Preschool activities for around the world theme

What Do You Do When It Rains?
A Mom, A Daughter, & A Heart
Affirmations Of Gratitude
Conversations With A Squirrel

Science

This theme is always challenging for me, because I never want to misinform someone about the cultures of the world. All of my research came from google, and before using it I made sure it was listed by at least three different sources. If I have been mistaken about any of these activities and their origins, please feel free to email me misslindsay146@yahoo.com and I will be sure to fix the issue 🙂

Africa

  • Pestel
  • Mortar
  • Bay leaves
  • Cumin seeds
  • Rock Salt
  • Anything to crush

Mortar and pestle have been used everywhere and have a great deal of history, but were found to be used in Ancient Egypt in 1550BC to grind food, medicine, cosmetics etc. Have kids spoon a small amount of their herbs into the mortar and use the pestle to crush it up!

Asia

  • Sand
  • Tray
  • Stones
  • Plants
  • Zen garden tools

Zen rock gardens originated in medieval Japan and symbolize simplicity and serenity. Add some sand into a tray and place a basket of add-ins close by. Have kids rake the and and stack stones to build a zen garden. I also play some calming music 👌🏻.

South America

  • Macaw Print out-I used canva to make this
  • Feathers

The South America Macaw are native to the tropical North and south America. Laminate your template or place inside of a pocket pouch ( I got these from Amazon). Have kids add their feathers to their template to decorate their Macaw. Towards the end of the activity we through all of the feathers in the air and watched them fall slowly.

South America Counting

Although this doesn’t qualify as science I don’t have a category to throw this under. Your kids can roll the di/dice, count the number on them, write the number, and then ladle the correct amount of “ingredients” onto the soup. For a less challenging approach, you can write the number and they can count the ingredients.

Europe

  • Europe atlas template
  • Tape
  • Crayons
  • Scissors

This little atlas turned out SO cute, but took much longer to put together than I anticipated. You will need more than 30 minutes to complete this activity in a group setting. The atlas contains a page for: Food, animals, structures, and wardrobe. Each section has three images. I had the kids cut their own images out and tape them to the book on the correct page. When they finished putting the book together, they colored it.

I used Canva.com to create this booklet.

Sensory Bin

South America

  • Feathers
  • Leaves
  • Vines
  • Logs
  • Tropical birds
  • Etc.

For this sensory bin I tried replicate the Amazon Rainforest with what I had available. I think it turned out really cute 😊.

Europe

  • Loose tea
  • Tea cups/pots
  • Sugar cubes
  • Tea bags

Add materials to the sensory bin and play!

Dramatic Play

South America

  • Feather masks
  • Parrots
  • Colorful decor/dress up

For this set up, I tried to replicate the Carnival in Rio De Janeiro. I added as much color as I could and played some music for the kids.

Europe

You ABSOLUTELY need this Italian food dramatic play area for your kids! This is hands down my FAVORITE one I’ve created, and I wanted to share it with all of you! It is so cute you and your kids will want to stay in this center forever. This can be used for dramatic play at home, or in the class.

It all started with a tool bench….

It was letter Pp week and I already knew I wanted to do pizza. I saw that tool bench and immediately visualized a brick pizza oven. You can either print out the brick wall from the PDF, or you can make your own from red paper. Either way it is going to be stinking cute! I sorted all of the toppings and hung up the orders. The kids completed the orders and delivered the pizza.

….And then it turned into an Italian Food Restaurant!

The theme was around the world week and I already had this activity from last year, however my mind ALWAYS wants to create something new! So I turned it into an entire Italian food set up! From the framed pictures to the Carbonara, you will feel like you’re in Italy!

This activity can also be used in the Numbers corner/center. There are blank pizza order cards to write in numbers or create custom orders.

Need more ideas?

mini potion kit
Rainbow sensory bottle set
Birthday potion kit

The cutest activities for Preschool camping theme

Gracefully Guided With G-ABC Discovery Series
Affirmations Of Gratitude
Catch A Cactus With C-ABC Discovery Series
Adventures With A-ABC Discovery Series

Science Area

One thing to note, our science area…sometimes isn’t ACTUAL science. We add some other odds and ends thing to this center.

We’re going on a bear hunt!

There are six cards total for six players, You may print more if you would like more players.

