kindergarten homework ideas

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Homework Ideas For Kindergarten

Homework is a tricky topic in most schools, especially in the younger grades. Homework in kindergarten is sometimes completely forbidden by the school, left up to the teacher, or required for all students. In my experience, homework for kindergarten students can be beneficial. It can reinforce the skills learned in the classroom and get parents involved in the learning process. However, it must be developmentally appropriate for our youngest learners. 

In order for homework to be perfect for kindergarten, it must be short enough to maintain students’ attention.

Pages and pages of written work will frustrate kids, and busy parents do not want to complete more school work for hours each evening. Short, meaningful assignments will keep kids and parents engaged. They will also be more likely to positively influence learning. 

In addition to the amount of time assignments take, the content of the assignments is also important to consider for kindergarten students. Research has shown again and again that reading with a parent (and independently) for 15-20 minutes daily is extremely beneficial to young learners. So reading together is probably the most important part! 

Assignments should also reinforce basic skills with targeted practice. It is not the time for learning completely new concepts. Additionally, assignments with oral components are perfect for kindergarten students. As they interact and talk with their caregivers, they are learning important communication skills. They are also cementing their understanding of the concepts they’ve been learning at school. 

So- short, meaningful, targeted homework that involves parents seems to be the perfect recipe for kindergarten.

That’s a lot to think about when making assignments. If you don’t have the time to plan and prepare assignments that fit your needs for homework- my Kindergarten Homework Packets might be the answer! 

This bundle includes homework packets for the entire year . They are editable, but can also be printed and used immediately. The homework packets are set up to go home every three weeks. You choose three books to send home with each packet, and your students will have everything they need for meaningful homework. 

Sight words as well as Common Core standards for reading, writing, math, science, and social studies are all addressed throughout the year. Activities include written and oral activities that are perfect for school-home connections. Your students will enjoy their homework, and you can rest assured that it is appropriate and engaging. 

What are your thoughts on homework in kindergarten? Let me know in the comments!

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Home » Easy Prep Homework For Kindergarten

Easy Prep Homework For Kindergarten

Homework in Kindergarten: is it a good idea and how you should do it to make it valuable to your students and their families? Take a look at this monthly homework  for kindergarten printable and editable calendars .

Giving homework in kindergarten can be hard. You need parental involvement, and it can be difficult for some families to find time to complete it. One of my co-workers wanted a monthly calendar that students could do with their families. I created these editable monthly homework challenges so that families can complete the activities on their own time. They won’t need a lot of materials, and they can easily be done in a few minutes.

Keep reading to see what these are all about !

Homework for Kindergarten Printable Calendars

There are 16 challenges to complete every month. Some of them involve writing, some of the activities are hands-on. There is a mix of literacy, math and science challenges.  You only print and send home 1 page per month, no more worrying about photocopying a whole packet for each student.

They are editable!

I have made them editable so that you can change up the challenges to match up with what you are teaching that month. It is editable in PowerPoint, and all you have to do is type in the activity you want your students to complete.

Most asked questions:

Is this mandatory homework for your students? No. We don’t enforce homework for our students, if parents want something to work on at home, they can do these activities. I don’t believe in punishing kindergarten students for not doing their homework – that’s something out of their control.

What do you do when students bring back the completed homework calendar? We celebrate! We highlight their work to the rest of the class, I put a sticker on it and write an encouraging note and send it back home.

Try It Free

I am offering the Summer Challenges page as a FREEBIE! Send it home to families at the end of the year so that students can keep practicing skills that they learned over the summer months.

There is an editable version of this page included in the  paid product . If you would like to change out the activities to match the needs of your students, you can adapt it to fit your needs.

Find this free download in my  Resource Library !

Get students reading too

Encouraging students to read at home with their families is also very important. I have always sent home some leveled readers with students, on top of these calendars. Read about how I use Reading Log bookmarks to support home reading.

Want to try it out with your class? You can get it in my store now:

Do you assign homework in kindergarten? Let me know in the comments!

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10 comments

Do you have these available in Spanish also? I send my homework home in both English and Spanish.

I do not, but they are editable so you can change the activities to Spanish if you would like to use it!

I love this idea and I do want to try it in my classroom. I’m just curious on how you track it to see if they have been doing the things on the calendar. Honor system? Not much parent involvement in my school area. Just seeing how to get my parents and the student show me what they have done the work at home.

I don’t check to make sure all students do it. We do not have mandatory homework in kindergarten, so this is just for families that need ideas for home.

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I used these and they were amazing. Parents who wanted more homework liked the challenge. Thanks.

That’s amazing! Thank you for sharing!

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Assigning Kindergarten Homework That Works for ALL Kids

• August 23, 2015

My first year teaching Kindergarten also happened to be the first year that I had ever assigned homework to students. You see, before I began teaching Kindergarten, I taught Pre-K. In Pre-K, we did not give homework.

When I moved up to Kindergarten, I had big dreams about the homework I would assign. I’d give out exciting and engaging assignments (never worksheets). I’d provide families with fun learning games that would bring them together. I’d send home different homework for different students, differentiating assignments based upon their needs. I was going to make homework an enjoyable and productive part of my students’ home lives!

And then…reality hit. My first year teaching Kindergarten, I had an extremely challenging class. After an 8 hour school day with my kiddos (yes, you read that right – those 5 and 6 year olds were at school for 8 hours a day), I was exhausted. I could barely manage to get materials ready for the next day, much less find or create engaging homework activities.

And differentiation? Yeah, right. That year I had students who couldn’t read a Level A book, and other students who were reading beginning chapter books. I would have been up all night trying to get together 25 different homework assignments!

Needless to say, my grand homework plans didn’t exactly happen.

As the years went on, I slowly assembled a collection of activities to send home. I found and made games, activities, and worksheets to give my students meaningful practice opportunities.

But it still took a good bit of time each week to assemble my weekly homework packet. I only believe in assigning about 10 minutes of homework a night, so you’d think it’d be quick to pull together, but it wasn’t!

I was eventually able to differentiate homework some of the time, but not as often as I wanted to. I  really wanted a set of engaging materials – with a lot of different options – that would make it easy for me to assign and differentiate homework for my kiddos.

And then, about 9 months ago, I decided that it was finally time to make the set of materials I’d been dreaming of!

My goal was to create literacy homework for Kindergarten that met the following criteria:

• Easy to differentiate (leveled, so that a teacher could use a student’s guiding reading level to pinpoint phonics and other reading activities appropriate for that student)
• Clear for parents to understand (with written instructions, visual aids, and videos)
• Accessible for both English- and Spanish- speaking families
• Suitable for students who have family help and for students who do not have family assistance

I had these goals in mind because I’ve seen kids fail to complete their homework for many different reasons. The homework may have been too hard or too easy, parents may not have understood the directions, students may not have had family help at home, etc.

And I knew I wasn’t alone in my homework struggles – I’ve never met a single teacher who found it easy to get all of their students to do their homework (even though Kinders are usually super enthusiastic learners!). Homework can be helpful and fun for our little learners, but there are so many challenges to assigning quality homework and then getting it back.

While creating my literacy homework series , I came up with some ways to overcome homework-related obstacles. In this post, I’ll share with you the solutions I’ve found to various challenges. Be sure to download all of the freebies, too!

Challenge: My kids don’t have the supplies they need at home to complete their homework.

Solution: Survey families about their needs several times throughout the year, and provide a take-home bag of school supplies.

The more information we have about students’ home situations, the better! Click on the image below to download a free parent survey (in English and Spanish). This survey will give you information about what supplies families have at home. If you’re worried about not getting the survey back, why not have parents fill it out during Back to School night or another school event that most parents attend?

Once you know what supplies students do and do not have, you can do several things. First, you can prepare take-home bags of supplies that students leave in their backpacks.  Local churches and libraries will often hold school supply drives – if you are in need of duplicate supplies to send home, just ask around!

Another option is to be selective about the homework assignments that you give, sticking to assignments that don’t require many supplies. This doesn’t mean that your assignments have to be boring, however! There are lots of interactive activities that kids can do with a paper and pencil.

For example, check out this “Super Tic-Tac-Toe” game (download it below). A parent and child take turns “claiming” a space by saying the name of the alphabet letter inside it, and then tracing the missing upper or lowercase letter. Play continues until one person has claimed five spaces in a row. Two different colored pens or pencils are needed- no cutting, pasting, or coloring required!

