Author: Addie

Flowers & Plants Preschool Theme

Posted on by Addie

This week we are talking about flowers and plants. I love doing this theme in line with Mother’s Day because you can easily transform some of the crafts into Mother’s Day cards or gifts.

 M T W Th F 
Religion Talk about what prayer is** & say the Our Father – Break the prayer into 5 parts and work on the meaning of  part 1 today (also try to memorize) Work on part 2  Write down a few people you could pray for and put slips of paper in a box. Draw one a night Part 3  Trace childs hand on paper and let them decorate, talk about how you use your hands to pray Part 4 Do coloring page or activity from here Part 5 and try to say the whole thing by the end of the day 
Language (2) q Q tactile letters 
(could use dirt instead of sand/salt) 		Make Q with flowers, beans & seeds. Talk about how Q is always used with U Q Binder Garden tools cards Q Miniatures 
Language (4) end blend CK & ED sight do ‘Do’ worksheet from this pack  Intro CK ends and practice words Intro ed ends and discuss how when more than 3 letters they usually represent the past Practice CK, ED & sight words *discuss trick ed words when ee is present Flower Emergent reader 
Math (2) 18 18 tactile/sandpaper number Leaf counting to 18 (can use real leaves or manipulatives) Teen Flower* (M Plemons Kindergarten) Seed counting* & playdo (M. Plemons Kindergarten) Plant *measuring (Pocket of Preschool) 
Math (4) Learning time set puzzles More puzzle practice from yesterday Time matching O’Clock practice Draw the hands to show the time cards from activity kit 
Art/Sensory Flower sensory bin – dirt, pots, shovel, pomp oms, seeds, fake flowers, bees  Clock craft Paint a flower pot then plant a flower or go pick some flowers Cotton Ball Flowers (happy toddler play time) – could make this for Mother’s Day Draw flowers & Flower puzzle 
Science
Geography
History 		Parts of a plant puzzle & Types of flowers Bulbs Parts of a Tree & Types of roots Tree/Plant of its origin* Plants we Eat 

What is prayer – Prayer is talking to God.  He wants us to talk to Him and is never too busy to listen.  Prayer is thanking God for what He has given us, asking God for things we need, and asking God to forgive us for what we have done wrong.  We can pray anytime and anywhere. 

Teen flower – draw a flower center with 18 on it. Then cut 18 strips of tissue paper for flower petals and glue them to the center to make a flower. Draw a stem if you want. 

Seed Counting – Make 18 out of playdough, then count 18 beans and place them on a half sheet of brown construction paper ‘dirt’. Write the 18 on the paper  

Plant measuring – go outside and find a variety of plants/flowers. Use unifix or a tape measurer to measure them – try to find one that is 18” 

Cotton ball flowers – Glue cotton balls on a piece of carboard. Make a couple different colors of water with food coloring and use a dropper to drop the colors onto the cotton balls to paint them 

Tree/Plant of its origin – Unfortunately I cannot find the resource that I have, but it basically has a bunch of different products and shows which plant or tree they come from. Here are some ideas of things that come from plants & here is a printable with a few as well. 

Bugs & Insects Preschool Theme

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The bugs that I chose in the science section are ones that we see around our home all the time. If you do not come across these, you can substitute for something more common to your area. As always these are just some ideas for this theme and the activities are associated with what we are focusing on at our house, you can substitute if you are working on something else.

Note: These end blends are not the ones that I would normally start with, but I thought they would be easy because the blends are also sight words (one that we have practiced (and) and one that we see all the time in books that is very similar and can be sounded out (end)).  I am not so much worried about mastering concepts at this age, but more so introducing them.

 M T W Th F 
Religion Read Jesus Returns story – Matthew 28:16-20 Comprehension Questions Color Jesus and create shaving cream clouds around Jesus on the My Father’s House worksheet “Is Jesus Gone?”  Puppet Lesson Jesus Ascends Craft 
Language (2)Sandpaper letter Z Buzzz coloring sheet (we’ll just color this and I’ll point out the letter Z) Letter Z Binder Fill the letter Z printable with bug/insect stickers/stamps Z Miniatures 
Language (4) Introduce sight word by & use sandpaper letters to spell it.  Spring word tracing from EMLC Box Practice the word and + practice sight word of the week: by Use letter magnets to spell END, then write it on the board + by practice Introduce the concept of final blends + by practice Practice final blends with words that end in and and end (I’m using easy examples like land & bend) 
Math (2) Intro 17 sandpaper numbers 17 coloring sheet 17 Bees pollinating** 17 Ladybug spots** Spring iSpy from EMLC Box 
Math (4)Bugs in a jar**  Estimate how many cubes long the bug figurines from the sensory bin are Do an estimation jar with leaves or plants (bug & insect food!) Get a bag of gummy worms or bug gummies and estimate how many is in the pack. Use tweezers to count. Measuring worms from EMLC Box – estimate before measuring  
Art/Sensory Bug moves from EMLC Box Bug sensory bin – bug figurines, fake worms, plastic jars, tiny shovels, fake leaves Make egg carton bugs Go outside and dig for bugs Try to catch lightning bugs this evening 
Science
Geography
History 		Parts of a stink bug Facts about and parts of ants Facts about and parts of a honey bee & more facts Ladybug Lifecycle Facts about lightning bugs 

