As a kindergarten teacher, setting up and organizing your classroom can be exciting and overwhelming at the same time. However, having an organized and efficient classroom can make all the difference in creating a positive learning environment for your students. Here are ten creative ideas for kindergarten classroom set-up and organization that will help you prepare for a successful school year.
1. Create a To-Do List for Classroom Set-Up and Organization
Before setting up my classroom, I create a list of things I need to do. I created a template that I use year after year to make my to-do list. If you’d like this free editable classroom set-up to-do list, you can find it at above.
2. Arranging My Kindergarten Classroom
When thinking about classroom set-up and arranging my classroom, I like to consider a few essential things.
First, I think about the different areas I want in my classroom- a dramatic play area, block area, science exploration area, art area, and so on.
Next, I think about how many students will be in my class that year. This will determine how many tables I need and how much space I will have to set up the areas I mentioned above.
A few other things I find important to consider when thinking about classroom set-up are the following:
-I find it important to ensure students have easy access to the materials and supplies they need.
-I also think about my teacher area and the materials I need to be able to access quickly and easily. A few years ago, I got rid of my desk to make more room for play areas. So now I use my small group table as my teacher area. As a result, I had to get creative on how to store all the teaching materials I use daily.
-I also like to incorporate some flexible seating into my classroom. So I need to consider what flexible seating options I want and how to store these.
3. Visual Schedule
A visual schedule is a great way to help young learners understand what they will be doing throughout the day. I created a schedule with pictures and words that I display in a prominent area of the classroom. This way, students can easily see it and know what is coming up and how much of our day is left.
I have found this particularly helpful for students who struggle with being away from their parents at the beginning of the year. I can use the schedule to show them how many activities we have left to do before it is time to go home. If you need a visual schedule, check out the one I made here.
4. Classroom Job Chart
Another idea for classroom set-up and organization is using a job chart in your classroom. Having a job chart is a great way to give students a sense of responsibility. My job chart is pretty simple, but I did come up with enough jobs so that everyone in my class can have a job each day (some jobs have more than one person assigned to them).
If you want to use a job chart in your classroom but aren’t sure where to start, check out this resource. It includes over 40 different classroom jobs with text and pictures. The text is editable so that you can change the jobs’ titles and even create your own classroom jobs.
You can also find a free version of this job chart resource here. This job chart is not editable but includes 12 classroom job cards you can use to make your own classroom job chart.
5. Name Tags and Student Placement
I also think about student name tags and seating when setting up my kindergarten classroom. Some important things to consider when deciding where students will sit:
-Do any of the kindergarteners already know each other? I tend to put these students next to each other at the beginning of the year. I find this helps students with the transition to kindergarten.
-Do you already know any of the students? I teach in a small Catholic school that also has a preschool. So I often know many of the kindergarteners before they start school. I’ve either met them already because they are in our preschool program, or I have taught one of their older siblings. I use what I know about each student to try and place them next to other children they will get along with.
-If I know a particular child is struggling with going to school for the first time, I’ll encourage their parents to bring them to come visit the classroom before the first day. Then I have the student pick out where they would like to sit.
After the first couple weeks of school, I have gotten to know the students and the social dynamics of my classroom. Using what I’ve learned about my class, I will change the students’ spots.
When it comes to choosing what name tags to use for my classroom, I like to use this editable name tag resource. I like being able to type students’ names onto the name tags and print them out. I can also use this one resource year after year instead of buying name tags each year.
6. Classroom Set-Up and Organization: Books
I have found having a well-organized classroom library can encourage students to look at and read books. Here are a few things I do to help keep my classroom library organized:
-I decided on different categories to organize my books by. I have my books organized into categories that are popular with my kindergarteners. For example, I have a bin of Star Wars books, Elephant & Piggie books, Pete the Cat books, I Spy Books, Clifford Books, etc. I will also change up the categories depending on my students each year. One year, my students were not really into the Clifford books, but they loved sports. So I found some sports books and changed the Clifford book bin into a sports book bin.
-I have picture labels on each book bin to help students know what books go in each container. I also use a sticker system to label the books and the book bins so students can independently return books to the correct book bin. This helps keep the classroom library organized.
-I also do not just have books in the classroom library. I have book bins placed throughout my classroom. I have books about building in the block play area, books about art in our art area, science books in our science area, etc. I find this encourages students to read and look at the books more often.
7. Classroom Set-Up: Calendar
Setting up a classroom calendar is an important part of classroom set-up and organization. I make sure that our calendar is set up in an area that is easily seen and accessible to all students. My students often interact with the calendar so they need to be able to see and reach it.
8. Sound Wall or Word Wall
This past school year, I switched from a word wall to a sound wall. I love my sound wall! Here are a few things I considered when setting up my sound wall (these also apply to a word wall):
-Place it where everyone can see it.
-Make sure you have enough space. My sound wall takes up much more space than my word wall. I had to rearrange a few things to make space for my sound wall.
-A sound wall focuses on just that- sounds. Because of this, I still wanted to display the alphabet. So I had to make sure I had enough space for this too. If you are using a sound wall, do you still want to display the alphabet? Where will you do this? (Need an alphabet to display or use for a word wall, check out this resource.)
9. Bulletin Boards
Bulletin boards are a great way to decorate your classroom and hallway and showcase student work. I love to get creative with different themes and always try to incorporate our school theme into my bulletin board at the beginning of the year.
Need some ideas for your bulletin board? Pinterest can be a great place to get some inspiration. Some of my favorites for kindergarten are a garden theme- Growing in Kindergarten and a Chicka Chicka Boom Boom theme.
10. Prepare Materials Ahead of Time
Part of classroom set-up and organization at the beginning of the year is making sure you have certain materials prepared ahead of time. I found this helps me stay organized and avoid stress during the first month of school, which is always extra busy.
I like to prepare my parent letters, my meet the teacher book, beginning of the year assessments, folders for portfolios, and my class roster ahead of time. For more information about the parent letters and information I send home, check out this blog post.
I also always plan and prepare the first two weeks of lessons ahead of time. This helps ensure that I can spend more time focusing on helping my kindergarteners adjust to school those first couple weeks.
