Classroom Zoom Ideas for early childhood

We have now entered into a world of Zoom calls with our students, friends, and family members. It is a great way to stay connected and feel like you are a part of something. I have been in contact with my preschool class for the entire distance learning by conducting weekly Zoom calls. I created a list of classroom Zoom ideas that are fun and engaging for you and your students. Below you will see a list of my top favorites!

1. Create a class graph

Before the actual Zoom call, I sent parents an email to prep their kids so they could be ready for their answer. The topic was, ‘What do you like to do when you play outside?’ I gave 3 choices of:

play ball
ride your bike
draw with chalk

During our call, I would pick out a popsicle stick from our class names and each student had a chance to share what they like to do. I recorded their answers on my white board with tally marks. We counted the tallies at the end and then recorded that amount onto our class graph. We touched on math terms such as greater than, less than, equal to.

2. Virtual show and tell

You can always do the tried and true show and tell where each student gets a chance to bring something they love to share with their friends. You can always put a spin on it and have them bring a “too big for school” show and tell. They would have to bring an item that wouldn’t fit in their backpack to share. For example:

a family pet
a trophy
a sibling
their bike

3. Dance party learning

This is one of my favorites! Pick a song that your class loves. Our class song has been ‘Pancake Robot‘ this year. I found the song on YouTube and had it playing in the background for our dance party. So here’s how you play:

Tell the students to get up and start dancing when they hear the music playing.
When the music stops, they are to stop dancing and sit down
For literacy: I give them 3 words that have the same first sound and they are to write that letter on their white board and show me. I make sure to call on a student to tell me what letter they wrote. Repeat the process till the song ends.
For math: I show them my magnetic 10 frame and they write down the number. Or roll a dice and they tell me the number. Basically do whatever skill you’re working on and go for it!

4. First sound name game

This was also a hit with my students! Before the Zoom call, I told parents in an email to have their kids find something in their house that begins with the first letter of their name and bring it with them to their Zoom call. It was so fun to see how they could connect the first sound to something special that they have at home. My daughter also played this game with her class. Her name begins with J and she brought our dog who also starts with J!

5. Math Warm Up

This is something I do for about 5-8 minutes just to keep their number sense fresh. I have a magnetic 10 frame that I place on a cookie sheet. We do subitizing exercises. I have them close their eyes and then 3…2…1.. open! They have to write down the number on their white board. I also have done basic number recognition with the 10 frame as well as how many more to make 10.

Click on the image above to find this on Amazon.

Aside from the 10 frame I also do mental math with the dice roll. Quick and easy!

6. Rainbow hunt

This is a fun way to get students up and moving. A student picks a color and everyone runs off to find something in their house that is the same color. I then take time for the kids to share what they brought. Super easy yet super fun!

7. Small group snack chat

I did this one week and it was fun to break up my class into smaller groups. I ended up splitting the boys and the girls into two groups as we shared a snack together and just chatted. There was no agenda besides just connecting with each other. I must say, however, there was quite a difference in the two calls as the girls talked about how they missed one another and the boys made bubble cheeks and squished out the air directly into their camera. lol! Next time, I may rethink that and mix up the genders more! However, it was fun to just share some snack time like we do at school.

My preschool daughter enjoying snack time and sharing with her class.

8. Last day of school summer celebration

On our last day of school, I plan to read to them the book, I See Summer. I will tell kids to bring their favorite treat to eat while we Zoom. We will sing our preschool song and dance to our favorite song, Pancake Robot. Here are a list of more last day of school books. To find these books click on my affiliate link at the bottom of this post.