Have you ever used class mottos with your preschoolers? Even though it is mid-year here in Australia, I’ve been wrecking my brain thinking about ways to develop a greater sense of community in my preschool classroom and decided to make some class mottos for my classroom. 

What if at the beginning of the school year we develop some class mottos for our classroom? Classroom mottos would help set the tone for the year and help with teaching values and beliefs of our classroom community.

What do we want our preschoolers to know when they enter your classroom? 

What do you expect from them and what can they expect from you?

Classroom mottos can help guide your students and help build that sense of community from day one. 

Before I jump into how to introduce a class motto, I’m wondering if you have downloaded my Free Guide to Getting Intentional with Social Emotional Learning in Your Preschool Classroom yet? This step-by-step guide will help you bring social emotional learning into the heart of your preschool room. 

How to introduce classroom mottos to your preschool students?

1. Choose some values and beliefs that are important for your classroom.
2.  Introduce them to your young learners at morning group time or morning meeting. Perhaps one or two a week. 
3. Discuss what each class motto means and what that looks like in practice.
4. Display your classroom mottos up somewhere where everyone can see them.
5. Refer back to them often.

Here are 9 of the best Class Mottos for the Start of the Preschool Year:

1. We will care for each other

We want our kiddos to know that we will care for each other in this classroom. Like family, we watch out for each other and will try our very best to care for each other.

2. We will use kind words

We want our kiddos to understand that using kind words is expected in our classroom. What we say can hurt others and that we need to think before we speak.

3. We will use gentle hands

When I think of gentle hands, I think about being gentle with our peers but also being gentle with our classroom equipment/ resources. 

We want to encourage our preschoolers to use their words and to communicate verbally with their peers. As they learn this skill, it is only natural that at times frustrations boil over and they may be tempted to grab, push, pull or hit. Having this expectation spelled out at the beginning of the school year allows us to work towards improving our problem solving skills.

I don’t know about you, but this year, I’ve noticed spending a lot of time talking to the children about broken or damaged equipment in the classroom. I would love to see less disregard for our things in the classroom and more care and valuing what we have.

4. We will spend a lot of time reading

I LOVE books! I love reading with the children! I want my preschoolers to know they are in the presence of a fellow book lover! This one activity has so much potential for learning that it will take center stage in our day. I want my students to leave my classroom having read so many fun, exciting, thoughtful and imaginative books! I want them to leave loving books just as much as I do!

5. Your thoughts and feelings matter

This value is such a good classroom motto because it tells my students what I believe about them. It gives them insight from the beginning that I care what they think. I care what they feel. I want to hear their thoughts. I want to know how they are feeling.

6. We aren’t afraid to make mistakes

Making mistakes is all part of the learning process. I want to encourage my students to take chances in their learning. To not let the fear of making mistakes guide them. I want them to understand that we will all make mistakes at many points during the year and that okay.

7. We will learn from our mistakes

From our last class motto, it leads nicely into this next one …. We will learn from our mistakes. I want my students to understand that mistakes are an opportunity to learn. They help us see how we can improve or do things differently.

8. We will try our best

There’s one thing I always remember my Dad saying to me when I was young … try your best. That always gave me comfort in knowing no matter what, I have tried my best and that’s the most important thing. I want to instil in my students this idea that things will get challenging at times this year, especially when learning new things … as long as we try our best and keep trying our best … we will improve and we will get better.

9. We will learn together

Finally, I want to set the stage for learning. How will we learn this year? We will learn together. We will learn together in play, in our lessons, during morning meetings … As a class, everyone’s contribution is valuable and that knowledge, expertise and perspective will help us all learn and grow together!

I hope these class mottos inspire you to create your own classroom mottos for your preschool classroom! 

????Want more inspiration for Back to School? Check out these blog posts:

1. 8 Simply Fun First Day of School Activities for Your Preschool Classroom
2. 10 of the Best Back to School Books for Preschoolers
3. How to Build Relationships with Your Preschoolers from Day One

If you like the look of my Class Mottos, check them out at my TpT Store or my Website Store.