Are you running out of ideas to make Circle time more fun and exciting in your Preschool? If yes, then we’ve got you covered!
Preschool, nursery, or pre-kindergarten schools are transitional educational institutions that help develop preliminary skills in children between the ages of 3 to 5 years and allow them to easily transition to the traditional educational environment.
Preschools provide children with age-appropriate learning opportunities that help them venture out of their comfort zones and play with activities and toys that stimulate learning.
Preschools are more than just fun and games, in fact, each element in a preschool helps isolate and develop specific skills.
Preschool Circle time is the most exciting and paramount element of the preschool learning environment.
Preschool circle time is a perfect opportunity for promoting socialization among children and introducing exciting activities.
Whether it is singing, dancing, running, or partaking in pretend play activities, Circle Time activities encourage preschoolers to indulge in fun collaborative activities and develop crucial social, cognitive, physical, emotional, gross motor, and fine motor skills.
If you are an educator or guide in a preschool running out of ideas and activities to introduce to your students during Circle Time, look no further.
Here is all you need to know about Preschool Circle Time Activities to help you find the ones that will not only keep your students engaged and entertained but will also facilitate holistic development.
What is Circle Time in Preschool?
Circle time in preschools is a common collaborative activity to develop positive social relationships with their peers.
Circle Time activity in preschool is ideally set up in a designated area either near a whiteboard or a library and must be on a special rug or a mat.
Children when partaking in Preschool Circle Time activity are supposed to sit in a circle along with their classmates and indulge in interactive play activities.
What is the Purpose of Preschool Circle Time?
Circle time activity in preschools is a fun collaborative activity that involves the participation of the whole classroom.
This fun activity for preschoolers is a great way of encouraging children to develop vital skills like collaboration, cooperation, respect, unity, and sportsmanship from a very young age.
Preschool Circle Time encourages children to indulge in fun and exciting activities and work towards the same goal.
Circle time can also be used for conflict resolution and classroom issues like too much noise, disobedience, not following instructions, or teasing.
Another aim of Preschool Circle Time is that these activities allow children to work together, put forth their thoughts and views, as well as help children develop crucial communication skills.
What are the Benefits of Preschool Circle Time?
Preschoolers are active, curious, inquisitive, and just beginning to establish their independence.
During the preschool stage of development, children require toys and activities with direct directions that stimulate learning.
But, Circle Time in a preschool is more than just children simply sitting around in a circle, in fact, this fun activity promotes the development of a myriad of preliminary skills and foundational skills in children:
- Helps develop social skills in children
- Allows children to develop an understanding of their behaviors and attitudes toward others
- Facilitates emotional development and improves self-esteem in children
- Develops a sense of community and responsibility in children
- Enforces positive relationships between teachers, guides, and peers
- Improves speaking, communication, and language skills in children
- Allows children to develop vital social skills to easily adapt to the traditional educational environment
A List of the Best Preschool Circle Time Activities for Children:
Preschool Circle Time Activities not only help bring students in a classroom together but also effectively facilitate holistic development all the while catering to their curiosity.
It can be quite difficult for a guide or an educator to come up with fun and exciting circle time activities for preschoolers that would keep the classroom entertained and exhilarated.
If you are an educator or teacher looking for fun circle time activities to spark the student’s interest, look no further.
Here is a list of the best Preschool Circle Time activities for children to help brighten things up and keep the classroom activity sessions exciting:
Dance Freeze:
Allow preschoolers to indulge in this fun and exciting dynamic movement circle time activity.
This circle time activity for preschoolers involves some joyful music, an open space, and children’s creative imagination.
The Dance Freeze Circle Time activity allows children to develop their gross motor skills and spatial awareness by allowing them to indulge in open-ended physical play activities with peers.
Bug in a Rug:
Who says circle time activities are just meant for developing social skills in children? The Bug in Rug Circle Time activity promotes children to enhance their focus and memory in a fun and exciting way.
Encourage one child to hide under the blanket placed in the middle of the circle and allow children to identify which of their friends is missing.
Collaborative Painting Activity:
Painting, arts, and crafts activities are a great outlet for enhancing your child’s creative imagination.
The collaborative circle time painting activity for preschoolers allows children to put in a collective effort to create a masterpiece.
For this activity, you will require a large plain white sheet, vibrant paints, and your student’s creative imagination.
Simply place the white sheet in the middle of the circle and promote children to pass the sheet around and paint anything they like.
Not only does this engaging circle time activity helps develop social skills and artistic skills in children but it also develops fine motor skills in children.
Shake the Sillies out with a Song:
This fun preschool circle time activity is as fun as it sounds! The Shake the Sillies out with a song Circle time activity promotes children to take a brain break by dancing together to joyful songs.
This fun circle time activity allows children to blow off some steam, especially after a busy study day.
Pass the Movement:
Passing the movement circle time activity for preschool allows children to develop their memory, focus, and gross motor skills by partaking in a fun engaging dynamic movement activity.
This activity is just like the broken telephone activity but instead of passing around a secret verbal message, the children have to imitate the movement of the peer ahead of them.
Story Props:
The story props circle time activity gives children the ability to bring their imagination to reality.
This fun activity involves some creativity on both teacher’s and student’s parts as the teacher has to create fun, exciting, and captivating puppets before the activity begins.
Teachers or guides can also create theme-based or festival and season-based puppets to promote children to indulge in fun circle time collaborative activities.
Animal Movement:
This Preschool circle time activity allows preschoolers to develop basic cognitive skills like memorization, and identification as well as enhances their vocabulary.
This fun circle time activity encourages children to not only imitate how an animal speaks but also they move.
For example, ask children “What does a dog say?” and ask “How does a dog move?” let children enjoy and have the best time of their lives by imitating and moving like different animals.
The Feelings Book Activity:
Who says reading books is monotonous and boring? This preschool circle time activity makes reading books fun and exciting!
The Feeling Book by Todd Parr is a great way of promoting children to meaningfully and rationally deal with their emotions.
This book fashions different cartoon images that depict different emotions to help children develop their emotional skills and social skills.
Daily Weather Chart:
The Daily Weather Chart Preschool Circle Time Activity helps children develop their vocabulary and cognitive skills.
For this activity, you will require a printable coloring weather chart, some colors, and the child’s recognition and identification skills.
This activity promotes children to indulge in scientific exploration and observation all the while developing their vocabulary and mathematical skills.
Alphabet Soup Game:
This fun Preschool Circle Time Activity allows children to identify and recognize different alphabets to develop their basic language skills.
Simply place plastic alphabets in a bowl filled with water and promote children to pick up the alphabet and identify them.