Sending your children to kindergarten is exciting, but it can also be stressful. How will they know what to do? What will they do without me? Will they listen and follow directions? You can alleviate some of these worries by teaching your children simple life skills that will prepare them for kindergarten and help them succeed at school. Tackle the life skills outlined below, one at a time, spending a week on each category. In three weeks, you’ll have helped your child be more self-sufficient and prepared him or her to be part of a kindergarten class!

One of the best ways parents can prepare their child for kindergarten is to encourage independent self-care skills. Children need to develop their social and emotional intelligence and develop personal self-care skills in order to learn and thrive in school.

Here are a few ideas to help you foster your child’s self-care skills to get ready for kindergarten.

1. Doing Tasks Independently

Encouraging independence is a great way to strengthen children’s self-help skills. Before entering kindergarten, children should know how to do tasks independently. Start practicing these new skills a few months before school starts to give your child time to get comfortable with them.

Bathroom and Self-Care

• How to flush the toilet
• How to use toilet paper properly (how much to use)
• How to wash hands (and knowing its importance)
• How to give others privacy (when bathrooms have more than one stall)
• How to blow his or her nose

Clothing

• How to get dressed
• How to unbutton and unzip clothing
• How to take off a jacket and shoes
• How to tie shoes

Mealtime Etiquette

• How to open and close lunch boxes and containers
• How to open packaging such as straws, milk containers, and juice boxes
• How to use utensils and to not play with food
• How to use napkins to clean hands and wipe face
• How to stay seated while eating

Cleanup

• How to pick up toys after playing
• How to put pieces to a game or puzzle back in the box
• How to clean up room

As your child practices these important milestones, remind him or her that it is always okay to ask for help, but encourage your child to try them alone first.

2. Managing Emotions and Other Social Skills

Teaching kids how to manage their own emotions, be respectful, and learn what it means to be a good friend will help them learn important social and emotional skills for life. These skills are important for children to understand and manage their emotions, feel and show empathy for others, establish healthy relationships, set positive goals, and make responsible decisions.

Here are a few tips to focus on with your child:

Listening

• How to listen when someone is talking

Self-Control

• How to keep hands to self

Manage and Self-Regulate Emotions

• How to deal with emotions and use words to express them
  • Knowing when to tell someone how they feel
  • Walking away from someone or something that’s making them upset
  • Finding a quiet place to color, read, or sit quietly
  • Closing their eyes, taking deep breaths in and out, and counting to ten or tracing their fingers
  • Doing something they love that makes them happy

*Make sure children know to always tell a teacher if someone is hurting them.

Social Skills Activities for Today’s Kids is a fun activity book that helps children learn important rules about friendship and school. The meaningful activities give children a safe space to think about how to handle social situations and provide guidance and suggestions for them to consider. 

 

3. Following Routines and Rules

When children enter kindergarten, their days will be structured with routines and rules they will need to navigate. Help your child get used to this by beginning these transitions at home.

Start Weaning Your Child off Afternoon Naps 

• Start a few weeks ahead of the first day of school, cutting the nap time in small increments until your child can stay up without a nap. You may need to transition your child to an earlier bedtime.

Start a Bedtime Routine

• Getting a good night’s sleep is important and helps children feel energetic and ready for school the next day.
• Have a consistent bedtime and routine, such as taking a bath, brushing teeth, changing into pajamas, and reading a bedtime story.

Set a Time Limit for Eating Lunch

• There is only a limited time to eat lunch or snacks at school. Try having your child finish eating lunch within 15–30 minutes, while staying seated.

• Create a Schedule
  • Display your schedule and have your child look at it after each activity is completed.
  • Use poster board, Velcro, and construction paper to create your own schedule.
  • Illustrate pictures of each activity and write out what the activity is on the construction paper. Place Velcro on the back of your pictures and have your child stick the day’s routine on the poster board and then remove activities when they are completed.

Activities to Help Your Child Learn Rules and Follow Directions

Point out the importance of following directions. Rules and following directions help keep children safe.

• Play Simon Says (great game to practice being a good listener)
• Follow a simple recipe together
• Do an art project with multiple steps, such as origami or step-by-step-drawings
• Play duck, duck, goose (teaches children not to get up until it’s their turn)

Activities that Practice Self-Help Skills and Fine Motor Skills

• Play dress up with stuffed animals, having your child practice using buttons or zippers.
• Hole punch a piece of cardboard. Have your child weave a string or shoelace through the holes.
• Let your kids help clean up the table when they are done eating (wiping tables, throwing trash away, placing dirty dishes in sink, and washing hands afterwards).
• Opening and closing a backpack: This is a great activity to start when you purchase your backpack for school.

Kindergarten Song 

This fun song “I Go to Kindergarten,” is an entertaining way to show children what to expect when they head to school.

Additional Safety Skills 

Although it is not expected that children will know their parents’ phone numbers when they enter kindergarten, it is a good idea to work with your child to know:

• First and last names
• Phone number (of one or both parents)
• Home address

For more tips and ideas to get ready for kindergarten, check out:

Kindergarten Readiness Checklist: What Does My Child Need to Know for Kindergarten?

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Heather Foudy is a certified elementary teacher with over 7 years’ experience as an educator and volunteer in the classroom. She enjoys creating lessons that are meaningful and creative for students. She is currently working for Evan-Moor’s marketing and communications team and enjoys building learning opportunities that are both meaningful and creative for students and teachers alike.