Tag: lesson plan

Butterfly Preschool Theme

Posted on by Addie

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. 

Weather Preschool Theme

Weather Preschool Theme

Posted on by Addie

Usually around this time of year, we are starting to transition from winter to spring, and I think it’s the prefect time to talk a little bit about weather – we tend to get a lot of rain around this time where we live.

 M T W Th F 
Religion Read a Short Man ‘Zacchaeus’ Zacchaeus hand print Word Find Zacchaeus Zacchaeus coloring sheet maze 
Language (2) Sandpaper K Cloud letter K* Letter K Binder Sunshine letters* K miniatures 
Language (4) Intro L blends & sight word Be Cloud letter blends* & sight word* Rainbow write (a couple from each) Sunshine sounds* practice sight word too Slip, slide, spin game 
Math (2) Sandpaper 15 & count raindrops* Cloud 15*  Find and count 15 objects then play with them on the scale Toss 15 beanbags into an umbrella – count as you toss Count 15 mini marshmallows and use a straw to blow them like the wind 
Math (4) Tornado teens – do the worksheet then talk about the concept of more or less What is the temperature Talk about which is more and less than the other Weighing weather – see what weighs more and less than each other Try to toss a bucket of bean bags into an umbrella. When done, count the made bags and missed bags and determine which was more v less Place a mini marshmallow at the end of a ruler. Use a straw to blow the marshmallow. Then do another one. Which was more v less. Repeat until no longer interested. 
Art/Sensory Rain sensory bin* Draw what you would wear on a rainy, snowy, or sunny day Make a windchime* Go outside and jump in puddles! (if you don’t have rain, create ‘puddles’ out of construction paper and place around the floor Sun craft  
Science
Geography
History 		Cloud comprehension and Cloud experiment  Wind experiment* Water cycle & sort worksheets Types of clouds & Cloud research worksheets + Cottonball Clouds* Fact v opinion – talk about why fact v opinion is important in science 

Cloud letters/number – shaving cream in a bag and use finger to make letter/number. Could also do the shaving cream on a window or in a sensory bin 

Sunshine letters – color or paint a paper plate yellow. Write lower case letters around the perimeter of the plate (letter K for this week a couple times & some other review letters). Write the uppercase equivalent letters on clothes pins. Child then clips the clothespin on the correct corresponding letter. 

Sunshine sounds – same as the above, but instead of lower case letters, draw pictures or use stickers of L blend words (ex: block, flag, clock) on the perimeter of the plate. Write Bl, Cl, Pl etc.. On the clothespin and have child match the correct clothespin L blend to picture. 

Count raindrops – draw cloud on top of paper, use blue stones to count to 15 then write 15 

Types of clouds with cotton balls; cumulus (normal cotton ball), cirrus (very stretched ball), nimbus (a couple bunched slightly stretched with some black marker), stratus (one medium stretch w black)  

Rain sensory bin – blue rice, blue sequins and blue gems (raindrops).  Add clouds (cotton balls), rainbows (mini erasers or rainbow pom poms), rain (blue glass gems), lightning (yellow foam cut in the shape of lightning bolts), small scoops and rainbow pill jars (from Dollar Tree). 

Windchime – Color, paint, sticker or stamp a piece of construction paper with weather symbols or scenes. Then tape it into a tube. Tape strips of streamers to the end. Tie some yarn to the top to be able to make it hang. Hang outside to see the wind blow the streamer. 

Wind experiment – Decide if the wind would be able to blow different objects. Leaf, feather, pencil, straw, stick, paper, rock, button, bear, crayon, shell and paperclip 

More activities: For 3 or 4 year old, try the letter identification snowball fight 

Around the World Preschool Theme

Around the World Preschool Theme

Posted on by Addie

This is one of my favorite themes, because one of my favorite things in life is travel! If you didn’t know I’ve been all around the world, and you can check the travel section of this website for some of my favorite places.

Whenever we do this theme, I like to introduce a few new cultural foods to my kids as well. That adds another hands on element to learning! Additionally, we will go through a lot of our own travel pictures and talk about where we’ve been.