A third option is to give different homework assignments to different kids, depending upon what supplies they have at home. This takes a little time, but my Kindergarten Homework series makes it easy.

For example, to have students practice determining whether pairs of words rhyme, you could send home a) Rhyming Memory or b) a “Rhyming Or Not?” worksheet. Both activities address the same skill, but the memory game requires cutting while the worksheet does not. Download the activities below.

Challenge: The kids in my class have very different needs, but it takes way too long to differentiate homework.

Solution: Keep a file folder for each child with activities appropriate to the student’s skill level. Quickly pull an assignment from the folder when you want to differentiate.

The photo below shows the “Homework Folder” concept in action:

On the outside of the folder is a list of the activities that are at the student’s level. All of the literacy activities on this particular list are designed for students whose instructional reading level is a Guided Reading Level A.

Inside the folder are copies of all of the activities on the list. To differentiate homework, just grab an assignment for each child from his/her folder. So quick and easy – and you don’t have to do it for every single assignment.

Challenge: I can’t seem to get out of the “worksheet rut” when assigning homework!

Solution: Create a weekly “formula” for your assignments.  For example, in Kindergarten, you might assign 1 leveled book, 2 family games, and 3 worksheets per week. If you stick to that routine, then you’ll be less likely to rely only on worksheets for your homework assignments.

And if you use my Kindergarten literacy homework series , then you’ll have leveled books, family games, and worksheets at your fingertips. There’s no need to waste time searching online or in reproducible workbooks each week!

Challenge: My students’ parents are often confused by homework assignments. Some of them don’t read English, so they don’t understand the directions.

Solution: Send home assignments that have simple, predictable directions. Spend some time in class teaching students how to complete homework, so that they can teach their parents. Provide visual directions or directions in parents’ native languages whenever possible.

Below is an example of a homework assignment that has simple and predictable directions. These sight word sheets have students reading the word, tracing it, writing it, and reading it again in a sentence.

Each time, the instructions are the same – only the sight words and sentences vary between worksheets. Even if parents can’t read in English, students will be able to complete these assignments if you show them how to do it in class.

Another solution is to provide visual aids in your directions, as well as instructions in both English and Spanish. All of this definitely takes a lot of time to put together, but if you use my Kindergarten homework series , the work is done for you!

In my pack, each book and assignment (with the exception of simple worksheets), comes with 5 different options for parent direction sheets. You can choose written instructions with or without visual aids, as well as directions in English or Spanish.

All parent sheets also come with links to videos that parents can choose to watch. The videos explain the activities and give helpful hints, but families can also just read the written directions if they prefer.

Click here  to download a sample book and the accompanying parent directions sheets.

Challenge: I want to give my students family games and interactive activities. But not all parents are able to help out with homework.

Solution: Try your best to involve all families, but if you know that a child has to complete homework on her own, send activities that she can do independently.

When creating my leveled literacy homework series, I designed two types of activities for each skill: family games or activities that require parent support, and worksheets that students can complete independently.

The rhyming words activities (scroll up) are an example of this. The Rhyming Word Memory game is played with family members, while the worksheet can be completed independently (if students are given the directions at school).

It can be tempting to just send home worksheets with all students if  some parents can’t help out with homework. But many parents really appreciate interactive materials like family games. If you have a variety of activities available, you can select homework assignments based upon students’ individual home situations.

I hope that this post has given you some fresh ideas for preparing homework for your students! Finding materials can be time consuming, but I’ve seen my Kindergarteners benefit greatly from just 10-15 minutes of homework each night. And parents love the opportunity to be involved in their children’s learning!

To read more about my leveled literacy homework bundle, click here . You can also click on any of the images below to learn more about the homework activities for Guided Reading Level A, B, C, D, or E.

Happy teaching!

Related Posts:

Can the sight word worksheets be purchased separately from the entire homework series? If not where exactly can they be found? I have a current homework plan and these would fit in nicely with that. Thank you!

Hi Joanne! I don’t have them separately at this time – but if you email me at [email protected] , we can work something else out. 🙂

Hi Alison, I am a kindergarten teacher and use my textbook tear out sheets and am frequently frustrated that even if we do the work in class and the homework is a review it is done wrong or not done at all. Have you considered online homework as a supplement to your present pencil paper method?

Hey Julie! Totally understand that. I think that a little bit of online homework or practice could work well as long as families have easy access to the tech tools. This post explains what I sometimes use for at-home practice: https://learningattheprimarypond.com/blog/how-to-differentiate-word-work-activities/

can I use the phrase “do at home” in order to inform my students’s parents of what the assignment is? Is it correct to use this phrase?

Hi! I think that phrase works for home assignments. I always find it best to be concise and direct with parents about what you need and want from them. Make sure you use the same language throughout the year and I think that will eliminate any unnecessary confusion about what you want and/or expect. 😊

i love this

So glad you liked it, Samy! 🙂

Frist time here

I’m Alison, a literacy specialist. I love getting kids excited about reading and writing – and sharing teaching ideas with other teachers!

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How To Create Kindergarten Homework That Parents And Kids Will Love

Kindergarten homework is not developmentally appropriate.  There I said it.  Five-year-olds are not meant to sit down to do paper and pencil tasks about reading and writing.  Somewhere along the way, someone who was most definitely not a kindergarten teacher decided that five and six-year-olds MUST read by the end of kindergarten. 

This created unrealistic expectations of teachers to somehow overcome brain science and teach students how to read.  Teachers began assigning sight word homework in addition to leveled readers and math worksheets.  Suddenly, kindergarten kids have as much homework as older elementary students.  Yet, there are no studies to support the notion that homework in kindergarten helps kids to achieve more. 

Some teachers have stopped assigning homework altogether but others are required to assign kindergarten homework.  Read on to find developmentally appropriate ways to assign kindergarten homework that parents will love.

Teachers Under Pressure

The pressure put on teachers to have all kindergarten students meet the same high academic standards at the same time is completely unrealistic.  Then that pressure was transferred to teachers who decided that in order to achieve this goal, they needed to share the responsibility with parents.  Then parents decided that they need  kindergarten homework to help them to achieve this goal.

This notion isn't all bad.   Sharing learning responsibilities with families is a productive way to help students achieve and giving parents activities and skills to practice at home is certainly helpful.   The problem is that we've lost sight of what we know is natural child development.   

So what can teachers do to help their young students to practice skills at home but still allow them to be kids?  We can start by giving students a variety of homework options rather than requirements.  In distance learning or remote learning situations, teachers are under even more pressure!  Check out this page for some distance learning types for Kindergarten teachers. 

Keep Homework Fun!

Kids work hard all day (or for half the day) at school.  They don't need to go home to sit with worksheets and pencils to continue to practice sight words (which the latest brain research doesn't support anyway, but that's a blog post for another day). 

In school, we know that all kids have different learning styles so we need to remember this when assigning homework.   Sending the same worksheet with each student is not differentiating.  You can differentiate homework by giving students options and allowing families to choose the activities that are the best fit for their students.

Keep “assignments” fun and engaging with a variety of ways to practice important foundational skills.  Think about how you design engaging centers and apply that to homework.  Practice writing letters and numbers in sand, finger paint or shaving cream!  Create math problems with toys or breakfast cereal.  Play games with dice to develop number sense and social skills like taking turns.  There are so many fun possibilities!

Give Families Homework Options!

Think about your academic goals for the week or the month.  Then create a list of 15 – 20 choices full of skills you want your students to practice.  This can be a list, a chart, or even a calendar!  You can send this list home to give families options and give kids some choice in their assignments. 

You can choose to include only academic tasks but I like to include some more developmentally appropriate skills that are often overlooked.  Skills like memorizing phone numbers and addresses are important things kids do not often do anymore.  You can add life skills like practice playing games (winning and losing with grace), tying shoes, helping to fold laundry and more.

I try to limit paper-pencil options.  However, when I do include them, I try to keep them open-ended.  For example, instead of practicing writing letters with a pencil, encourage students to write letters in sand or pudding.  If you want kids to practice writing, give them fun writing prompts or open-ended options.  For math practice, instead of doing a page of addition problems, have students tell and solve their own addition story problems using their favorite toys.  There are a lot of easy, no extra materials needed ways to practice these skills that won't stress kindergarten kids or parents.

