The Best Preschool Circle Time Tips

Circle Time Tips for Preschool

Are you looking for ways to improve your circle time to make it more fun and engaging for your preschool or pre-k students? Or maybe you’re in need of a good circle time routine that includes songs and games to spice things up? Either way, you’re in the right place! Here you’ll learn the purpose of circle time, how long it should be, how to manage it, the best circle time songs and games… and more!

The Best Preschool Circle Time Tips

Circle Time 101: What is it?

Circle time is an important part of any high-quality early childhood program. Each day, you gather together with your entire class in your circle time area to engage in activities such as reviewing your daily schedule, singing a welcome or good morning song, and reading a story.

Picture Schedule Cards for Preschool

What is the Purpose of Circle Time in Preschool?

It used to be that circle time was viewed by many early childhood educators as a way to “teach” children important academic concepts like shapes, colors, numbers, and letters – with calendar and weather thrown in for good measure.

But the thinking around this practice has evolved as more research has emerged about how young children learn best and how their brains acquire new knowledge. We now know that young children retain information more quickly if it is meaningful to them and presented in short increments to match their attention spans. Abstract concepts such as the calendar aren’t very meaningful to kids, and reporting on the weather each day doesn’t have many educational benefits.

In the classrooms of today, the main purpose of circle time is to set the tone for the day. Reviewing the schedule will help your students feel safe and secure because they will know what comes next.

How long should circle time be

How Long Should Preschool Circle Time Be?

Every good preschool teacher knows that young children have very short attention spans. I think most preschool teachers would agree that getting their kids to pay attention during circle time can be challenging at times.

The reason some young children struggle to pay attention during circle time is that we’re teaching beyond the capacity of their attention spans. So, can you keep your kids engaged during circle time while still accomplishing your goals? Yes, absolutely!

To keep circle time short you limit it to no more than 2 or 3 minutes per year of age for the children in your classroom. When done properly, the time spent in large group is brief and focused, but it is still very powerful.

What do you do at circle time

What Do You Do at Preschool Circle Time?

Your circle time routine should include the following:

  • Welcome or Good Morning Song that remains the same each day
  • Picture schedule review for the day
  • Read a story
  • Movement activities (sing songs with movement)
  • Group games or activity

You may also choose to briefly discuss an issue or noticing you’ve had with your students during this time.

Here’s a collection of the best preschool songs you can use in your classroom.

If you need some fun games to you can play with your kids, these Hide and Seek Number Games are always a huge hit in the early childhood classroom!

how to manage circle time

How to Manage Circle Time

Managing your circle time effectively can be challenging, you’ve got to balance your circle time activities, and establish a solid routine that keeps young children engaged. In the list above, notice how reading a story, a passive activity, was followed by a movement activity – this structure honors how the brain of a young child works.

If we were to break it down by minutes allotted for each activity here is what it would look like:

  • Good Morning Song: no more than 2 minutes
  • Picture schedule review: no more than 2 minutes
  • Story: 5-7 minutes (5 minutes or less in the beginning of the school year)
  • Movement song: no more than 2-3 minutes
  • Group game: 4-5 minutes (this is something you can work up to, they won’t be ready in the beginning of the school year)

The Best Preschool Circle Time Routine

The most effective circle time routine for any class includes a balance of active and passive activities. Another essential element is limiting the amount of time spent in large group activities to no more than 2-3 minutes per year of your age group. As young children mature during the school year, your circle times may become longer to match their growing attention spans.

Watch the Video

Calendar Time in Preschool

Calendar Time in Preschool

Above, you can see our whole group meeting area. Some teachers refer to this as Circle Time or Calendar Time, while others may use the term Morning Meeting. I hung this oil drip pan on the wall using Command Strips. We use this as our whole group area for Morning Meeting.

You can learn more about our calendar time routine and how it works HERE.

Birthday Bulletin Board Display

Birthday Bag Display

There are twelve bags hanging above our birthday bulletin board, each bag is labeled with a different month. Each student’s name and birth date is printed on a people shaped craft stick, and then the sticks are placed in the appropriate bags. At the beginning of each month we take a bag down to see which birthdays are coming soon, then we mark the dates on the calendar so we won’t forget the important birthdays.

Read more about how to celebrate birthdays in your classroom.

Square Picture Schedule Cards

How to Plan for Preschool Circle Time: Daily Schedule

My best circle time tip is to review your daily picture schedule consistently. While it may seem boring to us as adults to review the schedule daily, having consistency and routine is something that young children need in order to feel safe and secure in their environment. Having a consistent, predictable routine lets young children know “what comes next.” When your students know and feel comfortable with their daily routine, they will learn more.

