Tag: lesson plans

Christmas Preschool Theme

Christmas Preschool Theme

Posted on by Addie

We cover Christmas over the span of 3 weeks, so I have added 3 different sets of plans to this post. You can mix and match ideas, you can choose your favorites and just do 1 week of Christmas, or you can do everything plus more, it is totally up to you!!

Some of the items on these lists are just introductions to concepts, my intention is not for them to master them. For example, I am not trying to get my daughter to immediately start reading compound words or telling time, but I want to introduce the idea of them to let her know they are a thing. Activities that contain those things will be very assisted.

There will be a video to walk through some of the printables linked shortly, I will post it here when I have it up!

Christmas Preschool Theme Week 1

 M T W Th F 
Religion Read Jonah & the big fish w/ comprehension questions Fingerpaint jonah praying worksheet and add glitter to the waves once it dries Jonah in the Fish*  Learn about the Advent wreath Watch St. Nick Story & St. Nick Sequencing 
Language (2) U sandpaper letter U dot marker U binder Create letter U with play do U miniatures 
Language (4) Christmas CVC word bingo (from measured mom, must be subscriber) Compound word puzzle Compound word select Compound word sort Here is St. Nick Reader 
Math (2) 10 sandpaper number Clip cards with assistance (numbers 1-10) Count 10 on an abacus Use math beads to compare 10 1’s with a 10 strand Count & color 
Math (4) Inchimals game Clip cards Greater or less than measuring (from measured mom, must be a subscriber to access) Use jingle bells to measure objects or ‘christmas presents’ from around the house Intro to time with snowman clock 
Art/Sensory Build a Christmas Tree Christmas sensory bin (red & green rice, christmas figurines, trees)  Make a spin wreath Make Christmas cookies with play do List to Santa 
Science
Geography
History 		5 senses of christmas Fill Santas sack Rudolph rockets Learn about Christmas tree harvesting Since ‘santa’ goes around the world on Christmas, intro time zones 

Comprehension Questions: 
What did God tell Jonah to do? 
What did Jonah tell God? 
Where did Jonah go? 
What happened while Jonah was on the boat? 
What did the sailors do to Jonah? 
How long was Jonah in the whale? 
Sometime it isn’t fun to obey.  What request do you have trouble obeying?   
 
Jonah in the Fish Add a triangle tail to right side a paper plate.  Cut a horizontal slit in the middle of the plate.  Add an eye and mouth on the left side to create a fish.  Draw a face on the back of a plastic spoon and slide the spoon (Jonah) into the slit. 

Christmas Preschool Theme Week 2

 M T W Th F 
Religion Read an Angel visits Mary Trust walk* Angel worksheet* Ready to serve baskets* Tissue paper angel* 
Language (2) Sandpaper letter D Help with letter sound matching from 4yr old Letter D binder D is for donkey from Christmas ABCs D miniatures 
Language (4) Double E introduction with SEE primer & practice Letter sound matching Santa color by sight word Double L introduction and practice Holiday easy reader 
Math (2) Count to 10 with jingle bells Stuff a stocking game Christmas counting stockings  Winter clip cards from measured mom (must be a subscriber to access) Help with 4yr old activity 
Math (4) Use a cup of jingle bells to talk about capacity – full, half full, empty, 8oz etc… Stuff a stocking game Compare capacities Winter clip cards from measured mom (must be a subscriber to access) Make a Christmas treat and talk about measurements used in cooking 
Art/Sensory Make a Christmas card Reindeer training Christmas stamps Pom pom Christmas tree Shaving cream sensory play with red & white for candy canes  
Science
Geography
History 		Christmas around the world Snowman Glyph Magnet experience Build a boat for gingerbread man Dancing jingle bells 

Trust walk – Mary trusted God even though she didn’t understand. Blindfold your child and guide them on a path using verbal commands. Them trusting you is like how we put our trust in God even though it might be a little scary. 

Angel Worksheet – Color and cut out the Angel worksheet.  Glue to a piece of construction paper.  Outline the angel with glue and sprinkle with glitter.  Let dry.  Discuss how the angel told Mary and Joseph that baby Jesus was going to be born. 

Ready to Serve basket – Mary served God in bringing Jesus into the world and her act was a blessing to everyone else here on Earth. You can make your own little gift basket to donate to an organization like Toys for Tots or the YMCA. Talk about the joy of giving and how the act of service makes both us and the person who recieves it happy. 

