Carnival Preschool Theme
This is the 3rd time I have done this theme now, and my kids have loved it each and every time!!
| M | T | W | Th | F | |
| Religion | Read a changed man | Discussion questions** | Do a maze – it takes some people a while to find the way and they might get lost, but they eventually find their way | Painting in the dark** | Trust snack** |
| Language (2) | Practice writing letters in sprinkle tray (use finger or cone to write) | Cut out paper balloon shapes, tape on some yarn, write letters you want to practice in the balloon (I wouldn’t do more than 6) | Write ~6 large letters in chalk on the sidewalk about a foot apart and circle each one. Then have the child throw a water balloon at the letter or letter sound that you say | Build a few towers out of legos, blocks or cans. Use post its to stick letters to the towers. Use bean bags to try to knock them down, saying the letter sound as they throw | Paper plate letter clipping** |
| Language (4) | Dot the sound* Intro sight word DOES – write it in sprinkle tray with finger or cone | Dot the sound Same activity as above, but write sight words instead of letters | Dot the sound Same activity as above but do sight words instead of letters | Dot the sound Same activity as above but do sight words instead of letters | Dot the sound & Word families sheet from Preschool pack 2 |
| Math (2) | Use rainbow popcorn to make AB patterns | In Preschool pack 2, circle the one that is different sheet | Muffin patterning** | Use counting bears to make patterns | Ticket punching** |
| Math (4) | 3D shape matching | Roll or stamp 3D shapes in playdo or cover the shape in playdo for hands on shape learning and manipulation – discuss each shape | Shapes in gymnastics OR mystery bag** | Build a ramp out of blocks and experiment to see if the 3D object rolls or slides – sort them and see similarities | Ticket matching** |
| Art/Sensory | Make rainbow popcorn | Cotton candy craft** | Bubble art** Can do bubble machine play too if you have one | Duck races | Paper plate ring toss |
| Science Geography History | Inflate a balloon** | Learn about the circus and discuss how they would travel by train all over the world – can also show some videos of different acts | Learn about a different kind of carnival – Carnival in Rio, Brazil (find on map, show pictures, listen to samba) talk about how this carnival is different than a summer carnival | Make elephant toothpaste | Popcorn colors to make this a science lesson, I will use yellow, blue & red to learn about color mixing |
Discussion Questions
- In the beginning of the story did Saul like people who believed in Jesus? (No)
• Where was Saul going to put the people who followed Jesus? (In jail)
• What flashed down onto Saul from heaven? (A bright light)
• What happened to Saul? (He couldn’t see)
• Who was the voice that was talking to Saul? (Jesus)
• What was the man’s name that Jesus sent to Saul to help him? (Ananias)
• When Ananias laid his hands on Saul what happened? (Saul could see)
• After Ananias baptized Saul what did Saul change his name to? (Paul)
• Did Paul start to follow Jesus and tell others about Jesus? (Yes)
• Can we follow Jesus too? (Yes)
Paint in the dark – with only the light of a flashlight, paint a picture. You can use the flashlight as a lantern or tape a paintbrush to the flashlight. This is like how Saul couldn’t see after seeing the bright light.
Trust snack – Put some good snacks in containers that they can’t see through. Ask if they would like to have a snack and if they have guesses to what’s inside. Tell them to trust you that it’s a good snack and give it to them with their eyes closed. Saul couldn’t see, so he had to trust Ananias to help him just like you had to trust me to give you a good snack
Dot the sound – this resource has 6 different options, so I will choose 5 and do one each day
Cotton Candy Craft – Mix equal shaving cream & glue, add food coloring to make puffy paint (pink & blue). Roll paper into a cone and glue to bottom of paper. Use paint to make cotton candy
Bubble art – put an inch of water, 10 drops food coloring, 1T soap mix into a cup. Use a straw to blow bubbles into the cup and let them tower over onto a tray. Pat paper in bubbles to make artwork. (one color per cup)
Duck races – put pool noodle in sensory bin to separate, fill with water. Use squirt guns to get the duck to the other end (our sensory bin is small enough for this, but if you want to use a baby pool or larger bin of some sort, you may want to use a paddle or pool noodle to move the water around the duck to get it to the other side as a water gun might take a long time.
Inflate a balloon – Fill water bottle w/ 1/2c vinegar. Fill deflated balloon half way with baking soda. Put balloon on water bottle, shake it up, watch it inflate
Muffin patterning – Have child roll a big die and count the number. Then place balls of playdo in a muffin tin (or ice cube tray) in alternating colors to make an ABAB pattern of the number rolled. Could use blue and pink for cotton candy or red and yellow for popcorn or any colors they want!
Ticket punching – I got some tickets from dollar tree and drew colored dots in an AB pattern on the edges. Then I’ll have my child punch each color with a hole punch while repeating the pattern
Ticket matching – On tickets from the dollar tree I drew 3-D shapes and will have her match the tickets to the 3D object manipulatives that we have. Once she’s done, she can punch the tickets if she wants to
Shapes in Gymnastics – When I think carnival I also think circus and acrobatics and since my daughter is OBSESSED with gymnastics I thought it might be a fun way to incorporate the 2. So, I will use the physical apparatuses that we have (like the balance beam) to relate them to the geometrical shape (rectangular prism). She can physically count its faces, see it’s shape etc.. We have octagonal mats, and other mats that we can stack to make cubes as well. If you don’t have this equipment and would like to do something else, you could try a mystery bag and put all the 3D objects into a bag and see if they can identify the one they are about to pull out of the bag just by feeling before they look
Paper plate letter clipping – On the edge of a paper plate, write in lower case the letters you want to review (I did 8 letters). On clothespins, write the corresponding capital letters. Have child clip the clothespin letter to the paper plate