We’re going on a bear hunt! Musical cards style. This is a game I made up in my classroom (or maybe it already exists and I just think I’m a genius ) It is so much fun, and every time I have a memory game out, the kids beg to play! This version will fit so well with a camping week/storybook theme.

⭐️Print double sided on thick paper

⭐️Lay your cards image side down (they should all be, going on a bear hunt side up)

⭐️Hands up, listening ears on!

⭐️Play the song, and then randomly stop

⭐️When the music stops, the players put their hand on a card

⭐️On the count of 3, flip them over

⭐️If you get the bear you’re out

⭐️Remove a card and continue until there is only one person left 🙂

⭐️Print as many copies as you need players

Print 2 copies and play memory!

Finish the other half

  • Worksheets-I designed these using canva
  • Crayons

Have the kids draw the other half of the image.

Snail trail scissor skills

  • Worksheets-made on Canva
  • Scissors

Have kids cut along the snail trail to reach the snail!

S’mores shapes

Have kids create s’mores using shapes! Make the same shaped s’mores, or create a mixed model for them to replicate. Place the s’more on the “fire” when you’re done.

River fishing

  • River fishing printable 👉🏻 here
  • Popsicle stick
  • Twine
  • Magnet dots

Assemble your activity, full description in the download. Have kids use their fishing pole to catch the fish, and then release them into the correct bucket. Different colors are available, there is only one shown in the images below.

Sensory Bin

We’re going on a bear hunt!

  • Neutral filler
  • Bears
  • “Mushroom”-I used gold pompoms
  • “River”- I used blue yarn
  • “Bridge”- I used a white fence from a previous activity
  • “Tall grass”- I used fake leaves
  • “Cave”- I used two baskets

Add materials to the sensory bin and play!

Campfire S’mores

  • Hot chocolate mix
  • Logs
  • Rocks/stones
  • Baskets
  • Red, blue, yellow, tissue paper
  • Dolls
  • Logs
  • Felt squares (brown and beige)
  • Cotton balls
  • Skewers

I used the chocolate mix as a filler to replicate dirt, but also it smelled yummy and went with the theme 🙂 Assemble your campfire and have kids “make” s’mores.

River fishing

This is HANDS DOWN my favorite sensory bin I’ve ever created!

  • Dirt-like grassy filler (colored beans and rice)
  • Stones
  • Blue rice
  • Fish
  • Woodland animals
  • Leaves/twigs
  • Etc.

Dramatic Play

We’re going on a bear hunt

  • Bear mask
  • Binoculars
  • Items from the book/song

Set up your area according to the book/song and have kids go on a bear hunt!

Campfire S’mores

  • Tent
  • Campfire set from amazon
  • Picnic blanket
  • Picnic basket
  • Coffee machine
  • Etc.

Set up your area and make some S’mores!

River/woodland animals

  • Laminated blue paper (replicates the river)
  • Woodland critter masks
  • Plants from the class
  • Tent
  • Laminated fish print outs

Set up your campground by the river and have kids fish as the animals.

Need More Ideas?

Build A Scarecrow Play Dough Kit
Mermaid Potion Making Kit
Dinosaur Potion Making Kit

9 Preschool age play based activities for opposites theme

Affirmations Of Gratitude
Snail In The Snow
What Do You Do When It Rains
Adventures With A-ABC Discovery Series

Science Area

Wet vs Dry

  • Land and air animals
  • Water animals
  • Land picture
  • Water picture

Display your wet and dry habitat pages along with the animals, and have kids sort them wet vs dry.

Light vs Heavy

  • Beans and rice mix
  • Jumbo popsicle stick
  • Cork topper
  • Shovel/spoon
  • Small containers

Assemble your scale by hot gluing a cork topper to the bottom of a popsicle stick. Hot glue your containers on each end in even spots. Originally I had planned to use plastic condiment ramekins, but they did not show in time so I had to improvise 😂. I made these boxes from an origami lesson I learned as a child. Have kids slowly add bean and rice mixture to each side until it balances. Have them identify which side is heavy, and which side is light!

Day vs Night

  • Free image template
  • Free sun template
  • Free checklist
  • Large Ziploc
  • Black sharpie
  • Black paper

Print out and assemble your I spy bag (see assembly directions in PDF file). Have kids use the sun to find each image. Check the box as you find them.

opposites-science

Sweet vs Sour

  • Jelly beans
  • Hot water
  • Tea set

Make your jelly bean tea by adding all of the sweet flavors to one pot, and all of your sour flavors to another. Cover in hot water for a few minutes until flavors steep. Serve your tea and have kids identify which is sweet and which is sour.