Tissue paper angel – Paint the Tissue Paper Angel worksheet with watered-down glue.  Cover the angel with small pieces of tissue paper.  Let dry and then cut out. 

Christmas Preschool Theme Week 3

 M T W Th F 
Religion Read Jesus is Born & Comprehension* Watercolor Journey to Bethlehem worksheet Nativity memory game* Make baby in a manger scene* Nativity Sequencing 
Language (2) Review letters with sandpaper Help with letter matching from 4yr old Shepherd to Jesus prewriting Review Christmas ABCs Clothespin plate letter match 
Language (4) Intro some double o words Letter matching gingerbread house Double consonant word search Zoo reader (not christmas but practices oo & ee) CVC symbol reader (just one) 
Math (2) Use colored paperclips to make and connect AB patterns Easy Christmas light patterns Winter clip cards with assistance (from measured mom must be 
subscriber) 		Math is art today Nativity patterning 
Math (4) Use a scale and objects around the house to compare weight then do which weighs more worksheet  Harder Christmas light patterns Then weigh the crayons/markers you use to complete the patterns) Winter clip cards from measured mom (must be a subscriber to access) Then weigh the clips used to clip the cards Let kids explore with balance scale  Christmas roll & cover (from measured mom, must be a subscriber to access)  
Art/Sensory Reindeer sensory bin (oats, glitter, jingle bells, figurines) Candy cane craft Christmas scavenger hunt  Practice patterning by painting lines on a candy cane Christmas stencils  
Science
Geography
History 		Christmas in America film – got ours from here Make a parachute for santa (coffee filters, tissue paper, string, tape, half of an index cards) Guess the mystery snowman (from measured mom must be a subscriber) Dissolving candy canes Play sink or float with different holiday objects 

Comprehension Questions: 

Where did Mary lay baby Jesus? 

What kind of noises would you hear in a barn? 

If you had to sleep in a barn, where would you sleep? 

Nativity Memory Game 

Directions: Purchase or use a nativity set with individual pieces. Place the pieces on a table and have the children close her eyes. Remove one of the pieces and have the child figure out which piece is missing. After the missing piece is discovered, talk about its significance in the Nativity. For instance, if you take away a shepherd, explain to the child how an angel appeared to the shepherds in the field to tell of Jesus’ birth. 

Baby in a Manger Scene: Cut out the small baby Jesus from the Baby Jesus worksheet.  On a piece of construction paper, glue enough small pieces of brown and yellow yarn to form a bed.  Glue Baby Jesus into the bed.  Glue craft sticks around the baby to make a manger. 

More Christmas Activity Ideas

Video with more Christmas craft ideas coming soon!!

Gingerbread Man Craft – Cut out a ginergerbread man out of brown felt paper. Then get googly eyes, buttons, jingle bells, glitter clue, pipe cleaners etc.. and let the children decorate the man 

Cookie Decorating –  sprinkles, icing, candy eyes, m&ms, other candy 

Tissue Paper Tree – Cut a tree shape out of green construction paper. Then have the child tear and crinkle different color tissue paper and glue them on the tree as ornaments

Thanksgiving Preschool Theme

Posted on by Addie

(updated 10/2023)

Thanksgiving is here! A great time to be reminded of all the things in our lives that we have to be thankful for. As for as schooling, it can be a controversial subject, so as with everything in my preschool themes, take what works for you and leave the rest. This is what I will be choosing to do this week along with many themed books from the library. These are some of our favorites: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Turkey – Lucille Colandro; Give Thanks to the Lord – Karma Wilson; Thankful – Eilleen Spinelli 

I also have 3 videos with fun ideas for Thanksgiving!! Here are some crafts, here are some activities, and here are some ideas for fine motor skills and sensory play. We will be working on making an American Indian headdress from the activity video throughout this week. I will also have a ‘thankful pumpkin’ on which everyone can write what they are thankful for throughout the week. 