Comprehension Questions: 

What did Jesus tell the disciples to do after He left? 

What did the angel promise? 

Bees Pollinating – With 17 small bee manipulatives or 17 yellow & black pom poms (pretend bees) use tweezers to transfer them into a flower container to ‘pollinate’ them. Count each one. 

Ladybug spots – Print the ladybug without spots template and then use a dot marker to make 17 spots 

Bugs in a jar – Fill up a jar with pom poms (‘bugs’) and estimate how many are in it. Then count them. If it’s a large jar group in 10’s to count. 

Easter Preschool Theme

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I don’t know why, but holiday themes are always so exciting at our house. They really just get you ready to celebrate and Easter is a BIG one at our house. Here is what we will be doing this week.

We are reviewing letters this week for my 2 year old and working on the number 16. For my newly 5 year old we will be reviewing our blends and introducing estimation.

 M T W Th F 
Religion Read Jesus is Arrested, Crucified & Risen Comprehension questions* & Jesus is Risen sequencing Use paint to stamp the worksheet with an aluminum foil ball Jesus is King* Make and do resurrection eggs or (another resource here) pick your favorite 🙂 
Language (2) Hide Easter eggs filled with miniature objects (of review letter sounds) – once found, match them to the correct letter E is for Easter Color by code bunny Hide letter magnets in Easter eggs then match the magnet to the letter (print A-Z on a piece of paper to match to) Letter matching  
Language (4/5) Blend scavenger hunt (must be subscriber to get freebie) – can do an egg hunt with this Blend write & read (pick a couple) Sorting blends Write the blend/diagraph Create diagraph eggs (could do blends too) 
Math (2) Count 16 easter eggs from the egg hunt Peeps graphing (after count all the peeps) Count 16 jellybeans Easter roll & cover  Use easter erasers or jellybeans to count 16 in a 10 frame 
Math (4/5) Introduce estimation by putting different sized easter items or candies into jars Peeps graphing (after  estimate how many peeps then count) Get a bag of jellybeans and estimate how many are in it – then practice grouping to count them Estimate how many Easter eggs it would take to fill the bottom of a basket – then find out!  Now that you’ve done some ‘how many’ estimations.. Introduce others too like how much (liquid/volume) and how long (length) – use Easter objects! 
Art/Sensory Make Easter eggs out of playdo and decorate with sequins, buttons, pipe cleaners etc.. Balance an Easter egg on a spoon and have a race Dye Easter eggs Easter dot markers – could also do stamps; and make egg shakers with easter eggs and beans Easter sensory bin – Easter grass, mini eggs, tongs, bunny figures,  
Science
Geography
History 		Fizzy Eggs* Egg races Dissolving jelly beans Protect an egg and do an egg drop Egg crystals 

Comprehension Questions: 

Tell me what happened in this story. 

Which one of Jesus’ disciples wasn’t a friend to Jesus? 

Why did Jesus have to die on the cross? 

What makes this a happy story? 

Jesus is King (from ABCJesus Loves Me) 

Make a paper crown as a reminder that Jesus loved us enough to die on the cross and He is now the King of Heaven.   Precut a strip of paper the diameter of the child’s head.  Allow the child to decorate before stapling into a crown. 

(Using a premade crown, ask the child to identify the object that you have on your head or in your hands.)  Who would wear a crown?  What does a king do?  Jesus would be a great king.  He’s kind and fair, and He loves us all very much.   Many people wanted Jesus to become a king on earth.  The people wanted Jesus to lead an army and take over the country and fight the Romans.  But Jesus said no.  Jesus preached peace because He knew God wanted Him to be the King of Heaven not earth.  Even though He could have been king, Jesus chose to die for us so we could be forgiven. 

Fizzy Eggs – In a bin but some Easter egg halves and fill with baking soda. Use food coloring and vinegar to make a fun rainbow experiment

Earth Day Preschool Theme

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For Earth Day I thought it would be a great time to talk about waste, recycling & composting! Magic School Bus Meets the Rot Squad is one of my favorite books for teaching about decomposition and a lesson that my kids LOVE! 

