Ideas for Pre-K & Preschool Teachers
“How Many Am I Hiding?” is a math game that will help preschool and kindergarten children practice number concepts and simple subtraction. Find more Number Activities for Preschool here. This is a very simple math game we play during small group time. My small group has around 4-6 children. For this subtraction math game, we used plastic ants. Any small item is fine, I’ve used plastic ladybugs, flat floral gems,
This Butterfly Matching Game and more Bug Games will help children practice visual discrimination skills. We’re getting ready to learn about bugs in my class because everywhere we look lately, there are bugs of all kinds! We have a caterpillar in a jar in our room who has been munching on basil leaves & we are watching, waiting, & hoping he will make a cocoon. Butterfly Matching Game In preparation
These Spring Art Center ideas will help your preschool artists create some Spring inspired art. So often we give children the same bright colored art materials, those “8 basic colors” to use all year long. Spring is a great time to change it up and introduce some pastels. These ideas work well in an open-ended art center where children can be creative in what they make, choose the art materials they
Here are some fun songs for teaching about the Spring season with young children! These songs are great for Pre-K, Preschool, and Kindergarten. Find more Spring activities here. This is a curated list of songs from YouTube. Spring is Here, by The Learning Station Hungry Caterpillar, by The Learning Station Five Little Kites, by The Kiboomers Springtime Dance, by Jack Hartmann Sing a Song of Flowers, by The Kiboomers Five
Here are some fun songs for teaching about Weather and Seasons with young children! These songs are great for Pre-K, Preschool, and Kindergarten. Find more Weather activities here. This is a curated list of songs from YouTube. How’s the Weather, by Super Simple Songs Singing in the Rain, by The Learning Station What’s the Weather Like Today?, by The Kiboomers Rain, Rain, Go Away, by The Singing Walrus If You
Use these Weather and Season Printables during a Weather Unit. Printable Weather Chart Here’s a printable weather chart for kids to fill in by drawing simple symbols on each day of the week. There are some simple illustrations kids can use as a guide. (I made these as simple as possible, and last year my students were able to copy these symbols.) There are two versions: one chart has
Find a variety of Alphabet Printables to use with your Pre-K, Preschool, or Kindergarten class. These printables include Letter Cards, Letter Tiles, Large Letter Outlines, and Bingo Dot Marker pages. Worksheets are not included here, these are the kind of alphabet printables that you might need to play games and do hands-on, active learning. The goal of this page is to provide a variety of alphabet printables that teachers might
Melting Snowman Science is a science experiment that will keep your little learners engaged while they explore dissolving a substance with water. This exploration goes great with a Winter Theme. In this fun experiment, children will use drops of water to dissolve a biodegradable packing peanut. These biodegradable packing peanuts are very easy to get: many companies now use these when they ship items to you. Just save them in
Here are four Winter printable games: Snowflake Matching Cards, Snowflake Same and Different, Mitten Matching Cards, and Mitten Same and Different. These Winter games practice visual discrimination skills in preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten. Visual discrimination skills are so important for young children because it helps them to be able to identify letters and numbers. Visual discrimination helps children distinguish between similar letter shapes such as p, q, b, d, as
These Counting Songs for kids will help preschool, Pre-K, and Kindergarten age children learn numbers and counting skills while having fun. Visit our Numbers and Counting pages for more activities. This is a curated list of songs from You Tube. Counting to 5 Counting 1 to 5, by Pinkfong Five Little Fish, by Jack Hartmann Interactive finger play — move while you sing and learn numbers. Counting to 7
These Alphabet Christmas Tree Mats will help your Preschool, Pre-K, and Kindergarten kids practice matching letters and recognizing letters. There are printable mats for both lowercase and uppercase letters! Each mat has three letters on ornaments all over the Christmas tree. The ornaments are white, so kids will find the letters and color them with colored chips using a color code. Find more Christmas activities here. Easy Prep! To prepare
Children love Write the Room games because they love to wander around the room, move, and get active. Here are three Write the Room activities that Pre-K children can do. Rainbow Write the Room From the second the kids began this activity, excitement filled the air! Rainbow Write the Room was a huge hit. Kids who never attempted to write or even draw, were suddenly excited about it! In my
Counting Pumpkins on a Vine will help teach preschool children to count objects using one-to-one correspondence. This uses simple materials and is very easy prep! Preschool children often need lots of practice counting with one-to-one correspondence. Even those children who can count numbers in order verbally, sometimes need help with the skill of counting objects. They need to learn they are counting “things”, not just reciting numbers, and that numbers
Here are some fun songs for teaching about Autumn or Fall with young children! These songs are great for Pre-K, Preschool, and Kindergarten. This is a curated list of songs from YouTube. Autumn Leaves Are Falling Down, by The Kiboomers Make the movements from the song: falling down, turn around, rake them… Autumn Leaves Are Falling Down, by The Learning Station (Same title, but a different song than the one above.)