Sensory Bin

Wet vs Dry

  • Water
  • Soap
  • Wire rack
  • Clothespins
  • Fabric pieces
  • Baskets

Add a small amount of water with a couple drops of soap to a sensory bin. Add your racks and baskets. Scatter some fabric pieces in the water and hang some on the racks to give a display of the activity. Have kids hang fabric with the clothespins on the racks.

Light vs Heavy

  • Cotton balls
  • Rocks
  • Bags
  • Baskets
  • Feathers
  • Rocks
  • Weights confetti

Add your materials to a sensory bin and play! Can you feel the difference in weight?

Sweet vs Sour

  • Pink rice
  • Yellow pasta wheels
  • Plastic strawberries
  • Plastic lemons/limes
  • Vines/leaves
  • Logs
  • Baskets
  • Shovels

Add your materials to the sensory bin and mix your sweets and sours!

Dramatic Play

Wet vs Dry

  • Laundromat printouts
  • Fabric
  • Baskets

Tape the top end of your washers and dryers to a wall. Place a piece of rolled tape behind it, and stick a piece of cloth on top. When the kids lift the washer or dryer, their “clothes” will be underneath. Set up the rest of your laundromat as desired and wash and dry clothes! I used canva for all of these print outs

Light vs Heavy

  • Printouts
  • Weight lifting props
  • Gym dress up/accessories

Print out, or create weights by attaching a styrofoam disc to each end of a paper roll. Write the weight value on the side. Set up a section for light weights, and one for heavy weights. Add props like water bottles, membership cards, sign in sheet etc.

Sweet Vs Sour

  • Sweet fruit
  • Sour fruit
  • Fruit stand
  • Fruit sign
  • Sitting area
  • Etc.

Set up your fruit stand and have kids buy, sell, and “taste” sweet vs sour fruit!

Need More Ideas?

Rainbow Sensory Bottle Set
Potion Powder Pack
Mini Potion Kit

The 5 senses curriculum plan for play based education

Hungry Handyman With H-ABC Discovery Series
A Mom, A Daughter, & A Heart
Conversations With A Squirrel
Brilliant Baker With B-ABC Discovery Series

Sensory Bin

Sense of Smell

This was such a beautiful sensory bin, and so easy to set up!

  • Potpourri- the dollar store sells tons of scents! I snagged one from there and one from amazon
  • Wicker balls-Amazon
  • Clear vase/container- Amazon
  • Shovels

Add all materials to the sensory bin and play!

Sense of Sight

Prepare your water beads ahead of time. I add the beads and the water to the sensory bin according to package directions about 24 hours before I use them.

Sense of Taste

Spaghetti and meatballs! Using cooked noodles would be great for the toddlers to actually taste, I am using dry noodles here for convenience, and had the kids imagine the taste.

  • Red colored pasta
  • Yellow yarn
  • Large brown pompom/Brown tissue paper balled up
  • Tongs
  • Toy Dishes
  • Red tissue paper

Sense of Touch

  • Sand
  • Buttons
  • Rice
  • Dry noodle
  • Stones
  • Variety of containers

This one was so fun to set up! I had added a bunch of different textures to the sensory bin and had them scoop, grab, and play with their hands!

Sense of Hearing

This was my favorite from this week. Rainstick sounds! Our science/STEM area is beautifully decorated with a wall of artificial plants so it went with the theme so well!

  • Mixed rice and beans filler
  • Logs
  • Shovels

Prop your sensory bin lid upright and ensure that it is sturdy and stable. Tape logs in different directions and heights to the lid. Decorate to your liking. Have the kids use their hands or shovels to pour the filler down the logs, and listen to the sound of the “rain”.

Science Area

Sense of Smell

Apply the same scent to 2 cotton balls. Give one to a child, and hide the other near by. Have the kids sniff the cotton balls to find their match! I also scatter in unscented cotton balls as well.

  • Cotton balls
  • Variety of scent
  • Decor (optional)

Sense of Sight

  • Shaving cream
  • Jar of water
  • Food coloring

Fill a jar with water almost to the top. Apply a layer of shaving cream. The thicker the layer the longer it will take for the “fireworks” to break through. If you have impatient kiddos, I suggest starting with a thin layer. Add drops of food coloring on top of the shaving cream and watch the colors burst through and expand in the water.

