The best afternoon circle time for toddlers routine to end your daycare day!
Are you looking for an afternoon circle time for toddlers routine? You are in the right place! I have been a provider for over 15 years and have successfully run morning and afternoon circle time with little ones every daycare day! In fact, it’s our favorite time of the day.
If your daycare students are not engaged during circle time, not sitting or this time feels chaotic, keep reading! I will be sharing the best afternoon circle time for toddlers routine to end your daycare day.
Why do an afternoon circle time?
The purpose of circle time is to work on skills in the areas of thinking, listening, looking, and speaking. Circle time encourages social development and improves impulse control.
In my classroom, we start and end our day with circle time. I love doing afternoon circle time to wrap up our day and discuss the fun activities we accomplished. This refreshes little ones’ minds and helps them remember what they did so they can tell their parents all about their day.
Afternoon Circle Time Routine
Here is the afternoon circle time routine I do every day in my classroom.
1) Goodbye Song
I always start afternoon circle time with our goodbye song for preschoolers. This is a great way to transition into the end of our day and gets the children ready for parent pickup.
2) End of Day Discussion
This is probably my favorite part of my afternoon circle time routine. This is the time I will quickly run through what we did that day! I will remind the children of a fun craft or activity we did and/or let them know what I am sending home in their bookbags to show their parents.
I will usually ask if anyone wants to share anything with their friends. An example of this might be an older student sharing that they have ballet class that night. These short conversations build classroom community and work on listening and participating.
I always feel such pride when one of my quieter students pipes up and shares something personal. This is a great way to really engage with your students and learn more about them and their families.
3) Word of the Day
Vocabulary development is so important for little learners. Exposing toddlers to vocabulary words develops language and literacy skills. Discussing unfamiliar words and talking about what they mean, will expand your student’s vocabulary.
I teach skills through thematic units. So our word of the day is always themed to whatever we are learning about. Using vocab words for preschoolers will place meaning in other areas and will skyrocket their language skills even quicker.
4) Focus Posters
The next part of our afternoon circle time routine is going over our focus posters. Since I teach toddlers, our classroom focus posters are learning our colors and shapes. The children shout out the color or shape as I flip through the flashcards.
5) Monthly Songs
What better way to end the day than shaking our wiggles out! It’s so important to get little ones up and moving during circle time. Research suggests that movement and activity in young children can increase memory, language, and attention.
Having a good balance during circle time between sitting and listening quietly, participating, and moving students will increase your engagement and attention during this time.
I have created circle time song printables for every month! They are a free download in my Teacher’s Pay Teachers store. Click the image below to grab my August Songs with a beach theme, but make sure and snag the rest of them from my store!
6) High Fives
I like to end afternoon circle time by going around and giving each child a high five.
I always make sure I am smiling and making eye contact with each student. This usually gets all the little ones laughing and high-fiving each other. It’s such a positive way to end the day!
Circle Time Activities
I hope you got a lot of great afternoon circle time for toddlers ideas. I love talking about circle time and have devoted a whole page to circle time activities. Check it out for even more great routines and plans.
Want print and go circle time lesson plans? Check out my Teachers Pay Teachers store where you can purchase circle time printables for each month. They are the same circle time printables I use in my classroom.
Amazing Toddler Circle Time Ideas That Will Keep Your Students Engaged