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7 Activities for Social and Emotional Development for Preschoolers

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As a preschool teacher, one of your daily responsibilities is to figure out how to promote children’s social and emotional competence in the classroom. And, while fostering emotional development in early childhood education is an important task, it’s not always easy.

 

At ChildCare Education Institute, we’re dedicated to providing early childhood educators like you with the training and resources necessary to best support your students’ growth and development. And, because we’ve got a number of courses that focus on the topic (including this one), we’re sharing our top seven activities for social and emotional development for preschoolers:

 

Take a look inside a book.

Storytime can be an important tool for teaching your students. In fact, according to several studies, reading can help children spark and grow their imagination; learn the difference between real and make-believe; get to know words, sounds and language; and learn more about their culture and others. So, why not use storytime to further your students’ social and emotional skills, as well?

 

Dedicate at least one circle time per week to reading a book that talks about feelings and/or communication. Additionally, ensure your reading nook is full of relevant titles so students can use their independent reading time to explore the topic even more.

 

Not sure which books to start with? Some of our favorites include:

 

 

Lead students in a daily check-in.

Because students tend to learn better through repetition, having a daily emotions activity is a great way to ensure the skills you’re teaching are built upon and grown. Have your preschoolers start each day with an “emotional check-in” where they take note of how they’re feeling and record it. To do this, create a large board that has some of the most common emotions visually represented (e.g. a happy face with the word “happy” underneath, a crying face with the word “sad” underneath, etc.). Then, have students record their dominant emotion by placing a velcro strip with their name underneath the corresponding face or by clipping the emotion with a monogrammed clothespin. If you don’t have enough space in your classroom for a large emotions board, this activity can also be completed using emotion jars and named popsicle sticks.

 

Create strategy cards.

Strategy cards (like these from Liz’s Early Learning Spot) are one of our favorite activities for social and emotional development for preschoolers. After introducing the concept of anger to your students, spend some time talking about how the feeling can affect our actions. Have your students reflect on the different ways anger has affected them in the past, and talk about how we can take control of our emotions and deal with them in a productive way. Then, share with them that anger management isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution — and that how they choose to deal with their anger may be different from how their neighbor does. Finally, give each student their own set of strategy cards and let them know this can be a resource for them to explore different coping mechanisms. Challenge each student to select one or two strategies to try out the next time they are upset or angry in the classroom.

 

Host a classroom sing-along.

Does your weekly schedule include time for song and dance? If so, use your next music class to further develop your students’ social skills through fun songs like these from Songs for Teaching. Have your students sing along to songs that talk about conflict resolution, social boundaries, empathy and more. After each song, have your kids reflect on what they sang and how they can apply those ideas to their everyday lives.

 

To help demonstrate the students’ new skills to their parents, host a musical showcase where your classroom sings a set of emotional songs and talks about what each means. If you’ve got instruments, have your preschoolers play along.

 

Hold monthly compliment circles.

Show your students what kindness and respect look like in action by hosting regular compliment circles as part of your activities for social and emotional development for preschoolers. During this time, invite all of your kids to join you in a circle on the ground with their legs stretched out. Then, have one student volunteer to start by picking another person in the circle, saying their name out loud and giving them a compliment. The student who received the compliment will say, “Thank you!” and pull their legs in to sit criss-cross. Have students take turns giving out compliments until everyone in the circle has their legs crossed.

 

Once compliment time is over, have students reflect on how it felt to make others smile and to receive a compliment from a friend. Challenge them to continue spreading that joy outside of the classroom walls.

 

Get crafty.

Arts and crafts projects are among the easiest activities for social and emotional development for preschoolers — especially our favorite craft, “What is a good friend?” First, work with your students to create a list of qualities they think are important to have in a friend. This can be done in small groups, in a large circle time setting or individually at their desks. Once the list is created, invite your kids to draw pictures for each of the qualities. For example, if a student says sharing is an important quality, they’ll then draw a picture to represent what sharing looks like. Once all of the pictures have been completed, hang them around the room so students have a reminder of what it looks like to be a good friend.

 

Let the credits roll.

There are few things students (and teachers) love more than an in-class movie day. Cap off a week of feelings-focused lesson plans with a film that will reinforce what your students have been learning. Take breaks throughout the movie to talk about what’s going on with the main characters and ask your students if they can point out some of the things they’ve learned recently in the film. After the movie ends, have your students reflect on what the movie has taught them about emotions and social skills.