Need to know more about assigning Kindergarten Homework?

How Do You Find the Time to Revamp Homework?

Time is one of the biggest challenges any teacher faces.  Finding time to rework your kindergarten homework assignments is difficult.  I can help!  Sign up for my e-mail list here and I will send you a completely free, editable homework menu to try in your classroom!  If you don't have time to create your own, I have monthly homework menus in my TPT store.  You can check them out here. 

I am hopeful that the pendulum is swinging back to more developmentally appropriate practices in kindergarten.  I'm happy to see that many districts across the country are returning to play-based learning in kindergarten.  This gives me hope!  In the meantime, let's try some new homework options for our youngest students.  What other suggestions do you have for homework in kindergarten?  I'd love to hear them!

One Comment

Your first statement in the last paragraph says it all! I have been making some noise about developmentally appropriate practices for years. We are beginning our school year with testing, testing, testing! I will be teaching students face to face and online at the same time. I have no idea where to start so I decided to do some research and found your site. I'm liking what I'm seeing so far. Please keep up the good work!!

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August 25, 2020

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If you are looking for hands-on, engaging kindergarten activities, you came to the right place! I’m here to save you time by sharing tried and true kindergarten resources, and hopefully spark some ideas for your own kindergarten lesson plans!

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Hands On As We Grow®

Hands on kids activities for hands on moms. Focusing on kids activities perfect for toddlers and preschoolers.

Simple and Fun Kindergarten Learning Activities

Activities Learning Kindergartners Game Numbers Reading 4 Comments

Make learning sight words  or beginning math skills easier with these fun ideas from Hands On As We Grow reader, Michelle. These simple and fun kindergarten learning activities are perfect for at-home practice!

My daughter’s kindergarten homework includes sight words and addition and subtraction flashcards. The teacher encouraged us to find creative ways to work with the flashcards.

I found some inspiration from the Hands On As We Grow sight words posts  and then developed a few of our own ideas. These are a few of our favorites!

Simple & Fun Kindergarten Learning Activities

The got-it-right race.

One day my daughter moaned and groaned about doing her sight word flashcards. I thought it might help to get her up and moving.

I had her stand across the kitchen from me.

Then, I held up a card and when she got it right she could run across the room to grab the card from my hand, then run back to her spot.

This simple change in position changed her from moaning and groaning to asking to do it two more times!

The Number Race

We lay out all of the addition and subtraction cards, equation side up. We stand together on the other side of the room and take turns calling out a number from 0-5.

Then we race across the room and collect as many cards as we can that equal the number that was called out.

When we have collected all of them we race back to the other side of the room and call out another number.

Other ways to play:

• Set out only addition or subtraction cards, not both, in the early stages with the cards.
• Collect one card at a time (running back and forth between) for a more intense activity.

The Hiding Game

The point of this game is for me to find the sight words that my daughter hides.

Step 1 is to write out all the sight words so that we make sure we find them all. Next, I busy myself while she hides the flashcards.

Then, as I find the sight words, she says each word and crosses it off of the list until we have found them all.

Other ways to play:

• For a quicker game eliminate the list part and just count how many cards you have to make sure you find them all.
• Or make a master list to use each time you play the game.

The Question Game

This game was inspired by Guess Who. It’s already a great game, but with a tweak, I took the idea and turned it into a few fun kindergarten learning activities!

First, we lay all the sight words out on the table. She picks a word (without telling me what it is).

I ask questions like:

• Does your word have 3 letters?
• Is there an “a” in your word?
• Does your word begin/end with a d?

Based on her answers I flip upside down the cards that are eliminated.

Once I’ve guessed her word we reset and switch places with her asking the questions.

Alternate questions depending on what they are currently learning and what words they have could include:

• Does it rhyme with ______?
• Is there an “ah” sound?
• Does it live on a farm?

Keep asking questions until you’ve guessed all the words or get tired of the game!

My daughter loves these fun kindergarten learning activities! It’s made homework and extra practice so much easier and enjoyable.

What are your favorite creative ways to learn at home?

Meet Michelle

Michelle is a busy mom to a three-year-old and a five-year-old. She is the founder of Passion for a Cause , where she helps busy moms discover an outlet for their grief.

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Michelle says

November 14, 2023 at 4:54 pm

I am a special education teacher I use your activities with students struggling to learn letter sounds and letter identification. Thank you for sharing.

Gemma Oracion says

June 20, 2018 at 11:46 pm

I am a teacher and all my students are having learning deficiencies. I hope you will be sharing activities for them.Ettyhank you so much for sharing your ideas.More power.

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200+ Free Kindergarten Activities and Printables

These kindergarten activities and printable activities for kindergarten will make learning fun and effective. Plus, they are easy to prep and will save you so much time!

Kindergarten Activities for Hands-On Learning

I know what's like to be a busy teacher who is short on time. Planning differentiated learning activities for your kindergarten students can be a daunting task.

I want to help. That's why I create engaging and effective printable activities for kindergarten that are differentiated, but also easy to prep.

If you are looking for kindergarten activities that are going to cover the skills you need to teach while also engaging your students with hands-on practice, then this list is for you!

Printable Activities for Kindergarten

This page contains hundreds of free kindergarten printables and activities for you to use right now! Isn't that awesome?

My hope is that you find lots of helpful resources that will save you time and make learning fun for your students!

Bookmark this page and come back as needed because I am always adding new resources to the page.

Kindergarten Activities for Literacy and Math Instruction

Everything from alphabet activities to sight word activities to number sense activities, addition activities , CVC word work , phonics instruction , and more!

I have put them all here for you so that you can quickly find what you need and then go have some time to yourself!

I even have lots of free digital resources for kindergarten that your students can use on both Google Slides and Seesaw.

Doesn't that sound amazing! 🙂

Keep scrolling to find all of the free kindergarten activities!

Differentiated Kindergarten Printables and Activities

Check out this huge list of fun, differentiated and effective activities for kindergarteners!

I am constantly adding new resources to the page, so bookmark it and come back as needed to find new and engaging printables to utilize in your classroom.

Many of them are editable and most are super easy to prep, so not only will you save time finding activities, you will also be able to differentiate them with great ease.

Check them all out below!

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Flower Missing Sounds Task Cards

Four Leaf Clover Find & Cover the Letter for St. Patrick’s Day

Digraph Clip Cards for Kindergarten and First Grade

Rainbow CVC Board Game Task Cards

St. Patrick’s Day Rainbow Find and Color the Letter Sheets

Missing Middle Sound CVC Word Mats Free Printable

Number Sense Search and Find Worksheets

Free Printable Heart CVC Clip Cards

CVC Word Sorting Worksheets

Heart Alphabet Game Task Cards

CVC Short Vowel Sounds Clip Cards

Letter Tracing Alphabet Task Cards

Number Find and Cover Worksheets

Alphabet Find and Cover the Letter Worksheets

Exciting Snowman Find and Color the Letter Mats Freebie

Snowball Rhyming Clip Strips

New Year’s Eve Color By Number Coloring Sheets

Snowman Adding Beginning Sounds Task Cards for Phonemic Awareness

Snow Globe Addition and Subtraction Mats

Winter Snow Globe Phoneme Segmentation Cards

Snow Globe CVC Words Clip Cards Free Printable

Christmas Color by Number Printable Worksheets

Snowman Alphabet Letter Tracing Task Cards

Gingerbread Making Ten Math Activity

Gingerbread CVC Word Building Cards

Gingerbread Alphabet Letter Recognition Task Cards

Gingerbread Alphabet Beginning Sounds Task Cards

Phonological Awareness Activities and Printables

Alphabet Letter Worksheets – Alphabet Activity Pages

Gingerbread Phoneme Segmentation Mats for Phonemic Awareness

Numbers Four in a Row Board Game

Alphabet Worksheets

Alphabet Four in a Row Board Game – Beginning Sounds Game

Fall Leaf Rhyming Task Cards

Alphabet Beginning Sounds Sorting Worksheets

Fall Leaf Missing Numbers Clip Cards Math Activity

Fall Leaf Beginning Sounds Task Cards

Colorful Crayon Rhyming Puzzles

Super Fun Alphabet Beginning Sounds Clip Strips for Kids

Pumpkin Alphabet Board Game Task Cards

Beginning Sounds Clip Cards with a Fall Candy Corn Theme!