Sense of Taste

The kids LOVE when I do a “potion” science. Add water to a jar with food coloring and have them mix their potions to drink. Before they drink their potion I ask, “What is your potion meant for?” You can add flavored water/mixers or bubbly water to give more variety.

Sense of Touch

  • Corn starch
  • Water
  • Dish

Oobleck! Easy peasy and lots of fun! Add corn starch and water together until you get a mixture that feels somewhat hard to touch, but when picked up, melts back down. You can add small toys to this mixture and have the kids “rescue” them.

Sense of Sound

This was a lot of fun! I used my iPhone and apple watch for this activity, however you can use a bell or anything that makes noise. Have the kids close their eyes while you hide your phone around the room, and then use your watch to ping it. Have the kids follow the sound to find it. If you do not have this combination, you can ring a bell or make noise while they have their eyes closed and have them point to the direction that the sound is coming from.

Dramatic Play

Sense of Smell

  • Printed BBW flyers
  • Plastic flyer display
  • Bags
  • Cash register
  • Printed perfume bottles
  • Dress up

Display your shop and have kids play! For the perfume I laminated perfume bottle print outs, and the hot glued a scented pompom to the back for the kids to smell.

Sense of Sight

  • Printable Eye exam chart
  • Fake glasses
  • Sign in sheet
  • Dress up

Have kids perform and receive eye exams 🙂

Sense of Taste

I LOVE this dramatic play! It is a MUST for your class! I use this set up for letter “Pp” week, nutrition week, 5 senses week, pretty much any chance I can! You can browse these printables here

  • Pizza parlor dramatic play printouts
  • Pizza boxes
  • Baskets
  • Dress up

Cut and laminate all of your pieces. Build your brick pizza oven and set up a work station. Have kids complete the pizza orders and deliver them to customers!

Sense of Touch

This was the CUTEST dramatic play to watch! The kids LOVED it, and they now play “spa” outside all day!

  • Dress up-leis/robes/etc.
  • Drink station
  • Sign in sheet
  • Laminated cucumber slices
  • Hand towels
  • Printed Nail polish bottles

Set up your spa, and have kids relax with the calming music while they get pampered! I had a station set up for nails as well that isn’t pictured here. They are printed nail polish bottles that I laminated. The kids can take the brush out of them and use them on their nails! (for pretend of course) If you would be interested in seeing this set up, let me know in the comment section!

Sense of Hearing

And the winner is… Jojo Siwa concert!! This was a HIT! Every kid wanted to come to this station. I printed out Jojo posters and tickets and brought out my printable cameras, as well as the video camera prop. Created a back drop for the stage, set up a snack bar, and let the kids perform and watch the concert

Numbers and Letters

Sense of Smell

Super cute way to incorporate letters into the 5 senses! Look at the image on each card to see what the flower “smells” like. Find the foam letter that the image begins with and place it on the card!

smelling-flowers

Sense of Sight

Of course I had to do sight words for this day! I had kids draw a line to the missing letter and then fill in the blank.

Sense of Taste

I made this activity using Canva. I had the kids cut and glue the matching letters.

Sense of touch

This was such a fun activity! Typically I use dot markers to fill in these bubbles with the correct color. For sense of touch, I had the kids use there finger prints with these ink pads to fill in each bubble. It was a hit!

Sense of Hearing

Display your cards and music note Confetti, and have kids count to the correct number using the grid. There is a different instrument on each card 🙂

Need More Ideas?

Potion Pack Set
Mini Potion Kit
Birthday Potion Kit

Loved ones, family unit lessons for preschool and kindergarten age

Affirmations Of Gratitude
A Mom, A Daughter, And A Heart
I Can Love You From Far Away
Do You Want To Build A Human?

Sensory Bin

This week was both challenging, and so much fun to create! The kids loved all of these activities and enjoyed learning about all of the different types of families. Do you teach this theme in your class? What activities do your kiddos love? Leave your response below.

Family tree

  • Dirt like filler- coffee beans, ground coffee, colored rice etc
  • Logs
  • Leaves
  • Dolls

Add all of your materials to a sensory bin and have your kiddos create a family tree.

