When creating your kindergarten classroom setup, consider your values as a teacher. What is most important to you?
Your philosophy (perhaps as an inquiry-based learning specialist,)
your passion for the best books at the beginning of the year, or
your desire to showcase available tools for children’s use.
Knowing who you are and what you value will bring clarity to your kindergarten classroom design.
My Transformation as an Inquiry-based Teacher and How It Informed my Classroom Setup
After coming from a variety of traditional classrooms and open schools, I began thinking differently about classroom decor, beginning-of-the-year bulletin boards, and spaces created alongside children. Once you look through the lens of a child’s eyes at classroom design and organization, you pause and wonder, “What is essential? What piques children’s interests, gives them ownership, and screams that this classroom belongs to children?”
Since 1999, inquiry based teaching consumed my teaching heart. Our room setups didn’t look anything like they used to. (I use the term, “our classroom design” because the room became ours – the children’s and mine.) Therefore the room shouldn’t look like I spent hours decorating it.
Our kindergarten felt more like a little village of specialty areas where kids could find their place. What drove them, what moved them, what did they care about?
Because my teaching heart now rested on different things. I wished to create invitations for young scientists, artists, social scientists, mathematicians, readers, and writers to envision the world and their work in it. Thank God for my teaching assistant, an artist at heart, who worked with me to figure out the mechanics of bringing our dreams to reality.
I’m also thankful to the hundreds of little kids over the years who helped me see that the things they cared most about didn’t appear in beautiful teaching design photos. They showed up in their bookbags and in their own handwriting.
How did we bring our kindergarten classroom to life?
First in our classroom setup, we considered the big picture, the spaces we couldn’t imagine living without.
For us, those non-negotiable spaces were: an Atelier (artists’ workshop), a Science Museum, Construction Zone (blocks and building materials), classroom library, and constantly-evolving dramatic play area.
Next, we envisioned the whole group teaching area.
This daily meeting space was essential for the philosophy of our room – a space to meet, talk, pose questions, and gather for partner work. It was the perfect spot for cozying up with books, stretching out the class measuring tape, and building a whole world. It came complete with a big book stand, authentic calendar work, Smart Board access, and wide open spaces to spread out.
Then, we think about our upcoming inquiries and the specialty areas where we envision kids will need to work through different perspectives.
For example, we often embarked on an inquiry into photography early in the year, knowing we would authentically learn much when our school pictures were taken. Our children often had experiences, interest, and knowledge of their parents’ cell phones used throughout the days.
My assistant and I would take photos of the photographer as he took pictures of us. Often photographers were happy to answer questions children had brainstormed before the visit. We knew that our dramatic play area would become a photography studio, complete with a painted backdrop, camera on a tripod, and umbrella lighting as well as a check-in office. Besides boasting the artifacts children had brought from their homes, our science museum must feature a photography exhibit, bursting with old cameras, negatives, and film reels. Our walls would display photographs children took themselves.
Finally, we reflected on other desired areas for our kindergarten classroom setup.
- Shadow Wall for builders
- Color Studio for artists
- Authors’ Hangout for writers
- Tech Zone for engineers
- Office for mathematicians
Bonus: What else might enhance your amazing classroom setup?
How about an incredible outdoor learning space?
An important option for effective classroom design is an outdoor learning space. We were thrilled to have a large porch and beautiful school garden just outside our backdoor. Perfect for naturalists, gardeners, poets, and painters.
For more information on our classroom garden in the winter, check out this post: https://jennifermbarnes.com/your-school-garden-how-can-you-actually-live-your-best-life-there-this-winter/
And finally those writing tables…
After all the essential areas were placed, we arranged our student seating. Work tables (of all shapes and heights) were ideal for young writers to draft stories.
Interested in seeing a video highlighting one of my classrooms?
Most importantly though in all our decisions, we invited the children to move into the spaces and make them their own.
We encouraged children’s brainstorming and accepted their ideas for our shared classroom space. When youngsters understood they owned the classroom, their work became even more transformative.
Suggestions for Kindergarten Classroom Setup
Whatever you do in your classroom setup, be open to the children’s ideas for transforming their own space!
What are your primary considerations when creating your ideal classroom setup? Please feel free to share photos, too, so we can learn from each other.