You, as the teacher, can add variety and novelty to your circle time activities to pique your student’s interest and keep them engaged, but the routine during this time should be predictable.

Our daily schedule is displayed on the oil drip pan, a magnet is moved at the beginning of every transition to indicate what we are doing. You can also display these cards in a pocket chart and use a clothespin to indicate each activity.

You can read more about the daily schedule and how you can use it HERE.

Classroom Helpers Chart

Classroom Helpers

Circle time is a good time to review or assign helper jobs. You can quickly and easily select and rotate your classroom helpers with this library pocket system.

You can learn more about these classroom helper jobs and how they work HERE.

Attendance Chart for Preschool and Kindergarten

Interactive Attendance Chart

Each morning when the children arrive, they find their name card on the table and “sign-in” by placing their card in the appropriate column on the chart. During our morning meeting we can count how many students are here today, how many are absent etc. The cards pictured here are printed on Avery Magnet Sheets and the attendance chart is on an oil drip pan.

Circle Time Dos and Don’ts

There are some things you should always do during circle time, and others you should avoid. The keys to a successful circle time include:

  • Time: Limit the time spent to no more than 2-3 minutes per year of the child’s age.
  • Routine: Stick to a consistent, predictable routine.
  • Balance: Alternate your activities between active and passive.
  • Flexibility: If things aren’t going well, adjust accordingly.

Circle Time Mistakes to Avoid

Try to avoid these outdated practices:

    1. Assigning Seats: Some teachers feel it’s important to assign a spot to each child during circle time. While it may not seem like a big deal to us as adults, making their own choices about where to sit is very important to young children. You can allow them to select their seats, then you can make “suggestions” based on their choices.

    2. Sitting Criss-Cross: While it may seem necessary to require your students to sit this way during your large group time, it really isn’t. As long as students aren’t bothering others and they’re still participating and paying attention, then it really shouldn’t matter how they sit. You might suggest some different seating options, especially for those students who find it difficult to sit in the more traditional criss-cross style.

    What About Show and Tell?

    3. Show and tell is another throwback to a bygone era that is no longer effective or necessary. While show and tell may have been started with the very best of intentions, it no longer meets the needs of today’s young children. The origins of this practice go back to a time when the purpose of preschool was entirely different than it is today. Today, we have more effective ways to develop oral language skills and turn taking in the classroom without excessive wait time or a misplaced emphasis on consumerism.

    Research has shown that the most effective way for young children to develop oral language skills (and the importance of taking turns) is through peer-to-peer conversations. This tells us that young children’s time is much better spent talking and interacting with their friends in informal settings such as recess and center time.

    For a more structured oral language activity, you can invite students to participate in the narration and retelling of a favorite story by acting it out.

    How to Get Kids to Pay Attention During Circle Time

    Watch the video above or read this blog post for tips to help your kids pay attention during large group activities.

    How to Handle Interruptions in the Classroom

    If your kids frequently interrupt during whole group activities watch this video for tips that can help.

    7 Tips for Reading Aloud to Kids

    If your kids have difficulty listening to you when you read a story, then you’ll want to read my best tips HERE.

    The Teaching Trailblazers

    Having a successful circle time routine is awesome! But let’s face it, circle time is only one small part of your day. If you really want to become a better teacher, the best place to discuss teaching best practices and get the support you need is in the Teaching Trailblazers. We have many printable lessons and on-demand video trainings to help you become the best teacher you can be! If you want to get on the waiting list for the Teaching Trailblazers, do it soon so you don’t miss the next open enrollment period!

    More Teaching Tips from Pre-K Pages

    Classroom Rules
    a picture of 3 different daily schedules printed on colorful paper and laying flat on a table with colorful markers
    [Image: How to prevent kids from biting]
    calendar time tips
    multisensory activities
    a colorful collage of 6 photos showing different fine motor activities
    Cutting Practice Ideas for Preschool
    Movement Songs for Preschoolers

5 thoughts on “The Best Preschool Circle Time Tips”

  1. Pingback: Creating a Preschool Circle Time

  2. Pingback: Creating a Preschool Circle Time - Teaching 2 and 3 year olds

  3. just discovered your site! great stuff. I work as a Library Assistant in a small city library in NY. I do Toddler and Preschool groups as well as a Tail Waggin’ Tutor program and a first picture book discussion group with 1st-3rd graders. Not sure when this fb live feed was broadcast but good stuff!! Thank you, Bonnie

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *