Introducing cooperative learning through partnerships in kindergarten is a game changer! Partner work encourages collaboration, builds communication skills, and helps your young learners thrive in a supportive environment. If you’ve been considering partner activities for your classroom, this post will guide you every step of the way. Use these 3 tried and true tips for cooperative learning to create a classroom environment where kindergarteners shine together!
There are so many benefits to teaching kindergarteners how to work together!
For children this age, partners are more developmentally appropriate than small groups. Kindergarteners are still developing their ability to focus on multiple people or activities at once, so working with one partner is much more effective and manageable for your students. Important executive functioning skills like planning, problem-solving, and self-regulation are also still emerging at this age. Partner work lets children practice these newer skills in a more focused environment.
Other benefits of cooperative learning for kindergarteners include:
According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children, young children thrive best in environments where collaboration opportunities match their social and cognitive abilities. Partner activities are a stepping stone for more complex group interactions in future grades!
To make partnerships really work in your classroom, try these 3 tips:
Use this FREE Partner Promises Sort to help your students clearly understand the expectations for cooperative learning in your classroom. This is a great whole-group activity!
Print out the different cards and read each one aloud separately. Work together as a class to decide if it is a “Partner Promise” or “Partner Problem”. Sort the cards in a pocket chart or on an anchor chart.
After you’ve introduced your students to the basics of partnerships, help them make meaningful connections by modeling over and over again! Refer back to the examples in the Partner Promises FREEBIE, and give lots of other examples and non-examples.
Start thoughtful discussions to help them understand the reasons they should act certain ways (or not!) when working with a partner:
“Why is that a good idea?”
“How did you know that was a problem?”
“Show me one way you and your partner can try again?”
After you’ve given lots of examples and discussed them with your kindergarteners, they will need to PRACTICE. You can’t expect kids this age to master new skills without lots of opportunities to apply what they’ve learned.
Start with very short, non-academic cooperative learning tasks like coloring, building with Legos, or sorting shapes. They will practice working together by sharing and cleaning up before transitioning to partnerships during academic tasks.
Encourage positive partnerships by teaching Partner Shout Outs! After cooperative learning opportunities, take a few moments and allow students to share something positive that their partner did during the lesson.
Use the templates included in the Partner Promises FREEBIE to make this step extra fun!
Don’t overlook the power of celebrating partnerships either!
Create a “Partners Stick Together” display or bulletin board to remind students how much fun working together is. Partners make the craft and complete the writing portion together.
This print-and-go Classroom Community Partner activity includes:
Pairing kindergarteners together well is the next must-follow tip to making cooperative learning work in your classroom! There are a few different ways you can do this successfully:
First, you can pair students together based on their strengths. Think about students’ academic levels and the task at hand when pairing this way.
Pair students together by shared interests. When students have something in common, it makes it easier for them to work together kindly and respectfully.
You can also let students pick their own partners! This one is always the most requested, but it does require modeling to help students make smart choices and avoid hurting others’ feelings.
Non-academic cooperative learning opportunities are usually great options for self-selected partners!
Finally, you can pair students randomly. ⤵️
Random partner assignments are an exciting way to work on cooperative learning with kindergarteners. The suspense of each of these random assignments will keep them giggling and so excited to work together!
You can use picture cards to randomly pair students together. These cards can be pictures of anything, so don’t overthink it! I love using cards from our Holiday Freeze games. Just print an extra set and you’ll instantly have seasonal cards for the entire year!
Take a set of picture cards and cut them in half. Then direct your students to walk around the room and find their match.
(Hip, hip, hooray for extra opportunities for movement in the classroom!)
Another fun and EASY way to randomly assign partnerships in kindergarten is through sing along songs.
Children move around and sing a familiar song. When the song is over, they partner with the person closest to them.
You can also try this super classic way to pair students together. Write each child’s name on a popsicle stick. Pull out two sticks at a time and assign the students as partners.
Pass out the farm animal cards (found in the Partner Promises FREEBIE! Don’t forget to enter your name and email above to get these items!) to all students. You need to print 2 of each animal.
Students walk around the room while making the farm animal noise that goes with the picture on their card. While they do so, they listen for someone making the same noise. When they find their match, that’s their partner!
Mini erasers are another fun way to randomly assign partners in kindergarten.
Gather two of each of a variety of erasers then pass them out. Students find whoever has the same eraser to be their partner.
*For a challenge, you can do this as a MUTE mini match-up and students must find their partners without talking!
And last but not definitely NOT least, use paper snowballs and have a snowball fight!
Give each student a paper with a number on it. You will need 2 of each set. (For example, if you have 20 students, you will need 2 sets of numbers 1-10).
Students crumple up the paper and have a snowball fight. After a couple of minutes, stop the play. Then, everyone finds a nearby snowball and opens it. Students partner up with the person who has the same number.
*You can do the same with letters or words!
Partnerships can still work if you have an odd number of students! As you know, many times not all of your students are present.
On the days when they are all accounted for, consider being a partner yourself or using a rotating trio with a designated “observer” role for shorter activities.
Partnerships in kindergarten aren’t just fun— they’re foundational for future academic and social growth! By introducing clear expectations, practicing regularly, and using fun ways to form pairs, you’ll create a positive classroom environment where collaboration shines. Be confident as you use these tips for cooperative learning because it’s going to be GREAT!
Lazlo, I. (2013). Cooperative learning in the kindergarten. Euromentor Journal, 4(3), 98-104.
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