“Things I Learned in Kindergarten” Writing Activities

Kindergarten is such fun, both for teachers and for students. Everything is bright, colorful and new, and no one takes themselves too seriously. Anything can be a game if you do it right, and there is nothing that can’t be improved with a couple of markers and a glue stick. And there’s so much to learn!

And of course, the lessons we learn in kindergarten are among the most important building blocks of all—like how to share, when to say sorry and when to ask for help. These are the lessons we, as teachers, hope have left the most lasting impressions. One way to help ensure these lessons stay with them for good is to ask your students to reflect on them—and what better way to do so than with a fun, end-of-the-year, “Things I Learned in Kindergarten” writing activity?

Activity #1: “What was your favorite classroom activity we did this year?”

This writing activity asks your students to remember and write about something they learned from you this year that really sparked their interest and their imaginations. While your students will no doubt enjoy recalling and describing their happy memory, this activity will actually teach you something as well! By giving you insight into which lesson plans your students found the most memorable and engaging, this activity can help you create even more exciting ones in the future

PROJECT IDEA

You can easily turn this prompt into a creative classbook project. First, ask your students to revise and rewrite their responses to make sure there are no mistakes on the final draft. Then have them draw illustrations depicting something related to the lesson they’ve described. (For instance, if a student discusses learning about time, they might choose to draw a clock, a watch or an hourglass.) Once their responses and illustrations are complete, it’s a cinch to publish their work using either a paper kit or an online bookmaker. 

Activity #2: “Write about a time you learned something from your friends in this class.”

Not every lesson is taught by the teacher. This writing activity asks your students to consider what other things they might have learned this year from a less obvious source—their school friends. Perhaps Jacob learned that it’s more fun to give than to get, or maybe Sophie discovered that it’s important to use your words when trying to express emotions to others. It’s easy to overlook these small moments when thinking back over the course of a whole year’s worth of lessons learned, but this activity will help your students remember better—both the moment and the lesson.

PROJECT IDEA

This activity makes for a great end-of-the-year class project. Once your students’ written responses are complete, ask them to illustrate the memory they’ve chosen. If you have the time and the resources to do so, you can also take photos of your students and their friends to use instead, or alongside, student drawings. Finally, collect their writing and any accompanying artwork or photographs and publish it all in a beautiful classbook commemorating both your students’ friendships and the valuable lessons they’ve learned from them.

Activity #3: “List the most important things you learned in kindergarten this year.”

There are so many things we learn in kindergarten, it can be hard to remember them all. For this writing prompt, your students don’t need to remember everything—but the longer their list, the better! This activity is both a memory exercise as well as a chance to practice timed writing. The idea is to think of as many things as possible in a short amount of time. Be sure to ask for volunteers to share some of their items with the class once time is up!

PROJECT IDEA

To turn this writing activity into a collaborative class project, ask your students to team up in pairs or small groups to create their lists. After they’ve finished writing, ask each group to share their lists with the class, and create a master list of “Things We Learned in Kindergarten” this year. Once your master list is complete, assign each student (or ask them each to sign up for) one or two items on the list to write about and illustrate. Finally, don’t forget to publish their work in a creative classbook that will showcase not only their artistic and literary talents, but also how much they’ve learned in just one year.

Lessons Learned in Kindergarten

As Robert Fulghum once wrote, “Most of what I really need / To know about how to live / And what to do and how to be / I learned in kindergarten.” As teachers, it’s up to us to help our students learn those lessons for themselves—lessons which they will carry with them for the rest of their lives.

Writing to reflect on these discoveries helps cement them in your students’ hearts and minds. Publishing their work crystallizes the lesson further, showing your students not only that what they’ve learned is important, but that their ideas and hard work are important as well—and that just might be the most important lesson of all.

Looking for more writing activities and other creative resources for your kindergarten classroom? Check out our online teacher’s lounge, and sign up today for your free publishing kit!

Image sources: Lead image via Shutterstock; Images 1, 2, 3 via OpenClipart.org