Editable Pumpkin Theme BINGO Game

Candy Corn Find and Cover the Letter Mats for Kids

Pumpkin Counting Task Cards – Show the Number Math Activity

Alphabet Find and Trace the Letter Worksheets

Pumpkin Phoneme Segmentation Mats for Phonemic Awareness

Pumpkin Beginning Sounds Alphabet Task Cards

Fall Alphabet Activities

30 Fun Shape Activities For Kids to Learn Shapes

Fun Fall Pumpkin Rhyming Clip Strips

Number Play Dough Task Cards for Numbers 0-20

Alphabet Letter Tracing Task Cards

Search and Trace Number Worksheets 0-20 Free Printable

Apple Theme Beginning Sounds Task Cards Alphabet Find and Cover

Apple Theme Letter Recognition Task Cards – Alphabet Find and Cover

Salt Painting Activity for Kids

School Theme Tracing Strips for Pre-Writing Practice

Editable Apple Theme Bingo Game

Alphabet Letter Tracing Worksheets to Learn Letter Formation

Alphabet Letter Recognition Clip Strips

Alphabet Stew Letter Recognition Mats

All About Me Name Worksheets – Letters in My Name

Dot the Number Worksheets

Syllable Counting Clip Cards Free Printable

Alphabet Play Dough Cards Activity

Compound Word Clip Cards Free Printable

Number Activity Strips Free Printable

Missing Beginning Sound CVC Word Mats Free Printable

Printable Middle Sounds Phoneme Substitution Cards

Sun CVC Word Building Strips Free Printable

Ice Cream Beginning Sounds Clip Cards Free Printable

160+ Kindergarten Centers for the Whole Year

Beach Letter Sound Isolation Mats Free Printable

Fish CVC Word Building Cards Free Printable

Ocean Fish Rhyming Clip Strips Free Printable

Ocean CVC Word Mats – Roll, Build, & Write Printable

Editable Caterpillar Word Work Mats Free Printable

Dot Number Activity Mats Free Printable

Dot Letter Alphabet Mats Free Printable

Caterpillar Comparing Sets Clip Cards Free Printable

Spring Bee Roll and Cover Number Mats Free Printable

Butterfly Beginning Sounds Alphabet Clip Cards Free Printable

Frog CVC Word Building Strips Free Printable

Flower Comparing Sets Math Activity

Flower CVC Word Building Cards Free Printable

Fizzy Rainbow Science Experiment

Flower Alphabet Mats – Roll, Build and Write

Easter Egg Roll and Cover the Number Free Printable

Spring Theme Activities for Kids

Editable Easter Bunny Word Work Mats

Make Ten Math Activity Free Printable

Rainbow CVC Activity Roll, Build, Write Mats Free Printable

Free Editable Name Tracing Printable Worksheets for Name Practice

Rainbow Rhyming Clip Strips Free Printable

Free Alphabet Printables

Teen Number Matching Clip Cards Free Printable

2D Shapes Clip Cards Free Printable

Word Search CVC Worksheets Free Printable

Valentine’s Day Roll and Cover the Number Free Printable

Valentine’s Day Beginning Sounds Alphabet Clip Cards Free Printable

Number Tower Mats Free Printable

CVC Words Clip Cards Free Printable

Free Printable Number Matching Clip Cards

Penguin Comparing Sets Clip Cards Free Printable

Snowflake CVC Word Building Strips for Kindergarten

Snowman Number Spin & Build Mats Free Printable

Free Printable Snowman Beginning Sounds Mats

Gingerbread 100 and 120 Chart Find and Cover the Number Game

Christmas Cookie Beginning Sounds Clip Cards Free Printable

Christmas Tree Roll and Cover Number Printable Mats

Gingerbread Roll and Cover the Number Mats Free Printable

Fall Leaves CVC Clip Cards Free Printable

Fall Leaf Comparing Sets Clip Cards Free Printable

Printable Ending Sounds Phoneme Substitution Cards

Beginning Sounds Matching Clip Cards Free Printable

Free Printable Number Cover Up Mats

Free Printable Spider Word Work Mats

Pumpkin Numbers Spin & Build Mats Free Printable

Pumpkin CVC Words Spin & Build Mats Free Printable

Apple 100 and 120 Chart Find and Cover the Number Game

Pumpkin Roll and Cover Number Mats Free Printable

Editable Apple Spin & Build Mats

Free Printable Apple Roll and Cover Number Mats

Number Formation Cards Free Printable

Free Printable Apple Fine Motor Tracing Strips for Pre-Writing Practice

Free Printable Back to School Spin and Build Word Work Mats

Editable Back to School Four in a Row Printable Game

Free Printable Back to School Alphabet Activity Mats

Free Printable Back to School Number Tower Mats

Free Printable Back to School Letter Sound Mats

Printable Beginning Sounds Phoneme Substitution Cards

Printable Uppercase Snap Cube Alphabet Mats

Printable Lowercase Snap Cube Alphabet Mats

Printable Alphabet Letter Formation Cards for Kids

Printable Ocean Animal Spin and Cover Pattern Block Mats

Sun CVC Word Clip Cards Free Printable

Sun Number Towers Printable Math Activity

Editable Feed the Fish Spin and Build Mats Printable

Fish CVC Word Clip Cards Free Printable

Fish Find and Cover Free Printable Beginning Sounds Letter Mats

Fish Roll and Cover Number Mats Free Printable

Insect Letter Sounds Mats for Preschool and Kindergarten

Free Printable Butterfly Find and Cover Beginning Sounds Mats

Editable Flower Bump Game Printable for Word Work

Flower Number Towers Free Printable Math Activity

Flower CVC Word Building Strips for Kindergarten

Free Printable Easter Egg Number Towers Math Activity

Editable Frog Spin and Build Mats Word Work Printable

Digital Frog Feed Me Word Work Mats for Kindergarten

Frog Find and Cover Beginning Sounds Letter Mat Printable

Digital St. Patrick’s Day Feed Me Words Activity for Kindergarten

Editable Shamrock Spin and Build Mats Free Printable

Rainbow Number Towers Free Printable Math Activity

Free Printable Rainbow Beginning Sounds Mats

Editable Mailbox Spin and Build Mats Word Work Printable

Construction Number Towers Free Printable Math Activity

Community Helpers Printable CVC Word Building Strips

Community Helpers Free Printable Beginning Sounds Mats

Editable Valentine’s Day Spin and Build Word Work Mats

Digital Feed the Heart Words Activity for Kindergarten

Valentine’s Day Beginning Sound Find and Cover Letter Mats

Editable Valentine’s Day Four in a Row Printable Literacy Game

Groundhog Day Free Printable Editable Board Game

Free Digital Feed the Groundhog Words Activity

Editable Groundhog Spin and Build Word Work Mats

Editable Winter Bump Game Printable for Word Work

Snowman Count the Room Free Printable Math Activity

Editable Snowman Write the Room Printable Activity

Snowman Beginning Sounds Write the Room Alphabet Printable

Snowball Number Towers Free Printable Math Activity

Free Printable Winter Theme Letter Sounds Mats

Snowman 100 and 120 Chart Find and Cover Printable Number Mats

Editable Snowman Spin and Build Word Work Mats

Digital Feed the Snowman Words Activity for Kindergarten

Free Printable Snowman Comparing Sets Clip Cards

Gingerbread Number Towers Free Printable Math Activity

Editable Gingerbread Bump Game for Word Work Printable

Editable Gingerbread Spin and Build Word Work Mats Printable

Editable Christmas Tree Four in a Row Literacy Printable

Free Printable Christmas Editable Board Game

Gingerbread CVC Word Building Strips Free Printable

Gingerbread Free Printable Beginning Sound Mats

Turkey Find and Cover the Word Free Printable Mats

Editable Turkey Spin and Build Word Work Printable Mats

Fall Leaf Number Towers Free Printable Math Activity

Editable Scarecrow Spin and Build Word Work Printable Mats

Free Printable Fall Alphabet Activity Mats

Silly Monster CVC Clip Cards Free Printable

Silly Monster Number Towers Free Printable Math Activity

Spider Count the Room Free Printable Math Activity

Spider Find and Cover the Letter Free Printable Mats

Pumpkin Number Towers Free Printable Math Activity

Pumpkin Teen Numbers Bump Game Free Printable

Free Printable Pumpkin CVC Words Clip Cards

Pumpkin 100 & 120 Chart Printable Find and Cover Number Mats

Digital Pumpkin Feed Me Words Activity for Kindergarten

Pumpkin Find and Cover the Letter Mats Free Printable

Pumpkin Comparing Sets Clip Cards for Preschool and Kindergarten

Editable Pumpkin Bump Game for Word Work in Kindergarten

Apple Tree Find and Cover the Blends Free Printable Mats

Digital Apple Tree Making 10 Activity for Kindergarten

Apple CVC Matching Clip Cards Printable for Kindergarten

Apple Teen Numbers Bump Game Free Printable

Apple Number Towers Free Printable Math Activity

Apple Tree Find and Cover the Letter Printable Mats