Neighborhood

  • Grass
  • Black colored rice (street)
  • Dolls
  • Magnet tiles (houses)
  • Plants
  • Cars
  • Garbage cans
  • Etc.

Create a neighbor hood and have your kiddos explore!

Mixed families

Mixed families are a beautiful thing ❤

  • Skin tone colored filler-mixed rice, kidney beans, black beans, pinto beans etc.
  • Mixed families from amazon

Such a simple set up, but so much fun!

Loved ones theme

  • Pink and purple colored rice
  • Heart confetti
  • Family images
  • Flowers
  • Buckets
  • Shovels

Add materials to a sensory bin and have kids fill each others buckets with kindness.

Dramatic Play

Family Dinner

  • Sandwich kit from Amazon
  • Printable menus
  • Dress up

Display your sandwich sop and have kids take, receive and deliver orders.

Family Vacation

  • Hawaii back drop
  • Coconut cups
  • Leis
  • Hula grass skirts
  • Babies
  • Hats
  • Visors
  • Telephone
  • Printable cameras

All Hawaii decor was from the Dollar tree!! It goes fast, so as soon as you see it grab it!

Family Photos

  • Printable polaroids- I used the set from my family photo memory game
  • Family portraits- I used Canva to find these
  • Plastic flyer stands
  • Telephone
  • Star photo backdrop- I used a plastic table cloth
  • Printable Make up- If you are interested in this leave a comment below 🙂
  • Dress up

Set up your photo center and have kids take family photos.

Family Picnic

  • Felt sandwich set
  • Toy fruit
  • Paper bags
  • Visors
  • Picnic blanket
  • Binoculars
  • Ice chest
  • Printable soda cans

Set up your picnic blanket and enjoy lunch with your family!

Science Area

Reading a Family tree

For this activity I created 12 different types of family trees, and displayed them for the kids. Each kid picked a tree that they wanted to learn about. We started with the person in the center.

  • Does this person have siblings?
  • How many?
  • Do they look the same?
  • Who takes care of this person?
  • Who takes care of those people?
  • etc.

Some cases where the caretakers are male and female, I explained that it doesn’t always mean Mom and Dad. It can be Aunt and Uncle, Big Sister and Big Brother etc.

To save some time, check out the ones I have already created Family Trees

Build a family

For this activity I printed and laminated 6 different looking houses. I then created family names, printed and laminated as well. I displayed a variety of dolls and had the kids pick a home. They then rolled the di and counted the number. The number they got was the amount of family members in their house. They randomly picked the family names and chose a doll for that member.

This Build a family activity is available in my TpT store.

Family Puzzles

This was a super easy set up. We have these family puzzles displayed in our class through out the year. The kids took turns completing each puzzle.

Family Photo memory match

This was a fun one! My kiddos LOVE when I have a memory/match game at the science center. Like my other activities, I created these through Canva. But they are available here for purchase.

I always start with the images facing up so the kids can get a good look, and try to memorize as many matches as possible. I then flip the images face down, and have them flip 2 at a time to make a match. When we have finished with all of the matches, we love to play musical cards! Choose one image that looks significantly different and make that the “out” card. If you have 5 players, you should have 5 cards-including the “out card”. Flip them face down, hands in the air, and play a song. When the music stops everyone places a hand on any card they want. One by one flip them, who ever has the “out card” is out! Repeat this process, removing a card each time, until there is a winner.

Build a home

Any craft materials would work here. I used lollipop sticks, tinsel toothpicks, and play dough. The kids used a styrofoam disc as the base, and built a home!

Need More Ideas?

Potion Pack Set
Mini Potion Kit
Birthday Potion Kit

Preschool and Kindergarten activities about emotions

Endless Emotions With E-ABC Discovery Series
Jealous Janitor-ABC Discovery Series
A Mom, A Daughter, & A Heart
I Can Love You From Far Away

STEAM-Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math

For this science activity I used the good ole baking soda and vinegar trick! I drew a mad face on all of the containers, and then filled with some baking soda. Add a few drops of red food coloring and cover it just enough to hide the drops. Place the jars inside of a dish/tray and fill it will vinegar. Have the kids use the pipettes to drop the vinegar into the jar as they say the things that make them angry. Your jar will begin to bubble and eventually turn red!

If you’re not a fan of the smell of vinegar, try my potion powder and secret solution set Etsy shop!

