If you're a kindergarten teacher who dreams of thematic centers that are BOTH...
Hi there and thanks so much for stopping in today for this post and giveaway! I have eluded to this blog post for a lonnnng time and it’s here finally! So, I hope it’s worth the wait HA! Basically I drug my feet for the blog post because I wasn’t exactly confident that I could do this subject matter justice…that is the subject of adding play back INTO our classrooms. I kind of felt like I wasn’t that “fun enough” teacher that could really relay the message to all of you, but I realized that there isn’t any right or wrong way to explain it…and as teachers we are going to automatically tweak any idea given to us to fit our kiddos needs! So, here are my thoughts on PLAY in the classroom….
Last spring my sister who also taught kindergarten with my team {she is staying home this year because she is expecting} walked into the teacher’s lounge and shared with us this article she read about the importance of play in the classroom. I immediately became defensive and said, “What are you talking about, we play everyday!” You see my students, my class, they are my everything and I NEVER want to think that I could be doing more for them and I’m slacking…and I for sure never want to think I am “hurting” their education in anyway. So, I took a step back and thought about my classroom day. We were learning a lot, I mean a ton! The kids seemed happy enough…I mean they would ask every once in awhile we didn’t get to play with the playdoh everyday like at the beginning of the year, but I simply explained the reasoning behind that and we went on.
So, another month went by and I was really trying hard to be that fun teacher and it was actually easier than I thought…I mean pull out the buzzers when practicing addition facts and using blocks to build structures that were taller or shorter when studying measurement was easy. I quickly became obsessed with adding in play to my room {I’m a zero to sixty kind of person}. I approached my principal when it was time to order supplies for next year and expressed my new love for “fun” in the kindergarten and she totally got it and was on board! She ordered us some new goodies for the year and set a plan in motion for the following school year!
You guys it wasn’t until these new goodies came in and I went ahead and opened them up {like I can just leave them in the classroom without the kids noticing the NEW TOYS} that I truly understood the JOY that came from PLAYING in the classroom! I’m telling you what…it was pure excitement!!!!
In knowing what joy play can bring to the classroom I also think that it is VERY important that we discuss what exactly play is. A lot of times teachers would message me or email me saying…”Don’t you play during your school day…how sad!” And remember that teacher up there ^^^ that takes it personally if she is not being the best she can be for her students yeah that was me when I received those messages. However, even with my new love for play in the classroom you won’t see my schedule changing much. EEK why not? This is why…..we all have a different idea on what play is, but play is simply defined as doing activities for fun and enjoyment. So, we know our kiddos they can have fun doing anything outside the box and enjoyment can come from many experiences within the classroom that don’t necessarily look like traditional “play.”
We have an idea that play is only when we let the kids go on the playground or when we let them play drama {not knocking these I’m all about recess AND don’t worry my bloggy bud KinderGlynn hooked me up with puppets galore}. However, our students can play AKA have fun and enjoyment from a wide range of activities/tasks that 1. are content focused 2. still fit into your classroom day without rearranging schedules. Okay, before we get into all the background of play and what the experts here is a little video about play and how it progresses as children grow!
Below is an excerpt from Instructor.
“Proponents of ramping up standards in early elementary education tend to focus on the numbers. More children learning to read or do math sooner must be good. But these achievements may come at the expense of other skills kids need to learn, such as self-reliance, problem-solving, and spatial thinking.”
That paragraph is very powerful as no teacher will ever disagree that their students come into kindergarten with a lack of social skills, problem-solving skills, and even a lack of imaginative skills! These are all areas that our kindergartners should have and NEED to have…yet they are lacking! So, when thinking about that…it’s nothing we did wrong as their first teacher! The fact of the matter is the world around us is changing vastly. Our students are not “playing” at home like when we were kids. They are using technology more and sometimes they are skipping those major milestones in play development.
Also, the standards placed on us and the framework of our schedules have reduced the amount of play time dramatically. This may or may not be your case, but for the most part students are getting less “free play” and more structured time within their classroom day.
