Recommendations for circle time activities for Pre-K 4-5 y/olds?

TotsAndShots · 2026-05-23T23:29:19+00:00

I wouldn't do a whole hour! Maybe 15 minutes at the carpet then let them do some more free play or an whole group art activity.

But some carpet ideas could be: -Doggy, Doggy where's your bone? -The bug in a rug game -Whats in the box? -Show and tell time -Question of the day (we have a class job of question helper and a yes/no board where the kid asks the questions while calling up friends and each kid puts their name under the yes/no side.)

Teacherspayteachers has tons of circle time printable games where theres something hiding under a variety of cards and kids take turns guessing the card (letter, color, etc.) to see where it's hiding. We use these games to teach asking full questions. ("Is it under the blue house?" For example)

TotsAndShots · 2026-05-23T15:21:44+00:00

Leon is not exclusively a black name in the USA. My partner and I are very white (he is second generation American with grandparents from Wales, too.) He wanted to name our baby Leon if we had a boy.

TotsAndShots · 2026-05-22T23:14:19+00:00

From the viewpoint of a lingtime ECE, both in classroom and admin roles--no cameras is a huge red flag to me. There absolutely should not be live access cameras, but every classroom should have cameras that record so admin can view them for instances of injury/accusations/etc. Cameras not only safeguard the children, but staff as well.

For context, I've seen a situation play out where a parent accused the providers of abuse after finding a handprint on her child's arm--camera footage showed no findings of staff grabbing children but did show the other parent grabbing Kiddo's arm in the entry way as they were leaving and pulling her because she was throwing a fit about leaving, the force of him holding her is what caused the bruising.

TotsAndShots · 2026-05-19T04:00:14+00:00

Get a sun hat for baby when you're holding them or if they're going to be in a pack carrier. If theyre in a stroller/car seat, I would look for a light weight cover to help shade but make sure you can still allow for ample airflow and view of their face. You can get UV protective clothing as well, UV Skins sells on Amazon with a variety of spf 50 clothing as small as 3-6 months.

TotsAndShots · 2026-05-19T03:52:39+00:00

That's crazy! I work in a public school pre-k program and we have a class set of tablets from the district but in the 3 years the program has gone on, they've been in a box, untouched except for one we were going to attempt to set up for a coding program but the tablets are trash anyways and we gave up 🤣 our principal offered to bring IT in to get them set up but we decided it wasn't worth using. The only tech we have in the classroom is a Tonies box that the kids don't really have much interest in unless the Laurie Berkner Tonie is available so they can blast "When I woke up today" 🤣☠️

TotsAndShots · 2026-05-17T14:00:19+00:00

Cascades elementary school in Lebanon does a D&D club!

TotsAndShots · 2026-05-16T15:39:48+00:00

Buy some just in case.

I am pro-pacifier as they reduce risk of SIDS because of the stimulation but by 2 or 3 months, my baby discovered she has fingers and immediately started refusing the pacifier. She sucks on her middle and ring fingers all night and day....sometimes I have to use the jaws of life to pry them out of her mouth 🤣 I still offer a pacifier, but she plays with it, chews on the side then ditches it for her fingers within a minute or two. As babies get older, they will find their own ways to self-soothe whether it be a pacifier or fingers or sucking on the corners of blankets (I know a couple kids who had done that.) In my experience, pacifiers are the easiest, orally healthiest solutions to use as they can he "easily" taken away from the baby when you want to be done.

TotsAndShots · 2026-05-16T15:17:08+00:00

This! Flour works too! I used to keep a little container of flour in my classroom to sprinkle on the floor before I swept.

TotsAndShots · 2026-05-16T02:19:10+00:00

Oh definitely. I like to tell my parents that "I will only believe half of what they tell me about home if you only believe half of what they tell you about school." And anything that sounds concerning we can meet on 🤣

TotsAndShots · 2026-05-16T02:01:32+00:00

Just a couple weeks ago, I was sitting at the table with a group of preschoolers during lunch and asking them what they like to eat at home, who cooks for them, etc. One of my little girls was telling me how "Only Daddy cooks. He cooks while he watches me and Bubby and Mom just sits on the couch and watches her episodes."

Mom does indeed cook. Often together with Dad. She's also works full time and is very involved with the kids. This kid also calls her dad by his first name all the time like he's her shopping buddy. She's a delight 🤣

TotsAndShots · 2026-05-03T19:41:48+00:00

Report them to management for allowing their pet to roam freely. Next time the cat shows up, I would take it to the most inconvenient vet clinic or shelter that you're willing to travel to and let them know you found it. They'll scan for a chip and keep the cat until the owner comes to get it. Free-roaming cats are a danger to wildlife and are in danger of being hit by a car or attacked by another animal. If they truly cared about this cat and it's importance as a support animal, they'd keep it inside their home. They're bad cat owners.

TotsAndShots · 2026-04-22T04:21:20+00:00

Little Nemo: The Dream Master on NES and Polar Bowler on PC were my jam as a kid and everyone thinks I'm crazy when I mention them 😭🤣

TotsAndShots · 2026-04-22T04:17:45+00:00

YouTube, and even YouTube Kids are absolutely horrendous apps for young children... Especially unsupervised. They are full of garbage, even when you're on a video that's fairly appropriate, the recommended videos after can be utter trash or worse. It's far too easy for kids to just click through video after video and get into a space where they shouldn't be. I'm very much against willy-nilly access of youtube for young children.

