Preschool Classroom Rules

Classroom Rules

As a preschool or pre-k teacher, it’s essential to establish a few simple and straightforward preschool classroom rules to help your students learn how to be safe in the classroom environment. Classroom rules work best when they accompany a well-designed environment, age-appropriate lessons and activities, and strong relationships.

Classroom Rules for Preschool and Kindergarten

Easy to Understand Classroom Rules

Because preschoolers are still developing their short-term memory, they can’t be expected to remember more than 3-5 classroom rules. The younger the child, the fewer rules. The more rules you have, the more difficult they’ll be for young children to remember.

Printable Classroom Rules for Preschool

Short and Simple Rules for Preschool

Did you know that young children in preschool and pre-k understand short sentences better than long sentences? This relates to the short-term memory mentioned above. It only makes sense that your classroom rules should also be comprised of short sentences. An example of a short rule is “walking feet,” as opposed to a long rule like, “We use walking feet in the hallway to keep our friends safe.”

Having simple rules will be much easier for young children to understand and remember. Here’s an example of short and simple rules below:

  • Helping Hands
  • Listening Ears
  • Quiet Voices
  • Walking Feet

Rules Poster for Preschool

The Role of Visuals in Preschool Classroom Rules

Visual aids are incredibly helpful in a preschool classroom. Since preschoolers are just beginning to learn that print has meaning, adding one visual (picture) to each of your rules will help them better understand the meaning of the rules.

If you really want your students to learn the rules, then add physical actions along with picture cues to your rules. These rules with physical actions have proven effective in the preschool classroom due to their simplicity and clarity.

  • Helping Hands (hold out hands)
  • Listening Ears (tug on earlobe)
  • Quiet Voices (finger on lips)
  • Eyes Looking (point to eyes)
  • Walking Feet (make a walking motion with fingers)

Positive Behavior Management for Preschoolers

Effective Classroom Rules

When you combine auditory, visual, and physical cues with your rules, your students will:

  • Hear you say the rule aloud (verbal/auditory cue)
  • See the picture (visual cue)
  • Make the motion with their hands (physical cue)

This highly-effective combination can increase retention among preschool children, playing an active role in their learning.

Classroom Rules for Preschool

Creating Positive Rules for the Preschool Classroom

Avoid vague or abstract terms when choosing classroom rules, as they can be confusing or difficult for young children to understand. Abstract rules might include words that young children don’t understand or know the meaning of, like “respect,” “obey,” or “responsible.”

Because preschoolers are not yet developmentally ready to connect their own behavior to the word “don’t,” it’s important to phrase your classroom rules in a positive way. For example, use the phrase “hands are for helping” instead of the phrase “no hitting!” or “don’t hit!” Focus your efforts on what your students should do instead of what they shouldn’t.

When you focus on the positive instead of the negative, your classroom environment will also be a happier, more positive one.

The rules pictured on this page can be found inside of the Visual Routines Bundle.

Ready to Learn Printable Book

Introducing Classroom Rules to Young Children

For native English speakers, co-creating rules with children is recommended. However, in classrooms with non-native speakers or very young children, this is not always a practical approach.

I highly recommend introducing each rule separately, focusing on one each day to prevent overwhelming your little learners. If you focus on introducing a different rule each day during the first week of school, by the end of the week you will have introduced them all! Reviewing the rules daily will help establish a solid foundation for learning.

Editable Classroom Rules for Preschool

Where to Put the Classroom Rules

Once you’ve determined your classroom rules, post these rules at children’s eye level around the classroom, featuring diverse images to make them inclusive and relatable.

Rules are an important part of an effective classroom environment. Place your rules in areas of the school or classroom where you are most likely to need them, such as:

  • Large Group: Poster
  • Hallway and Playground: Cards on a ring

Having your rules available in the classroom and throughout the school allows quick and easy access to them whenever they’re needed.

Reading a book about your classroom rules is another way you can introduce and reinforce the rules in your classroom. The printable classroom rules books shown here can be found inside of the Visual Routines Bundle.

Pre-K Classroom Rules

How to Teach Rules to Preschoolers

When it comes to explaining or teaching the rules to the entire class, I explain that learning is like “getting smart” and to learn we must follow the classroom rules. This is when I introduce the rules chart with visual cues.

Start by reading the rules aloud as you point to each one on the chart. After the first few weeks of daily review during large group, switch to having a class helper point to the rules on the picture chart and say them aloud as the rest of the class chants along. This process helps children internalize and take ownership of the rules.

  • Modeling Rules: Preschool teachers can explicitly model the rules in action and engage in role-playing to reinforce them. This approach, though time-consuming, is crucial for young children to internalize and practice the rules.
  • Be a Rule Role Model: As you go about your daily classroom routine, think out loud about the rules. For example, if you want to communicate with your co-teacher, you might say something like, “I need something from Ms.X, I wonder if I should yell across the room or walk over to her and ask her?”
  • Act it out: Invite your students to role play the rules. They can take turns showing each other how to use helping hands, walking feet etc. Don’t be afraid to act out non-examples of the rules too. If you encourage the use of “inside voices,” invite children to act out how “outside voices” sound. Acting out the two scenarios will help young children better understand the difference between the two actions.

