The Challenge
Here’s a teacher stuck for ideas on giving a demo lesson for kindergarten kids.
“Thank you for the wonderful book! (preschool games book) I use these games almost every day at the kindergarten where I work. About 100 children with their parents are coming to our kindergarten to see if they want to study here next semester. All of them are 2-3 years old and absolute beginners.”
“I have been asked for an unusual task; to give a demo lesson for 100 kindergarten kids!
My coworker’s first idea is singing and dancing, but I’m afraid it’ll be impossible to dance for thirty minutes. Do you have any ideas? It would be very kind of you if you could help me because I’m stuck.
The Demo Lesson for Kindergarten - 100 Kids!
Opening tips
The director is looking to convince parents to send their children to her kindergarten. Therefore I suggest getting the parents to join in, not the kids, who are bound to be excruciatingly shy at first. In the demo lesson for kindergarten below, you’ll see how!
To keep the attention of 100 people, you need to keep things moving. To achieve this, rehearse your demo several times to know exactly what you are doing without referring to any notes. Then, start on time, be sure to have everything ready in advance, and move swiftly from one demonstration to another.
Introduction
First, attract everyone’s attention by banging a gong. Then pause, and wait for parents’ attention. But, of course, you cannot expect to have all the kids’ attention, so don’t wait for it.
Next, introduce yourself and welcome parents. Then, on behalf of the kindergarten, thank them for coming. Next, ask parents to join in with you while you show them games and activities typical of things you do with the kids during their English classes.
Explain to parents that, as they get to know their teacher, their kids will join in gradually, but today we can’t expect much participation from the children.
In addition, ask parents to discreetly leave the room if their child has a loud vocal meltdown. They can return as soon as their child has calmed down.
First games
Teach the parents how to say, I’m fine, thanks. Say Hello, How are you? and have them reply to you all together with I’m fine, thanks. Start by asking them in a normal voice, and then in a whisper. Have them whisper their reply. Next, use a very low voice, then a very high voice, and they reply in low or squeaky high voices.
Next, roll a big, soft ball to a parent, saying Hello, how are you? For a smooth demo lesson for kindergarten, choose parents who you know speak English! Have the parent roll the ball back, answering, “I’m fine, thanks.” If the parent hesitates or is shy, smile and move straight on to the next person. Three rolls of the ball are sufficient to demonstrate this idea since the aim is to entertain the parents with variety. (5 minutes maximum)
Whose shadow is it?
This game is perfect in a demo lesson for kindergarten kids, even with 100 children and a big audience of parents.
Set up a sheet with a light behind it. Make shapes of animals with your hands while saying the words in English. Make a rabbit with your hands and ask parents, What’s this? (You can find all the hand shapes online.) That should intrigue most of the kids. Don’t worry if some toddlers are off in their own world. (5 minutes)
Mystery box game
If getting the light and sheet set up is too much work for you, try a game like Mystery Box game.
Have all sorts of goodies inside a box with a hole in the top.
- First, ask a parent and child to come out front and feel inside the box.
- Then, have the parent name the items they touch.
- Next, put some things in there that are easy to identify, so you have success. For example, a banana is easy to recognize since it has a unique shape. Also, a tennis ball or pencil should be easy to guess.
- Next, pull out the items and name them in English.
- Finally, encourage the parents to repeat the words back to you.
On the other hand, do not force any shy parents to speak in front of the big crowd since they may be afraid of looking foolish. So, if the parent is nervous, ask the entire audience to name the word. Safety in numbers! (5 minutes maximum)
What is hiding in my pocket?
As well as, or instead of Mystery Box, intrigue kids with What is hiding in my pocket? (See my preschool games book)
Here you wear a big coat with lots of pockets which you stuff with coloured scarves and objects. To prepare, push scarves up your sleeves and fill the pockets with small toys and things, such as bells, whistles, teddies, and balloons. During the activity, pull out the items, and ask the parents what colour they are. Kindergarten kids find this most intriguing. (5 minutes maximum)
Make a rainstorm
Get an umbrella and say, Oh no! It’s raining. Start drumming your hands on your thighs to make a pitter-patter of rain. If the room is too noisy, then use a box or something that resonates. Then, drum faster, saying, Oh no, it’s raining hard! Next, slow the rain down until it’s just spotting – tapping your thighs slowly while you look hopefully up at the sky. Say, and Oh good, here comes the sun! And finally, it stops raining, so you can close the umbrella.
If you have an assistant, have them open the umbrella and hold it over their head. In addition, they could run for cover when it starts raining hard and pretend to be in a rainstorm. At the end, they fold the umbrella, smile, and look up at the clear sky.
Now you’ve done the demo, have all the parents join in, tapping their thighs and following your prompts. It should make a wonderful sound. Start with a gentle pitter-patter, quite slowly, gradually increasing the speed and intensity as the rain falls harder to create a tropical storm. Then gradually decrescendo until the sun comes out. While this is happening, repeat short phrases such as, “It’s raining.” “It’s raining a lot! Oh my! It’s really raining now. It’s a tropical storm! What a storm! It’s raining.” Don’t make it scary for the toddlers – keep smiling and having fun. The storm should not be a menacing one. (5 minutes)
Use homemade instruments
You might now have some parents come out on the floor with you and give each one a homemade instrument. Have all parents chant something like, “Fish in the sea, fish in the sea, fish in the sea.” Make this a rhythmic chant, and it sounds pretty good. Parents can make fish motions with their hands while chanting. Suddenly a shark comes along! It’s a friendly shark, though, and you welcome it happily because you don’t want to scare the kids! On “shark,” the parents play their instruments in celebration. Then stop them and start up the “fish in the sea” chant again. Repeat this a few times.
Tins of sand, jars of small stones, lentils, or cornflakes all make different noises. Likewise, glass bottles that you hit with a spoon have different pitches.
You might prefer a chant with “Bumblebee fly” and “Flowers!” in celebration. The last thing you want is for your kindergarten kids to have nightmares after their demo lesson!
Either way, have posters or giant cardboard cutouts of the vocabulary, so the meaning is clear. For example, you could use “Curl up cat, curl up cat, curl up cat” while making curling up gestures. Then, exclaim “wake up” with big waking up gestures. Of course, this will be harder for parents to mime since they may be holding on to their kids, but perhaps they can curl up with them. Anyway, it might inspire you to think of relevant ideas for your kindergarten, culture, and country.
Counting in rhythm
You could finish by setting up a rhythm with the percussion instruments and parents clicking their fingers or clapping and counting up to ten several times.
Closure
Finish up by telling parents how to sign up and answer any general questions that could apply to everybody. Finally, say goodbye to all the kids, smile, and be on hand for questions afterwards.
Get my preschool games book for lots of fun ideas to be a successful kindergarten teacher.
Kind regards
Shelley Ann Vernon
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Sale!
PS Please see this post for tips on teaching 2 and 3-year-olds, together in a mixed-age group.
5 thoughts on “Demo lesson for kindergarten kids”
Great ideas. I can see myself using a few for my own demo classes.
Thank you for the tips on demo classes. I have been to a few and it was nerve wrecking since ideas and implementing them are key to teaching kindergarten. Your ideas help chase away the anxiety that comes weeks in prep for the demo day.
Thank you for writing this wonderful content for all of us. In this article you get the information on demo lesson for kindergarten kids . It is a pleasure worth reading it. You have done an excellent job with this content I must say.
Thank you for taking the time out to go into detail. This has probably helped more teachers than you can imagine!
Dear Ruth, Thanks for your comment – great ! I am glad to help. If you ever have questions, feel free to email me anytime. All the best, Shelley (Email is on contact page)