Apple Tree Sight Word Find and Cover Printable for Kindergarten

Editable Apple Bump Game for Word Work in Kindergarten

Digital Apple Feed Me Word Work Activity

Blend Words Free Printable Board Game for Kindergarten

Digital Back to School Making 10 Math Activity

Back to School Count the Room Free Printable Math Activity

Editable Back to School Write the Room Free Printable

Digital Back to School Letter Sounds Matching Activity

Digital Back to School Teen Numbers Math Activity

Editable Pencil Bump Game for Word Work Printable

Digital Back to School Feed Me Words Activity

CVC Middle Vowel Sounds Board Game Printable

Free Printable Digraph Words Matching Mats for Kindergarten

Digital Digraph Words Matching Mats Literacy Activity

Blend Words Matching Mats Free Printable

Digital Blend Words Matching Mats for Kindergarten

Free Printable CVC Words Matching Mats

Digital CVC Words Matching Mats for Kindergarten

Free Printable Ending Digraph Clip Cards

Free Printable Beginning Digraph Clip Cards

Blend Words Clip Cards Free Printable

CVC Words Clip Cards Printables for Kindergarten

Free Printable Watermelon Addition and Subtraction Mats

Digital Treasure Hunt CVC Matching Activity

Palm Tree Find and Cover the Letter Mats for Preschool and Kindergarten

Editable Ocean Word Building Mats Free Printable

Digital Ocean CVC Word Building Literacy Activity

Digital Ocean Teen Numbers Activity

Digital Ocean Letter Sounds Matching Activity

Digital Ocean Missing Addends Math Activity

Digital Ocean Word Work Mats for Preschool and Kindergarten

Spring Bee Find and Cover the Letter Printable for Preschool

Digital Bee Beginning Sounds Sort Alphabet Activity

Editable Sight Word Worksheets – Editable Word Work Printables

Editable Space Theme Board Game Free Printable

Free Printable Insect Addition and Subtraction Mats

Digital Firefly Addition to 10 Math Activity

Digital Butterfly Word Building Mats for Preschool and Kindergarten

Digital Butterfly Letter Sounds Matching Alphabet Activity

Editable Insect Four in a Row Game Free Printable

Digital Flower CVC Word Building Literacy Activity

Editable Flower Word Building Printable Mats

Digital Flower Word Building Word Work Activity

Digital Flower Missing Addends Math Activity

Digital Flower Letter Sounds Matching Phonics Activity

Flower Find and Cover the Letters Printable Alphabet Activity

Editable Easter Word Building Digital Word Work Activity

I hope this list of kindergarten activities has been super helpful and saves you lots of time!

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68 Tips, Tricks, and Ideas for Teaching Kindergarten

Brilliant ideas from brilliant teachers (like you)!

Kindergarten teachers are magical people. It takes a special person to be able to manage the littlest students without breaking a sweat! Teaching kindergarten is also a special opportunity to introduce children to school and instill in them a love of learning. In honor of those of you who teach this grade, we’ve scoured our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook to bring you the best tips, tricks, and ideas for teaching kindergarten.

Getting Your Classroom Ready

1. prepare yourself for kids with a wide range of skills.

“Be ready for kids who are readers, kids who have never seen letters, and everything in between. I love my kinders dearly and find so much joy in watching their little light bulbs go on for the first time! They’re a different bunch to be sure, but they’re a blast!” —Maggie V.

2. Create an inviting classroom

Need ideas? We’ve gathered real-life kindergarten classrooms for you to browse!

3. Integrate all of the tech

With so many teachers receiving new devices, make sure you’re using them fully as a normal part of your day. Check out some of Keri from Enchanted Kinder Garden’s favorite tech tools for a kindergarten classroom.

4. Be prepared for changes

The science of reading has been all the buzz lately. Are you aware of what it truly means for your classroom and your students? Check out this article to learn more about the science of reading .

5. Gather all the supplies

Not sure exactly what you need for the kindergarten classroom? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with this list of essential kindergarten classroom supplies .

6. Plan your circle time well

Make circle time short, sweet, and active. Incorporate these amazing carpet spots for easy seating.

7. Get a jump start on lessons

In kindergarten, teacher planning and prep time are precious. It makes life a lot easier when you can purchase existing lessons, bundles, books, and pages. And why not support other teachers while you do it? Check out our favorite Teacher Pay Teachers sellers .

8. Put together an irresistible classroom reading nook

If there’s one thing you want your kindergartners to walk away with at the end of the year, it’s the message that reading is fun! Make reading time extra special for them by setting up one of these awesome reading nooks .

9. Fill your classroom library with these classic kindergarten books

Here are our favorite books for teaching kindergarten.

10. Set up sensory tables

Early childhood teachers know that hands-on learning is essential. Sensory play encourages open-ended thinking, language development, and collaboration and builds fine motor skills. Sensory materials are magically both engaging and calming. Here are our favorites !

11. Set up a writing area

Writing is so important for our early learners. Even when students are just learning to write, it’s important to encourage the process. Having a dedicated writing time helps shift a child’s focus. Some classrooms even have a dedicated space for writing. Here is an easy setup for a writing center .

12. Create a scavenger hunt for Meet the Teacher

As you prepare to meet your brand-new students, think of inviting ideas for both parents and students. A scavenger hunt around the room to complete forms, sign up for things, and explore the room helps to move families around the classroom as you introduce yourself.

13. Make room for student work

Even though your students haven’t had time to come into the classroom yet, make sure there are spaces and places to display student work. You want the classroom to be a shared space. With that art and work proudly displayed, they will feel a connection with the room.

The First Days of School

14. keep in mind that kids have expectations too.

“Kids go to their first day of kindergarten expecting to learn how to read that very day. So you have to do some choral reading of big books or poems so that they know that they have begun to learn to read. Just one big book. Read it many times that day. If they go home seeing themselves as scholars on the first day of school, you will have set the tone for the whole year.” —Becky N.

15. Help the parents of your students on the first day because it’s a tough transition for them too

“You will have a room full of parents on the first day, so to have a smooth goodbye, I wrap a box with Kinder Bear (any stuffed bear) inside. After the kids are sitting on the carpet, I tell them that I have a friend I’d like them to meet, but that he’s shy. I pretend to listen to the bear and tell the kids he wants you to say bye to Mom & Dad so he can come out and play. The parents will ‘get’ the message and leave, and the students will be eager to meet Kinder Bear!” —Denise B.

16. Start at the very beginning

“Don’t assume they know how to do anything. Teach them everything. How to knock at the bathroom door, how to close it behind them, how to wash hands, throw away towels … routines, routines, routines.” —Shannon T.

17. Keep in mind how close to “baby” your students really are

“Remember, they are 60-month-olds! That always gives me perspective the first few weeks teaching kindergarten.” —Michelle K.

18. Label your classroom

As soon as you get your class list, add your students’ names to their areas in the classroom. This may include tables or desks, book bins, cubbies, and even pencil pouches. Allow them to take ownership of the things that they will need to take care of over the school year.

19. Choose amazing read-alouds for the first week of school

Go ahead and “add to cart” on Amazon to get first-week read-alouds and back-to-school books they’ll love.

