How to Have Circle Time at Home

As I've mentioned before, I previously worked at a daycare center where I was first the assistant teacher and then the lead teacher in the 12-18 month room. I truly enjoyed my time at both of these positions, it was always fun to see a baby enter my classroom not speaking or walking and watch that baby grow into a babbling, walking person! I enjoyed arts and crafts; mostly finger painting with me cutting their blobs of paint into things and I enjoyed our daily routine of "circle time".

What is Circle Time?

Circle time, in my classroom would occur after everyone was dropped off for the day and after everyone had breakfast. We would then, you guessed it, sit on the floor in a circle. This was something the older kids did in a more rigid manner but we did our best and some days all of my toddlers stayed put and other days one or two (or 12) of them would lose interest and be off exploring other things. It was fine when they lost interest we were really just trying to get them to practice and be prepared for the bigger rooms but it was great when the whole lot of them would sit still for the whole time!

Circle Time would include the following:
Good Morning song
Stating the day of the week, the date and the month of the year 
Sing the "Days of the Week" song
Sing the "Months of the Year" song
Flash cards for common first words
Flash cards for shapes and numbers
Miscellaneous fun songs

Now that I am a stay-at-home-mom, I have Circle Time with my little one. She is much younger than what I was used to in my classroom but again, it is about practice and repetition at this age than it is much of anything else. Plus, the earlier you start showing your baby pictures and saying what they are, the earlier they will pick up language. It also helps build a routine for both baby and I. 

How to Have Circle Time at Home

What You Need:
First Word Flashcards - I recommend this set only because it is what we had at the daycare so for familiarity sake, I purchased a set for myself.

Shapes and Numbers Flashcards - I made these myself (with help from Princess C) you can check our arts and crafts version of these below.

A bucket - this is optional but I think it is good to keep all of the Circle Time items in one place. I'm using a specialty popcorn bucket from when hubby and I saw The Peanuts Movie in theaters a few years back.
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Shapes and Numbers Artwork

Instead of cutting out shapes and numbers on color construction paper, I thought it would be fun to get C involved and have her do some finger painting. Then, once dry I could cut out the shapes and numbers.

To make the shapes and numbers a bit more sturdy, I suggest lamenting them using self laminating sheets like these. Once I cut out the shapes, I placed them on a lamenting sheet, sticky side up and then placed another sheet over top to create a seal. 

The finished products will look something like this, I free-handed the numbers and they aren't perfect, but they will work. For now, until my little Princess becomes mommy's biggest critic. 

Songs 

I like to start off with the good morning song;

Good morning, good morning
Good morning to you. (x2)
Our day is beginning, there's so much to do.
Good morning, Good morning,
Good morning to you!

Days of the week song (to the tune of the Adams Family theme song):

​Days of the week (snap, snap)
Days of the week (snap, snap)
Days of the week, days of the week, days of the week.
There's Sunday and there's Monday.
There's Tuesday and there's Wednesday.
There's Thursday and there's Friday, and then there's Saturday.
Days of the week (snap, snap)
Days of the week (snap, snap)
Days of the week, days of the week, days of the week (snap, snap)

The months of the year song is a bit hard to convey over the internet however it goes something like this:

January. February. Marr-rrch, April.
May. June. Juuu-llllly, August.
September. October. November. De-cember.
Those are the months of the year.

Fun songs I like to induce in Circle Time on a rotating basis are:

5 Little Ducks went out one day
Over the hill and far away, Mother Duck said "quack, quack, quack, quack"
And only 4 Little Ducks came back.
*Repeat until no ducks come back*
A sad Mother Duck went out one day
Over the hill and far away,
Mother Duck said "quack, quack, quack, quack"
And all 5 of her ducks came back!

5 Little Monkeys jumping on the bed,
One fell off and bumped his head.
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said, "no more monkeys jumping on the bed".
*Repeat until all of the monkeys fall off the bed*

3 Little Monkeys swinging from a tree,
Teasing Mr. Alligator, can't catch me.
(whispers) Along comes Mr. Alligator, quiet as can.
(return to normal tone) and SMACKS (clap hands) that monkey right out of that tree.
*Repeat until all of the monkeys are caught*

Other favorites:
The Grand Old Duke of York
Where is Thumpkin?
The Ants Go Marching
Old McDonald Had a Farm
​B-I-N-G-O!

Currently we are a classroom of one but getting C in the routine of having a Circle Time after her breakfast and before her morning nap is helping us not only fill our day with fun, learning activities but also firming up a routine. I believe this will also set her up for success when she goes to Pre-School and her teachers are doing Circle Time.