Megan Reynolds

I am a teacher & designer. Connecting with students & seeing them enjoy learning is my favorite feeling on earth! I hope you enjoy this article!

Kindergarden Math Choice Board Tutorial for Teachers

Build your own Math Choice Board for Kindergarden in minutes! Keep kids engaged & learning using these tactics & templates

Common Core Standards: CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.CC.B.4, CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.G.A.2, CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.OA.A.1

To use a choice board in your Kindergarden Classroom during Math you will need to create the Mathchoices (there are lots of examples), organize the classroom, and have a goal;

Time-saving, differentiation, and dynamic classroom management are my favorite reasons to use a choice board!

Integrating choices every day you will need to hone in on the best way to apply Kindergarden Math choice boards to your classroom style!

Here are a few ideas and instructions on choices, classroom management and getting buy-in from yourKindergardenrs

Ideas & Examples of Great Kindergarden Math Choices

Count the Stars

Count the Stars is a fun game where you look at pictures of stars in the sky and count how many you see. Use your fingers to keep track and write the number down!

Shape Safari Hunt

Let’s go on a Shape Safari Hunt! Look around our room for circles, squares, triangles, and rectangles. Draw or stick a sticker on your paper each time you find one!

Number Picnic Party

Number Picnic Party: Count your snacks! Lay out a blanket, put 1, 2, or 3 treats on plates, and count them. Eat one, then count again. Fun counting practice!

Funny Face Fractions

Make a smiley with 4 pieces. Color 2 and say “2 out of 4 parts are happy!” That’s like 1/2! Fractions are pieces of a whole. Let’s play with pieces!

Teddy Bear Sorting

Put teddy bears in groups by color, size, or any way you like. Count how many are in each group. Have fun making patterns with your bear friends!

Pattern Parade Fun

Make a line with colors or shapes that repeat, like red-blue-red-blue or circle-triangle-circle. Can you continue the pattern? It’s a fun game!

Colorful Counting Balloons

Count the bright balloons! 🎈 Write the number you see. Each color is a different number. Have fun matching and counting!

Animal Addition Adventure

Join animals on a fun trip! Add their numbers to find friends. Count paws, tails, and wings. If you see 2 bunnies and 3 ducks, that’s 2+3=5 buddies!

Fishy Number Fishing

Catch fish with numbers! Use a fishing rod to pick fish with numbers 1 to 10 from a pond. Match them to the numbers on your card. Have fun counting and fishing!

Using a Choice Board to Differentiate Math in a Kindergarden Classroom

Keep It Simple

Everyone “teacher & student” should know exactly what they are doing. If you don’t make it even easier!

Differential Instruction vs Saving time?

There is nothing more irritating than “Saving Time” with a Choice Board & ending up with “More work!”. Are you using this to hit standards or save time or both?

"Self Guided" or "instruction-based"?

If you giving out work, should they do it on their own or are these more instructions for each choice?

General rule, if the grade is > 3 there is more work per choice.

FREE Blank Fillable & Custom Choice Board

All ages, all grades where you need 9 grid choice board. Start loving learning again!

How To Manage Your Kindergarden Classroom During Math (With a Choice Board)

I find its easiest to use a big board at the front of the classroom where all students can see the choices then decide what they want to do.

This often will be coming in from a break or transition between subjects.

If you can get all students to know whats expected during a choice activity it becomes one-hundred times easier to manage the class & have everyone know what choices they have!

There are three core steps you have to hit when using a Choice Board;

1) The Set Up
2) The Instruction
3) The Q+A

1) The Set Up

Select your choices, decide on how you are going to use this time in your classroom. Build the choice board

1) The Instruction

Tell the students what they are going to be doing (this becomes easier over time) Simply start with 3 options & move from there.

1) The Q & A

Does anyone have questions? This will help you or the next time. Remember the goal is to make this easier each time!

Why Use A Choice Board?

So, let’s chat about choiceboards and why they’re like the coolest thing ever in your classroom.

Picture this: kiddos bouncing into the room, eyes lighting up because they get to pick their own adventure in learning new words.

It’s like a mini vocab party, and everyone’s invited!

We all have our own jam, right? Some of us are little artists, others are born performers, and some love to get lost in stories. Choice boards are like a buffet of fun learning snacks, so every munchkin finds something tasty that helps the vocab stick!

And here’s the kicker – when the little ones get to steer the ship, they turn into these mini captains of learning. They’re making the calls, and with every choice, they puff up a bit more with confidence. It’s a win-win – they’re learning and feeling like the boss at the same time.

Plus, for us teachers, it’s like having a secret helper in the room. We get to sprinkle in all sorts of activities that match our students’ levels and what makes their hearts tick. It’s like custom-making a learning playlist that gets every kid grooving to the vocab beat. How cool is that?