 

Don’t know which film to play? We recommend:

 

  • “Inside Out” (all emotions)
  • “Frozen” (friendship)
  • “Cars” (teamwork)
  • “The Good Dinosaur” (grief)

 

Want to learn more about fostering emotional development in early childhood education? Our online professional development courses can help! Click here to explore our 150+ courses on everything from how to promote children’s social and emotional competence to how to strengthen parent-teacher communication.

The Benefits of a Learning Group for Preschoolers

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As an early childhood educator, you’ve likely heard of a learning group before — but do you know how to incorporate them into your classroom, or why they’re so important?

At ChildCare Education Institute, we’re dedicated to providing teachers like you with the highest-quality resources and training for your classroom. And because we’ve got a number of courses that touch on childcare and learning groups (including this one), we’re spilling the beans on everything from the importance of small groups in the classroom to how you can implement them easily and effectively.

What is a learning group?

A learning group is exactly what it sounds like: a small pod of students (usually between three and six) who work together with an adult to improve specific skills. Unlike the traditional “whole group” method of teaching, learning groups allow teachers to better meet the needs and skills of each individual student.

Why should you incorporate learning groups into your classroom?

Incorporating group learning activities for preschoolers into your classroom routine can have a number of benefits for you and your students including:

  • Developmental Growth: Because preschoolers are still developing socially and cognitively, they can easily become overwhelmed in large group settings. By separating your students into smaller pods, it’s easier for them to interact with one another as well as the teacher assigned to their group. The small group setting also provides them with a safe place to practice expressing their thoughts and needs with each other to complete tasks.
  • Interaction Between Peers: By separating your students into small groups, you’re also encouraging them to build relationships with students they might not normally interact with. This structured interaction can help create a more inclusive classroom and can help expose students to other children with different backgrounds and points of view.
  • Cooperation Between Students: When students meet in small groups, they get to practice working together to achieve a common goal. By doing that, they’re able to practice their cooperation skills, along with their communication and sharing abilities. Finally, the group setting is a great way to introduce students to compromising (and the fact that everything won’t always go their way in life).
  • More In-Depth Observation: Small groups also make it easier for teachers and staff to more closely watch each student and observe their behavior when working with others. Not only does this allow for more accurate growth assessments, but it also makes it easier for teachers to note which students need more help in certain subjects.
  • Differentiated Learning: Every student learns and develops at their own pace. By separating students into learning groups based on ability, you’re able to meet children where they are and introduce ideas/activities that are on-par with each student’s skills. These groups can also help you provide specific support to each child to help them move to the next “level” of learning (often called scaffolding instruction).

How should you group your students?

Once you’ve committed to incorporating small group instruction into your classroom, it’s time to decide how you’ll create each group. If your primary goal is to help each student improve their skills, we recommend grouping your students based on similar abilities. You can do this using anecdotal evidence or assessment data.

Other ways to segment your students include mixed ability groups (so they can help teach each other), interest-based groups (to help promote individual interests and foster relationships) and self-selected groups (to allow students the opportunity to select their own peers).

Once you’ve segmented your classroom, set aside a designated space for small group time so your students know where to go when it’s their group’s turn. Be sure to have all materials prepared in advance so students don’t have to wait on anything once they get into their group.

How should the time be structured?

It’s important to remember that childcare and learning groups shouldn’t just be unstructured play time. Instead, have an adult direct students through an activity that requires collective effort from the group. Then, once the task has been introduced, take a step back and let the students work independently to complete it (using the time for individual observation and to give help as needed). While your students complete the activity, be sure to encourage them to work together.  

When should the groups meet and for how long?

Group learning activities for preschoolers are the most effective when they happen daily, so try to schedule in a regular block of time for your groups to meet. Select the duration based on the attention spans of the children within the group — and increase it throughout the year as your students grow and mature. We recommend starting with 10 minutes and then adjusting accordingly.

What group learning activities for preschoolers are best?