 M T W Th F 
Religion Read Daniel & the Lions Den Comprehension Questions* Daniel & the Lions Den worksheet painting* Make Lion puppet* Sequencing activity 
Language (2) Indian Sign Language* Write some review letters in whipped cream and practice them T is for turkey Sandpaper letters (whichever you want to review) Help pilgrim to the mayflower 
Language (4) Indian Sign Language* Use whipped cream to write HAD Match the beginning sound page of this printable Turkey rhymes (first part of this printable) Turkey rhymes 2 (second part of printable) 
Math (2) Use math beads to make 9 Thanksgiving Shadow matching v1 & v2 Dot sticker feather sort* Roll & Cover game pilgrim hat Count 9 on an abacus 
Math (4) Use math beads 10 frame addition We will only do a handful of problems Find & Tally – I will just do the find and tally part of this printable Skip count by 100s to get to 1000 Use abacus to discuss 100s and 1000s 
Art/Sensory Draw American Indian signs Whipped cream play – after language lesson (can add paint for another sensory dimension) Turkey playdouhg – brown playdough, google eyes, feathers, pipe cleaners, orange triangle cutouts Learn about totem poles & make your own Make a paperbag Indian vest 
Science
Geography
History 		Parts of a cornucopia Read Squanto & use character cutouts to retell story Cut out a picture of the mayflower and follow it’s route on a map Learn about the parts of a ship Native American Fashion – I will also show pictures 

Comprehension Questions: 

Why did the men not like Daniel? 

Tell about a time that you were jealous of someone else because they had something that you wanted. 

Did Daniel stop praying when he learned that he would be put in the den of lions for praying to God? 

 Daniel & the Lions Den Painting – Crumble a ball of aluminum foil and dip it in paint to paint the worksheet 

Lion Puppet Cut out Lion Head worksheet and glue to a paper plate.  Color the head and add brown yarn for the mane.  Glue a large craft stick to the back of the head.  Cut out the eyes to make a mask for the child.  

Indian Sign Language – Look at the chart of signs and talk about the Native Americans language. Since it’s a review week for my 2-year-old, I will just emphasize beginning word sounds with her. And since we’re working on rhymes this week, I will have my daughter try to tell me a rhyme of each word. 

Dot sticker feather sort – print feathers in the color of dot stickers you have, then have child place the dot stickers on the corresponding colored feather 

2023 Thanksgiving Lesson Plan

This is designed for a 3 turning 4 year old 🙂

Religion focus: Learn the prayer before meals

2 Yr Options: Pumpkin pie filling & whipped cream sensory bin, turkey play-do – brown playdough, google eyes, feathers, pipe cleaners, orange triangle cutouts, turkey dot sheets, glue feathers to paper, paint a pumpkin 

Language T is for turkey Introduce N; sandpaper letter; write the letter N on this worksheet and color in the hidden pictures Practice tracing P words –pilgrim, pumpkin & pie Match the beginning sounds   
Math Feathers on a turkey* Totem pole shape counting Pie math* Find & Tally – I will skip the addition section – can do this free one instead (easier) 
Art/Sensory Turkey handprint* Make your own totem pole Pumpkin pie play-do Fine motor turkey 
S/G/H Learn about the first Thanksgiving Learn about totem poles Figure out which river the Mayflower crossed to get to America Learn about Native American symbols & sign language; can draw some 

Feathers on a turkey – Cut a large circle from cardboard and make a slit in the center. Cut out a neck and head shape for a turkey, insert it into the slit and tape it on from the back. Divide the circle into 8 pie shapes. Put number words and dots in each section (2-9). Write corresponding numbers on clothespins (you can use colored clothespins to make them look more like feathers). Have your child clip the clothespin feather on the correct number dot space on the turkey. 

Pie math – Cut 2 large circles out of a brown and orange piece of construction paper. Divide each circle into 8 pie shapes with a marker. On the brown paper, put dots of different numbers that you choose (make sure they are between 0-9). On the orange paper, write the corresponding numeral and number word in each pie space, then cut the orange paper into individual pie pieces. Have the child place the pumpkin pie slice on the correct number dot ‘pie pan’ space.  

Turkey handprint – Paint child’s palm and 4 fingers brown, and their thumb red. Stamp their hand on a piece of paper and when it tries, decorate with a googly eye, beak, legs, and feet with marker.  

Food Preschool Theme

Food Preschool Theme

Posted on by Addie

I like to do this theme right before Thanksgiving because of all the food we are about to have. It’s fun to see them put into action some of the things they learned from this unit while eating their Thanksgiving meal. Here is what we will be doing for our food & nutrition theme this year.

