Preschool Classroom Setup and Expectations

Your preschool meet and greet is coming up, and you can’t wait to see the space your child will be learning in. Being in a positive learning environment is so important in creating a love of learning in children, and a great preschool knows that! Here’s some things you should expect to see in your child’s preschool classroom setup.

INVITING ENVIRONMENT

When you first walk into a preschool classroom, you should immediately be filled with joy! The room should be decorated with fun colors, but not be too overwhelming, and the staff should be warm and welcoming with smiles on their faces.

As you look around you should see things that make you smile…Posters with inspiring messages, cute alphabet and number displays, and puppets are a few fun things you might see in a preschool classroom.

DRAMATIC PLAY CENTERS

A preschool classroom will usually have at least one dramatic play center, or they may have several. Dramatic play centers are areas set up for your preschooler to explore their imagination through play. Some dramatic play centers that are common in preschools are:

These centers will be equipped with everything your child needs to get into character. They’ll have everything from dress up clothes all the way down to stuffed animals wrapped in bandages, and fake money to make purchases.

LITERACY CENTER

If you don’t see a ton of books, you better make sure you’re in the right room! A preschool classroom should be loaded with books, and have an area set up for your preschooler to enjoy them. A rug and some comfy cushions nearby is a great set up for circle time where teacher’s usually read books, sing songs, and talk about the children’s day.

Books aren’t the only important part of a literacy center though! These centers should be set up to encourage your child to explore letters on their own as well. There may be puzzles, letter tiles, sorting games, and other fun learning tools.

ART AREA

A preschool classroom has to have art supplies. The more the better. A preschool classroom may have an area dedicated to arts and crafts, or they may utilize their entire classroom for craft time.

No matter where they do their arts and crafts, every preschool classroom has an area of their room that’s dedicated to buckets full of crayons and storage containers loaded full of feathers, and beads. If this area looks like it’s a bit of a mess, then it’s exactly how an art area should be.

BLOCK AREA

Yes, a whole area just for blocks! Are you wishing you could stay with your child in preschool all day yet? All of these centers are set up to teach your child in a fun, hands-on way, and blocks are a super fun and hands-on way to build your child’s:

MORE LEARNING AREAS

Every preschool is different and may focus on different learning areas. Here are some other centers you may come across in a preschool classroom.

Manipulatives

Much like the tools in a literacy area, manipulatives are tools used to help your child:

• Recognize shapes, colors, and textures
• Develop pattern recognition
• Concentrate on completing a task
• Develop hand-eye coordination
• Follow directions
• Practice problem solving

Science

Some preschools may focus more on science than others. If a preschool focuses on a S.T.E.M. curriculum then they will be set up for your child to learn lots of fun science. S.T.E.M. is an acronym for science, technology, engineering, and math.

If you’re not familiar with this type of learning, check out Little Bins for Little Hands for an idea of the kind of projects that are done in a S.T.E.M. classroom.

Sensory Tables

Sensory tables are essentially large tubs set up and filled with a scoop-able material, such as sand, rice, or water. Children will have different tools they can use to scoop the material, and other small toys added in to play with as well. Sensory tables may be themed, to help children with hands-on exploration of a subject.

Now that you know what to expect, you’ll be able to recognize these things while visiting your child’s preschool classroom, and know that your child is going to be in a great environment full of play and learning.