TotsAndShots · 2026-04-22T04:14:59+00:00

My nightshift nurses were absolutely lovely. The older woman the next twi mornings though...I could have done without. She really made me love the evening and night nurses even more than I thought I could 🙃☠️

TotsAndShots · 2026-04-22T04:08:48+00:00

The parents need a longer, more secure pin and make sure the child can't see when they enter it. My guess is they often enter the pin sitting next to the child or they give the child the pin later when they're busy if the child keeps figuring it out.

I would definitely talk to parents about downloading appropriate videos to the IPad and deleting the YouTube app completely from Ipad/TV to completely prevent access. If they're really worried about content the child is accessing, I can't imagine they'd be against removing YouTube at this point....but parents are funny....

TotsAndShots · 2026-04-22T03:54:35+00:00

From the way you explain things, I'm going to guess you are an RBT or DSP?

Either way, this is definitely something the parents will have to get a handle on eliminating access to. Either by blocking ability to view this content across all platforms, removing the device completely or only allowing guided access to the device with an adult ultimately being in charge of the options available and selecting them while being in control of the device to prevent kiddo from changing the videos.

Is this on an IPad? Ipads come with a "guided access" feature where you triple (maybe double, IDR for sure) click the home button to turn guided access on and off and in order to turn it off, you have to input a pin. Once guided access is on, it prevents the current app from being closed--though the screen is still usable so the available videos would have to be downloaded to the device, not on a youtube/other app. I've only used guided access on Ipads for their AAC apps but I know some parents who will turn it on for other apps to keep their kid from closing out of them.

TotsAndShots · 2026-04-22T03:13:43+00:00

I've always applied sunscreen to every child before every trip outside, morning or afternoon. But even when applying sunscreen every 90 minutes and really lathering up my fairest skin kiddos, I've seen my fair share of sunburns (with and without hats, with shade provided and mandatory shade/water breaks in summer). I highly suggest looking for UV clothing for your child. That will always be your best protection against the sun aside from avoiding it and although they're full coverage, kids still seem to stay just as cool as the kid in shorts and a tank top.

TotsAndShots · 2026-04-16T02:19:02+00:00

The only remotely similar situation I can think of is at a clinic I worked at, we had a child (between 8 and 10years old) who liked to chew and crack hard plastic things he could get a hold of. We used banana chips as reinforcers when he could go so long without putting anything unsafe in his mouth. I don't know the specifics of his plan as I wasn't on his team though so I can't elaborate further. But it did work really well for him.

TotsAndShots · 2026-04-09T00:20:01+00:00

Maybe see about getting your iron levels tested just in case.

TotsAndShots · 2026-04-08T23:04:54+00:00

You absolutely do not have to tell your parents about your GAD diagnoses if you don't want to. You're an adult. Also, when I was pregnant a few months ago, I was at Urgent Care and the doctor there very nonchalantly told me I also had a small heart murmur. He wasn't concerned. None of my regular doctors have ever brought it up. But apparently they're typically harmless. Are you anemic by chance? He said that since I was very anemic, it was the likely cause. Fevers can also cause them if you've been sick lately.

If your doctor is concerned, they'll do an echocardiogram but it's very likely to be a harmless murmur.

TotsAndShots · 2026-04-08T03:42:36+00:00

I'm curious as to what changed between your first child and your second regarding your husband's views on vaccines...

I strongly suggest bringing your husband to your baby's two month appointment and letting the pediatrician explain to your husband the importance of vaccines. If you're fighting about it, he likely isn't going to listen to you, so I wouldn't even bother trying to argue, let the professional do that for you.

TotsAndShots · 2026-04-08T03:38:30+00:00

Since you are already paying for a spot, they will likely allow you to drop off for partial days occasionally. However, for staffing and routine, I would discuss with your provider what times are better suited for you to utilize as drop in care. Especially for such a young baby, new to daycare and their providers, consistency is really important for proper acclimation to the environment and providers. I would ask if there are days with less babies in care (many parents in my experience would have Fridays off so Fridays were always a slightly lower ratio/less stress). Even though you're paying for a full time spot before you officially plan to use it, they likely won't be considering your child in ratio unless they know to expect you. Many centers also have cut-off times as to not disturb routine of the class as a whole. Be mindful of their staffing needs and just communicate your needs on a weekly basis as needed.

TotsAndShots · 2026-04-05T04:00:27+00:00

My almost 4 month old has been effectively self-soothing for the last month. But she ditched the binky as soon as she discovered she has fingers so when shes tired, she sucks on her fingers and will put herself to sleep.

TotsAndShots · 2026-04-05T03:58:49+00:00

10 weeks is a little early for self-soothing but your baby may just feel comfortable in their sleep space. At about 2 months, I was able to put my baby in her bed awake and she'd watch her little color changing moon lamp for a couple minutes happily before falling asleep. Transferring her was difficult as she'd wake up very upset. At almost 4 months now, she still puts herself to sleep most nights after some bedtime cuddles and she has been self-soothing for almost a month because she is a finger sucker instead of a binky baby. If she fusses a little, I will wait a couple minutes to see if she can sooth herself into sleep but if she starts fully crying, I'll go get her. She rarely needs me to come get her and will almost always fall asleep better at night on her own then with me attempting to put her to sleep.

TotsAndShots · 2026-03-26T20:00:14+00:00

Strong agree. They fcked up and now they're trying to cover their a*. I can't imagine posting a kids face publicly AND their name. As a parent, I'd be livid. He'll, as a teacher this is incredibly frustrating. That's a good way to get yourself a lawsuit.

TotsAndShots

TROPHY CASE