 M T W Th F 
Religion Read Firey Furnace Story  Comprehension questions* Color or paint worksheet Play mother may I game Play red light green light and extension 
Language (2) Sandpaper letters R Read, Build, Write* R binder Stone soup story & retelling R miniatures 
Language (4) Food Rhyming* Read, Build, Write* At the grocery store mini reader Stone soup story & retelling Alphabet soup* 
Math (2) Intro 9 with math beads Sandwich shop game Practice counting with goldfish Count 9 items to check out when playing grocery store Trail mix patterns 
Math (4) Use math beads to show the concept of 1000 Easy as pie fractions*Measure food items with unifix – estimate before measurings, count how tall and then compare Be the cashier when playing grocery store with the banker game Trail mix patterns 
Art/Sensory I like to eat craft* Kitchen Play Sensory bin – dried beans & plastic food with baskets Grocery Store Play Build over, under, around & next to a car or doll with pantry items 
Science
Geography
History 		Food group sorting  Parts of a banana Parts of an orange Where does my body get energy sheet Find where your favorite foods come from on a map 

Comprehension Questions: 
When were the people supposed to bow down to the golden statue? 
What would happen if Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not obey? 
Who did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego choose to obey? 
How did God protect the three men in the fiery furnace? 
Because of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s obedience, what did the King realize? 

I Like To Eat – Cut out foods the child likes from ads and glue them on a brown paper bag. Label it “Isa” Likes to Eat 

Read, Build, Write – Draw a shopping cart on upperhalf of white board. Pick a letter flashcard, have child find corresponding letter magnet and put it in the ‘cart’. Then have child write the letter on the lower half of the board. I’ll pick R and a couple other letters to review for my 2 year old & Am and a couple other sight words for my 4 year old 

Alphabet soup – put magnetic letters in a bit pot and give your child a ladle. Have them scoop out the soup and tell you the letters. You can then have them make small sight words or CVC words with the letters. 

Food Rhyming – Pick a piece of play food and try to rhyme with it. Do it until child is bored – ex. Rice – mice, tomato – potato, apple – chapel. This could be a good way to introduce new vocabulary. Child may say some silly words as well, but if they are getting the rhyming concept then that is ok. Just have fun with it! 

Easy as Pie – I have this game, but you could introduce fractions by using a paper plate pies and cutting them up into different sections. This lesson is not supposed to really get them doing fraction math, but more introduce the concept of fractions to them and better understand some of the terms that we use in our everyday lives and in baking. 

Some ideas from Pocket of Preschool   

Farm Preschool Theme

Farm Preschool Theme

Posted on by Addie

(updated 10/2023)

My kids and I love doing the farm theme! Our farm animals come out more than just this week, but it is really fun to get everything out all at once. It’s perfect for fall time. This is what we are doing this week.

Farm Theme Book ideas: This Is the Farmer – Nancy Tafuri; Farming – Gail Gibbons; The Red Hen – Rebecca Emberley; Big Red Barn – Margaret Wise Brown; Giggle, Giggle, Quack – Doreen Cronin 

 M T W Th F 
Religion Read David & Goliath Comprehension questions* Sling shot paper rocks Paint D&G worksheet with marbles Paint small stones 
Language (2) Sandpaper letter E Farm matching E binder When doing egg shapes, talk about egg starting with letter e E miniatures 
Language (4) Counting syllables Color or clip the beginning sound As video Read & match How many syllables 
Math (2) Counting farm animals 1-8 Place farm stickers on 8 worksheet Farm count & clip Sorting egg shapes Follow the path 
Math (4) Use sensory bin kernels or beans to count 10 piles of 10 Making 100 w coins – sorting mat  Collecting coins game  Practice writing numbers in a black salt tray or dirt tray using small farm figurines  Build the number  
Art/Sensory Sensory bin* Clean the animals Milking a cow* Farm stamps*  Round the sheep* 
Science
Geography
History 		Life cycle of a chicken Explore different vegetable seeds and maybe even plant some – Farm to table sequencing Products obtained from cow milk*  Talking about matter with a balancing activity Learn about parts of animals 

Comprehension Questions: 

What did David use to fight Goliath? 

How would you feel if you were David? 

How did God help David? 