 M T W Th F 
Religion Read ‘The Brave Queen’ story of Esther Comprehension questions** Cover the Esther worksheet with tissue paper Make tortilla starts Remember When** 
Language (2)Letter X Sandpaper letter Cover X mat with blue & green playdough Letter X binder Color by letter we will do the last one since we are working on X X Miniatures 
Language (4) Trace the words & intro sight word did – spell with magnets & then write on dry erase board Practice blends that end in ING + sight words Practice blends that end in NG + sight words Hidden sight words (we have not practiced all of these yet so I will change some to our recent sight words) “Recycle King” of ING 
Math (2)Count out 17 green & blue fruit loops then make an AB pattern  What Comes Next & Which is Different Use shaving cream to draw the number 17 and make 17 dots. You can add paint to color green and blue Cutting practice Write 17 on the top of a piece of butchers paper then have child paint 17 lines underneath with a jumbo paintbrush 
Math (4)This week we will intro time: Parts of a clock (hands, numbers) 1hr = 60 minutes; Hour hand & minute hand Half hour & Quarter hour 5 minute intervals practice AM/PM 
Art/Sensory Make a recycled boat (at the end) or paint some recycleables (at the beginning) Go for a walk in the forest/ park and look for natural breakdown (mushroom or fungus, broken down decay, soft ground etc..) playdough and sticks, worms, leaves wood, flowers etc..  Do some composting – if you don’t compost at your home, you can make a simple compost system like this  Pollution activity 
Science
Geography
History 		Types of recycling sort Introduce decomposers & the idea of composting Parts & needs of a worm  Trash, Recycle, Compost sorting Learn about pollution 

Comprehension Questions: 
Name the people in the Bible story. 
Who was Esther? 
Who did Esther save? 
How did Esther have courage? 
Esther had courage to do what God wanted her to do. What do you need courage to do? 

“Remember When…” 
God took care of Esther and Mordecai.  As a family talk about times that God took care of your family in the past.  Start each moment with the words, “Remember when….”  It may take a few examples from the adults for the child to think of an example.   End the time with a prayer of thanksgiving. 

Butterfly Preschool Theme

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It definitely feels like the start of spring with a theme like butterflies!! Here is what we will be doing this week. You could probably find some more ‘butterfly’ themed language and math resources, but I wanted to keep focusing on our blends and money to really finish it out with a good understand and foundation for my littles.

 M T W Th F 
Religion Read Jesus Washes Feet & The Last Supper & Comprehension Questions* Read & Color the Jesus Serves the Disciples Worksheet Happy Hands are Helping Hands Activity Send thank you cards to someone who has helped you Take turns washing each others feet 
Language (2) Y SANDPAPER Color Y worksheet yellow and glue yarn to it Y binder Draw a butterfly from the letter Y Y Miniatures 
Language (4) Intro Sight word IF S blends Use dot marker to complete the worksheet S sort activity again Say the S blend 
Math (2) Make 16 playdo balls and then form a 16 out of it as well Fingerprint caterpillars * Butterfly dots – this butterfly has 16 dots between the wings. Count as you stamp. Then do the body in a different color Make a 16 out of playdo and then count 16 ‘caterpillar egg balls’ to go with it Count 16 blocks or legos then build a house for a butterfly 
Math (4) Equivalent coins Caterpillar coins Money lesson from a butterfly Go over dollar bills again, use math beads to visualize the values Adding dollar bills 
Art/Sensory Very hungry caterpillar sensory bin Use clothespin and pom poms to paint a caterpillar & butterfly on paper Coffee filter butterfly Break out of the cocoon activity Butterfly exhibit* 
Science
Geography
History 		All about butterflies  Lifecycle of butterfly  Cut & glue lifecycle  Types of butterflies Butterfly habitat, migration & where they live 

Comprehension Questions: 
What did Jesus do to serve the disciples? 
Tell me about a time that you helped someone. 
How does it make you feel when you help someone? 
How does it make God feel when you help someone? 
If you can’t see God, how can you tell that He is happy and smiling at you because of what you did? 
What are some examples of being a servant to others? 

Fingerprint caterpillars – Draw the head of a caterpillar on the left side of a piece of paper (landscape style, not portrait). At the top write the number 16. Use fingerpaint and a finger to dot on 16 dots for the caterpillars body. 

Butterfly Exhibit – Near us there is a conservatory that has hundreds of butterflies in a room that you can go in and let them land on you and observe. If you don’t have anything like that near you, you could see if you could get a butterfly kit and do that. 

