A Tip from Kindergarten--Stations!

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Sometimes in storytime I set up an activity that the children swarm.  All of them want to do it first thing and very quickly there isn’t enough room for everyone or enough of the activity to go around.  Then kids get hurt feelings or maybe a little aggressive because they want to be in on it.  Here’s a trick from the Kindergarten classroom that that easily be used in storytime to help all children enjoy the activities you have…just not all at the same time.

This is also a great tool to encourage and develop executive function skills—yes, the dreaded, “waiting your turn”.  Here’s what I did during Art Week that made the flow so much smoother:

I had three tables set up with three art projects as well as an area with toys.  Each of the tables had a different table cloth/paper covering.  I decided how many kids could comfortably be at each art table, then cut out scraps of colored paper to match the color of the table cloths.  I then passed out the colored squares of paper to the children (making sure sibling got the same color) and they were to start at the table with the same color table cloth as their square.

Here’s how that looked:

• Red Table—Can You Paint with That?  There was enough room for 6 kids, so I passed out 6 red colored squares.
• Black Table—Chalk Art  There was enough room for 4 kids, so I passed out 4 black colored squares.
• Green Table—Painting with Ice with enough room for 4 kids, so I passed out 4 green squares.
• I cut up a bunch of yellow squares to pass out last—which was to play with the toys first.

I told the parents/caregivers what I was doing…and why…and threw in the bit about how this would be something kids would be expected to do in Kindergarten.  I was pleasantly surprised that the parents/caregivers really helped the kids follow through with waiting their turn as well as watching when a station had an open spot.  Even the kids who had to play first did a great job waiting to go to an art station.

You can use this “trick” with almost any group of activities you put out—especially if this is one you think the children will swarm.