Launching Choice Time Centers at the Beginning of the Year

Inside: Find tips on the best way to slowly roll out your choice time centers to ensure a smooth start to the new school year.

The First Day of Kindergarten

It’s usually about thirteen minutes into the first day of kindergarten when I hear,

“When can we paint?”

“When can we use the trains?”

“What are those rocks for?”

I’m showing them where their lunch bag goes, but this is what they REALLY want to know!

The Gift of Choice Time Centers

So, here’s what I tell them:

Each center is like a big, beautiful present waiting to be opened.

Then I ask,

Is opening presents the first thing you do when you get to a birthday party? NO! You usually have to wait a little bit, right?

Do you open all of your presents at once or one at a time? ONE AT A TIME!

Well, it’s the same with our choice time centers.  We have to wait a bit before we begin opening them and we will open them one at a time.

The Grand Opening 

In addition to having a ready response to my kiddos’ questions, I also have a solid plan for opening and introducing each center during the first weeks of kindergarten.

Here are my “grand opening” tips and ideas to get you started:

• String crepe paper, ribbon, or rainbow pennants across unopened centers so you can “unwrap” each one by cutting or removing the ribbons or flags. 

• Open 1 new center each day.  Share your roll-out plan with kids so they can anticipate which center they will learn about each day in those first weeks of school. See my free Ten-Day Kick-Off Plan to see the order in which I launch each center.

• Begin with centers in which you have the most materials since the whole class will be working at these 2 centers in the beginning.  I start with blocks and math because I have a lot of blocks and math manipulative. Since they all won’t fit inside the center space, I pull out the bins and temporarily extend their work space to floor or table areas in other parts of my room.

• Use a similar routine for your “grand opening” to provide consistency and a predictable language around center use.  For example, my introduction to the block center focuses around these four questions: What is a builder? What do builders do? Where do builders work? What tools do builders use? I use this same format for opening all of the centers in my Kindergarten Kick-Off Plan.

• Dismiss children by asking, “Who would like to work in the ___________ center today? Invite children to raise hands or stand up to show their interest.  If too many children raise their hand for one center, ask for volunteers to choose a different center.