Products Obtained from Cow Milk– Talk about the different products that are made from cow milk and how they are made. Use the printable for a visual 

The below 5 ideas come from Mrs. P: 

Milking a cow – Mix water and white paint in a rubber glove and close it off with a rubberband. Then poke a tiny hole in the fingertips or udders with a safety pin (may want to do this over a cup), then milk the udders. 

Stamps – Make a scene on paper using farm stamps. You can start with a blank sheet of paper or draw a sky, grass and barn to start, then stamp away. 

Clean the Animals – Dirty up some animal figurines with mud and set up a bowl of soapy water and a scrubber. Have child wash the mud off the animals 

Round the Sheep – Pretend that some balloons are sheep (you could even draw faces on them) and scatter them all over a room. Then have the child try to gather them all into an enclosed space 

Sensory Bin Ideas – Oatmeal, corn kernels, or white beans with animal figurines or puzzle pieces and different scoops & cups 

2023 Farm Theme Plan

Religion focus – Memorize the Hail Mary

2Yr Options – Sorting egg shapes, Farm matching cards, animal figurine play, sensory bin – Oatmeal or corn kernels, animal figurines, tractor, scoops 

Language Introduce last name with chicken name activity Clothespin name activity (For added fun with the theme, you can turn clothespins into animals) Write last name in sharpie on paper, then glue beans or corn kernels to it Fill bin with straw & animals and put magnets of last name letters in it to find and order on white board 
Math Re-intro #6 & do counting farm animals 1-6 Place farm stickers and/or stamps on #6 printable Build the number  1-6 using counters or play-do Try the follow the path activity & do farm count & clip 
Art/Sensory Draw faces on balloons to make sheep, scatter them around the room and herd them into a ‘pen’ Muddy up some animal figurines and have a washing station Add mix of white paint & water to rubber glove & seal with rubber-band. Use safety pin to poke hole in fingertips and milk the cow udders (over sink or bin) Help child draw a farm scene on butcher paper (sky, grass, barn, pond) then use animal stamps to finish 
S/G/H Go over life cycle of a chicken and play one of the suggested games Farm to table sequencing Talk about how products are made from cows’ milk (printable) Learn about the parts of an animal 

Halloween Preschool Theme

Posted on by Addie

(updated 10/2023)

Halloween fun!! My kids are sooo excited for dressing up and trick or treating, but of course we’ve gotta throw some learning fun in there too. Here are some books we like for Halloween: Little Boo – Stephen Wunderli; We’re Going on a Ghost Hunt – Susan Pearson; Pumpkin Jack – Will Hubbell; The I’m Not Scared Book – Todd Parr; Dem Bones – Bob Barner; Where’s My Mummy – Carolyn Crimi; Spooky Pookie – Sandra Boynton 

In addition to this lesson plan, here are some things that you can do with your Halloween candy. I also have several craft and activity ideas, here, here, here, and here. 

Check below for our 2023 updated plan!!

 M T W Th F 
Religion Read A Voice in the Night + Comprehension Listening walk* Fingerpaint the Samuel worksheet Play Simon says Secret Message 
Language (2) H Candy Corn H sandpaper letter Color & add 8 stickers to worksheet H miniatures Act out H words* 
Language (4) O&F Candy Corn to make ‘of’ How many syllables Halloween sight word sort Halloween syllable count Clap & Build 
Math (2) Pumpkin faces Ghost knock down with fewer cups Peg on spider legs Halloween roll & cover** What Comes Next 
Math (4) Hundred Board Practice Ghost knock down* Halloween graphing* Make 10 piles of 10 with mini Halloween erasers Hundred Board Practice 
Art/Sensory Playdough spiders & monsters Save the Spiders Science is sensory Carve a pumpkin Skeleton Hand 
Science
Geography
History 		History of Halloween Water density activity Monster potions Day of the Dead  Build a haunted house out of graham crackers 

Comprehension Questions:  What were the names of the boy and the man in this story?  Who did Samuel think was calling him? What did Eli tell Samuel to do?  Who was calling Samuel? 

Listening Walk – A few weeks ago when we did the 5 Senses unit, we did a listening walk. You could do that again or what I’m going to do is put the kids in the stroller and blindfold them (or just put the shade up and put a blanket over so that they can’t see) and have them tell me what they hear. We’ll probably do that walking up the street and then let them see again on the way back. I definitely don’t want to block their sight for too long. If it’s not nice out you could always just have them put their heads down at the table and you can make sounds or play sounds and have them guess what sound it is. 

