Preschool Themes

Preschool Themes

Now, I'm sure you'll judge me for this, but when I interviewed for this job, I had no idea that most preschool lesson planning revolves around THEMES. You know, picking one topic for every week, two weeks, month, or some arbitrary time period, then trying to relate almost all of your lessons and activities to that particular topic.

In my research, I have found dozens of incredible resources for preschool teachers.  Many of these sites have themes listed, as well as songs, games, fingerplays, crafts, printables, and other ideas to help you connect your theme to your curriculum.  There are lots of themes that I saw again and again, mainly related to seasons and holidays.  I could've copied someone's yearly themes, week for week, but no..... That's not my style.

Here is my list of themes for the year that include some basic ones (Apples), some more exotic ones (India), and some that only apply to the people in my little corner of the world (Kentucky Derby).  I planned my themes for the year way back in January, and scheduled them all on my Google calendar, which is SO easy to use.  I've thought about using it for my lesson planning, too, but I'm not there yet.

It is my GOAL (we'll see if it happens) to include my lesson plans and activities for these themes on this site.  If there is one theme in particular you're interested in, be sure to comment and let me know, I will try to post about it sooner rather than later!

Popular Theme Ideas:

• All About ME
• Apples
• Art
• Balloons
• Beach/Ocean
• Bears
• Bugs
• Butterflies
• Christmas
• Community Helpers
• Dental Health
• Dinosaurs
• Dr. Seuss
• Fairy Tales
• Fall
• Farms
• Fire Safety
• Five Senses
• Flowers
• Halloween
• Healthy Bodies/Nurtition
• Horses
• Monkeys
• Music
• New Year's Eve
• Nursery Rhymes
• Pets
• Picnics
• Plants
• Pumpkins
• Rules and Responsibilities
• Space
• Spring
• Summer
• Thanksgiving
• Transportation
• USA
• Valentine's Day
• Weather/Seasons
• Winter/Snow
• Zoo Animals

Less Common Theme Ideas:

• American Presidents
• Basketball/University of Kentucky
• Big Cats
• Books/I Love to Read
• Chocolate
• Dance
• Fractured Fairy Tales
• Kentucky Derby
• Mardi Gras
• Physics (Magnets, Force and Motion, etc)
• Prom
• Sports/Field Day

Over the summer, I did the overarching theme of "The World Around Us."  Each week we would learn about one or two new places or things that were different in some way than the place we live.

World Travel Theme Ideas:

• Africa
• Alaska
• American West
• Australia
• China
• Europe 
• Farms
• Hawaii
• Hollywood
• India
• Japan
• Mexico
• New Orleans
• New York City
• Ocean
• Russia
• Washington, DC

Some of these were tricky to do!  I had to get creative to plan my own themes from scratch, but I think it was worth it.  What other themes have you used with success?