kindergarten centers

Home

Chat

Blogs

Collection

Directory

Home : 2002 : April : 20

kindergarten centers
By Jennifer

Here are some of our favorite centers. I do literacy centers in the morning and math/science centers in the afternoon.

Literacy:
label the room (stick post-its on stuff using invented spelling to label )

Write Around
the Room (kids have clipboards and pens to write words they see in the room)
Highlighter center--given a word search they highlight letters or sight words
letter sorting (with magnetic letters they sort letters in words, sort letters in/not in their name, or use a Venn diagram to sort letters in two different words
POcket Chart--sorting class names or sight words by number of s

yllables, number of letters, beginning letter, or by girls/boys OR sort pictures by beginning consonant sound, living/non living, farm/zoo animals, etc.

Word Train (I help the kids connect words they can write/sound out to each other. The end sound of one word is the same as the beginning sound of the next--cat tiger rag grow water....)

At the beginning of the year we did more centers with letter recognition, tracing feely letters, writing letters in shaving cream, playing go fish with letter cards (matching upper and lowercase), covering letters with items (sand for S, ribbons for R, etc.)

Math/science
looking at objects with magnifying glasses

creating and extending patterns with beads, pattern blocks, etc. sometimes I have the kids extend each other's patterns or draw a pattern (AAB, etc) out of a bowl and make that pattern)

Block Game (kids sit in a circle, each child has three blocks. Play goes around circle as each child places one block on the tower. The tower has to keep buiding up and the kids see how many blocks they can make it before it falls down. THey come up with interesting ideas about how to make it taller)

Domino Fill-Up--lay out 9 domino cards (~dice arrangements 1-9) between two kids. Kids take turn rolling die and taking that many beans/markers. They put as many beans as they rolled on the domino cards. If they fill up a card they get to keep it. For instance if they roll a three, they can put three beans on the three domino or split their beans between the one domino and the two domino (and take two cards). It's good for strategy

If you need more help, let me know. I'd love to send you more specific ideas if you need them. Good luck to you!! :-) It sounds like you're all set for a great year next year!