So, we know that our kids NEED play, but come on we can’t not learn our material and we won’t be able to just go to recess all day…what do I do???? Well, here are my thoughts…we must find ways that our students can play to learn! In the midst of playing they are learning! I would like to show you a couple examples so you see what I mean! The photographs were taken right after we got our new goodies! The kids were BEGGING to play, but I needed to find a way to incorporate them into our learning.
In math we were practicing counting on. We were using snap cubes…effective, but we had used them ALL.YEAR.LONG. So, on this day we pulled out the new toys. The students were working with their math partners…they would take turns rolling the number and then the dot cube. They counted on from the number cube so below would be.. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. The students then pulled out that many toys to start their creation. Each time they rolled and got the answer that many toys were added. Did they realize they were learning and playing? Well, maybe…but did they care? Heck no because they were having so much FUN!
These kiddos were using magna tiles and by the end of this number sense game they had made a “castle.”
You see…adding play into our learning IS possible…honestly is just takes more thought time on our part! Do I think we need more play in our classrooms? YES! Do I think we need to kick and scream and throw stones to play more? No..not necessarily. I think we are doing the best we can with the hands we are dealt. For the most part I will assume most of us have standards we have to teach to…and since we cannot change that ourselves we have to adapt and make the best of the situation! I just encourage you to have a “play state of mind” when planning your lessons…if there is a way to bring in a hands-on way to practice the concept then try that! If it is sorting cards at the carpet or a worksheet possibly do the sort a few times a week and the worksheet the other couple! I totally believe that we DO have the capability to bring in play and fun back to kindergarten….it will just be us finding ways to do it that keeps us close to the content we are teaching! In my classroom I will be finding ways to get my kids “hands-on” ways to learn the skill. We will also be taking time to teach important life skills life sharing, taking turns, resolving disputes, and we will be learning how to play alongside our peers! Also, be mindful that a lot of the pictures I show below are the kids using materials, but these materials do not have to be store bought…just changing up the way we teach every so often will really make it fun and enjoyable for the students AKA >>>playful!
So, below I would like to show you some ways I started to add in play to my classroom. Now, remember we didn’t start this until April-May so I will continue to come up with additional ideas for play in our day as this new year starts! I would also like to disclaim that I am not paid and did not receive any payment from Lakeshore Learning to do this post. No teacher has time to read a sales pitch…it just happened that my principal ordered from there and I love Lakeshore and ordered additional material from there!
Okay let’s get started!
On this day we were working on sorting by attributes…these kiddos sorted the Lakeshore 3D builders by color! Sorting and playing!
These kiddos sorted the blocks by size! Oh and built towers in the meantime…towers are always a good time 😉
“Mrs. West you said we could use the LEGOS during math?!?!” Yes! HA! These kiddos sorted the legos by color/size!
Sorting the transportation counters!
In the following pictures we were working on making combinations of ten in math. The students would roll the ten-sided number cube and place that many counters to the side and their partner would then say would number would make ten!
Same make ten fun with family counters!
This was another make ten math lesson and I made these T-Shirt maths as a way for the students to use their snap cubes as “buttons.” Nothing original, but did allow for a breakaway from the usual!
This was a quick and FUN math “battleship” number sense game the kiddos played! Each kiddo had a number board and some teddy bear counters. The students would place their teddy bear on a number and then partner B would say something like, “Do you have a teddy bear on the number that is one more than 16?” If they guessed correctly they got to place that teddy bear on their board! Learning? Yes! Fun? Uh-huh!
On this day we were working on our addition facts so we took our chalk outside and answered our problems! I would state an addition problem and the kiddos would write the problem and answer! Seriously they thought I was the most awesome teacher this day lol!
Here is an example of addition work! On this day I pulled out my JUMBO playing cards and they got to turn over two cards at a time and answer!
I snagged these answer buzzers from the Lakshore store one night they were for sure a HIT! I’m pretty sure you can review anything with relay answer teams 😉
During our study of the three billy goats the kiddos got to make their own bridge and character sticks! They were reenacting the poem and it was adorable!
We also performed the play using our masks for staff members! OH MY the cutest!!!