 M T W Th F 
Religion Read Jesus & the Children Comprehension Questions* Sing Jesus Loves the Little Children Paint the Jesus and the Little Children worksheet with a mixture of corn syrup (very little needed), water, and food coloring Make a collage of people by cutting out people from magazines 
Language (2) Magnet letters in a sensory bin for review (P,V,L,F focus but can do more) Country letter identification* Run for post it notes Matching letter sound index cards to objects* (I’ll try to find travel related/ world items Paper plate & clothespin review 
Language (4) Introduce sight words: Her, Him, His 
Intro CH – practice isolating it by practicing choo choo or ahh choo (like a sneeze) 		Learn to say hi in a few different languages + Practice the ch sound in syllables –  initial (cha, che, chi, cho, and chu), final (ach, ech, ich, och, and uch), Medial (acho, echi, icha, ochu, and uchee) sight words + Listen for ch in words. Practice initial sounds – You can find picture cards here – look for CH sounds – initial words sight words + Listen for ch in words. Practice medial sounds – You can find picture cards here – look for CH sounds – medial words  sight words + Listen for ch in words. Practice final sounds – You can find picture cards here – look for CH sounds –final words 
Math (2) Make a tower with 14 unifix cubes Use math beads to make 14 in different ways 14 mosaic art Build the pyramids giza using 14 plastic cups Find 14 different foods from the play kitchen 
Math (4) Word problems around the world – if you click preview you get a free sample of problems – we will only do subtraction ones Toppling towers level 2 Under the sea board game (Oceania) Road trip math – we will just pick 2 cards and subtract one from the other ‘shop’ at our play kitchen, subtract what you buy to see how much money is left 
Art/Sensory Create a passport book and use stickers/stamps to fill it as you learn about different places Make a famous landmark (great wall out of blocks, toilet paper roll leaning tower) Explore coins from around the world – make rubbings – find where the coin comes from on the map Look up traditional clothing from around the world  Make a meal from another country 
Science
Geography
History 		3 part world cards & look at world maps Look over some world facts & landmarks – I have these but you could just look some facts up online like this Puzzle maps (we have several of these, but could do any puzzle you want) Pin maps & flags  There is A LOT in the previous days – use this day to continue with some things or do more of things (ex puzzles) 

Comprehension Questions: 

Who wanted to see Jesus? 

Who tried to stop the children from seeing Jesus? 

Why do you think the men didn’t want the children to see Jesus? 

Why did Jesus want to see the children? 

Country letter identification – I have written a list of ~16 countries starting with the letters I want to review (for me P,V,L,F). I will then go through the list with her and ask if she can point to the countries that start with P, then V etc.. 

Presidents Preschool Theme

Presidents Preschool Theme

Posted on by Addie

Just in time for Presidents day, this week we’re learning about the Presidents. I love that some weeks we focus more on geography and physical science, while others we lean more towards government and history.

Let me know if you have any questions!

 M T W Th F 
Religion Read the Prodigal Son Story Comprehension Questions Marble paint the Prodigal Son ABCJ worksheet Feeds the pigs activity Forgiveness Activity 
Language (2) Sandpaper F Letter F dot marker page F Binder Draw a big F on a piece of paper and have child glue feathers to it F Miniatures 
Language (4) Introduce SH sound (dramatize with finger up to lips shhhhhh) 
Introduce sight words SHE & HE 		President word of the day sheet Review sight words sight words + Listen for sh in words. Practice initial sounds – You can find picture cards here – look for SH sounds – initial words sight words + Listen for sh in words. Practice medial sounds – You can find picture cards here – look for SH sounds – medial words  sight words + Listen for sh in words. Practice final sounds – You can find picture cards here – look for SH sounds –final words 
Math (2) 14 Learn about coins Count 14 coins and then sort by color or size (or both!) Place 14 star stickers on the worksheet or use red & blue dot markers to stamp 14 times each Flip a coin 14 times and graph the results  Snap cubes 
Math (4) Learn about coins Presidential Problems Presidential equations  Log cabin counting Snap cubes  
Art/Sensory Easy word search or harder President’s Day word search Make a hat, wig or beard Coin rubbings Lincoln Unscramble President directed drawing 
Science
Geography
History 		Talk about what a President is** Then talk about a few (Washington, Lincoln, Trump, Biden) Washington & Lincoln sheets + our flag sheet Talk about where the president lives, find it on a map, show pictures of the white house Cleaning/ polishing pennies  Presidential 4 in a row game  

What is a president – I really like this resource, but it’s a little too advanced for preschoolers. I did take the page talking about holiday, country, President, leader etc.. And will use it to intro the President’s Day unit – I will save the resource for future years. 

