I need help with controlling a classroom of 3 and 4 year olds and ideas on making it fun too.?

Answer 1

make ice cream in some cans. its fun, and they can do it by just rolling a can back and forth.

Vanilla ice cream:
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup light cream
1 beaten egg (or use equivalent reconstituted dried)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

ok, get a big coffee can and put a bunch of ice and salt in the bottom. then put a smaller can in the first one, and put all the ingredients in it. now, fill up the sides of the big can with more ice and salt. put lids on the cans and you might want to duct tape them shut. then, just get the kids to roll the cans to each other. let them do that for 15 minutes or so. then, once you're done, theres ice cream in the can!

thers more recipes out there, and theres other methods of doing it. http://makeicecream.com/makicecreami1.html

goodluck!

Answer 2

The two parts of your question go hand in hand. For 3 and 4 year olds, the key to controlling the classroom is making it fun for them. (Although the same could be said for most high school or college students I know!) The more you keep them occupied, the easier your days will be.

Create a schedule for the day and make sure you have more activities slotted out than you need. If the kids are not responding to the current activity, move on to the next one. Once you lose the attention of one of the kids other kids will follow and you might not get them back. If you have assistants available, then make sure they know what the schedule is and if necessary, have someone preparing the next activity while the first is taking place.

Answer 3

It's important to have a schedule in place. This way the children know what to expect throughout the day.

Provide lots of activities throughout the day, and lots of toys.

I work with 21/2-5 year old children in a day care, here is how we schedule our day.

7:00-8:30 Free Play
8:30-9:00 Snack
9:00-10:00 Outside Time or indoor gross motor games if raining
10:00-11:00 Craft & Free play
11:00-11:20 Circle Time
11:20-11:30 Tidy up, and washing hands for lunch
11:30-12:00 Lunch
12:00-12:15 Washroom
12:15-2:30 Sleeptime. As children wake they are sent to bathroom, and given quiet activities.
2:30-3:00 Snack
3:00-4:00 Outside time.
4:00-4:20 Story time
4:20-6:00 Free play

Answer 4

plan, plan and plan some more. You have to be OVER prepared and organized at this age. I taught Pre-school for 4 years and that's what I learned. When your planning your week,place each days activities in a plastic tote (Rubbermaid works), even the books and special toys you'll need. Then have an extra tote for the week that has extra activities in case you have extra time you need to fill. I always kept supplies to make play dough (oil, water, flour, and a ton of salt. You can find the exact measurements online) and lots of oldies music that you can all dance too (teach them the electric slide, it's a ton of fun!).

You also need 'quite down games' to help them transition from active play to another calm activity. My kids loved "silent ball"

You have them stand in a circle and had the quietest kid a soft ball. The object is to throw the ball to a partner without talking. If you talk....your out. If you drop the ball your out. Once your out, you have to remain silent or your name goes on the list and you don't get to play next time. They will be quiet little mice and still have a good time.

OF course, behavior charts are wonderful too, just make sure your charting good behavior and not the bad.

My son had a Kindergarten teacher that gave them play money (sign the child's name to the back to prevent mix-ups) when they completed their work, did what they were told, etc. Every Friday he held an auction of toys donated by the parents an the kids got to spend their money. (If they are too young for this you can have a 'store' where you price the items and they just outright buy them) It's a great way to teach them about money and reward good behavior.

Good luck!

Answer 5

I always found singing a song or playing a game both a great diversion and uniting factor. One of my favorites was old McDonald - letting each child pick an animal. When planning activities, I tried never to make them last more then 15-20 minutes. Everything always ran long and there were times we did not get everything done, but I found that they stayed on task if they were not given too much time. And as with just about anyone - directions need to be as brief as possible.

Answer 6

I have no ideas on how to control 3 and 4 year olds, however if you keep them busy then they are less likely to need to be controlled. Songs with story boards are a hit, musical instruments that they can touch and explore,, a good kids tape with different centers; coloring, beading, figurines (dinosaurs, playhouse w/ mom and dad), water play, building blocks. There are some great websites available, if you have a couple computers this is the age that they start to get really excited about playing games. Routine is still key, keep it consistent, give them rules and consequence. Spend the time to get them started and then just sit back and be there for supervision and problem solving. GET OUTSIDE!!!! Blow bubbles and get them to catch them. Make some play doh and cookie cutters, building blocks, finger painting with jello packets n' water. Think about being silly and fun.

Answer 7

Your best bet is to avoid the anxiety and upheaval associated with control fights. Three and four year olds can be hell when they get into a contest of wills with you.

Best way to avoid this is to provide them choices. Have 3 or 4 activities for them to choose from. They can all be as educational and fun as you wish. Rather than telling a child to do X and receiving a "No!" You present them with a choice of activities. A child can't really answer "What do you want to do?" with "No!" They don't often have the sophistication of intellect to figure out how to do that. They're much more tractable when they feel they are in control.

Answer 8

You can divide your classroom into centers (blocks, puzzles, dressup, art, etc.). Color code the centers and make necklaces to match. This way you can control how many children are in each center at one time. The students can only play in a center they have a necklace for. This way you don't end up with 16 kids in the block center. This provides crowd control while also helping students learn to make decisions for themselves. Because they are getting to choose which center to go to, they feel they have control and are less likely to act out. Just make sure you have more necklaces than students.

Answer 9

If you have a computer or computer access this is a great site for 3 to 4 year olds:

www.literacycenter.net.

You can let one child teach the other children the alphabet and numbers. One child can say a letter name while the other children can act out the letter name with their bodies.

I also like activity centers.

Answer 10

Get help from other teachers or experts. Age 3 and 4 are very hard to control. You could divide them into group at tables. This way you can control the groups one at a time and it is easier to plan things for a small group than one large group. I remember that at that age, one table was the yellow train group, when they had free time, the red car group would have skill building, another snack time and the last group blue boat would be working on their writing skills.