Secret Message – I wrote out a phrase (I can hear God too) and then wrote a random letter in between each letter of the phrase. Then I put blanks (like hangman) to represent the letters and words in my phrase. Then I will have my daughter cross out every other letter and put the remaining letters on the line to reveal a message. For example, IGCEAJNLHWESATRHGPOFDUTIOQO would be – I can hear God too. 

Act out H words – Have your child act out Halloween things that start with H sound like: howl like a wolf, act scared from a haunted house, pu on a witch hat, go on a hayride, make a hocus pocus spell etc.. 

Ghost Knock Down – draw ghost faces on clear plastic cups and have child stack in a 4,3,2,1 pyramid. Talk about how many pyramids you would need to make 100. Then you could use a ball or small decorative pumpkin to go bowling and knock it down. They can do it as many times as they would like. For the younger child I will just have her count the cups. 

Save the spiders – add play spiders to a muffin tin then put masking tape over top of the tin opening. Have your child practice their cutting skills to cut the tape then use tweezers to free the spiders. You can see my daughter demonstrating this activity with bears at the end of this video 

Halloween Graphing – Put Halloween erasers (or other Halloween items like spider rings) into a sensory bin and have the child pull them out and graph them on a sheet of paper 

Halloween roll & cover – Even though our number of the week is 8, I am going to do the 1-6 sheet with my 2 year old because she is still a very new 2.. if you have a more advanced child you could do the up to 12 roll and cover instead. 

Skeleton Hand or Drawing – Use cut up straws or Q-Tips to make a skeleton. We did a skeleton hand here

Playdough spiders and monsters – Get out your playdough and use a sectioned tray (like this one) to hold things to make spiders and monsters (like googly eyes, pipe cleaners, pretzel sticks, spider rings , Halloween erasers, etc..) 

Monster potions – in small clear plastic cups, add some eyes and pipe cleaner mouths to make monster cups. Add a few drops of different colored food coloring in each followed by some baking soda. Get a separate cup filled with vinegar and let the child use a dropper to add it to the cups. Can talk about the reaction of baking soda and vinegar then let them play! 

Water density – Experiment with water density using Halloween colored liquids (vegetable oil, syrup, dye water) and talk about what’s happening. Then you can add Halloween trinkets (spider, eye ball etc..) do see which liquid they go to. To finish off the experiment, drop in an Alka-Seltzer tablet and watch the show! 

2023 HALLOWEEN THEME PLAN

Language Introduce H, sandpaper tracing, H Candy Corn Introduce J, sandpaper tracing, J is for Jack-o-lantern Introduce G, sandpaper tracing, G is for Ghost Halloween Initial Sound Match (these are all review) 
Math Introduce 9, sandpaper number & count with 9 pumpkin counters Candy corn math (laminate and write number with dry erase at top) Ghost knock down*  Count the pumpkins 
Art/Sensory Halloween play-do – googly eyes, spider rings, pipe cleaners Save the spiders* Black bean & orange rice sensory bin with Halloween objects Halloween Lacing Cards 
S/G/H Learn some Halloween facts* Make potions with baking soda, vinegar, and food coloring Halloween lava lamp experiment Use candy corn or candy pumpkins and toothpicks to build structures 

Ghost Knock Down – draw ghost faces on 10 clear plastic cups and write #’s 0-9 on the top. Have child sequence and stack them in a pyramid. Use a small pumpkin or ball to go bowling and knock it down. Repeat as many times as they want. 

Save the Spiders – add play spiders to a muffin tin then put masking tape over the opening. Have your child cut the tape and use tweezers to free the spiders. You can see this activity in action with bears at the end of this video 

Halloween Facts – Halloween is on October 31st (find it on the calendar). The colors of Halloween are orange and black. It originated in the Celtic lands – Ireland & Scotland (find them on the map). The Halloween celebration goes back over 2,000 years. Originally, jack-o-lanterns were carved from turnips and potatoes. Illinois has the most pumpkins of all the states (find it on a map). 

OTHER ACTIVITY IDEAS 

Cotton Ball Ghost – Hang a large piece of butchers paper on the wall and draw the outline of a big ghost with eyes and a mouth. Have child use glue and cotton balls to fill in the ghost. You can also use a cut out ghost like we did in this video. 