Another great science lesson is to create stress balls with these 3 ingredients. Balloons, glue, and liquid starch. Using a funnel, add some liquid starch to a balloon until it takes form. Next add some glue, it should immediately form slime inside of the balloon. Tie it up and squeeze! It took quite a few trial and error runs to figure out a good ration for the balloons. Start slow and add more as needed!

For art, we used these printables I created through powerpoint, and glued them to a corresponding color of emotion. Cut, glue, and color!

This emotions puppet show theater dramatic play set up was just adorable! I had some Queen robes from a previous activity that I tied up to create the curtains. Add props like: seating, popcorn, drinks, tickets etc. Have the kids put on a puppet show using the emotion puppets!

This sensory bin covers all of the emotions! I used my most colorful and bright filler and added some emoji erasers, and emotion eggs as well as scooping tools.

Need More Ideas?

Potion Pack
Mini Potion Set
Dinosaur Potion Set

A week of Nutrition lessons for preschool

What Will You Eat For Thanksgiving?
Hungry Handyman-ABC Discovery Series
Baking With B-ABC Discovery Series
Affirmations Of Gratitude

Sensory Bin

Fruits & Veggies

I started the week with a fruit tree and vegetable garden sensory bin!

  • Green rice
  • Coffee beans
  • Fruit
  • Vegetables
  • Leaves
  • Logs

Add all of your materials to the sensory bin and harvest your fruits and veggies!

Dairy

This was a fun one!!

  • Milk
  • Chocolate milk mix
  • Vials
  • Cows
  • Bones
  • Metal ramekins
  • Ladles

Add chocolate mix to vials so kids can open and pour it in when they are ready. Add all other materials to the sensory bin and scoop, pour, and play!

Whole grains

  • Flour
  • Toy breads
  • Toy pots/pans/utensils

Add everything to the sensory bin and play!

Protein

  • Red colored pasta
  • Fire printouts
  • Wire racks
  • Toy protein
  • Baskets

Add your “fire” filler and place the racks on top to replicate a grill. Add all other materials and play!

Sweets, Treats, & Sometimes foods

  • Pink & yellow sparkle beads
  • Toy cupcakes
  • Ice cream bowls/spoons
  • Ice cream scoops
  • Large Pom Poms (colors of ice cream)

Add materials to the sensory bin and play!

Science Area

Rainbow toast

Don’t forget to eat the rainbow!

  • White bread toasted
  • Milk
  • Food coloring
  • Pipettes
  • Jars

Toast your bread and add food coloring to jars of milk to create the rainbow. Have kids use pipettes to transfer the colors onto their toast and then eat it! Yum!!

Digestion

Super fun, and a very silly ending.

  • Large ziploc (I drew the stomach, small & large intestines on them, and add a little green food colored water to symbolize the acid in our stomach)
  • Bread
  • Ramekin with water and orange food coloring (Orange juice)
  • Pipette with blue food coloring (Saliva)
  • Scissors (teeth)
  • Tray/dish (mouth)
  1. Digestion starts with saliva as soon as we see our food, squirt your saliva in your mouth.
  2. Time to eat your bread, add your bread to your mouth and use your “teeth” to chew really well.
  3. Our mouth is feeling a bit dry, let’s have a drink of “Orange juice” dump your orange juice in your mouth.
  4. Continue chewing.
  5. Time to swallow your food! Dump the tray/dish into your bag and seal TIGHT! (NO AIR)
  6. The food is in your stomach and the acid is going to help break it down more. The food tumbles around the stomach to continue being broken down. Use your hands to break down the food even more. (Squish the bag)
  7. Now it travels through the small intestines.
  8. Finally it passes through the large intestines, and anything left behind turns into potty!
  9. Cut a small piece of the bottom corner and have them squeeze out the potty! (WARNING, this gets really silly!!)

For a guided and kid friendly visual version, with multiple choice at the end, check out this really cool boom deck! Digestion process

Find the food!

This is a super easy last minute game I put together!

  • Colored straws
  • White board/paper

I wrote different food groups on a board, and color coded them to straws. Each kid closes their eyes and pulls a straw. Which ever food group they pull is what they have to search for in the toy kitchen. You can also have it timed for more of a challenge.