20. Make keepsake drawings that will show growth from the beginning of the year

“I would have them do a self-portrait the first day and then another one the last week and look at the difference! You will want to start and demo one of yourself just to give them an idea of what to do. You might be surprised at the results, and your parents will save it forever—mine did. I still have one I drew as a kinder or first grader.” —Julia A.

Here’s a fund self-portrait art project from Splish Splash Splatter .

21. Start the year with firm expectations and clear routines

“Don’t worry about the curriculum. Just focus on the routines and rules. One of the best bits of advice I got from a professor was that the kids WANT to love you so don’t be afraid to be strict with the rules and set down your boundaries right out of the gate. I’ve been teaching for 20 years, and I learned that the hard way. Have fun, play games, let them see your playful side, but take the time to let them know what is expected of them.” —Julie S.

Check out these first-day routines and procedures  for more ideas!

22. Teach kids exactly how to listen

Don’t expect that they will come to you knowing what listening looks like. Here’s how to teach them .

23. Introduce classroom callbacks

As you teach classroom expectations, routines, and procedures, do not forget to introduce callbacks. Teach your students three or four ways to stop, look, and listen. This can be done with hand motions, responses, and more. One of my favorite ways is when I say “Macaroni and Cheese,” they all say “Everybody Freeze!” They also place their hands on top of their head. This allows them to put down whatever they are touching or using and put their attention on me. It’s one of the quickest callbacks to teach.

24. Add fun to your center rotations

Engage students with captivating videos and eliminate the need for internet access. Seamlessly manage digital rotations with built-in timers, creating a personalized and efficient learning environment. With everything you need in a digital presentation, you’re ready to rock and roll through your day in style.

Check out these center rotation ideas from Enchanted Kinder Garden .

25. Teach kids how to make friends

Some of your students will make friends naturally, while some will need your help. How to be a friend is one of the most important lessons they can leave their first year of school with. Here’s an activity you can do to help them .

26. Find fun ways to teach all of the routines your little ones will need to know all year long

“For my lines in the hallway, I say ‘There’s a cloud with marshmallows falling down (wiggle fingers like they’re falling from above), everyone catch a marshmallow!’ Pretend to catch and say, ‘now put it in your mouth and chew chew chew chew and keep your finger on your lips so it doesn’t fall out’ until you get to the cafeteria, playground, etc. They’ll walk around with their cheeks puffed up pretending to chew. Some might say they ate it, so tell them to catch another or it’s too big to eat the whole thing so keep chewing! I’ve heard teachers say ‘catch a bubble.’ It’s the same concept. When I need instant silence, I say, ‘Catch a marshmallow!’ and there is quiet immediately.” —Heikel F.

Here is our list of must-teach classroom routines and procedures .

27. Take your class on a mini-adventure on the first day

“I teach routines and rules, but I also go on some kind of ‘adventure.’ My adventure is going through the school to find where everything is: the bathrooms, the nurse, the front office, the cafeteria (which we practice going through the line), library, etc. I’ve done fishing where I have fish (or a jungle animal if that was my theme) hanging at each place, and they collect them in a bucket as we go around taking turns and collecting through the whole school. They love it.” —Dana H.

Classroom Management Tips

28. keep your kids moving all day long.

“Plan lessons/activities that last no more than 15 minutes, with some kind of movement activity in between. (Moving from the circle to the table counts, as does clapping a pattern, or Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.)” —Anne H.

29. Do proper assessments

Teachers need to ultimately adapt their teaching to suit students’ needs. You want all of your students to be successful; that’s why these kindergarten assessment ideas are so important.

30. Combine multiple objectives into a single lesson

Teach children number sense and fine motor skills at the same time. The kids will love using the hole punch in this activity and will improve their number sense at the same time.

31. Teach with centers

Teaching with centers is one of the easiest ways to work through your curriculum while teaching kindergarten. And kids love them! Check out our kindergarten literacy centers for more ideas.

32. Get the wiggles out

Incorporating brain breaks will help all of your students when they just need a break from learning!

33. Give your kids visual cues to help them follow your directions

“I have my kids line up on numbers. They stay on the same number all year. This saves so much time. We can line up in less than 15 seconds. Their toes touch the number but don’t cover it, so I can see it.” —Debbie N.

34. Keep little fingers cleaner with this trick

“Glue sponges! There are several videos online for making them. So awesome to not deal with the bottle-of-glue mess or those littles who can’t close the bottle and spill glue in their supplies!” —Anita D.

Learn how to make glue sponges from Lucky Little Learners.

35. Use a washable stuffed animal as a class pet

Low maintenance (essential for teaching kindergarten), high fun! Kids will love taking turns bringing the “class pet” home to care for it over the weekend. Check out this classroom pet from A First for Everything.

36. Routine, routine, routine

Veterans who’ve been teaching kindergarten for years said this again and again on our Helpline : Probably more than any other age group in elementary school, kindergartners thrive on their routine. “Plan fun and easy activities for the first week so you can keep focused on the routine.” —Sarah S.

37. Use anchor charts

Creating anchor charts for and with your students helps them learn and remember lessons about topics like friendship, shapes, counting, letters, beginning writing, and more.

Curriculum Tips and Tricks

38. add in sel to your routines.

Helping children manage their emotions is essential in classrooms. One way to do this is by incorporating SEL books for kids . Start social-emotional learning with your morning meeting time to have it as part of your daily routine.

39. Try daily STEM challenges

These STEM challenges are designed with your kinders in mind. Try one each day or each week to get their minds thinking outside the box.

40. Use these strategies for writing instruction

From invented spelling to punctuation and using words in context, these tips will help your newbie writers catch on quickly.

41. Use hands-on alphabet activities

Go on a scavenger hunt, play with shaving cream, and much more. These alphabet activities are perfect for your kindergarten class.

42. Incorporate daily writing prompts

We’ve gathered writing prompts that you can download and use to get your kinders practicing their writing skills.

43. Use “space people” to help your beginning writers learn to use spaces between words

Put an astronaut stick down when you get to the end of a word so students know where to start the next one!

44. Put sight words front and center

Keep track of important sight words in fun ways and keep them visually front and center like this growing word-a-pillar.

45. Teach word families

This method is tried-and-true among kindergarten teachers. Check out Teacher Karma’s seven simple steps for using word families to teach reading .

46. Bring technology (in small doses) into the classroom

Check out our guide to teaching kindergarten online for tips on using technology when teaching kindergarten.

47. Sneak in the learning with games

“I like playing ‘I have, who has’ games. I take their picture on the first day of school and create an ‘I have who has’ game with their photos. It’s a great way for them to learn names, plus I use their picture for everything.” —Lisa G.

Check out our favorite educational toys and games for kindergarten .

48. Organize your instruction around themes

When you structure your lessons thematically, you provide your kids with more “hooks” for learning. Check out this blog by Fun-a-Day for some great ideas.

49. Find hands-on ways to teach number sense

Number sense is key in kindergarten. You’ll want to cover it again and again. Here are some ideas for teaching number sense .

50. Incorporate kindergarten math games

Kindergarten offers so many opportunities to help students find learning truly enjoyable. These kindergarten math games teach concepts in fun and meaningful ways.

51. Watch math videos

Making math more engaging for kids can be difficult. But teaching math will be anything but boring when you introduce students to some of our favorite subtraction and addition videos on YouTube .

52. Begin teaching shapes

Learning shapes is one of the earliest concepts we teach kids. Shapes ready them for geometry in the years ahead, but it’s also an important skill for learning how to write and draw. Get started with these activities .

53. Count the days of school and celebrate when you reach 100

There are so many different fun ways to celebrate the 100th day of school. We’ve got a whole collection of activities for you!

54. Use music for everything

“Music is needed and is a good way to transition. Find a welcome song and an afternoon song (can be the same tune with different words) to start and close your day. It makes a world of difference.” —Anne H.

55. Plan lessons with AI

Stumped on an idea for creating a lesson? Try using AI to help you plan your lessons . ChatGPT is one way to add in some creativity and ideas you may not have thought of before. There are also alternatives you can try when it comes to using AI in the classroom .

56. Use journals

Have a routine with journals. This can be a daily freewriting journal, math journals with prompts, science journals, or even a fun twist on sight words with a journal.

