Kindergarten “To Go” Kits

I really thought through what “E-Learning” would look like (or should look like) for this upcoming school year and I decided that the most age appropriate thing to do is really to use the Online-ness as a vessel to do my teaching from, but that the majority of the materials/activities we would do would be OFF line! Soooooo… I strategically planned my Kindergarten “To Go” Kits (wrote several grants, used school reimbursements or got donations… and a lot of time!) for all of my kiddos.

At the beginning of every school year I teach about colors because it is an EASY transition into the school building! Even if I have students who have NEVER been in school before, the majority of kids feel some sort of comfort level with colors. So I focus on using colors to really teach them about how to “do school” (Following directions, taking turns, sharing, expectations, etc)

I decided this wasn’t going to be any different for my online school either! I would use COLORS as a way to help kids transition to online learning!

I was fortunate enough that the 1st official week of school I spent the majority of that time meeting with parents/families to go over the contents of the “To Go” Kits and ensure that they had their technology (all the apps were downloaded, username/passwords were inputted, etc) so that we were ready to begin the “whole day” learning that following Monday. This was both successful because I was able to make that connection with families, but also I started the year with perfect attendance bc I KNEW everyone could get logged on! It made a big difference!!

Back to the Kits:

Inside the kits I had:

• 1st Day of Kindergarten Self-Portrait Page
• Allllllll the copies/pages they would need for 9 weeks (we are “officially scheduled” to do E-Learning until Nov. 6th, but that might change…)
  • Color Interactive Notebook Pages
  • Number Interactive Notebook Pages
  • Number Hats
  • Alphabet Poems with Letter Forming Practice
  • Letter Interactive Notebook Pages
  • Alphabet Craft Hats
  • Math Pages (I use EngageNY but I LOVE these recreated pages by: Second Chance)
• Journals:
  • Color Interactive Notebook (Blank Book from Target $1 Section)
  • Color Writing Journal
  • Number Journal (Blank Pages Stapled together with front cover)
  • Writing Journal (for Writing about each letter)
  • ABC Interactive Journal (Blank Journal)
• Emergent Readers (In Kindergarten & ABC Easy Readers)
• 3 Ways to Read a Book Poster
• Rules Poster (Whole Brain Teaching Rules)
• ABC Poster
• Daily 5 Choices Poster & Math Daily 4 (I add technology as an option)
• Important Links Poster (Created with QR Shortcuts for each of the important websites we will be using during E-Learning)
• “Headbands” (Sentence strips cut down the middle to wrap around the students head for each of our Number & ABC Craft Hat creations) x40
• Game Binder (1″ Binder with Word Work Games & Math Games)
• Pencil Case (3 Large Pencils, Set of Large Crayons, 2 Dice, Glue, Timer, Tape, Dry Erase Markers & Eraser, Scissors, Spinner, & Clothes Pins)
• Glue Sponge
• Math Manipulatives: Foam Dice (1-3 & 0-5), Math Rack, Magnetic 5-Frame with Foam Counters, Blocks (10 of each: red, orange, yellow, green, blue), 20 Emoji Erasers (to be used as game pieces/counters), and Number Line
• 50 Blank Index Cards (for creating flashcards)
• Spinner Page (2 colorful circle spinners without labels (6 & 10 option) – then laminated so students can write their own labels with Dry Erase Marker)
• Canister of PlayDoh

This was definitely a labor of Love BUT it will also help my kiddos do a lot of hands on learning even though we are at home! This was KEY because I really wanted my kids to build up their hand muscles (with cutting, PlayDoh & clothes pins), build up their reading stamina with easy readers & picture books, play some fun & interactive games and really focusing on creating Independent Learners, even though we are stuck at home!

I hope this gave you some ideas on what you can do with your little ones! If you have any questions or additional tips, please leave a comment below!