Here are some activities you can perform with your Kindergarten student.

Motor Skills Expectations

Activities to support your child:

• When walking with your child, ask your child to walk:
  • Sideways, feet together
  • Sideways, crossing the feet
  • Backwards
• Practice skipping.
• Do jumping jacks.
• Have your child balance on one foot. Switch feet.
• Give a series of directions such as, "hop on your left foot 3 times and then touch the floor."
• Practice jumping rope.
• Walk in a straight line on the sidewalk cracks.
• Practice bouncing a ball. Switch hands.
• Practice throwing a ball under hand.
• Teach your child how to snap his/her fingers.
• Have your child touch each finger to the thumb (for instance: index finger to thumb, middle finger to thumb). Repeat with his/her eyes closed.
• Use different objects and practice squeezing them (a ball, socks, an orange).
• Watch how your child holds a pencil. Teach the correct way in order to build the hand muscles.
• Run in place for 30 seconds and one minute.
• Draw a triangle, circle, rectangle, or square on a piece of paper. Have your child trace it with his/her finger. Then have your child trace it with a pencil.
• Practice coloring within the lines of a picture.
• Practice tying shoes.
• Practice putting on and zipping up a coat.
• Have your child cross his/her legs and stand in one place.

Social and Behavioral Expectations

Activities to support your child:

• Discuss and practice not interrupting when someone is speaking:
  • Wait patiently.
  • Say "excuse me" once and wait.
  • Do not tug on clothing.
• Discuss what to do if someone makes you angry:
  • Take 3 deep breaths to calm down.
  • Tell them how you feel.
  • Walk away.
• Discuss what to do if you don't "Win":
  • Celebrate the person or group that did win.
  • Don't pout or cry.
  • Try harder the next time.
• Discuss what to do if someone is bothering you:
  • Ignore them.
  • Ask them to stop.
  • Move away.
• Discuss what to do if someone has something that they want:
  • How do you ask for something nicely?
  • Wait your turn.
  • If you don't get a turn, then think to yourself, "Maybe next time."
• Practice polite manners:
  • Say "please" when you want something.
  • Say "thank you" after someone gives you something.
  • Say "excuse me" to interrupt or if you need to walk pass someone.
  • Say "I'm Sorry" if you hurt someone.

Speaking Expectations

Activities to support your child:

• Say three words that start with the same sound. Have your child tell you the sound they start with.
• Say three words that end with the same sound. Have your child tell you the sound they end with.
• Tell your child a series of directions. Have him/her repeat them back to you.
• Teach your child nursery rhymes and have him/her recite them from memory.
• Make up a sentence and have your child repeat it.
• Teach your child his telephone number and address.
• Play "Telephone." Whisper a message in your child's ear and then have him repeat it to someone else. Was he right?
• Ask your child questions about himself and have him answer in complete sentences.
• Make a sock puppet or paper bag puppet and let your child make up things to say with it.
• Put some objects in a bag. Have your child put his/her hand inside and describe what he/she feels.
• Read a poem to your child. Ask him/her to repeat it.
• Say a word aloud. Ask your child to tell you a word that rhymes with it.
• After watching television, ask your child to tell you what happened.
• Play "Guess the Animal." Think of an animal. Have your child ask questions in order to figure out the animal that you are thinking of.
• Play "I Spy." Think of an object in the room. Have your child try to guess the object by asking questions. Your child should state his/her guess in complete sentences.
• After playing with friends, ask your child what he/she did.
• Have your child describe the clothes that he/she is wearing.
• Have your child say his/her first and last name.

Reading and Writing Expectations

Activities to support your child:

• When reading to your child, have him/her tell you what is happening in the picture.
• Let your child turn the pages of the book.
• Place shaving cream on a counter or table. Have your child spread it around with his/her hand. Practice writing:
  • Letters of the alphabet
  • Name
  • Numbers
  • Shapes
• Look at the newspaper. Ask your child to circle letters or words that you tell him/her to find. "Circle all of the letter D's that you can find."
• Write capital letters on index cards. Write lower case letters on clothespins. Ask your child to clip the clothespin onto the matching card by matching the letter.
• Tell a story to your child and then let him/her act it out.
• Staple some papers together to make a book. Ask your child to dictate the words to a story to you and then he/she can illustrate it.
• Watch your child write the alphabet. Does your child form the letters correctly moving from the top to the bottom and not from the bottom to the top?
• Make a book of words your child can read. Cut the labels from cereal boxes, treat boxes, magazines, and even take pictures of signs.
• Use playdoh to form the letters of the alphabet.
• Encourage your child to draw pictures and to tell you a verbal story.
• Show your child how to draw a person.
• While reading a story, have your child point to the picture that matches the word or vice versa.
• While reading a story, have your child find simple sight words such as, "is, the, and, went, to, he, she, was, go."
• While eating alphabet cookies or soup, have your child tell you the letters.
• Say a letter sound and have your child bring you an object that starts with that sound. For instance, say "/b/" and your child can bring you a bear.

Math Expectations

Activities to support your child:

• Have your child match left and right gloves, mittens, and shoes.
• Sort objects such as buttons, blocks, or toys by size or color.
• Choose and object. Find something larger than it. Find something smaller than it.
• Play "I Spy." Find an object in the room and say "I spy something that is round." Ask your child to guess what it is. Change the attribute from shape to color.
• Give your child a spoon. Have him/her find 3 things longer than the spoon.
• Cook together. Let your child measure the ingredients.
• Clap a pattern with your hands and have your child repeat it.
• Touch body parts in a pattern and have your child repeat it. For instance, head, shoulders, head, shoulders, head, shoulders.
• Say a color and have your child hold up that colored crayon.
• Lay out 10 toys. Have your child count them. Then ask "How many toys are there?" Does your child remember that there are 10 or does he/she recount them?
  • Change the number of toys for your child to count.
• Have your child describe the clothing he/she is wearing. Make sure he/she tells you the colors.
• Draw the shapes and have your child identify them.
  • Have your child draw the same shape as you did.
• Hold up 2 toys. Have your child tell what is the same and what is different about the toys.
  • Have your child find a toy that is the same.
  • Have your child find a toy that is different.
• Practice writing numbers 0-10. Make sure your child starts the number formation from the top, not from the bottom.
• Draw a picture or use a premade coloring book. Tell your child how to color it. For instance, "Color the shirt red. Color the pants blue. Color his eyes brown."