Check out these ideas for kindergarten writing prompts .

57. Keep activity sticks on hand so you never have an awkward “What do I do with them now?” moment

One of the most repeated pieces of advice in our WeAreTeachers Helpline Facebook group about teaching kindergarten is that you should always overplan for this age group. These activity sticks from Keep Calm and Teach On are a fantastic safety net when you suddenly find that your lesson went twice as fast as you expected.

58. Go on a field trip

Kinders are a wild bunch, and taking them anywhere might seem daunting. But field trips provide kids with the kind of real-world learning that really sticks with them. These kindergarten field trips will keep your young students interested and (mostly) out of trouble. We even have virtual options!

59. Incorporate LOTS of art

Hands-on learning is best for little ones. We’ve gathered our favorite fun and interesting projects.

60. Tailor your science to their needs

These fun and free science activities were put together just for kindergarten students. They’ll learn how the world works through play and experiments.

Taking Care of You

61. connect with a community of educators outside of your own school.

Teaching is hard! Join our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE Facebook group and connect with other teachers to talk about challenges and triumphs and ask questions.

62. Follow kindergarten teachers and bloggers

Keep a pulse on what’s happening in your grade level with our favorite teachers sharing about topics ranging from crafts to addressing important multicultural issues.

63. Laugh with your kids

Kindergartners love to laugh as much as the rest of us! These funny books will add some humor and levity to your day. Plus, check out these jokes just for kindergartners !

64. Keep a “sub tub” on hand for those days when you just can’t make it into school

Fill your sub tub with all the lessons and activities your sub will need in case you have an unexpected absence.

65. Reward the small things

We most often celebrate large accomplishments, but it’s also OK to celebrate the small things. Did you turn in report card grades on time? Celebrate! Did you do attendance for an entire week without having to be reminded? Celebrate! Take a moment and write down simple tasks that you can celebrate. Small wins also matter and can benefit your mental health.

66. Plan fun annual events for your students and their families

Whether it’s Cupcakes With Caregivers, a fall feast, or a spring BBQ, kindergartners love traditions. And they love to include their families. Here are some tips on making these events inclusive for all your students .

67. Take care of yourself

Teaching kindergarten requires a different kind of energy. Eat well and try to get an extra hour of sleep if you can. “When I switched from teaching second grade to teaching kindergarten, I was exhausted for the first two months. It’s physically taxing.” —Karen E.

Here are some teacher self-care ideas to consider.

68. And last but certainly not least, give them lots (and lots) of time to play

“Playtime teaches kids how to get along with others so that they can effectively learn in a classroom. It’s so important, especially in kindergarten.” —Michelle S.

Check out our educational toys for kindergarten and why dolls belong in the classroom !

We’d love to hear your favorite tips and tricks for teaching kindergarten! Come and share in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.

Plus, check out our guide to the kindergarten classroom ..

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Play and Learn Kindergarten Homework Calendars

The kindergarten connection.

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Providing opportunities for our students to continue their learning outside of school is important. But it doesn’t have to be hard! Fast and easy activities for kids to do at home can still be fun and effective. While they may not be “traditional” homework, these  EDITABLE Play and Learn Kindergarten Homework Calendars  are a great family connection tool and a simple way to encourage playful learning at home!

*Grab these amazing calendars right now in  our shop , or hop on over to purchase them on  Teachers Pay Teachers !

These monthly editable Kindergarten homework calendars come pre-filled with engaging activities that are simple and FUN for students to complete at home. The activities do not require a lot of time and materials but they are still great for reinforcing lessons and skills we work on in the classroom!

There is also an  editable parent letter  included that explains how to use the calendars and the purpose behind them.

Each monthly calendar is EDITABLE!

The Kindergarten homework activities listed on the calendars are simply suggestions. Use the calendars as is, or change them up depending on the ages and needs of your students.

You can edit and move ALL parts of these calendars , including the dates. That means you can use them from year to year! They are currently populated for the 2022-2023 school year.

The activities are short but powerful for helping kids in their school journey! They may at times seem random, but it is important to note that each activity has a purpose and intention.

Make them your own!

Add even more playful options like stringing beads for fine motor practice or hands-on sorting activities with snacks. However, you will want to be mindful of the materials needed.

These calendars were designed for encouraging playful learning at home while requiring minimal supplies.

You can also choose how many days a week you want your students to have homework . As it is, the calendars include activities for 3 days a week. I find this gives families flexibility and breaks in case they miss a day!

These homework calendars are sure to have your students excited to show off their growing skills at home with their families!

Get Your Copy

Don’t wait to start encouraging playful learning beyond the school day and outside of the classroom! Grab your copy of these EDITABLE Play and Learn Homework Calendars today by clicking the large, yellow button at the end of the post!

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Monthly Homework

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THE Best Way to Handle Kindergarten and Preschool Homework

Shared by Mary Catherine 30 Comments

Learn how to create a meaningful preschool homework plan for your students using a homework calendar. Be sure to check out the rest of my free preschool printables next!

Below I’ll share how to incorporate a preschool homework calendar into your plans. These homework activities are perfect for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten students.

Be sure to note that this isn’t a “traditional” homework plan. Not by a longshot! Instead, it’s focused on hands-on, age-appropriate activities (rather than inappropriate worksheets and such).

“Miss Mary Catherine, what about homework? Her brothers have homework most nights, and I could really use some help in that department.”

Questions like this one aren’t unusual at preschool and kindergarten Back-to-School Nights or Meet the Teacher gatherings. At least not for me.

Parents want the best when it comes to their children’s education, and it’s often assumed homework is an integral part of that.

But early childhood educators want to do what’s developmentally appropriate and best for their students – and research has shown that traditional homework doesn’t fit into that. So how to do we merge each of these viewpoints?

Table of Contents

Do We Really Need Preschool Homework?

As I mentioned above, I’ve noticed that many parents ask about homework. I think some people assume school and homework go hand-in-hand. I’m referring here to the traditional view of homework, with kids sitting down at the kitchen table to fill out pages and pages of worksheets.

I’m inclined to disagree with that, especially when it comes to early childhood students. Young kids need hands-on learning experiences , both at home and at school, to grasp important early learning concepts. I most definitely don’t think the traditional worksheet homework is appropriate for young kids.

Listening to books read by their parents, free play time at home, and maybe some additional hands-on learning activities are more along the lines of the kind of homework I recommend.

The BEST Way to Handle Kindergarten and Preschool Homework

So we’ve established that sit down, pencil to paper homework isn’t that great for preschool and kindergarten. How, then, should homework be handled?

My suggestion: create a preschool homework plan centered around monthly activity calendars.

Explain the research to the parents, and have a quick chat about developmentally appropriate practice . Stress the importance of down time after school, and encourage daily reading snuggled up with the kids.

At this point, parents might still want something more. That’s where the homework calendars come in.

Kindergarten and Preschool Homework Calendars

The printable homework calendars I’ve sent home are definitely not preschool worksheets . They include a variety of tasks that kids can do – sometimes with their families, and sometimes on their own. My goal is for my students, and their parents, to see how learning can take place in a wide variety of ways. Additionally, kiddos with older siblings love having their own “homework” to complete like their big brother or sister.

To put together homework calendars for your students, brainstorm ideas that cover topics such as:

• Fine motor skills
• Gross motor skills
• Helping others
• Self-help skills

Try to keep the daily activities simple, with some ideas the kids can do on their own and some they can try with their parents or siblings. Some of the calendar ideas can relate to your preschool themes , seasons or holidays, or everyday helping tasks.

These homework calendars can go home in their personalized folders at the beginning of the month, with the kids returning them at the end of the month. They can also just be used as suggestions when parents ask about homework for preschool kiddos.

Preschool Homework Ideas

As I mentioned earlier, using monthly calendars for preschool homework is NOT like traditional paper-and-pencil homework. The calendars are meant to be filled with developmentally-appropriate activities kids can do at home.

If you need some ideas to add to the calendars, here you go:

• Go for a walk outside and count the trees.
• Tell your family about what you did on the playground today.
• Listen to a family member read a book.
• Try to do 5 jumping jacks.
• Draw a picture of your favorite animal.
• Sing a song to your family.

As you can see, these are simple and very appropriate activities for young children. And none of them are focused on tracing the number 1 twenty times.

