Teachers, what do you recommend doing with preschool children prior to them starting reception?

Practice him putting his school uniform (or items the same like a polo shirt/ shirt, smart trousers, jumper) and pe kit including trainers, school shoes (and for the love of god buy Velcro ones) and coat. He will have to put his coat on for playtime and pe kit obviously for pe. Also practice opening his water bottle and check he can easily drink from it from scratch (so many kids have one with a hard open lid and need an adult to help) lunch box. Make sure if he has packed lunches that he can open any little boxes inside or packets etc. So a satsuma will be peeled and in individual segments and in a little box he can open. So many children don’t finish their lunch as they couldn’t open certain items or spent so long on their satsuma as it was peeled but whole, they didn’t finish it and so go home hungry. Practice sitting down for increasing lengths of time and focusing. This could be you sat at the kitchen table reading a book together, doing one of the pre school activity books or doing arts and crafts or similar, but things to get him used to sitting down and focusing on a specific task. Also following instructions too. Fostering a love of reading is brilliant and not just reading the book but asking questions. So like “why do you think he did that?” and “what do you think happened next?” to get him actually thinking about the story and absorbing the actual story rather than just looking like he’s listening but not taking anything in. Make sure he knows his full name, parent’s names and ideally he can spell his name. Also make sure he can recognise his name when written down. Though I advice buying name tapes with a little logo on them, say a cat. So if he can’t find his school jumper and he finds one that not only says “John smith” but “John Smith 🐈‍⬛” he is likely to spot it easier- especially if there is a “John Smith” and a “John Smethe” in his class. Add name tapes to EVERYTHING! Literally anything on his body or going into school with him, name it! Finally, socialisation. Can be make friends with others, does he have good social skills- knowing how to share, take turns, be kind etc. These are just as important as being able to spell his name and put his uniform on.