Healthy Habits Preschool Theme

Healthy Habits Preschool Theme

Posted on by Addie

2024 update below this plan.

This weeks theme is healthy habits, and by that I mean things like teeth hygiene, germs, handwashing, and exercise. I am purposely NOT focusing on the body as I already have a separate theme for that (here). I’m also not touching on diet/food because, again, I have a whole theme for that (here). Let me know if you have any questions!

 M T W Th F 
Religion Read the Good Samaritan Comprehension Questions Good Samaritan worksheet – glue sand to the road and put bandaids on the hurt man Read Zuzu’s Wishing Cake by Linda Michelin Make Get Well Survival Kits and give to someone you know 
Language (2) Practice L with sandpaper then write letter L in salt tray – use a toothbrush for fun L dot marker page L binder activities Alphabet teeth cleaning – letter L and review letters L miniatures 
Language (4) Introduce Th by putting teeth to tongue and blowing air – intro They, This & That (review ‘the’) – other words too ie thank you & thumb Review They & That sight words & Practice th in syllables. Put a long or short vowel after th (thy, thee, though) and before (ath, eth, ith) and middle (atho, ethee, athi) Review They & That sight words & Listen for th in words. Practice initial sounds – You can find picture cards here – look for TH sounds – initial words Review They & That sight words & Listen for th in words. Practice medial sounds – You can find picture cards here – look for TH sounds – medial words Review They & That sight words & Listen for th in words. Practice final sounds – You can find picture cards here – look for TH sounds –final words Try this worksheet 
Math (2) Germ clip cards (easier or harder depending on skill level of child) Make 13 ‘teeth’ out of playdough then use tweezers to count and ‘remove’ them 1 by 1 into a bowl Germ (pompom) color sort  – use tweezers to sort Germ patterns Put 13 stickers on the 13 coloring page 
Math (4) Subtraction word problem story  Tooth subtraction One page of subtraction to 10 Bite out of math subtraction problems  One page of subtraction glue and categorize 
Art/Sensory Use dry erase to draw on a mouth/teeth model and use a toothbrush to brush off the cavities (I bought mine at dollar tree) Paint with a toothbrush Do exercise cards Decorate paper towel tubes and pretend they are dumbells Dirty v clean hand craft* 
Science
Geography
History 		Parts of a tooth On a large plate smear food samples such as pb, jelly, syrup, ketchup etc.. Then use a real toothbrush and toothpaste to clean – see which are hard, which stain etc.. Glitter germ handwashing activity Germs scatter experiment  Dip a hard boiled egg in coffee or dark soda and let sit overnight.  Remove the egg from the soda and observe the stain. Then use a toothbrush and paste to brush and see if the stain lifts. 

Comprehension Questions: 

Who should have helped the hurt man? 
Who did help the hurt man? 
Give me an example of some ways that you can be kind to people. 
Some stories talk about the Good Samaritan being a “foreign man”.  In this story a foreign man represents someone who is different than you. 
How can we be kind—even to people who are different than us? 

Dirty Vs Clean Hand Craft – Fold a white piece of computer paper in half. Trace both of the childs hands on the upper half and the lower half (so 4 total hands). On the top half write ‘Dirty’ and on the bottom write ‘Clean’. Let the children draw dirt or germs on the dirty hands and use a blue dot marker to draw soap bubbles on the clean hands. 

2024 Healthy Habits Preschool Theme

Because my themes are a little different this year, I want to touch a little on the body and nutrition as well as germs, dental & exercise.