We also took a few minutes to use our playdoh to make that mean old troll! <<< playdoh win for me! 😉
Crafts! Bring them baaaaaacccck! You’ll see a craft every week in my KinderLiteracy plans! Crafts spark creativity and not to mention they are fun! 🙂
Poetry is also fun and provides enjoyment {the definition of play}! Poetry is something that I truly noticed my kids lacking…they didn’t know nursery rhymes so we have fixed that!!! And why I included every week in my KinderLiteracy units!
Playdoh! I know it doesn’t need an explanation! 🙂
I ordered this huge bucket of cookie cutters from Amazon here! They were loved by all 😉
We also had a lot of fun last year with our PlayStix and Lincoln logs! If you have these kinds of “toys” at home from your own kiddos or can grab them at garage sale they are always loved!
Alright, now that I have this new outlook on play in the classroom I got a few new things to help me! 😉
I just had to have this letter construction set! Hands-on and “fun!”
I did not have a lot of dramatic play items in my classroom so I am slowly building that collection back up! I was able to get this castle play set at Walmart for $7 on clearance!
I also loved this animal match-up activity! Pretty sure you could make something like this for your room easily!
I also needed a Mr. Potato head…was I the only one without one? :'( ha! I am thinking we can for sure use him during math…possibly roll the dot cube and you get to add that many pieces to him!
I also did not have any playdoh cutters for math! So, I now have an instant fun and engaging math center!
The look of my classroom layout also changed with this new play insight! Basically I had all these new goodies and needed a place to store them! I could store my 2 puzzles, box of playdoh, and set of puppets in the closet, but now I had too much fun-ness to fit!
What is in all those bins? Mostly all my Lakeshore goodies! When I approached my principal I knew that I needed to show her meaningful activities and activities that would involve fine motor work and activities that sparked creativity! Here is a look into the containers! All of these are Lakeshore goodies! I’ll start with top left! This is part of the following directions set 3 {I’ll explain it more below}. Top right is nuts and bots…hello fine motor! The middle pictures are creature builders, 3d builders, and magna tiles! The bottom is gear builders, and design builders!
I mentioned the following directions bundles! They are truly awesome! I was a fun teacher and opened these up as one of our choices during daily five. And being that not so fun teacher I was sure worried that they would become a distraction for the other learners but they didn’t one bit! The kiddos worked hard on them and the others worked on their on work until it was their turn! They have step-by-step directions and the students are able to easily follow along and be so proud of their finished creation!
Talk about proud…look at this guy’s work!
And GUESS WHAT?! Lakeshore is so generously letting me giveaway one complete Following Directions bundle to one of you! YIPPEE!!!! You see from below that this set comes with following directions 1, 2, and 3! Click picture below to see more!
To enter the giveaway you’ll sign up below on the rafflecopter! You’ll just leave a comment below before you leave the page stating how you will add in #playingtolearn within your classroom this year!
Okay, how about some easy and practical ways to add in #playingtolearn within your classroom!
Let’s talk about the hashtag #playingtolearn! When you are using play as a way to engage learners in your classroom this year you can use the hashtag #playingtolearn! That way when we search the hashtag we can see what our other fabulous teachers are up to! Here is a post I did last year…
Anyway, if you are mid-lesson and think that to yourself…“Wow this is an awesome way to integrate play into the lesson I should share with others” you can do so with the hashtag! 🙂
This summer I found several fun freebies I am prepping for this new year!
I wanted to share with you a few personal goals I have set for myself this upcoming school year when it comes to #playingtolearn
1. I will allow more time to EXPLORE
2. I will bring back DRAMA
3. I will let the students guide more of our learning through their interests
Well, I sure hope I shed a little light on this subject matter…I think it’s something that will for sure to grow and grow and hopefully will be the next upward trend in education as I firmly believe that we can get that same educational success when we take time to slow down and enjoy the fact that we are five and six! Again, please comment below how you plan to add in #playingtolearn within your classroom and enter the rafflecopter above to win the Lakeshore set! Thanks so much!
