Welcome to my new kindergarten classroom! New room. Different setup. New spaces. And a whole lot of blank walls. And that’s intentional. When I started setting up this classroom, I kept thinking about one thing: Who is this classroom actually for? The answer is the kids. Definitely not Pinterest. Not Instagram. Not other teachers. The kids. So instead of trying to fill every wall, cover every surface, and make every corner look “finished,” I wanted a kindergarten classroom that was functional, flexible, and ready for the kids to make it their own. So, let’s go on a classroom tour!
Kindergarten Classroom Tour: Whole Group Learning
This is our whole group, where we do…well…whole group instruction. The carpet is from Alive Studios and actually uses an app to come alive in 3D! We have our teacher easel, Promethean board, and this year, a whiteboard. I intentionally left the whiteboard empty. I didn’t cover it with a bunch of shelves and cups or small pre-made anchor charts. That’s not helpful or useful. I left it as a usable white board to use a learning tool.
Classroom Tour: Student Work Area
Our classroom uses no tables and desks, and we do everything on the floor. This large area is just for the kids to work and play! We have a new classroom rug from our friends at BOOOOOM JACKSON, some fun ice cream chairs, and a table for kids to use. This space can be used for so many things. You’ll also see our sensory bins, including our new Tuff Tray bin from MEKA!
Kindergarten Room Tour: Small Group Area
This is our small group area. We don’t use kidney tables because they always feel awkward. These tables were built for us to be more kid-friendly. They’re also on wheels, so they can be moved and used in so many ways. We use the rainbow drawers to store and organize materials. This year, we added a small pegboard from IKEA for word work, math lessons, and more!
Kindergarten Classroom: Supplies, Storage, and Blank Space
The cart with the green drawers is our community supply station! Since we don’t have tables and desks, we use community supplies. Everything the kids need is here, so they can grab it. The white shelves house toys, manipulatives, centers, and other supplies, such as chalkboards.
You will notice all of the boards and walls are blank. This is intentional. No giant peg boards. No premade posters. Just blank space waiting for kids’ work, artwork, and class-created graphic organizers. It’s their classroom, and they should help create it.
Classroom Tour: Library and Dramatic Play
This year, we’re making some changes. My team decided we would bring a dramatic play center into our classrooms. So I made this DIY project so I could reimagine dramatic play from what’s out there. I want to try new things with this center and see where this journey takes us.
We also made a MAJOR change to our classroom library. This year, we’re trying a rotating library. Instead of bringing all 10,000 books into the classroom, we will be rotating books by unit, season, theme, etc.
Here’s a video tour of our classroom:
Here are some of the items we’re using in our classroom:
