~ Pre-K & Preschool theme ideas for learning about our community: community helpers and places ~
Books
Fairy Tale: Little Red Hen
Neighborhood
Construction
Hospital
Post Office
Fire Station
Police
Teachers
Bakery/Restaurant
More
Rhymes
Rub a Dub Dub Nursery Rhyme
Rub-a-dub-dub,
Three men in a tub;
And who do you think they be?
The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker;
And all of them gone to sea.
Doctor Foster Nursery Rhyme
Doctor Foster
Went to Gloucester
In a shower of rain.
He stepped in a puddle,
Right up to his middle,
And never went there again!
Note: Gloucester is a two-syllable word (Glouce-ster),
and is pronounced "Gloster", rhyming with Foster.
Songs
Construction Activities
Play Dough Construction
[Fine Motor Skills]
Wooden craft sticks were added to the play dough for children to construct houses and other buildings.
Block-Building Book
[Literacy]
Children glued pieces of paper "blocks" onto their page to build something (house, school, skyscraper, church, etc.) The children's names
and what they built were written on each page. These can be put together in a class book or hung on the wall as posters.
Tool Grid Game
[Math]
To play a grid game, children roll a game die, identify the numeral
and count out that amount of manipulatives. Each manipulative is placed over one picture in the grid. Children play until the whole grid is full.
This grid game uses metal nuts for manipulatives. (The game in the photo was made using stickers bought at Michaels.)
10 Spaces
20 Spaces
Block Game
[Math]
Children took turns rolling the die, and counting out that amount of blocks from the pile. As they took the blocks from the pile, they constructed a
tower. After all the blocks were gone, we compared the towers to see whose was the tallest.
Construction Worker Prop Box
[Dramatic Play Center]
Tools, Belt, Hat, Toolbox, Orange vests, Blueprints, Safety glasses
Doctors/ Health Care Activities
Doctor Foster Nursery Rhyme
Doctor Foster
Went to Gloucester
In a shower of rain.
He stepped in a puddle,
Right up to his middle,
And never went there again!
Note: Gloucester is a two-syllable word (Glouce-ster),
and is pronounced "Gloster", rhyming with Foster.
Stethoscope
[Science]
We used a paper cup with the bottom cut out. Children pressed the big end of the cup to the heart area of a friend's chest, and pressed an ear
against the small end. (Works best if you don't hold onto the cup.)
Health Care Prop Box
[Dramatic Play Center]
Doctor's or Nurse's Coat, Scrub shirt, Stethoscope, Cloth bandage wraps, X-rays, Empty medicine bottles, Shot syringes (without needle), Bandaids
Post Office Activities
Post Office
[Literacy, Social Skills]
A small post office was set up at the table with paper, envelopes, and stickers. A poster showed the cost of each item (pennies taped beside each item).
Children had to count out the correct amount of pennies to "buy" the materials they wanted to use. Children "wrote" a letter to someone using the
materials they bought.
Post Office Prop Box
[Dramatic Play Center]
All size envelopes, Bubble mailers, Stamps (canceled), Priority mail envelopes, Cardboard boxes, Packaging tape, Tube mailer, Mailbox, Paper, Pens
Firefighter Activities
Stop, Drop & Roll
[Safety, Large Motor]
We stuck red felt "flames" onto a child's clothing, and the child practiced "stop, drop, and roll". Each child had a turn.
Stay Low & Go
[Safety, Large Motor]
A white sheet was used for the pretend smoke. My assistant and I held the sheet low near the floor, and the children practices "stay low and go" by
crawling underneath the sheet.
Firetruck Stamping Game
[Math, Literacy]
Write a letter or numeral on each firetruck, and make a copy for each child. Children will draw a number or letter card from a stack (or roll a die), find
that letter/numeral on their mat, and stamp it out. You can use rubber stamps or bingo daubers. As an alternative, you can have children draw an "X" over
the firetruck if stamps or bingo daubers are not available.
Printable
Firefighter Prop Box
[Dramatic Play Center]
Fire hats, Black boots, Oxygen tanks (made from 2 liter bottles), Raincoat, Short pieces of hose, Hand bell, First Aid kit
Police Officer Activities
Police Officers: License Plate Game
[Literacy]
Each child had a turn to be the "driver". A piece of paper with a letter written on it was clipped to the driver's back (we used the beginning
letters of the children's names). The child drove around the table, and parked in his seat. Children found the letter among a small set of foam
letters (only the necessary letters, not the whole alphabet).
Police Officers: Fingerprints
[Science]
Each child's hand was traced on a sheet of paper. Children colored heavily with a pencil on an index card to make a layer of graphite; they rubbed a
fingertip on the graphite; stuck clear tape on that fingertip and pressed; pulled the tape off and stuck to the finger on the hand outline. We
looked at the fingerprints with a magnifying glass, and talked about ways police detectives use fingerprints.
Police Officer Prop Box
[Dramatic Play Center]
Walkie-talkies, Blue shirts, Notepads, Pens, Badge, Hat
Bakery and Restaurant Activities
Restaurant Menus
[Fine Motor Skills]
Children made a restaurant menu by cutting pictures of food from grocery store sale folders from the newspaper and glued the pictures onto
file folders. Each child made up a name for their restaurant, which was written on the front of the menu. These menus were used in the children's
pretend play restaurants.
Creating a Bakery
[Fine Motor Skills, Art]
Children made their own bakery in the classroom by making cookies, cakes, cupcakes, bread, cinnamon rolls, and other bakery foods with Model Magic.
The Model Magic was painted after it dried, and the children's bakery foods were placed on display using trays. Children also made a sign for the bakery,
and had a cash register with paper for writing receipts, and small bakery bags for their purchases.
Play Dough Bakery
[Fine Motor Skills]
Add bowls, spoons, plastic knives, cookie cutters, muffin tins, mini bread loaf pans, small cookie sheets, spatulas, rolling pins, and pots
and pans to the play dough area. I also have a George Foreman playdough grill and a baking rack from a real toaster that were donated to me.
Play Dough Cookies
[Math, Fine Motor Skills]
Write numbers on paper circles and attach them to a cookie sheet with clear contact paper. Children made cookies with play dough, counted out the
correct amount of chocolate chips (brown beads), and placed them on a number on the cookie sheet.
Lemon Pie
[Cooking]
We pretended to be chefs.
Ingredients/Materials:
mini graham cracker pie crust, whipped topping, frozen lemonade concentrate, sweetened condensed milk, spoons, disposable bowls
Put one spoonful of whipped topping, one spoon of frozen lemonade concentrate, one spoon of sweetened condensed milk into a bowl, and mix.
Scoop the mixture into the piecrust.
Mini Pizzas
[Cooking]
These are made by spreading Ragu Pizza Quick sauce on an English muffin half, then adding shredded mozarella cheese. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for
10 minutes (or less). You can also use a toaster.
Cake Decorating
[Cooking]
Children can help mix the cake batter and scoop the batter into individual cake baking pans. Bake them according to the directions on the
package. Children choose a color for their icing and stir a few drops of food coloring into the icing. They decorate their own cake with icing, sprinkles,
and squeeze tubes of decorating frosting.
Bakery Prop Box
[Dramatic Play Center]
Rolling pins, Aprons, Oven mitts, Cupcake tins, Cake pans, Mixing bowls, Hand held manual mixers, Measuring cups, Cookie sheets, Paper
cupcake cups, Measuring spoons, Spatulas, Wooden mixing spoons, Dishcloths, Towels, Empty food containers, Empty milk cartons
Restaurant Prop Box
[Dramatic Play Center]
Menus, Table cloth, Serving plate, Cloth napkins, Silverware, Dishes, Aprons, Play food, Notepads, Pens, Silk flower centerpieces, Play
credit cards, Play checks, Chef hat, Place mats, Serving tray
More Activities
Rub a Dub Dub Nursery Rhyme
Rub-a-dub-dub,
Three men in a tub;
And who do you think they be?
The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker;
And all of them gone to sea.
Our Town Class Book
[Literacy]
We made a list of places in our community. Each child chose one place to draw and tell about. (Examples: zoo, art museum,
fire station, gas station, mall, grocery store.) I include photos whenever possible. The pages were put together to make a class book.
Story Retelling
[Literacy]
Choose a community helpers themed book that you would consider good literature (good characters, plot, beginning, middle, end, etc.) Show the book to the children
and tell them to think about what happened in the story, and the people (characters) and places they saw in the story. Think about what each character
said. Give each child a piece of paper and ask them to draw something they remember from the story. Remind them that this should not be a picture of their
cat or their friends, but only pictures of things from the book. After each child has illustrated the story, have them retell the story in their own words.
Either record each child with a voice recorder or write their dictation on the page.
United Streaming Videos
[Technology]
"Going to School is Your Job"
"Where We Live, Work, and Play: Public Places"
"Where We Live, Work, and Play: Businesses"
"The Paperboy"
Resources
10 Spaces
20 Spaces
Printable
Links
- Community Theme Links: my bookmarks at del.icio.us
- Community Helpers @ Pre-KPages.com
- Community Helpers @ Prekfun.com
- People, Occupations, and Community @ Enchanted Learning
- Post Office Theme @ Prekfun.com