Rainforest Preschool Theme

Rainforest Preschool Theme

Posted on by Addie

This week we will be talking about the rainforest and all the animals that are in it. This tends to be a favorite theme among my kiddos. Here is what we will be doing.

 M T W Th F 
Religion Read the Poor Widows Offering Comprehension Questions Decorate the gift worksheet by gluing on purple construction paper squares  Cut a slit in the lid of a container and make it a bank. Decorate it and collect money to give to the church  Give one person many coins (rich) and the other just 2 (widow). Put offering in a box and see what is left in each pile. Widow gave all, rich man had much left 
Language (2) W sandpaper, green rice writing tray – write with mini rainforest animal Dot to dot – I will pick one write the letter W in the dots and have her make the sound as she stamps W binder Dot to dot – same as Tuesday but with another animal W miniatures 
Language (4) Intro sight word how & S blends – give examples from here – look for S-blend (initial, medial & final words) S beginning blends + sight words S blends cut and paste + sight words Sblend word sort + sight words Visual s blends – I tweaked this for spin & smell. I did pin instead of pen & mall instead of mail to make small 
Math (2) Review numbers with counting manipulatives (I’ll use leaves and animal erasers) Count to different using unifix cubes (snakes) then help write the number on the board Make number pyramids using Montessori beads Montessori spindles 0-9 numbers Rainforest counting 
Math (4) Rainforest addition (anytime there is a 1,5 or 10 relate it to a coin) Rainforest 10s and 1s – relate this to dimes & pennies Shopping for toys  Place value Money yard sale  
Art/Sensory Sensory bin – green rice, rainforest animals, fake trees Make snakes out of playdo – play with rainforest habitat printable Paper plate parrot* Do a rainforest animal craft kit from DollarTree, Michaels etc.. Make a rainstick 
Science
Geography
History 		Parts of a rainforest- look at a couple & find on map: Brazil/Amazonand Africa/Congo Kinds of rainforests – tropical v temperate Look at a few more rainforests & find on map: Nicauragua , Southeast Asian rainforests & Alaska Tongass  Rainforest animal nomenclature  Rainforest fact cards  

Comprehension Questions: 

How much did the widow give to God? 
The rich man gave a lot more money to God than the widow did yet God liked what the widow gave better.  Why? 
When you place money in the offering at church, you are giving to God.  What are other ways you can give to God? 

Paper plate parrot: Cut a paper plate in half and hot glue together to make head & body. Use yellow tissue paper to cover the front half of the head for the beak. Then glue red, yellow and blue feathers to cover the rest. Add a large google eye

Color Preschool Theme

Color Preschool Theme

Posted on by Addie

Since St. Patrick’s Day falls this week, I thought it would be a great time to have a rainbow/color theme! Here is what we will be doing.

 M T W Th F 
Religion Read the True King True king coloring sheet Read about St. Patrick Use a shamrock to discuss the Holy Trinity My hand palm – write something you want to pray for 
Language (2) Rainbow name craft Use playdo to mold the letter J in different colors Find letter J dot work J binder J miniatures 
Language (4) Intro R blends & Sight word An – Color by sight word (I’ll make and, an) R blends Choose one of these worksheets Color the R Blend Word matching 
Math (2) Color sort and stack activity – try to do 15 fruit loops on each Use 15 blocks to build rainbow towers (can work on patterning too) For an extra challenge you could use applesauce pouch lids Catch a Rainbow color sorting game Lucky Dog Game St Pats Roll & Cover 
Math (4) Dump the piggy bank and sort coins. Work on identification and then throw in some addition and subtraction.  Color by coin St. Pats Alphabet Code  Lucky Dog Game  Counting money worksheets 
Art/Sensory Sensory bin: green or rainbow rice, gold coins, shamrocks  Making colors* Rainbow dot marker page Make shamrocks out of green pipe cleaners Rainbow tissue paper craft*  
Science
Geography
History 		In the dark prism experiment Use the rainbow arch to practice balancing and build different structures Read about Ireland and find it on a map Skittles rainbow science Rainbow melting ice experiment 
     

Rainbow tissue paper craft – cut an arch shape out of white cardstock. Cut tissue paper squares in various colors and glue them to make a rainbow around the arch. Glue cotton balls or white pom poms to the bottom of each side of the arch to make clouds. If you don’t have the supplies, you could fingerpaint the rainbow and glue on the clouds once dry. 

Making colors – Use a color wheel to talk about different colors and how mixing certain colors creates new colors. Then get some paint in primary colors to make secondary colors. Then use the secondary colors you made and mix with a primary color to make a tertiary color.