Here is a printable Animal Tracks Book and set of Matching Cards that will be perfect in your Science Center during a Forest Animals theme in the Fall. This was created with Preschool, Pre-K, and Kindergarten kids in mind. Children will use this emergent reader book to learn about the animal tracks of different forest animals, and then use the card set to match the animal tracks to the animal. There is
Here are some fun songs for teaching about Community Helpers and Neighborhoods with young children! These songs are great for Pre-K, Preschool, and Kindergarten. This is a curated list of songs from YouTube. Community Count, by Jack Hartmann Wheels on the Bus, by Super Simple Songs Wheels on the Bus, but The Kiboomers Hurry, Hurry Drive the Firetruck, by The Kiboomers Miss Polly Had a Dolly, by The Kiboomers Shopping
Every year, I always, always forget just how much work it is getting ready for school. I have my “Back to School To Do List”, but I still underestimate how much time and work is involved. And there are always some things you can’t do until you get that class list. Here are some things you will most likely need to do to get your classroom ready for Pre-K at
Here are some fun songs for teaching the alphabet with young children! These songs are great for Pre-K, Preschool, and Kindergarten. This is a curated list of songs from YouTube. I often use Alphabet song videos in my classroom because I believe that music (especially with movement) is the best way for kids to learn! Here are some I’ve tried. Basically the entire Super Simple ABC’s YouTube Channel is fantastic,
In my classroom, we have a Play Dough Bakery that stays in our classroom all year. This is a creative and fun way for kids to practice building the fine motor muscles they need for gripping a pencil and writing. Children love to make play dough food and “serve” it to their teachers and friends. Sometimes they create their own pretend-play restaurants, ice cream shops, bakeries, and pizza parlors using
Here are some fun songs to use while teaching a Pond Life unit! These songs are great for Pre-K, Preschool, and Kindergarten. This is a curated list of songs from YouTube. Five Green and Speckled Frogs, by The Learning Station Five Little Speckled Frogs, by Super Simple Songs Little Green Frog, by The Kiboomers There Was a Little Turtle, by The Kiboomers Six Little Ducks, by The Kiboomers Be Kind to
The Nuts Keep Rolling is the newest book by bestselling author Eric Litwin. This new book will be available soon on April 18, 2017. Eric Litwin is the author of the first four Pete the Cat books, the Groovy Joe series, and the Nut Family series. Keep reading for activities to go with the book and the giveaway for a signed copy! In The Nuts Keep Rolling, Hazel and Wally
This Jumping Frog Alphabet Game is a fun way to practice or beginning sounds. Prepare the Game You will need the printable mat and a set of plastic “jumping frogs”. The jumping frogs are usually available in dollar stores or the party section of discount stores, and they’re very inexpensive! The printable letter mats come in lowercase letters and uppercase letters, as well as a color version and a black
Old Tracks, New Tricks, by Jessica Petersen is a new book recently published about old train tracks who learn how to do new tricks. Here is a counting printable and more activities to go with the book. About the Book: Old Tracks, New Tricks In the story, Old Tracks, New Tricks, children will get new ideas for ways to use train tracks. You can add other materials to them, such as
Read the story of Easter to children and use this printable for sequencing the story. This printable goes with the story beginning with Jesus entering Jerusalem to when He rose from the tomb and showed the disciples the marks on His hands. There are two printables: one with 3 pictures to sequence and one with 4 pictures. Download the printable of your choice at the link below. Have children cut apart the
Read the story of Saint Patrick to children and use this printable for sequencing the story. There are two printables: one with 3 pictures to sequence and one with 4 pictures. Download the printable of your choice at the link below. Have children cut apart the pictures (or cut them in advance if children are not able to do this by themselves). Discuss each picture with children. Have children put the pictures
This Space Same and Different Game will help preschool and kindergarten children practice visual discrimination skills. Visual discrimination skills help children identify letters and numbers, as well as distinguish the difference between similar letter shapes such as p, q, b, d, and number shapes such as 3 and 8, 6 and 9. You could use this activity with your Space Theme. To prepare the cards, just print them out (see download below) and cut them apart. There are four
This set of 19 Farm Picture-Word Cards includes farmer, tractor, wheelbarrow, barn, pitchfork, sheep, chicken, eggs, cow, pig, donkey, goat, horse, cat, dog, cotton, corn, hay, and wheat. There are more sets in the Picture-Word Cards collection. Be sure to check out the other sets at the link! This set goes with my Farm Theme. How to use the word cards: There are a few ways you can use these picture-word cards and display them. Use these
These games help pre-K children practice Letter Sound learning in a fun, hands-on way. Sound Cups Use 26 disposable clear punch cups and label each cup with a letter. Letter cup labels can be downloaded below. Collect a set of small trinket objects (you can ask parents and friends to send things in), such as plastic lizard, small block, watch, plastic frog, bandaid, necklace, button, dice. Place the trinkets in a basket. Children
This printable rhyming set could be used in many ways and includes several pairs of matching rhyming picture cards. To play this Rhyming Match Game, print out the rhyming mats and the picture cards. Cut out the picture cards and put them in a bowl or basket with the corresponding mat. There are three sets of Rhyming Match Games. Children will take a card from the bowl and find the
For a long while, I’ve been making play dough counting mats that you can download and print. This past Summer, I had the opportunity to create some play dough mats as a freelance product designer for Kaplan Early Learning Company. I made a set of Alphabet Play Dough Mats and a set of Bird Nest Math Play Dough Mats. I was honored that they asked me to make them, and
Read the story of Saint Valentine to children and use this printable for sequencing the story. There are two printables: one with 3 pictures to sequence and one with 4 pictures. Download the printable of your choice at the link below. Have children cut apart the pictures (or cut them in advance if children are not able to do this by themselves). Discuss each picture with children. Have children put the pictures
These Ten Frame Puzzles help teach kids number concepts. Kids will put the puzzles together to make the 10 frames complete. To prepare the ten frame puzzles: Print out the ten frame puzzles. Cut the ten frame puzzles like the photo shown below. The puzzles have two different pictures on them, so be sure to separate those. For example, if you print out the Farm set, each 10 frame has cows and pigs.
When kids get the wiggles, they need a Brain Break! These 20 movement songs will get kids up and moving to get the wiggles out! Use these songs for indoor recess or anytime kids need a break. This is a curated list of songs from YouTube. Freeze Dance, by The Kiboomers Color Freeze Dance, by The Kiboomers Clap Your Hands, by The Kiboomers Walking, Walking, by The Kiboomers Energy Song, by
Use these Cookie Jar Play Dough Mats to combine fine motor and math skills in a fun way. You can find many more Play Dough Mats here. To prepare these mats, print them and either laminate the mats or slip them in clear page protectors. I like to to put them in page protectors and bind them together with metal binder rings so the kids can flip through the mats like a book. That
Set up this Christmas Lights Science display in your science center and let kids explore and discover how to turn on the Christmas lights. This is a simple activity for Preschool and Pre-K kids that you can set up in the Science Center. Materials Needed: String of Christmas lights Scissors or wire cutters (scissors work fine) 9V Batteries The Christmas lights you use don’t have to be new ones, and
These Bible Story Print & Fold books are quick and easy to prepare for your Jewish or Christian preschool program. Print & Fold books are a great way to communicate with parents the Bible story their children have been learning in class. To prepare, all you have to do is print, make copies, and fold the books. No staples needed. The stories are simplified because each book has only 3
Read a story about St. Nicholas to children and use this printable for sequencing the story. There are two printables: one with 3 pictures to sequence and one with 4 pictures. Download the printable of your choice at the link below. Have children cut apart the pictures (or cut them in advance if children are not able to do this by themselves). Discuss each picture with children. Have children put the pictures in
This Owl Same and Different Game helps kids practice visual discrimination skills in preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten. Children need visual discrimination skills to help them identify letters and numbers, as well as distinguish the difference between similar letter shapes such as p, q, b, d. This activity works great with a Forest Animals Theme. To prepare the set, just print out the cards (see download below) and cut them apart. There are four
These are our favorite books about Gingerbread for Pre-K kids. These are great for the Christmas season. This list contains Amazon affiliate links. Visit the Gingerbread Activities page for lots of Preschool & Pre-K lesson ideas. The Gingerbread Man, by Jim Aylesworth The Gingerbread Man, by Catherine McCafferty Gingerbread Baby, by Jan Brett Gingerbread Friends, by Jan Brett Gingerbread Christmas, by Jan Brett The Gingerbread Girl, Lisa Campbell Ernst The Gingerbread Girl Goes Animal
Here are some songs to get your kids singing and moving while learning about shapes. This is a curated list of songs from YouTube. Shapes, by Jack Hartmann Shapes in the environment – move and make the shapes. Shapes Song, by The Kiboomers Identifying environmental shapes. Shapes Song, by The Learning Station Identifying a variety of shapes. Shapes Song: Square, Diamond, Star, Rectangle, by The Kiboomers Kids can find the
