How Long Should Lessons Be for Kindergarten?

Kindergarten-aged children are learning the fundamentals that will form the basis of their future education. To ensure that students remain attentive and engaged with lessons, educators must establish that lessons are the appropriate length. But how long should the lessons be?

Lessons for kindergarten students should be between 10 and 20 minutes long. The attention span for kindergarten-aged children has an upper limit of about 20 minutes. Dividing lessons into shorter activities is a fantastic way to ensure children stay focused while learning.

This article will explore how to plan effective and fun kindergarten lessons that are the ideal length for young students.

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How To Plan a Good Lesson for Kindergarten

Planning memorable and fun lessons for kindergarten students can take time, and it’s vital to build a year-long curriculum before the school year begins.

This yearly overview will be the basic framework of what you should be teaching throughout the year. You are not expected to fill each part of your annual plan with individual lessons just yet, so leave some room for flexibility and change when catering to the needs of your students over time.

As such, you may create lesson plans each week. But how do you plan a good lesson for kindergarten students?

Generally, you’ll want to follow five simple steps:

Stick to the curriculum.
Consider individual versus group activities.

Research lessons used by fellow instructors.
Utilize crafts and interaction to keep activities fun.
Ensure lessons last less than 20 minutes.

Let’s explore these steps in greater detail to understand how they can help you create exciting, engaging, and informative lessons for your students.

Stick to the Curriculum

The first step in planning a good lesson for kindergarten is referencing your state and county’s student curriculum.

Each school district has a specific curriculum guideline for each grade. These guidelines detail learning objectives, helping instructors plan age-appropriate lessons that tackle approved skills and topics.

Although the kindergarten curriculum varies depending on your state and county, there are some fundamentals that all kindergarten students should learn. Check out this helpful video for more information:

Consider Individual Versus Group Activities

When creating a good lesson for students, consider how many individual versus group activities you already have planned for the day. Kindergarten lessons should be a mix of individual and group activities.

Aiming for one individually-focused lesson per day is a great way to continue gauging progress without overwhelming students.

For example, have your class sound out a letter together and listen to a story (as a group) that heavily features that letter. Then have students sit at tables and practice writing that specific letter.

This plan allows students to actively participate in group activities while also creating individual work that shows what they’ve learned.

Research Lessons Used by Fellow Instructors

If you need help presenting a specific topic or skill to students, you can research related lessons that other educators have used to gain inspiration.

Deedee Wills (or Mrs. Wills Kindergarten) offers dozens of lesson plan ideas to help you create engaging and educational lessons for your kindergarten students. You can also ask fellow kindergarten instructors at your school about the types of lessons they use!

Another good resource to use is Teachers Pay Teachers. There are thousands of well-developed lesson plans for every grade level. And you’ll even come across some FREE resources to help you with your planning.

Sharing good practices and ideas is a cornerstone of the teaching community.

Use Crafts and Interaction To Keep Activities Fun

Unlike high school students, kindergarteners will find it difficult to remain focused for long periods. For this reason, instructors should always utilize crafts and interactive activities to keep lessons engaging and memorable.

For example, instead of listing the parts of the body to students, you can have students stand in a large circle, then point to each body part as you say its name. You can then have students mimic your actions and speak aloud with you.

Music is also a valuable tool for many topics. If possible, incorporate an educational song into your lesson plan.

Ensure Lessons Last Less Than 20 Minutes

Kindergarten-aged children tend to have an attention span limit of between 10 and 20 minutes (depending on their age). Consequently, you’ll want lessons and activities to fall within this time limit. Anything longer than this may be a futile exercise.

How To Keep Kindergarten Lessons Short

The general kindergarten curriculum includes learning the alphabet, practicing basic reading skills, and performing simple arithmetic. But these skills take time and repetition—they’re not learned in a day!

For that reason, it’s essential to break these topics down into small, short-length lessons. But keeping each lesson short enough for students to remain engaged is easier said than done.

Still, there are a few ways to keep kindergarten lessons short. For example, instructors can:

Set a timer for each activity.
Rehearse activities beforehand.

Play a music playlist that’s a specific length.

Set a Timer for Each Activity

Setting a timer is one of the most effective ways of ensuring an activity never runs on too long. You can use the timer function on your smartphone or a kitchen timer to keep yourself and your students on pace.

On paper, some lessons may take little time. But in reality, you might find that some activities go on longer than anticipated due to student questions or needs (such as bathroom breaks).

For this reason, it’s important to practice (or rehearse) lessons before you reach the classroom.

Rehearse Activities Beforehand

After creating a lesson for your students, try rehearsing that lesson in advance.

Use a stopwatch to track how much time it takes to complete the lesson, then add a few minutes to that final time to account for student questions or interruptions.

This exercise will also allow you to preempt potential challenges your students might face. As you are running over the lesson in your mind, you might anticipate that a group of students will find one of the tasks problematic, for instance. In that case, you can put in place an intervention to remove any potential barriers to learning.

Taking the time to rehearse lessons is a great way to ensure that you don’t spend too long on each task while actively teaching.

Play a Music Playlist That’s a Specific Length

Many kindergarten teachers use music to teach specific concepts. But did you know that you can use a child-appropriate music playlist to help you keep lessons short?

For example, you can choose a 15-minute playlist of songs for each task or activity, keeping the volume low to prevent students from getting distracted. You know it’s time to move on to the next lesson when the music stops.

Besides, music might help students feel more relaxed and can even help with information retention!

Conclusion

Lessons for kindergarten should be a maximum of about 20 minutes long. The average kindergarten-aged student has an attention span of between about 10 and 18 minutes, so keeping lessons within this time frame can help keep students engaged.

To plan a good lesson for kindergarten, refer to the curriculum provided to you by your local school board, and decide whether to place the focus on individual or group activities. After that, utilize crafts or interaction to keep the activities fun and ensure lessons never run too long.

Wondering if a career as a kindergarten teacher is right for you? Then check out the article Are Kindergarten Teachers Happy?

Sources

The Glossary of Education Reform: Learning Objectives