Candy corn graphing – From this reading mama 

Marble paint mummy – cut out a mummy body on black paper, tape it inside a box and drop on a few globs of white paint. Have the child drop in some marbles and shake the box from side to side to create white lines all over the mummy. After the paint dries add 2 yellow dot stickers for eyes and draw a black dot in the center. If you haven’t seen marble painting before, we did it at Easter here 

Trick or Treat Graph – after trick or treating separate and graph the candy you got 

Colored Pasta Sensory Bin – color noodles and bake for 20 min so that the color doesn’t transfer then use it as the base of a Halloween sensory bin. You can see ours from last year here 

Jello Excavation – Make 2 packets of orang jello and dump on a tray or in a bin. Add the Halloween stuff then put in the fridge until ready. Use tweezers, scoops etc.. to get all the items out. 

SpiderWeb Obstacle Course – Using streamers or twine, make a ‘web’ all over a room and have the child try to climb through without getting stuck 

Natural Disasters Preschool Theme

Natural Disasters Preschool Theme

Posted on by Addie

After just having fire week last week, I thought that it would be a good time to talk about other disasters that can happen too. This time, focusing on natural disasters like tornados, hurricanes & volcanos. And with those air, land & water fits right in. My kids love talking about different disasters.. I don’t know why, they are just mesmerized by them and can ask a zillion questions about them. This unit is also a great way to talk about the idea of geography, maps & globes.

As with every lesson, we of course pair the materials listed with tons of books from the library, but I also have the Magic School Bus: Inside the Earth which I love. To note, you’ll see LHL next to a couple of items without a link. That’s because some of this lesson comes from a Little Hands Learn free unit study. I cannot share the printables here, but you can get them free if you enroll if you are interested.

 M T W Th F 
Religion Giddeons Battle & Comprehension Color God Chooses Giddeon Glue cotton balls on fleece  worksheet to create a blanket Compare wool to cotton Act out story with kids favorite blanket 
Language (2) Air, Land, Water 3 part cards LHL Sandpaper letters Tornado Game*   I spy Game w/ review letters* Letter Volcanos (use review letters)  
Language (4) Air, Land, Water 3 part cards LHL  Tornado in a bottle reader Tornado Game*  Easy reader (Bob book) to practice CVC & sight   Letter Volcanos (use letters to make CVC words)  
Math (2) Sort animal figurines by air, land & water Use dot marker to make 7 dots on the 7 worksheet Natural Disaster Café* Work on shapes (early learning bin) Find #7* 
Math (4) Sort animal figurines by air, land & water 10 frame math (we will not do all the examples, just a few) Natural Disaster Café* Tropical storm hundreds chart Graph national disasters* 
Art/Sensory Nature walk to collect air, water & land in jars LHL  Practice transfering skills with water & beans (for land) After Disaster sensory bin – ‘digging through the rubble’ – black & white beans, duplo home pieces, car pieces, any broken small toys, plastic plants, Make a tornado in 2 litre bottle Build a city out of blocks and then jump around to create an earthquake  
Science
Geography
History 		Start Sunrise/Sunset Activity and do throughout the week Compass Rose Activity Blow or Not Blow experiment LHL And Talk about how tornados happen (can also get out air cards from Monetssori by mom) What’s Inside Our Earth – Gemstones & Minerals* Talk about water disasters and how they happen (floods, hurricanes & tsunamis) Parts of a volcano and volcano mini book with how earthquakes happen  

Comprehension Questions: 

What was Gideon afraid of? 

What did the angel tell Gideon? 

Did Gideon think he was strong and brave? 

I spy Game – Looking around the room say I spy something that starts with the letter ‘mmmm’ and have the child guess items that start with m. Do this for review letters. 

Nature walk – Bring 3 small jars and go for a walk to collect air, water & land. You can just have them wave the jar around to collect air. Then you can match each jar to the 3 part cards that they go with 

Gemstones & Minerals – I got this to be able to look at the different gemstones and minerals and we will also look up where they come from on a map. This is another good resource to use with this activity. 

Tornado Game – I will use letter flashcards and sight word cards for this and some tape the tornados to the back of some so that they don’t know which are which. My 2 girls will be 1 man teams and the 2 year old will have the single letters and a mama helper, while the 4 year old will have the sight words. We will draw a basic house that I will help them with. 