When selecting learning group activities for your preschoolers, it’s best to start by determining which skills the members need to work on. Once you’ve settled on the skills, you can then select interactive activities that help develop them. It’s also important to remember that each activity should be adjusted to meet the needs of each individual group. Some of our favorite activities include:

  • Clothesline Names: This literacy project from Pre-K Pages is the perfect way to help students learn letter recognition and fine motor skills. The game can be done with each student’s individual name, or they can tackle it as a team using sight words from earlier lessons.
  • Pass the Ice Cream: Help instill the importance of sharing (while also working on motor skills) with this activity from Sunny Day Family. Your students will have a blast — and they’ll love getting to bring one of their favorite stories to life.
  • Roll and Dot the Number Math Activity: This interactive game from Fun Learning for Kids is a great way to practice math skills with your group. Have students take turns rolling the die and have the rest of the group mark off the corresponding numbers.
  • Imaginative Play: These imaginative play scenarios from Crafty Kids at Home are a fun way to get your students to express their creativity alongside fellow group members. Watch as your students assign different roles to each other and play in their given roles.

Want to learn more about how to best support your students’ growth and development in the classroom through childcare and learning groups? Our online professional development courses can help! Click here to learn more.

Top 5 Reasons to Get Your CDA Certificate

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What is a CDA Certificate?

Whether you’re brand new to the world of early childhood education or have been working with kids for years, obtaining your CDA Credential could be beneficial for many reasons. Before we can talk about the benefits, it’s important to understand – what is a CDA certificate? According to the Council for Professional Recognition, the Child Development Associate Credential is among the most widely known and accepted credentials in early childhood education. The nationally transferable CDA certificate is based on a set of core concepts and competencies that aim to help children successfully move from one developmental stage to the next.

The CDA Credential provides an opportunity for educators working with children from birth to age 5 to demonstrate and strengthen their knowledge, understanding, and practices when teaching in early education. Not only is the CDA Credential important for advancing in your career, but it is also a major professional development learning experience and essential resource moving into the field, making it a great option for both experienced and new educators.

Top 5 Reasons to Pursue Your CDA Certification

Obtaining your CDA Credential is a necessary next step for professional development. The certification process is both challenging and rewarding and will present new opportunities for your career. Let’s take a closer look at why professionals in early childhood education should consider obtaining their CDA Credential.

1. Professional Growth

Anytime you are learning and growing in your career knowledge, you’re investing in your future and professional development. Getting your CDA certification will ensure that you are up-to-date on the latest childhood development research and teaching methods. With the Child Development Associate Credential training program at CCEI, you can build a professional foundation and strengthen your personal capabilities to prepare you for a career in early childhood education and continue to guide you moving forward. Ready to find out how to get a CDA certification? Visit our CDA certification page to get started.

2. Increase Your pay

 In some states, certain centers incentivize early care and education workers with monetary bonuses. When centers have highly qualified staff, they appear more desirable to prospective families. Getting a CDA Credential benefits both you and your workplace. It’s a win-win.

3. Better Job Opportunities

Having your CDA Credential also makes you a better candidate for potential job opportunities. While some centers require CDA Credentials, to others it may help you stand out from other applicants. Almost any potential employer in the early childhood education field will recognize and appreciate the CDA Credential. It also shows that you are invested in being the best educator possible by furthering your own education and knowledge.

4. Meet NAEYC Standards

 The National Association for the Education of Young Children is an organization that promotes high-quality, research-based learning in education centers across the country.  NAEYC lists 10 program standards on their website for families to consider when selecting an early childhood program. One of these standards involves staff competencies and lists CDA Credentials as a requirement for qualifying educators.  NAEYC promotes state and national professional development systems that help individuals in the early childhood field make connections between their training and the classroom.

5. Gain Parents’ Confidence           

Parents and families are more likely to place their trust in educators that have a higher level of training. Your CDA Credential gives parents of the children you work with peace of mind that they’ve left their little ones in good hands. Having a CDA certificate also demonstrates your dedication to the field and communicates that you care enough to continue your own learning. Parents see that you’ve invested time and money into becoming a better educator for their children and it improves the parent-teacher relationship.

These are only a few of the many benefits that come from pursuing your CDA certification. Grow your knowledge, boost your pay and job prospects, and gain the confidence of the parents at your center when you obtain your CDA Credential. Start bettering yourself today and read more about how to get a CDA certification with CCEI.

Classroom Organization Tips for Teachers

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In early learning environments, organization is essential for optimal learning. Proper organization promotes exploration, builds independence, and helps keep children safe. Organized environments can also boost engagement by reducing distractions and cutting down on interruptions to children’s play. There are several areas of organization to consider as an early learning professional.

