Strategies for Calm and Consistent Preschool Classroom Management

*Updated July 2025

Managing challenging behaviors in the preschool classroom can often feel like a delicate balancing act. As early childhood educators, you’re tasked with not only delivering engaging lesson plans and ensuring a structured routine, but also maintaining a calm and positive environment that nurtures young children’s social, emotional, and cognitive growth. Successfully navigating behavioral challenges in childcare requires a combination of thoughtful planning, consistency, and collaboration with both colleagues and families.

In this blog, we’ll explore a variety of behavior management strategies for preschool teachers and caregivers that will help you manage challenging behaviors while promoting positive behaviors, all within a nurturing and supportive learning environment.

1. Strategically Layout Your Preschool Classroom

The way your classroom is set up can significantly impact behavior. Preschoolers thrive when they feel a sense of security, routine, and structure, and the classroom environment plays a pivotal role in this. A well-organized classroom promotes smoother transitions, limits disruptions, and helps maintain a positive atmosphere.

Key Tips:

• Separate Quiet and Active Areas: Designate areas for quiet activities like reading or puzzles, away from noisier activities like arts and crafts or building blocks. This separation helps reduce distractions and minimizes chaos for children seeking a calming moment throughout their day. 
• Consider Visibility and Accessibility: Ensure that your preschool classroom layout allows you to maintain clear sightlines to all areas of the room. This will help you monitor your learners’ behavior, especially as they engage in different activities.
• Use Visual Aids: Visual schedules or charts can help young children understand the flow of the day and set clear expectations for what’s next. A visual schedule can reduce anxiety and improve transitions.

2. Maintain Consistency and Routine

Children, especially preschoolers, feel secure when they know what to expect. Consistency in your daily routine helps children understand their role within the learning environment and reinforces positive behavior.

Key Tips:

• Stick to Your Routine: Whether it’s circle time, snack time, or outdoor play, maintaining a consistent daily schedule helps preschoolers feel more in control and less likely to engage in disruptive behaviors.
• Prepare Children for Transitions: Preschoolers often struggle with moving from one activity to another. Use visual aids, provide choices or announce upcoming transitions ahead of time. For example, saying “We have five minutes left at the art table before we clean up and head to circle time” provides a sense of anticipation and reduces anxiety. Giving children the choice to either put their paint brushes in the wash bin or grabbing a cloth to wipe the table, helps them to feel more involved and at ease with the transition that is happening. 
• Provide Clear Expectations: Preschoolers thrive when they understand what is expected of them. Use specific, positive instructions to guide their behaviour – clear, simple guidance helps preschoolers feel secure and encourages cooperation. Instead of vague directions, try:
  • “Let’s use walking feet inside to keep everyone safe.” (Instead of “Don’t run.”)
  •  “Can you show me how to use gentle hands with your friends?” (Instead of “Stop hitting.”)
  • “You can pick one book to read before nap time.” (Instead of “Go find something to do.”)

3. Use Positive Reinforcement to Promote Good Behavior

One of the most effective behavior management strategies for preschoolers is to focus on reinforcing good behavior rather than punishing bad behavior. Positive reinforcement encourages children to repeat behaviors that are aligned with your expectations.

Key Tips:

• Praise Good Behavior Immediately: When a child exhibits positive behavior, such as helping to clean up or sharing, offer specific praise. For example, “I love how you helped your friend put away the blocks. That was very kind!” This helps reinforce the desired behavior.
• Encourage Positive Social Skills: Use positive reinforcement to praise social behaviors, such as taking turns, sharing, and using polite words. Encouraging these behaviors helps develop important social skills for building healthy relationships.

4. Respond Calmly to Challenging Behaviors

Every preschooler will have challenging moments. As an educator, it’s important to respond with patience and calmness, which will model self-regulation for your students.

