Teaching online this year? Check out these resources:
The Best Preschool Circle Time Tips for Teachers
Where should your circle time be?
Find a spot in your room that has enough room for all of your students to gather. We have a stool for each child to sit on, but mats work, too. (In the past we’ve used vinyl place mats.)
How long should your circle time be?
We start our year with a short circle time, just long enough for a good morning song and a short story. We eventually add the weather and, once a week, sharing. Depending on how focused the preschoolers are on that particular day, we average around 10 minutes for our circle time.
Related post: Brilliant Circle Time Strategies When Kids Can’t Sit Still
What if you cannot get them to pay attention?
One important lesson I’ve learned with circle time is that if you have lost their attention, it’s okay to end it early. I’ve even stopped reading a book when it’s apparent they would rather be moving around or talking to each other. It’s okay. This is when we get up and dance to our collection of active music.
Another tip? Use props. I love creating visuals that keep the children engaged!
Make sure to check out our Songs and Rhymes props to use during your circle time!
What are the do’s and don’ts of reading aloud?
Start with simple books and gradually introduce books with more words. Deborah from Teach Preschool has a wonderful post that shares what works and what doesn’t work when reading aloud to preschoolers.
What activities are appropriate for 3 year olds?
Each day we have a class helper. That child looks out the window and reports the weather. Once a week we have a sharing person who passes around 1 item for everyone to touch. We will also do group learning activities. We save calendar time for the following year when the children are 4 and 5. Early Childhood News has some simple games you could try during your circle time.
More circle time tips the new preschool teacher will appreciate:
Circle Time Tips for Preschool and Pre-K Teachers (Pre-K Pages)
How to Save Circle Time (No Time for Flashcards)
Ten Tips for Circle Time (Teach Preschool)
Circle Time 101 (Preschool Inspirations)
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
So many great resources here for circle time! Thanks for including my rainbow rocks. 🙂
This link is not correct…
Hand each child a number and go around the circle, asking what number it is. The cards are easy to make, as I show here.
Thank you so much for calling my attention to this, Dani! When I migrated from blogger to wordpress, some of my links got messed up. I have fixed it and will go through the rest of the post.
Thank you for sharing all of these great ideas! I teach circle time everyday and I am always looking for new ideas and games. I will definitely be using some of these ideas! They are so simple, yet they are so beneficial! Thanks again!
You are very welcome, Kaitlyn! I love simple!
I am so excited about linking up with you. I can’t wait to go through these materials and begin to explore. Thank you so much
You are so welcome, Ene!