Sugar on the teeth

  • White shelled eggs
  • Variety of sodas/juices
  • Jars

This lesson needs to be prepped ahead of time. On Monday, I add an egg to each jar with a different soda in each one. I then placed them out of the way and let them sit until Friday. The soda eats at the enamel, when you rub the egg you will sit it coming off of the shell. Also your “teeth” turn brown 😛

Dramatic Play

Farmers Market

  • Toy fruits/veggies/bread
  • Printable Menu
  • Cash register
  • Wire racks
  • Toy booth

Assemble your farmers market and have kids purchase and sell fresh produce and goods!

Hydration station

  • Toy lemons
  • Drink dispenser w/Yellow paper inside
  • Cash register
  • Cups
  • Visors/aprons
  • Printable menu

Have kiddos “make”, serve, and sell lemonade to stay hydrated!

Juice and Smoothie shop

  • Toy fridge
  • Toy booth
  • Printable menu
  • Cash register
  • Dress up
  • Drink dispenser (“blender”)
  • Toy fruits/veggies
  • Sensory bottles (“juice/smoothie”)

Assemble your shop and open up for the customers!

Donut Shop

  • Toy donuts
  • Toy coffee maker
  • Cups
  • Booth
  • Cash register
  • Dress up

Assemble your shop and enjoy your treats!

Need More Ideas?

Construction Potion Kit
Dinosaur Potion Kit
Birthday Potion Kit

15 community helpers activities you need to try in your classroom!

Hungry Handyman With H-ABC Discovery Series
Jealous Janitor With J-ABC Discovery Series
Dangerous Don’ts With D-ABC Discovery Series
Baking With B-ABC Discovery Series

Sensory Bin

I try to keep all of my activities the same theme each day. This week we started of with doctors.

Doctors

  • Gauze
  • Dolls
  • Band-aids -I used the lowercase set from my X-ray and bandage alphabet, you can find it here
  • Tweezers
  • Magnifying glass
  • Fake bones

Add all of your materials to your sensory bin, and have your kiddos bandage and treat the dolls.

Police

  • Black colored rice (streets)
  • Red colored pasta wheels (sirens)-adding some blue and white ones would look great!
  • Cars
  • People
  • Police dolls
  • Red magnifying glass

You can also add in plastic police badges, stars, ticket printables etc. The kids scooped the rice and filled the cars.

Construction Workers

This was my absolute favorite!! Hence all of the photos ❤ First I colored the pasta by adding a box to a large ziploc with some paint and mixing thoroughly. I then spread them out on a foil lined tray in the sun to dry.

I used 4 different styles: Rigatoni, Rotelle, Rotini, & Orecchiette.

  • Colored pasta
  • Construction signs
  • Construction vehicles
  • Shovels

Have kids scoop, pour, and mix the pasta with the trucks and their hands.

Postal workers

  • Red, white, and blue tinsel
  • Envelopes
  • Printable stamps, letters & mail boxes
  • Jars (I taped the mail boxes to the jars so they can stuff them)
  • Postal worker dolls
  • Postal vehicles

Have kids stuff envelopes and mailboxes with the materials.

Firefighter

  • Red colored pasta
  • Blue and yellow tissue paper
  • Firefighter dolls
  • Printable fire extinguisher
  • Printable fire alarm
  • Printable exit sign
  • Ambulance
  • Fire engine

Dramatic Play

Doctors

  • Medical Toys
  • Babies
  • White coat
  • Printable patient forms

Have kids care for, and treat the babies with the medical toys. Don’t forget to fill out the patient forms!

Police/Investigator

  • Printable wanted posters
  • Printable walkie takie
  • Magnifying glasses
  • Dress-up

Have kids look for clues to find the people on the wanted posters.

Construction workers

  • Dress-up
  • Safety cones ( I found these at the dollar tree)
  • Toy tools
  • Tool bench
  • Wood blocks
  • Printable blue prints

Have kids build and fix things! 🙂

Postal workers

  • Printable mail boxes
  • Printable stamps
  • Dress-up
  • Envelopes
  • Paper/pencils
  • Packaging materials

Have kids write, send, and deliver mail!

Firefighter

  • Dress-up
  • Medical toys
  • Printable fire
  • Printable fire alarm
  • Printable fire extinguisher

Have kids “put out” the fire and then care for the victims (EMT).