Furniture

Furniture in early learning environments acts as not only space for work and storage but also helps define the learning centers of the classroom. Here are things to consider when thinking about the organization of the furniture:

  • Storage shelves should be used to indicate boundaries between learning centers. This means, whenever possible, they should be arranged away from walls since walls already present a boundary. Shelves should be low to the ground to reduce blind spots in the classroom.
  • When organizing learning centers create specific spaces for children to explore related materials. Here are a few common learning centers:
      • Blocks and transportation
      • Dramatic play
      • Creative arts and music
      • Math and manipulatives
      • Science
      • Literacy
  • Active centers, such as blocks and dramatic play, should be located away from quiet centers such as literacy or art center.
  • Messy centers (art) and sensory tables should be located close to the sinks to make handwashing convenient.
  • Shelves that store particular materials, such as puzzles, should be located next to the workspace intended for that activity. This means that tables need to be located within the defined learning centers. This helps children easily collect materials for play and return the materials to their proper place when done.
  • Shelves and tables should be arranged to reduce runways that can invite unsafe movement in the classroom. If running in the classroom is a problem, consider adjusting a shelving unit by a few feet to break up the open runway.
  • Furniture should be the correct height and size for the children in the room. Click here for guidance.
  • Inspect rugs for frayed fabric that should be removed. Remove or reposition any rugs that curl up at the ends to prevent tripping and other accidents.
  • Include space for children to work together in large and small groups. Children should have options to work in different group sizes, and independently, throughout the day.
  • Organization of furniture and learning centers should include a quiet calming space that children can opt to visit when overwhelmed or in need of a break from the large group. Just like adults, sometimes children need time away to decompress. This area should be easily supervised, while still providing space to be away from the group.

Supplies and Materials

In early learning environments, materials and supplies should be made available for children to explore. This can pose a problem if there is not a clear way of organizing materials. Teachers should spend time teaching children about the organizational system that exists in the environment.

  • Orient the children to what each center looks like when it is cleaned up. Post a picture of the cleaned-up learning center in the center so children have a reference. Practice cleaning up and recognize that this can be a daunting task for children. Break the task down into manageable tasks and adjust your expectations to meet the children where they are, developmentally speaking. Doing so reduces frustration and builds independence.
  • To help children understand the organizational system, use visual cues. Bins should have a label and a picture of the materials that should be placed in the bin. The shelf where the material is stored should have the same label attached to it.  You can take a picture of the materials or cut out pictures from a magazine.
  • Using learning centers can cut down on the spread of materials across the room. For example, if you have defined your block area with a rug and some shelving units, children will learn that that is the space for building.  If you place science materials on a shelf next to a table, children will learn to use that table to explore the science materials. Doing so will prevent materials from different learning areas from spreading all over the room. Of course, materials from learning centers can “visit” other learning centers, but you certainly would not want a child to start finger painting all over the library center.
  • If you have room for storage, you have the opportunity to rotate materials every so often. As you observe children, notice the toys that they are playing with and those that they are not playing with. Perhaps the ignored materials are too easy, or too challenging, for the children. Those materials can be shared with another classroom, or stored in a closet until children are ready to explore that toy. Having novel materials in the classroom help to reengage children with the materials in the learning environment.
  • Dramatic play materials can be stored in theme-related prop boxes. Prop boxes can be rotated between classrooms (after proper cleaning) or stored in the closet. Prop box themes can include anything from housekeeping to airport to pet store and much more. All those materials out at the same time can become too overwhelming for young children, preventing them from engaging in meaningful exploration.

Children’s Personal Belongings

The learning environment belongs to the children. They spend hours of each school day in the classroom and should feel at home in the space. Children’s cubbies should be a space where personal items are stored.

  • Provide bins that are large enough for the materials that will be stored in cubbies.
  • Place pictures of children’s families on their cubbies (and around the room, as well) to help children feel at home.
  • Use sturdy folders to store papers and forms for families.
  • Cubby areas tend to become cluttered with personal belonging and should be inspected each week for items that can be sent home.
  • Consider paperless family communication tools that can reduce the clutter in the cubby area and ensure that no important forms get lost.
  • Children’s belongings include the works that they create. Common display options include bulletin boards. Unique works of art should be displayed and kept fresh based on curriculum topics.
  • In addition to artwork, teachers can also take pictures of children’s construction efforts, playdough creations, and sorting piles. These pictures can also be displayed as a way of highlighting learning and building self-esteem.

In a classroom with 10-20 children, things can become very disorganized, very quickly. Teachers should develop daily, weekly, and monthly tasks to stay on top of the organization of materials and personal belongings. Develop helpful checklists, divvy up the tasks, and involve the children in maintaining the organization of their classroom environment.

