Free Educational Resources From The Kindergarten Smorgasboard Printables For Early Childhood Educators

The Kindergarten Smorgasboard website offers a comprehensive collection of free educational resources for teachers and parents working with early childhood education. Founded by Greg and Jason Warren, the platform provides downloadable printables and activities designed specifically for PreK through 1st grade students. These resources cover various academic subjects and are organized by themes, seasons, and skill levels, making them valuable tools for educators seeking to supplement their curriculum without additional cost.

Overview of The Kindergarten Smorgasboard

The Kindergarten Smorgasboard is operated by Greg and Jason Warren, with Greg being a current, full-time kindergarten teacher in Nashville, TN who has 20 years of teaching experience. Their educational journey began with a year in 5th grade, followed by two years in 2nd grade, before focusing exclusively on kindergarten. In 2015, Greg was honored as Teacher Of The Year. The website represents their commitment to sharing educational resources with the wider teaching community.

The teaching philosophy behind the resources emphasizes guiding students by providing scaffolding for success. This approach is reflected in the design of their materials, which are structured to support skill development while maintaining engagement through themes and interactive elements.

Categories of Free Resources

Mathematics Resources

The Kindergarten Smorgasboard offers numerous mathematics resources designed to develop foundational numeracy skills:

• Ten frames: Available in various themes including Halloween and Golden Girls for the 100th day of school. These resources help students with number recognition and understanding number compositions. The ten frames can be printed and laminated for repeated use in centers or small groups.

• Counting activities: Includes hands-on activities like the Thanksgiving turkey counting center where students place clothespins on turkey cutouts to practice counting. This manipulative-based approach helps develop one-to-one correspondence skills.

• Subitizing cards: Featuring gingerbread themes, these cards help students develop the ability to recognize quantities without counting, building number fluency similar to reading fluency. The website also references subitizing videos available on YouTube.

• Graphing activities: Such as the Super Bowl graphing activity where students create a class chart by coloring and gluing football helmets to predict game outcomes. This integrates mathematics with real-world events and data analysis.

• Number recognition: Resources include activities for recognizing numbers to 5, 10, and 20, often incorporating themes to maintain student interest.

• Math puzzles: Subtraction puzzles provide hands-on practice with subtracting to 10 and developing fact fluency through matching equations with answers.

Language Arts Resources

The platform offers extensive language arts materials focusing on early literacy development:

• Sight word readers: Emergent readers with repetitive patterns that support early reading success, including a solar eclipse-themed sight word book available in both color and blackline.

• Letter recognition: Activities such as Halloween-themed letter recognition where students identify and color letters, often using themed containers like monster gift bags for engagement.

• Community helper word cards: Sets of 14 word cards designed for word walls, vocabulary development, and writing lessons, suitable for community helper units.

• Phonics and phonological awareness: Resources for practicing letters and sounds, including activities where students identify letters and corresponding beginning sounds.

• Writing practice: Pages designed for the beginning of the year to help students develop writing and cutting skills through tracing and cutting exercises.

Seasonal and Thematic Resources

The Kindergarten Smorgasboard organizes many resources by seasons and special events:

• Halloween: Includes ten frames, letter recognition activities, and award cards with monster themes. The Halloween resources often incorporate popular cultural elements like The Golden Girls and Sanderson Sisters.

• Thanksgiving: Features turkey-themed counting activities and letter/sound practice with disco turkeys. These resources integrate holiday themes with academic skill practice.

• Christmas: Offers math activities like Christmas bow ten frames for making ten, maintaining academic focus during the holiday season.

• 100th Day of School: Special resources including ten frame cards featuring The Golden Girls to celebrate the 100th day milestone.

• Solar Eclipse: A sight word emergent reader that combines science content with literacy development.

Assessment and Recognition Resources

The platform provides materials for student assessment and recognition:

• Award cards: Monster-themed award cards recognizing various skills including name writing, letter knowledge, counting, sight word recognition, and directional knowledge (left and right). These awards can be used to acknowledge student mastery of specific skills.

• Recording sheets: Many resources include recording sheets to document student work and provide accountability during independent practice or assessment activities.

How to Access the Resources

All resources from The Kindergarten Smorgasboard are free to download and use. The website features a Resource Center where educators can find and download these materials. The process typically involves:

1. Visiting the Kindergarten Smorgasboard website
2. Navigating to the Resource Center or specific category pages
3. Selecting desired resources
4. Downloading the printable materials

The resources are designed to be printed and, in many cases, laminated for durability and repeated use in classroom centers or small group activities.

Educational Approach and Benefits

The resources reflect a hands-on, interactive approach to early childhood education. Key benefits include:

• Development of fine motor skills through activities like cutting, placing manipulatives, and writing
• Integration of academic content with engaging themes
• Support for diverse learning styles through visual, tactile, and interactive elements
• Alignment with educational standards, including Common Core for mathematics
• Creation of reusable materials through lamination, extending the useful life of each resource

The materials are specifically designed to be accessible to educators with varying levels of experience and resources, requiring only basic supplies like paper, lamination materials, and common classroom manipulatives.

Professional Development and Additional Resources

Beyond the free printables, The Kindergarten Smorgasboard offers additional support for educators:

• Blog: Provides teaching ideas, resources, and free content
• Events tab: Information about where Mr. Greg will be making appearances
• International speaking engagements and curriculum development opportunities
• Co-founding of a pre-K through 2nd grade professional development conference

These resources support the professional growth of educators while providing practical classroom materials.

Conclusion

The Kindergarten Smorgasboard offers a valuable collection of free educational resources for early childhood educators. Their materials span multiple subject areas and are thoughtfully designed to support skill development while maintaining student engagement through thematic elements. The resources reflect practical classroom experience and are aligned with educational best practices. Educators can access these materials through the website's Resource Center, where they can find printables for immediate classroom use. The platform represents a generous contribution to the early childhood education community, providing high-quality resources at no cost to support teaching and learning.

Sources

1. The Kindergarten Smorgasboard Freebies
2. The Kindergarten Smorgasboard Search Results