a good start!

You can find all my teacher resource posts here:

teachers back to school information

 

favorite preschool school supplies

 

 

Planning your themes for the year? We’ve done the work for you!

I am so excited to be a co-author in each of these 20 themed unit lesson plans!

20 lesson plan units – each with its own theme.

In each unit you will get:

24 preschool learning activities for your spring theme, including literacy, math, science, art, fine motor, and more! A great resource for teachers and homeschoolers.

24 preschool learning activities that cover:

Literacy
Math
Science
Fine Motor
Sensory
Gross Motor
Art
Social Studies
Music
Circle Time
Social/Emotional

 

 

 

An Entire Year of Preschool Lesson Plans


 

 

 

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Filed Under: preschool, Teachers, Toddlers Tagged With: back to school, classroom, preschool, teachers, toddlers

About Sheryl Cooper

Sheryl Cooper is the founder of Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds, a website full of activities for toddlers and preschoolers. She has been teaching this age group for over 20 years and loves to share her passion with teachers, parents, grandparents, and anyone with young children in their lives.

« How to Set Up the Preschool Writing Center
Fine Motor Skill Activities for Every Season »

Comments

  1. http://livingatthewhiteheadszoo.blogspot.com/ says

    September 12, 2012 at 1:28 am

    Sounds like a great start to the year.

  2. Denise says

    September 12, 2012 at 4:43 am

    Can you tell me about the line from left to right on the sign in page. I see that there are names on the left, what’s on the right? Thanks- I love your ideas…

    • Sheryl Cooper says

      September 13, 2012 at 3:01 pm

      Their names are on the left, as you notice, and to the right is an empty column. For now, they are touching the pencil on their name and drawing a line to the right. Eventually, they will start writing their name in this space. (Actually, we already have one who is doing that.)

  3. johnpeterjohn says

    September 25, 2012 at 7:15 am

    nice to see kids are engaged with activities.. nice clicks!!
    cool math 4 kids

  4. Online Diploma says

    October 2, 2012 at 8:45 am

    I have been looking at lot of different sites for good information… But I have found in your blog…& I’ve gain knowledge and good information from your post thanks.

    • Sheryl Cooper says

      October 6, 2012 at 6:06 pm

      Thank you so much!

  5. Best Play Schools in India says

    October 8, 2012 at 11:05 am

    Here good and nice kids playing ideas shared by you. Thanks a lot for sharing.

  6. Peg says

    September 8, 2014 at 10:15 pm

    My first day today…14 threes…..did the same thing…. Simple day introducing them to the school….like your cup painting…will do that on day 2….when it dawns on them that this will happen again! Got to love those threes!

    • Sheryl says

      September 10, 2014 at 5:06 am

      They really love doing the same thing a few times! Familiarity plus it give them a chance to define some skills.

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Welcome! I'm Sheryl Cooper, teacher of 2 and 3 year olds for over 19 years. Read more about me here!

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