Key Tips:

• Stay Calm: When a child exhibits challenging behaviors, take a deep breath and approach the situation calmly. Reacting with frustration or anger will only escalate the situation.
• Validate Their Feelings: Acknowledge emotions to help children feel heard and safe, even when they are struggling. Say, “I see that you’re upset. It’s okay to feel frustrated. Let’s take a deep breath together and find a way to fix this.”
• Support in problem solving: Instead of focusing on the negative behavior, support the child in problem solving and finding a more positive activity. For example, if a child is throwing toys, gently guide them towards a safer sensory activity or engage with them in physical movement such as jumping like a bunny or roaring like a lion. 

5. Collaborate with Your Colleagues

In a preschool setting, it’s crucial to work as a team to address behavioral issues and ensure consistency in approach. Collaboration among educators fosters a unified strategy for approaching challenges, improving overall classroom management.

Key Tips:

• Align on Expectations: Ensure all educators and caregivers are on the same page regarding behaviour expectations and response strategies. Consistency helps children feel secure and understand classroom boundaries.
• Communicate & Collaborate: Regularly check in with your team to discuss challenges, share effective strategies, and refine approaches together. A unified plan strengthens behaviour management across the classroom.
• Leverage Strengths & Mentorship: Identify educators with strong behaviour management skills and encourage peer mentorship. Observing and learning from experienced colleagues can enhance team confidence and create a more supportive environment.

6. Partner with Families to Reinforce Positive Behavior

Working with families to align on behavior management strategies is essential for a cohesive approach to supporting children’s development. Parents can offer valuable insights into their child’s behaviors, as they often observe different patterns at home.

Key Tips:

• Maintain Open Communication: Keep parents updated on their child’s progress and behaviors. Regular check-ins can help parents understand the strategies you’re using and offer insights into their child’s home environment that may inform your approach.
• Share Strategies with Families: Provide parents with ideas they can implement at home to support the behavior management strategies being used in the classroom.
• Be Receptive to Family Feedback: Understand that families may have their own strategies for managing behavior, so be open to discussing and adapting your approach to ensure consistency between home and school.

7. Plan for Difficult Moments and Transitions

Transitions are one of the most challenging times in a preschool classroom. Whether it’s moving from playtime to snack time, or transitioning from a noisy activity to a quiet one, these moments often lead to feelings of anxiety and lack of control for young children. Planning for these transitions can reduce disruptions and help maintain a calm classroom.

Key Tips:

• Give Warnings Ahead of Time: Use visual schedules or verbal warnings to prepare children for upcoming transitions. For instance, saying “In five minutes, it will be time to clean up” provides a mental cue that helps children adjust.
• Make Transitions Fun: Sometimes, transitions can feel abrupt or jarring for young children. You can turn them into a game or involve children in a song or movement activity to make the change feel smoother.
• Establish a Calm-Down Corner: Having a designated space for children to retreat to during moments of frustration or meltdown can help them self-regulate. Make this space inviting and calming with soft cushions, calming visuals, and sensory items.

8. Promote Self-Regulation and Problem-Solving Skills

As preschoolers grow, they begin to learn how to regulate their emotions and behaviors. As a teacher, you can support this growth by teaching self-regulation strategies and problem-solving skills.

Key Tips:

• Teach Emotional Vocabulary: Help children name and express their feelings by introducing emotional vocabulary. For example, teach them words like “frustrated,” “happy,” or “sad” so they can articulate how they feel.
• Encourage Problem-Solving: When a child exhibits frustration or stress, instead of getting upset with them, encourage them to solve the problem. Ask questions like “What do you think we could do instead?” to help them think critically about their actions.
• Model Self-Regulation: Children learn by watching adults. If you model calmness, patience, and problem-solving in the face of frustration, they will begin to adopt these behaviors themselves.

Managing challenging behaviors in the preschool classroom requires patience, consistency, and collaboration. By using effective behavior management strategies, promoting positive behavior, and maintaining a calm and supportive learning environment, you can help young children develop the social, emotional, and self-regulation skills they need to succeed in school and beyond.

For more tips and tools to support your classroom management, check out resources like Lillio’s Early Childhood Education Blog, which can help you track progress, communicate with families, and streamline your classroom routines.