Providing Choices: Activities Students Can Engage in During Morning Soft Start
12/4/20242 min read
The Importance of a Soft Start
The morning soft start is a crucial period for students, providing them with a relaxed transition into their school day. This time allows for informal interactions among peers and empowers students to engage in various activities that enhance both their academic readiness and social skills. Understanding what students can do during this time can significantly impact their productivity and overall school experience. It is very important to have choices for the kids! It can be a lot of work to set-up Soft Start activities and establish the routines... but once it's going you can rotate the choices and use them over and over again... throughout the year... and over the years!
Reading
Some students just love having the opportunity to choose a book and sit quietly to read. During the school day their reading is often guided or chosen for them... so a bucket of free choice books (ones they wouldn't normally have a choice to use during the school day) is an exciting choice for growing readers! These can be books from your classroom library, or a whole collection from the school or public library!
Group Activities
Put out a stack of board games or puzzles that kids can play with together. Normally there is not a lot of time for inside play during the structured school day unless there is an inside recess.. so give the kids a choice of just a few board games (pick some up at garage sales or thrift stores) and puzzles (grab some at the Dollar Store). You can put out just a few choices of each and then trade them out evey couple of weeks. Basic card decks, dice, or dominoes are a popular choice as well!
Hands on Activities
Students love to create... whether it be building blocks, legos, pattern blocks, geoboards, play-doh, pom poms with pictures to recreate, pipe cleaners, etc. Put out large buckets of items for children to share, or create individual sets in ziploc bags so students can take the items to their seats or their own space in the classroom to create independently. Don't forget just the basic choice of coloring sheets, dot-to-dots, or wordsearches as well!
Practice Activities
Sometimes students enjoy getting a little more time to practice math or reading skills. Put out extra copies of practice worksheets or old homework. Better yet... make a few laminated copies and put them out with dry erase markers... much more fun than "pencil and paper". Put out flashcards or centers that you have used during reading or math in the past. Kids will enjoy getting the chance to repeat an activity or get better at it. Need resources for your practice activities? Please visit my store, Lollipops Learning Place on Teachers Pay Teachers!