Teaching is an incredibly rewarding and demanding profession. Remaining organized in and out of the classroom is a challenge for many educators, especially when resources are scarce. Many teachers feel that a disorganized classroom negatively impacts the effectiveness of their teaching methods and materials, potentially even resulting in missed learning opportunities. Fortunately, there are a few simple classroom organization tips for teachers that can save time and create efficiencies.

1 | Start Organizing by Decluttering

The best way to begin any organizational process is by eliminating what is not needed and then slowly adding more items as they become necessary. If it’s not useful or mission critical, find another loving home. This is particularly true if you’re organizing a small classroom where every inch counts. After removing unnecessary furniture and clutter, empty out the currently available storage spaces. A foundational principle of effective organization is that items to be stored must adapt to the space available, not vice versa. This means that you will want to visualize all of the available (or potentially available) storage space before going any further. Once all of the storage spaces are emptied and the furniture has been arranged for maximal spatial efficiency, you might be able to picture the space in a completely new light and reimagine the layout. Once the space is set, it’s much easier and faster to incorporate the remaining classroom organization tips for teachers covered in this article.

2 | Use the Classroom Walls

Go off the walls! While some classroom walls are covered in charts, maps and pictures, many are also barren and underutilized. There are an almost endless number of ways to use the flat, straight edge of a wall for more storage space. Some common ways include the following suggestions:

  • Distribute or receive assignments, store papers and much more by pinning or taping folders to the wall. If done properly, cardstock folders should create perfect pockets for storage, allowing you or students to customize their own!
  • Put up wall-mounted bookshelves, which are easily accessible and also display the available options with the covers facing out – enticing younger readers particularly well.
  • Let art projects dry by stringing clothesline along the width of a wall, high enough off the ground to avoid being knocked inadvertently but low enough for all to admire.

3 | Use Vertical Storage Solutions

Since effective organization for school teachers is all about managing constraints, it’s almost certain that you’ll have to save space by incorporating vertical storage components. Simple vertical storage solutions include standard bookshelves; especially those that mount directly to the wall as they protrude less into the room. Many teachers also utilize vertical storage bins, which can be great for holding entire activities or the personal belongings of a student as the bins are more private than a shelf and keep everything together in an organized way. The biggest benefit of vertical storage solutions is that they create more floor space that can be used for seating, walkways, tables or other physical activities.

4 | Stretch Storage Space Further

Get even more out of your existing shelves, cabinets or other furniture by installing dividers, pull-out racks or other in-cabinet storage solutions that make the space more functional. These storage solutions are specifically designed to help you fit more items, or items of a specific size and shape, in an enclosed area.

5 | Label Everything

Organization for school teachers is not just about clever storage solutions or creative management processes. Fundamentally, effective organizational practices for teachers are about making it easier to find what you need, when it’s needed. Clear labeling will help you find things faster and help students understand exactly where to put items away. Use consistent naming schemes and structure so that you don’t have to guess when reading a cryptic label.

6 | Recycle and Reuse Household Items

There are many ways to save money and get creative with storage containers. Old or unused items that most people have in their own homes or workplaces can be repurposed to hold pencils, desk items, craft supplies, personal belongings, school projects, and much more. One of the best parts about reusing old containers is that you won’t feel stressed if one breaks or gets messy. After all, that’s their purpose! Household items that are commonly repurposed for classroom use include:

  • Mason jars
  • Milk or juice cartons
  • Crates
  • Vases
  • Soda boxes

7 | Keep Student and Teaching Information Organized

Another key way in which organization for school teachers differs from other occupations is the additional level of preparedness required to accommodate a substitute teacher, a new student or any of other surprises that threaten classroom stability and lesson plan continuity. Adequately addressing these unforeseen disruptions requires a different kind of organizational endeavor: information management. Some of the top classroom organization tips for teachers from other teachers include the following:

  • Have a designated folder with extra materials set aside for new students, or for a substitute teacher that might have to take over at a moment’s notice.
  • Create and always have handy a classroom roster for notes, roll call, etc.
  • Consider sending a brief email newsletter that keeps parents in the loop. This can be an excellent way to ensure that students have what they need each day, and that families are well informed.

While organization for school teachers might look different depending on individual preferences, following these tips will hopefully help you be successful in organizing your classroom to become the most efficient and accommodating space for teaching students year after year.