Books The Busy Body Book: A Kid’s Guide to Fitness – Lizzy Rockwell; Why Do I Need To Brush My Teeth? – Caressa Simmons; Lift-the-flap Very First Questions & Answers: Why Should I Get Dressed? – Katie Daynes; Grow Strong!: A book about healthy habits (Being the Best Me!) – Cheri J. Meiners; Look Inside What Happens When You Eat – Emily Bone; Wash Your Hands!: Keeping Clean in a Messy World – Noreen R. Hussain; I Can Take Care of My Body (Healthy Me) – Andi Cann; I Can Eat a Rainbow –Olena Rose; Inside your Outside – Trish Rabe 
Language Review B; Introduce E & Y; choose a couple body words to practice writing (ex – body, hand, eye) Germ case matching & pre-writing/tracing sheets Use unifix cubes to create the letter E & Y – have them bring the cubes from one side of the room to the other for exercise if you wish Alphabet teeth cleaning with review letters 
Math Fingerprint graph* Give child pom poms (or germs); then have them count them and write the number; repeat with 1-10 Exercise counting game Playdo teeth counting 
Art/Sensory Food group sort (can also do this with play kitchen food) Germ guys Make dumbbells out of paper towel rolls and decorate them Draw on teeth model with dry erase marker and use a toothbrush to brush off the “cavities” 
S/G/H Energy for the body & Organ matching Germ experiement Exercise and heart rate experiment Teeth facts & anatomy 
Religion Pick a saint to read about each day 
2 Yr Ideas Body parts; Germ (pompom) color sort using tweezers; Germ patterns; practice hand washing;  

Groundhogs Day Preschool Theme

Posted on by Addie

Groundhogs Day is February 2nd, so what better week to have a groundhog & shadows theme. We’re working on the letter P and number 12 for my 2 year old. For my 4 year old we are continuing to talk about parts of a story as well as the sight word but. She’s also working on her addition skills.

 M T W Th F 
Religion Read Jesus Feeds 5000 Comprehension Questions* Paint worksheet with Qtips Doing the impossible activity Plan a picnic (indoor if its cold) 
Language (2) Sandpaper letter P P Dot marker sheet Letter P Binder Color by letter (will do the one with 4 – and do P with 2 other weak letters and a strong letter) P Miniatures 
Language (4) Introduce sight word – BUT – Build the letters with playdo Learn about the conflict of a story; Read a book or watch a movie and discuss the conflict Use sight word BUT to talk about the conflict or problem in a story – ex. Someone wanted something BUT XYZ Color by sight words  Practice sight words and CVC words using this game 
Math (2) Make 12 with playdo (can make numbers or do 12 balls) Create 12 with unifix or blocks on a piece of paper and trace around it Groundhog shadow matching Roll 2 dice and use counting bears to count the number rolled  Use a q-tip to paint the 12 poster 
Math (4) Color by sum Graphing groundhogs – then add them all up Addition BINGO Use counters to talk about place value and addition (example) Use dominos to create addition problems and solve 
Art/Sensory Draw your shadow (if too cold, trace your body) Crawl through a tunnel like a groundhog Flashlight play Shadow tracing (use a flashlight if it’s cold) example in here Groundhog puppet and song 
Science
Geography 
History 		Tell story of Punxsutawney Phil and groundhogs day – find PA on a map Talk about the habitat of a groundhog & hibernation Shadows are caused by objects blocking light – make shadows with flashlights and explore how they change based on position of light** Difference between transparent & translucent – does light shine through activity  Groundhog fact teller 

Comprehension Questions: 
Where did Jesus get the food for the crowd of people? 
What food did the boy have in his lunch? 
Jesus fed 5,000 people with just five loaves of bread and two small fishes.  Was there any leftover food? 

Shadow Position Change – Get a 2 liter or something and place it in the center of a piece of paper. Shine a light on it and trace the shadow, then change the position of the light and trace where the shadow went. Continue doing so until the concept is understood. 

Does light shine through activity – Get a variety of objects from around the house and use a flashlight to see if light shines through (Tin foil, dollar bill, plastic wrap, tshirt, paper, net etc…)