Playing games in kindergarten is a great way for a teacher to help young children develop their social skills and interact with their fellow classmates. The most important part of a kindergarten game is for it to be fun while maintain the safety of your entire class.
Name Game
On the first day of kindergarten none of the students will know the name of everyone else in the class. Playing a name game is one of the best ways that you can help your kindergarteners learn each other's name. For this name game you will need some sort of ball, preferably a small beach volleyball, that students can throw to each other. When a student catches the ball, she needs to say her name. After that, she needs to throw the ball to another student. If that student knows the name of the person he is throwing the ball to then he should call out the person's name before the toss. If he does not know the person's name that he is throwing the ball to, he will learn it when that person catches the ball and says her name.
Checkers
Checkers is one of the best games that kindergarten kids can play because of its simplicity. Most of the kindergarten kids will probably know play checkers before coming into your classroom. If there is a student that does not know play, the students that know the rules can teach him. If you have 5 or 10 sets of checkerboards, you can let your class play checkers with each other while you work on paperwork.
Duck Duck Goose
Duck duck goose is a classic kindergarten game. It involves running, which is why it should always be played outside. To play, your kindergarten class must first sit in a circle, facing inward. One student, who is "it" (also known as the fox or the picker), walks around the circle. As he taps each child he must say "duck," but at some point he taps a classmate and says goose. At that point, the "goose" must get up and chase the classmate who tagged her. If the "goose" tags the child who was "it" before he sits in the spot vacated by the "goose," the "goose" returns to her spot and the game continues. If the "goose" didn't make the tag, she is the new picker.
Duck duck goose can be fun as long as you don't let things get out of hand!
Tags: each other, catches ball, does know, Duck duck, kindergarten game