I’d love to hear your thoughts now! How do you handle preschool homework (or kindergarten homework)?

A Year’s Worth of Preschool Homework Calendars

I’m so excited to share with you how you can get a hold of the rest of the calendars now! I’ve received a lot of wonderful emails asking for an entire year’s worth of calendars. Thanks so much for reaching out – I love hearing from you!

So here it is – a full year’s worth of editable homework calendars. It’s a set that includes homework calendars for every month of the year. Each calendar is an editable printable, and there are three versions:

• One has seasonal clip art,
• One has non-seasonal clip art, and
• One doesn’t have any clip art. Each month has a version that’s already full of activity ideas, along with a blank version (but you’re able to edit every single version).

Click on the image below to get your own set of preschool or kindergarten homework calendars from Preschool Teacher101:

Be sure to join The Pack from Preschool Teacher 101’s waiting list . Members get access to all we have to offer – fully-developed lesson plans, digital games, dramatic play packs, circle time song activities, STEM challenges, and so much more!

Free Printable Preschool Homework Calendar

I’m happy to share one of my homework calendars with you. It’s even editable! That way, teachers (and parents!) can put their own spin on the homework.

How to Use the Activity Calendar

Grab the September homework calendar PDF and open it up. Click on any of the editable areas and make your own changes. You can change:

• The directions at the top of the calendar
• The date (just the number)
• Each of the homework tasks within the squares

Then print out the calendar and share with your students’ parents. You’re welcome to leave everything the way I’ve written it too. That’s what I am loving about editable PDFs – the flexibility of customizing documents.

Take a look at the homework calendars in action in the video below:

Get the Free Printable

This free printable preschool homework calendar is available to members of Fun-A-Day’s free email community . If you’re a member, fill out the form below and the download links will be sent to your inbox. If you’re not a member, you can join us by entering your information in the form. Then you’ll receive the printable as a welcome gift!

You can also access the form in a new tab if you’d prefer.

Supplies to Keep at Home

Our homework calendars have some great examples of short learning prompts to give to challenge your children with. On top of those prompts, I think it’s really important to spend quality time playing with your children each day as well.

But it can be difficult to bring out our-inner child to play with our actual child. That’s why I’ve created this list of some things to play with your kids. Check it out below!

I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

• Build with blocks
• Play with toy vehicles
• Pretend play with various play sets
• Play dress up with costumes and masks
• Work a puzzle
• Play age-appropriate games with the whole family
• Bounce, throw, and kick playground balls back and forth
• Color in coloring books or draw pictures
• Read stories
• Draw with sidewalk chalk
• Create crafts
• Let your child decide!

Just follow your child’s lead and the two of you are sure to have a blast! Remember – your child will cherish any time you spend with them. They’ll cherish that quality time even more when you’re investing in them and doing something they love. So don’t worry about embarrassing yourself or looking silly. In my book, the sillier – the better!

Originally published August 8, 2016

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August 8, 2016 at 10:52 pm

What a great idea and the clip art- so cute! I could definitely use this with my little ones!

August 9, 2016 at 12:39 am

Thanks so much, Dana!

August 9, 2016 at 9:27 am

will you have the rest of the months available? this is good!

August 9, 2016 at 10:46 am

Thanks so much, Mary! I’ll be working on the rest of the months soon, yes. Glad you like it. 🙂

August 9, 2016 at 5:21 pm

I would love to win this CD! I am a preschool teacher and would use it for my class. 🙂

August 9, 2016 at 6:39 pm

Wonderful, Stephanie! It’s pretty awesome. 🙂

August 9, 2016 at 7:01 pm

Thank you so much. This calendar is perfect for “homework.” I’d love to buy the rest of your calendars, if you chose to create them!

August 9, 2016 at 9:19 pm

You’re so sweet, thanks Christina! I’ll be working on the rest of the calendars soon! 🙂

August 11, 2016 at 8:48 am

What an awesome calendar and a fun way for “homework” I would use the CD for my preschool room!

August 11, 2016 at 5:00 pm

Thanks, Olivia. 🙂

August 11, 2016 at 2:08 pm

As a kindergarten teacher that is reticent to give “homework,” this calendar is perfect! I can’t wait to utilize it and to see the future months.

I love making different signs and worksheets for my classroom to make things cute and bright and the Kiddlywinks CD would be perfect! No more searching! Thanks so much!

August 11, 2016 at 5:01 pm

Thanks, Maegan! It is a pretty versatile clip art collection! 🙂

August 11, 2016 at 11:33 pm

What a great idea. This is my kind of homework!

August 12, 2016 at 10:02 am

Thanks so much, Danielle!! 🙂

August 12, 2016 at 1:24 pm

Great giveaway! I would love to win and use for these for creating printable for my Homeschooling students.

August 13, 2016 at 9:51 am

Thanks, Jenny! 🙂

August 25, 2016 at 8:21 am

I would love to have the kidillywinks CD for newsletters and preschool activities. I love all of DJ Inkers ciparts and fonts! This CD has some really cute things! Thank you for the homework calendar!

August 26, 2016 at 10:36 pm

Glad you liked it! 🙂

September 19, 2016 at 2:30 pm

Hi!! I really like this calendar! Do you have the rest of the months? I have parent’s who WANT their children to have homework. So I have been looking for easy things to “assign” my 3s. Your calendar is PERFECT!!

September 22, 2016 at 12:11 pm

Thanks, Mary! 🙂 Yes, that’s part of why I started setting up homework too – parents and kiddos who want it coming home. I just updated this post so it has links to where to find the year’s worth of homework calendars , along with where to check out the Preschool Teacher 101 community .

September 19, 2016 at 3:19 pm

I absolutely love this Calendar and want to start using it with my preschool class. I look forward to seeing the other month Calendars that you create! Thank you so much for this!!! It’s such a great way to get the parents more involved.

September 22, 2016 at 12:09 pm

I’m so glad that you like the calendar, Sarah! I just updated this post with the information about where to grab the year’s worth of calendars –> Here at Preschool Teacher 101’s shop . I’d also love for you to check out the resource of Preschool Teacher 101 here .

September 24, 2016 at 9:51 am

Hi Mary Catherine! Love your blog! What a lovely job you’ve done. Was hoping to print out the calendar for use at home, but when I click the link it’s a blank template. Is there another link for the filled out version? Thanks so much and looking forward to following you! 🙂

September 24, 2016 at 8:35 pm

So glad you stopped by Fun-A-Day! 🙂 Here’s the direct link to the printable – https://fun-a-day.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Sept-Cal.pdf . It should pop up as a PDF with the ideas already in there (although you’d be able to edit it). Click in a box to change up the text if you’d like to. 🙂

September 27, 2016 at 1:51 pm

I want to buy your homework calendars but can’t figure out out to purchase them. I am able to put them in a cart but that is all. Do I have to purchase a membership in order to buy them?

September 28, 2016 at 10:41 pm

No, you don’t have to become a member to get the calendars. Once you’ve clicked “Add to Cart”, select “View Cart”. Then click on “proceed to checkout” and enter all the details regarding billing. If you are doing those steps and it is still not working please let me know specifically where you are having trouble, so I can help. Can’t wait to hear what you think of the calendars! 🙂

July 31, 2017 at 5:06 am

Any early childhood teacher that has had child development knows that that kind of pressure on young children is not age appropriate. I would not put recommend a preschool or kindergarten that required their students to do real homework.

I have sent home games that children really like and want to share with parents. I have also suggested games and activities that parents can do with their child to help develop a skill but I always emphasized the need to be careful not to force a child to do an activity.

July 31, 2017 at 11:21 am

Love your ideas! That’s why I like the activity calendars – suggestions for families but no stress if it gets done or not. Definitely no traditional homework (I honestly don’t like it for elementary school either).

September 29, 2022 at 11:12 am

How can I get October- May homework calendars? I will pay for them if you have them for sale on your site. I love your philosophy about hands-on age appropriate activities to foster the love of learning.

October 4, 2022 at 9:49 am

Hi Kristen! You can get an entire year’s worth in our Preschool Teacher 101 shop here . They’re all editable and come with variations for you to choose from. Thanks so much for the kind words! That’s exactly what these are meant to be – hands-on activities that encourage kids and families.

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