Editable Classroom Rules for Preschool

Classroom Rules vs. Expectations

This is where many early childhood teachers and programs take a wrong turn, so don’t skip this part! Simply put, classroom rules and classroom expectations are two entirely different things. I’ve been in many early childhood classrooms that had expectations, but no rules.

Expectations are more general and include ways in which you expect children to behave. For example:

  • Be Respectful
  • Be Safe
  • Be a Good Friend

The expectations above are very vague and not concrete enough for young children. You can have expectations, but without rules they are meaningless to preschoolers.

On the other hand, rules are easier to understand, and they can also help define what the expectations mean. The next time you’re creating your classroom rules, remember the difference between rules and expectations.

Behavior Books for Preschool

Books about Behavior

As a preschool teacher, introducing rules through books can be another effective method. This reinforces rules in a familiar, engaging format.

The series of books titled Best Behavior are perfect for both preschoolers and pre-K students alike. Before your large group time, read Listening Time. There are others in this series that address behaviors such as sharing, cleaning-up, kicking, hitting, biting, and unkind words. Here is a list for you below:

Hands Are Not for Hitting (Best Behavior Series)
Feet Are Not for Kicking (Best Behavior Series)
Listening Time
Sharing Time
Voices Are Not for Yelling
Words Are Not for Hurting
Teeth Are Not for Biting
It’s Okay to Make Mistakes
Clean-Up Time

Calm Down Area for Preschool Instead of Time Out

Managing Emotions and Behavior in a Preschool Classroom

Instead of traditional time-outs, consider creating a ‘Calm Down’ area where children can learn how to manage their emotions with helpful tools. This method teaches self-regulation rather than punishing poor choices.

Consider providing an area of the classroom where children can go if they feel the need to handle big emotions, instead of time out. If a child needs some time to regain control of his or her emotions he or she can go to the calming area and use the tools provided there to problem-solve and learn how to regulate their emotions.

Offering a calm down area helps young children learn how to regulate their own emotions instead of just punishing them for making poor choices. In the “Safe Spot” or “Calm Down” area you can help children learn how to problem solve and make better choices.

Here are some items you may want to have available in your Calm Down area

  • Soft stuffed animals for hugging if we are sad
  • Books from the Best Behavior series (listed above)
  • Calm down bottles (have a very calming effect)
  • Soft emoji pillows that kids can hug or squeeze
  • Emotion lotion

Ready to Learn Circle Time Cards

Behavior Management without Punitive Measures

Positive reinforcement and personal connections are more effective than punitive systems like behavior charts. Punitive classroom management systems make more work for the teacher. They seek to control behavior rather than teach the skills kids need to be successful in school.

Behavior charts, stoplights, token economies, and card or ticket systems are a lot of work to keep up with and require lots of prep and complicated rules. None of these systems teach skills, they are all or nothing. It is demeaning for a child to have their ticket pulled and everybody to see that he has been “bad.” What does that teach the child other than to be ashamed? Or maybe not get caught the next time?

You can establish a personal connection or relationship with a child and help them learn how to solve their own problems by giving them choices – this is empowering. These are valuable life lessons that a child will be able to internalize and use in daily life.

Acknowledging a child’s good behavior is far more powerful than acknowledging his bad behavior and goes a long way towards establishing a positive classroom environment.

The Role of Prize Boxes in Preschool Behavior

Avoid prize boxes as rewards; instead, teach children how to problem solve and make good choices.

Rewards for prize boxes and treasure chests are expensive! I would much rather spend my money on instructional items for the classroom and not trinkets that will become lost or broken in a few seconds, often resulting in fights or tears.

What are we teaching young children by giving them rewards for good behavior? What happens when we’re not around to give them rewards? The biggest reward they can receive is the gift of learning how to make their own choices and the good feelings that come with choosing to do what is right for the sake of doing the right thing.

Getting Preschoolers to Behave

Spend plenty of time modeling how to make good choices and role playing different scenarios with your students in the beginning of the year.

The modeling and role playing, while time-consuming, really pays off in the long run. If you want your students to share, then you must invest the time in the beginning teaching them how to share. If you want your students to clean-up on cue, then you must take the time to teach them how to do that too. We cannot take simple things for granted, everything must be taught, modeled, and role played with this age group to ensure success.

The role of the preschool teacher is not just about enforcing rules but actively participating in a system where young children learn through positive reinforcement, visual cues, and an environment that encourages them to take an active role in their behavior and learning.

The printable rules are located inside of the Visual Routines Bundle.

More Teaching Tips from Pre-K Pages

Classroom Rules
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3 thoughts on “Preschool Classroom Rules”

  1. I really appreciated that valuable information that you providing, everything makes sense and I been seeing that is effective with the young children especially went you have patience and have a lot a tolerance that is what makes you a good teacher because of you can achieve your goal. thanks

  2. Thank you so much for this! I am an art teacher in a public Montessori school and I have 8 primary classes, each with 27 children, I see once a week. Some of the classes really “have it together” and some of the classes are very young and inexperienced. I would describe one or two of them as chaotic at this point in time. I need these classroom rules for all of the classes, but especially those chaotic little classes. I’m so glad I found this NOW (at the beginning of 2nd quarter) and not at the end of the year! I think this will literally save my year! Thank you!
    Sarah Frances

  3. Beverly Llewellyn

    I thank you . I’m a new teacher assistant and this will help me a great deal..Thanks to my co-workers who send this to me .

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