Planning a Successful Circle Time

With all of the fun and educational benefits of implementing circle time in your classroom, you are probably ready to start your own. If you have never done circle time before, it is a good idea to start slowly as your students may need time to adjust to group activities. Here are a few tips to help you plan a successful circle time:

• Make sure you have a space big enough for all of your students to gather in a circle. Use carpet squares, placemats or masking tape with names to mark spots.
• Give your students plenty of time to come into the circle. Announce you are going to start circle time in advance and then begin a fun activity in the circle to make them want to join in.
• Choose a learning goal for each circle time and plan your activities around that goal. For example, you may be learning about transportation. At circle time, you can talk with the children about how they got to school today, writing their answers on a white board and counting how many people came in a car, a bus, or walked to school. You could sing “The Wheels on the Bus”, read a book about transportation and then dismiss children to centers by asking them to pretend to be a car, truck or airplane as they leave circle.
• Stay flexible! Even the best thought out plans do not always go according to what we think they should. Staying flexible and going with the flow, even when disruption happens, will ensure your students will have fun and learn.

For more ideas on how to plan a successful circle time,