Science Area

Doctors

  • Paper towel holders
  • Pool noodle (cut into six even pieces to support the glove)
  • Cleaning gloves
  • Pipe cleaners

Slide the pool noodle onto the paper towel holder, and then put the glove over the pool noodle for support. Have kiddos apply “stitches” to their “patient” by twisting the pipe cleaners on the hand and fingers. *Add foil to the inside of each finger of the glove for more support**

Police/detective/investigator

  • Printable wanted fingerprint page
  • Ink pad
  • Magnifying glass

A student of mine had caught this enormous and beautiful butterfly and wanted to bring it to school. So I decided to add it into our theme and have them be detectives to find out who captured the butterfly. (This butterfly was already dead when she found it and no butterflies were harmed in the process ❤ ) Have the kids use the ink pad to take their fingerprints and apply them to the correct fingers on the page. Once they have finished, have them draw a self portrait in the box provided.

Construction workers

  • Construction patterns ( I used Canva to create these)
  • Brown, orange, yellow & black blocks

Have kids build and complete the patterns with the blocks. Using a variety of sizes and textures is great for an added sensory element. Smaller connecting blocks are perfect for advanced fine motor.

Postal workers

  • Shapes activity w/worksheets
  • Blue crayons

Have kids read, identify, and match the shapes. Fill in/color the worksheet as you go.

Firefighter

  • Crayons
  • I spy printable

Have the kiddos use the color coding box to find and circle the items with the correct color.

Need More Ideas?

9 Kindness week preschool curriculum activities

Jealous Janitor With J-ABC Discovery Series
Kindhearted Kid With K-ABC Discovery Series
A Mom, A Daughter & A Heart
I Can Love You From Far Away

Sensory Bin

I started the week with this cute and easy “gentle hands” sensory bin.

  • Freeze a glove full of water and glitter or toys
  • Carefully remove the glove once frozen
  • Add them to a sensory bin with water, glitter, sequins etc.
  • Finally add some tools, pipettes, spoons, squirt bottles, etc.

Have kids free the glitter inside by using their gentle hands to melt the ice.

Have you filled a bucket today?

  • Sand
  • Heart confetti
  • Smiley face confetti
  • Buckets from the dollar tree (wedding section)
  • Shovels

Have kids scoop and fill buckets!

Kind words and thoughts

  • Sand from the bucket filling sensory
  • Rainbow letters
  • Dolls
  • Thought bubbles

Have kids discuss kind words and thoughts as they play.

Dramatic Play

Let’s have a fundraiser! Car wash is a great way to raise money for a cause ❤

  • Dollar tree car sponges
  • Buckets
  • Chairs
  • Water
  • Soap

Set up your car wash and have your kiddos “get to work”. You can also add things like: signs, fake money, car fresheners etc.

Donation center. This was my favorite this week!

  • Booth/stand/table
  • Bags
  • Things to donate, I chose items, money, food, and time. (Write different services on paper for time)

Have kids donate and collect items to distribute, to those in need.

Volunteer work. This was so cute watching the kiddos take care of these babies. #obsessed

  • Babies
  • Baby accessories
  • Cribs (I used empty cubbies and add sheets to them. They were perfect!)
  • Medical toys
  • Any other dress up etc.

Display your volunteer work, and then have kids donate their time by helping to watch and care for these babies.

Science Area

The importance of playing with gentle hands.

  • Boiled eggs

Have kids play as they normally would, only holding the egg. Remind them that the egg is their body/their friend/their teacher. It is fragile and needs to be handled with care. When the egg cracks, have them check on the egg and apologize. Did it fix the egg? Can you put the egg back together once it has cracked? This is the importance of playing gentle with yourself and with others.

Kindness stands for…

  • Printable coloring pages
  • Crayons/Markers

I gave each kid a letter in the word kindness, and went over what that letter represents. We then gave examples as we colored the letter in. On the back they drew an example of what that letter stood for.

Spreading Kindness ❤

  • Glue
  • Food coloring (best with water based)
  • Q-tips
  • Dish soap
  • Tray

Pour enough glue in a tray/dish to cover the bottom. Ask kids what they kind do to show kindness, and then add a drop of food coloring to the tray. Dip a Q-tip in some dish soap, and then touch the drop of color. The color will begin to grow/spread. This is how we spread kindness, one small act or gesture can go a long way.

Need more ideas?

Rainbow Glitter Sensory Bottle
Halloween Sensory Bottle
Mermaid Potion Kit