Camping Preschool Theme
We like to go camping at least once during the summer time and I always try to plan this theme the week before we go. It really gets the kids excited for what’s to come, and really expands into some great hands on learning adventures once we’re there.
| M | T | W | Th | F | |
| Religion | Read the Lame Man | Use colored pencils to color worksheet | Find the differences | Jesus Simon says** | Get moving** |
| Language (2) | A sandpaper letter | Paint leaves and press on paper – write letters in leaves | A binder | Point out how the tent on this page creates an A shape then color the picture | A miniatures |
| Language (4) | Build the word ‘That’ out of sticks – is the a in that short or long? | Long & short vowel A sort | Camping sounds – Instead of first letter sound I will have her identify the first vowel sound she hears | Paint leaves and press on paper – write letters/words in leaves | Read & sequence camping trip |
| Math (2) | Camping number puzzle – do 1-10 or change to 11-20 depending on what you want your child to practice | Write review numbers on a paper and help child identify them, then cover the page in camping stickers | Camping cutting work | Use marshmallows and toothpicks to paint dots on paper. You can count to certain numbers or practice patterns. | Count 20 blocks then make a pretend campfire – pretend to make smores |
| Math (4) | Get 3D shapes out (I like this set too) and match to cards | Shape camping pack** | Camping cutting work | Use marshmallows & toothpicks to build as many 3d shapes as possible | 3D objects & nets matching |
| Art/Sensory | Forest playdough – green play dough, blue play dough, bugs, twigs, moss, pebbles | Back yard fishing** | Campfire art – cut strips of brown for logs, glue to paper and paint a fire | River/Creek bin – pebbles/stones, bugs, snakes, frogs, blue gems, green gems, water | Go camping (even if it’s just in your backyard!) |
| Science Geography History | Living v nonliving sort | Explore rocks – magnifying glass, scale & book on rocks | Learn about forests – Pick a national forest or park to learn about | Look up the map of the area you learned about yesterday and practice reading a map (use cardinal directions) | Learn a little bit about tracking you can use this chart to try to identify |
Jesus simon says – Play “Simon Says” with the children sitting down, mimicking your actions. Periodically say, “In the name of Jesus, get up and walk.” Walk around the room and then return to play again.
Get Moving – Get or make flashcards #1-5 or #1-10 depending on age of your child. Have child pick a card and then tell them an activity to do that many times (hop on one foot, spin in circles, jump for joy etc..)
Shape camping pack – Get a camping pack or bag and find things around the house to put in it (try to find something for each of the shapes you want to teach). After you’ve gathered them, take out each item from the bag and classify them by shape. Once they’ve been sorted, talk about the different attributes of each.
Back yard fishing – Fill a kiddie pool or bin with water and place toy fish or other pool/bath toy animals inside. Use fishing nets (you can get from dollar tree) to fish them out. If you have a real kids fishing pole, you could also practice casting. If you prefer an indoor activity you could do a magnetic fishing game.