Natural Disaster Café – I am going to make a little menu for myself and put numbers next to each one (1-7 for my 2 year old, any number up to 100 for my 4 year old). I will then read them the menu and they can pick something they want to make. But, before they do, they have to do the number activity. For my 2 year old it will be counting or picking the correct number flashcard from a pile, and for my 4 year old, she will have to write the number on the board, or build the number with math beads. Once they do the math activity they can make the item in the play kitchen and deliver it to the customer aka me or sister or dad. The menu will be something like… disaster soup – 2/14 (so my 2 year old would count 2 objects with me and my 4 year old will write or build the number 14). Other menu ideas: Lava lasagna, Tornado Pasta, Earthquake Chicken Tenders etc… 

Find #7 – I will put a 7 magnet in a bin with several letter magnets. I will have my daughter search through the bin to find the 7. Repeat until child looses interest. 

Graph natural disasters – I will have my daughter make a graph based on these numbers that I found in an online search – average numbers per year (I don’t really care if these are 100% accurate, you can do more research if you do)– tsunamis: 2, hurricanes: 12, volcanos: 60, tornados: 1000. The graph doesn’t have to be completely accurate, but I just want her to see the comparison in quantities. 

Other Natural Disaster Preschool Activity Ideas 

Monopoly Earthquake – Get to large cloths (or paper) and overlap them a little bit. Cover them lightly with soil, and top with monopoly houses to make a town. Then pull apart the cloths and watch the houses fall in the fault line. 

Graham Cracker Quake – Lay 2 halves of graham cracker on a pile of red frosting. Push them back and forth to show what happens – fault line & mountains. 

Fire Safety Preschool Theme

Fire Safety Preschool Theme

Posted on by Addie

National Fire Safety week is the first week of October here, so we are doing a fire safety preschool theme. I like to pair it up here because some of the fire stations near us hold open houses so it’s fun to do that when we are learning all about fire safety.

Along with getting lots of books from the library about fire, firemen & fire themed stories, here is what we will be doing in preschool.

 M T W Th F 
Religion Battle of Jericho & Comprehension* Color God Chooses Giddeon Glue cotton balls on fleece  worksheet to create a blanket Compare wool to cotton Act out story with kids favorite blanket 
Language (2) B letter of the week binder B dot marker page Fire hose prewriting trace B miniatures Choose another B activity 
Language (4) Dot beginning sound CVC & Sight word practice Find & Read Words* CVC & Sight word practice Introduce syllables by counting syllables in fire vocabulary (firetruck, axe, hose etc..) 
Math (2) Stop drop & roll sequence Firetruck number puzzle Calling 911 trace  Roll & color 1-6 Fire safety patterns 
Math (4) Fire safety Addition Firetruck number puzzle Calling 911 trace also practice your phone number & address Roll & color 2-12 Fire safety subtraction 
Art/Sensory Fingerpaint w/ red, yellow & orange Put out the fire chalk game Sensory bin w/ RYO shredded paper, fire trucks, RYO magna tiles & people Fire obstacle course * Make a thank you card for fire fighters 
Science
Geography
History 		Hot or not Make a fire safety plan* Good fire v bad fire* Science of fire Science of baking – bake treat to deliver to firehouse 

Comprehension Questions: 

What was Gideon afraid of? 

What did the angel tell Gideon? 

Did Gideon think he was strong and brave? 

Find & Read words: Write some CVC or sight words on index cards (or cut pieces of paper) and hide them around the room. Turn off the light and have child use a flashlight to find the cards. Then have them read what it says. This is like a firefighter in a dark building. (Adapted from an idea at stayathomeeducator.com) 

Fire obstacle course – This activitiy is dramatic play and pretending. Make an obstacle course and pretend something at the end is on fire. Call the firefighter (your child) who can dress up as a firefighter and practice crawling through the obstacle course to get to the fire and pretend to put the big fire out at the end. 

Fire safety plan – where do you go? What do you do? Do you wait for other people? Designate a meeting place. “Don’t hide, go outside!”. You can make a map with this and talk about cardinal directions as well. 

Good fire v bad fire – Discuss the differences between good fires (campfires, bbq, stove, candles, etc..) and bad fires – depends on the type of fire and what its effects are.