There are so many differing opinions on giving homework in general and especially at the kindergarten level. I am a kinder teacher that does give homework but I try to make it as intentional as possible. That’s why, once a month, I send home a week-long (or two-week) project. I know it sounds crazy to give a five or six-year-old a project, but I love them for two main reasons. (1) They give students real world applications of the content we’re learning and (2) they get families involved.
These projects are designed around a theme, depending on the time of year, and an area of curriculum. Each month, the subject switches so students can complete projects in various fields. Here’s your inside look at my kindergarten projects throughout the year.
Read more about the design of the kindergarten projects here.
Kindergarten Projects Throughout the Year
All About Me
This project is all about building a classroom community. Students complete six pages all about themselves, their family, what’s important to them etc. and then these pages become a book. When students turn their pages in, I bind them into a book and then students present these books to their classmates. We even put our books on display in our classroom library as a way to continue to read and learn about each other. I like starting with this project because it’s a great way for us to get to know each other on a deeper level.
Candy Investigation
Students thoroughly enjoy this science project because it is all about candy! What’s better than candy on Halloween to a kindergartener? Probably nothing. For this project, students pick three out of five experiments to complete with various candy of their choice. My favorite thing about this project is that students have so many ways to make this project their own through the power of choice. After completing, students choose one investigation to present. They leave no details out when telling us what happened to the candy!
In My Community
During this social studies project, students pick a community helper to learn more about. They research their chosen community helper, design their own questions, and go out into the field and interview someone who does this job. This project is one of my favorites because I believe it’s so important for students to go out in the world and make real world connections. Students design a poster about all they’ve learned and present their poster to the class.
Help! The Gingerbread Man Needs a Home
For this project, students work with 2D shapes. To introduce this project, I read a letter from the Gingerbread Man all about how he needs a house to hide from animals and people who want to eat him! Then, students build the Gingerbread Man a house (on paper). The key is to disguise it so it doesn’t look like the Gingerbread Man would live there. Then, students graph how many of each shape they used when creating their house. I have my students present their houses and tell their classmates why they think it would be a good disguise for the Gingerbread Man.
New Year, New Me
A new year often brings goals and reflections. Why not start kids off at a young age thinking about where they’ve been and where they want to be in the future? This writing project guides students through thinking about their accomplishments for the prior year, designing goals for the future year and staying a life long learner. I take the pages they complete and turned them into a book (like the All About Me book) and students read them to the class.
A Good Friend
This project is a book report about any book that shows friendship. Students get to pick what book they’d like to analyze and then complete various pages of a flip book. The flip book pages include characters, setting, their favorite part, how the characters show friendship, and sequencing. My students love choosing a book on their own and presenting why this book displayed friendship.
An Animal’s Habitat
For this science project, students pick any animal they want to learn more about. They research their animal through non-fiction books and kid-friendly websites (included in the project). They use prompts and questions to find out everything they need to know about their animal, to then create a diorama of the animal’s habitat. When students present, they tell their classmates a few things they’ve learned about the animal and why their habitat is a suitable place for the animal to live.
My Culture
Students learn more about their culture during this social studies project. They interview someone from their family to learn about the traditions, food, dance, special clothing or anything else important to their background. Then, students draw symbols from their culture in a heart and present the heart to their classmates. Students also color what the flag or flags from their culture(s) look like. I use this project around the time of our Cultural Day at school and I put all our hearts on a poster to show where all my students’ families come from!
Look How I’ve Grown
This project is currently still being created. When finished it’ll be a project where students can choose their content area. This project will include a math, writing and reading component all about how they’ve progressed throughout the year.
Since this bundle is still currently being created (I have one more project to create) it is still a growing bundle and you can get it at a discount. Click below!
