Kindergarten Classroom Procedures: 5 Ways to Make Them Fun and Playful

Making Kindergarten Classroom Procedures Playful

Read About It  

Use a fun book to set the stage for the classroom procedure you are about to introduce. I like to read, Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein when introducing good listening habits.  It’s a humorous story about a little chicken who keeps interrupting his Papa as he reads him bedtime stories.

We then put a picture of the chicken on a craft stick and whenever someone interrupts, I hold up the chicken to remind them to raise their hands to speak.  The kids love both the book and the “chicken on a stick” and it’s a playful way for children to remember to wait their turn to speak.

Create Gestures for the Procedures

Many routines involve several steps. Create a hand motion for each step and use them as you name the steps to a routine or procedure.  Invite children to “mirror” you so they can learn the motions.

I incorporate “silent signals,” into our procedures for getting drinks, tissues, and using the bathroom. Children love learning this “secret code,” and they are much less disruptive to use during teaching times.

And you don’t have to know sign language to use this strategy, just make up the motions as you go along or ask the kids for their ideas.

Sing the Classroom Procedures

Create a little “ditty” to help children sing the steps of a classroom procedure. Just take a familiar tune such as Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and change the words. Don’t worry about how good it is or how well you sing (just apologize to your teaching assistant in advance), the kids will love it!

In the beginning of the year, I sing this Unpacking Song as they enter the classroom and begin to do their “Hello Jobs.”

There are a lot of steps and it can be a bit much for some of my kids to remember. This keeps them focused on the task, while reminding them of the steps, and soon they are singing along too.

Act Out the Procedures

It helps to get them up and moving any way you can while introducing the new procedures. Using a guided practice model such as,  I Do, We Do, You Do, can help with this. Here’s how it works.

First, model the correct steps while children watch you. (I Do)
Next, choose a few children to act out the steps while classmates watch. (We Do)
Last, invite all students to give it a try, while you observe and provide support as needed. (You Do) 

And don’t hesitate to keep “practicing” those procedures on successive days, as it will take time for them to become secure. We use a We Practice. We Do. board to help us keep track of those procedures we’ve got down and those we are still working on.  I project this onto our Smartboard and we move a checkmark onto each procedure that has been introduced and then a star onto those we are doing well with.

Use Playful Props

Use puppets or stuffed animals to role play and model desired behaviors. I use a big stuffed teddy bear to model our listening position, how to do a turn and talk, and how to raise his hand to speak.

Brown Bear, as we call him, makes silly mistakes and the kids absolutely love him and learn both the right and wrong way to do each classroom procedure.

Kindergarten Classroom Procedures Made Easy

By incorporating multi-sensory strategies, such as books, gestures, songs, movement, and props, into the process of introducing classroom procedures, those first days of school will be a bit more fun and exciting for your new class of kinders.

If you are struggling with what to teach about each classroom procedure, check out the digital Routines and Procedures Kick-Off Deck, that uses a guided practice approach to help children easily learn those beginning of the year routines.  Each slide makes it easy for you break down the procedure and uses a I Do, We Do, You Do model to help children practice it. There are also blank slides included so you can create your own or add additional notes and ideas about the procedures included.

The Routines and Procedures Deck is one of 6 digital decks, that when used together, help you create a complete kick-off plan.

By combining the slides in these decks, you can easily create your first day of school and beyond until all areas of your kindergarten program are up and running.

For more information on all things Kindergarten, check out the Roots & Wings Resource Library.