Have a Ball! This activity is ideal for very young students who are not able to write about themselves on the first day of school. Students sit in a circle on the floor. The teacher holds a large rubber ball and tells his or her name and something else about him or herself. Then the teacher rolls the ball to one of the students. That student tells his or her name and something about himself or herself. The activity continues until everyone has taken a turn. Teachers might focus the activity by asking students to share specific information, such as the names of pets, favorite books, or favorite foods. This activity is an excellent tension reliever for young students, many of whom are separated from their parents for the first time. Follow up the activity by singing a song that will challenge students to observe things about their peers. For example:"Angie's wearing a white shirt, white shirt, white shirt;Angie's wearing a white shirtAll day long."Instruct each child to stand as classmates sing about him or her. Even shy students will enjoy participating.A Smile Goes a Long Way!Create a giant happy face and staple it to a bulletin board with the headline "A Smile Goes a Long Way!" Gather students on the carpet and talk about how this is a happy classroom and it's going to be a happy year. Then prompt students by saying something such as, "As your teacher, I want to know what makes you happy." Then pass out smaller happy faces with lines at the bottom. Children write on the lines one or two things that make them happy. Post their work around the giant happy face.

If I Could Be An Animal... Kindergarteners often have very good imagination, and this game takes advantage of that. Sit around in a circle and let kids take turns completing the following sentence: "If I could be an animal, I would be a..." Encourage kids to talk about why they would be that animal and why they like the animal so much. Kids will love finding out that they share a love of unicorns or both like to jump high like a rabbit!

I teach 4 and 5 year olds and have been basing my lessons round songs. I do lots of activities with the vocabulary (a bit of drilling, "Point/Run to the..." flashcards round the room, make a... out of play doh etc) Then sing the song, of course. Good songs: Old MacDonald, Wheels on the Bus, Heads, Shoulders Knees and Toes. They LOVE the game JUMP - prepare flashcards of vocab you want to teach/practise and insert pictures of someone jumping every so often. Show the cards one by one, all students repeat vocab, when they come across a jumper they all jump up (sometimes I go round individually testing words and if someone makes a mistake they all jump 10 times (or however many you decide) saying the word. They LOVE it!)

Re: 3-5 years olds

Hi, I'm teaching all ages, my youngsters being 2 years old, my oldest are ten.

I start the lesson with a Hello Song, then use a handpuppet to great each kid. With the puppet, we play "Simon says" (or any name your puppet has), so the kids can practize the verbs while they run, jump, dance etc.

I use Flashcards after that and teach 5 - 10 FCs in the lesson (or repeat old ones). I then do a lot of games with the Flashcards, like a Flyswat Game, where they have to swat the words I call out, or "What's Missing", or I print the FCs out smaller and play Memory with them.

Just take care with the 3 years old, they need to do some activity where they have to run or jump every ten or so minutes, they cannot sit still so long.

How to Best Teach Preschool English Language LearnersAs a solution to these challenges use the things on the checklist below for guaranteed success in teaching English. These are the things that children love to do and you can use them as a vehicle for learning to gain instant results. Chop and change your games and activities every 5-10 minutes.

This is vital because preschool children need variety as they get bored easily and have a very short attention span.

Vary the pace during the lesson, mixing up excitable games with quiet ones. You do not want your children getting bored but you do not want them getting over-excited either, so vary the pace according to the mood and keep the children on their toes but not over the top.

Repeat, review and revise. Use short games to review vocabulary and phrases you have taught earlier in the term and the year. If you neglect this, the children will have no recollection of the language you have covered!

Make your lessons playful and full of physical movement. The children will enjoy them more, be more motivated and remember the language better.

Teach in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere with plenty of encouragement.

Avoid competition with preschoolers. It can be stressful and overwhelm them. Play games where everyone wins, or where you do not single out a winner.

Encourage and support your young learners. Never tell them they cannot do it, they are no good at it or that they have failed. You could put them off wanting to learn English for life.

Bring in puppets or teddy bears and have the puppet introduce the new vocabulary for the lesson. If you do not have a puppet you can make one from a paper bag, or by sewing a couple of buttons on a sock.

Use chants, rhymes and songs. These are great for movement and frequent repetition of vocabulary and phrases. Check the CD of songs that goes with this programme.

Do not burden your preschool children with reading and writing leave those for when the children are older. Preschoolers are still learning to write in their own language. There is plenty of time for that later.

Concentrate on listening and understanding, building vocabulary and the acquisition of short phrases.

Concentrate also on speaking practise, starting with single words and short phrases, and gradually moving onto longer sentences and questions.

Avoid abstract concepts and concentrate instead on concrete real items that the children understand and relate to. For example start with familiar topics such as colours, numbers, greetings, animals, fruit, food and drink, families, body parts, shapes, clothing, the weather, days of the week and short everyday sentences and phrases.

Teaching these topics using games activities and stories will engage your preschoolers considerably more than learning phonics and the alphabet!!

Use please and thank you and be positive. The human mind cannot actually process negatives - try not thinking of a blue monkey - you can't help it - you think of one! Rather than telling children off and telling them what not to do focus on positive behaviour. If John is interrupting Jane look at Jane and say, I am listening to Jane now.

Be prepared - practise telling the stories before you go into class and have your picture flashcards and materials ready. This will allow you to be relaxed and to enjoy the class and the children rather than frantically trying to organise your materials while the children become restless and bored.

Mix up active participation and listening. If the children become restless do something active.

Be flexible. If something is not working then change the game or activity.

Involve shy children too - give them a central role and help them come out of their shell.

Bring in real objects when you can, such as clothes to dress up in, or props for acting out little plays or stories. When you cannot bring in real items use whatever objects are available in your class, and use colourful pictures of real items in the games.

Use stories. Stories are a fabulous resource for preschoolers, who will want to hear the same tales told over and over again. We all love stories - just think of the worldwide popularity of the movies.

You can use games and activities to teach the key words in the story, inspire the children with colourful illustrations to help them understand, and act out parts of the stories or the whole story afterwards with role plays, games and make believe.

Here are ten great reasons to use stories to teach preschoolers English:1. Children love them

2. The story can be the focal point of the lesson, giving meaning and context to odd words and phrases learned in isolation.

3. Children can absorb the structure of language subconsciously as well as hear familiar words they know.

4. Preschoolers will be happy to hear the same stories over and over again which is fantastic for revision and absorption.

5. You can use the stories as a base for fun activities in class.

6. A useful message can be contained in the story, aside from language learning

7. Using stories gives you another method of putting language across and will lead to more variety in your lessons.

8. You can use stories as quiet time in between boisterous activities.

9. Stories, along with songs, allow children to hear and understand far more English than any other method.

10. Enhancing story telling with gestures, actions, colourful illustrations, relevant games and role-plays increases language retention and acquisition, and makes for some really fun lessons. This is logical as you will be repeatedly reviewing and practising the same language as well as making it real through play.