"Outside the Box" Weekly Preschool Themes

[jenh171]

Hi there! I'm planning my curriculum for next year and although I'm doing the run of the mill weekly themes (apples, transportation), I'm trying to come up with some more enriching themes as well. I'm thinking Motown and Matisse.... Any suggestions for creative weekly themes? Thank you!

[missnikki]

I had a great time doing the 5 senses. Each Friday they would bring in something that made them think of that sense (Pre-K kids). The 'taste' week was great- we did a 'friendship fruit salad' where each one brought a cut- up fruit and we mixed it together and served it as a special snack.

[kidkair]

I do my own curriculum too. I have been doing themes based on the different biomes of the world. Next I want to do the continents. I get a kick out of little kids saying facts that some school agers don't know The parents love it too.

[missnikki]

To add to my last post:
Younger kids might be good with one week for all 5 senses.

[Crystal]

Favorite Authors
Furry Friends
On the Farm
Community Helpers

Learn about artists and different types of art
Learn about musicians and different types of music and instuments
Learn about how things are built, types of buildings, construction work

Provide children with real tools from all of the subject matter you present, Art: hang postcards of artwork from different artists and provide the tools and materials to represent it in their own way.
Musicians: download and print pics of various musicians, purchase or record music from those genres, and try to provide real instrumnets for children to explore.
Buildings: hang photos of different types of buildings. Provide real tools and wood, clay, cement, etc. for children to build own structures after having explored the topic for awhile.


I don't do weekly themes, our activites sometimes extend into weeks and months of exploring a topic that the children are interested in. We build upon their knowledge by providing them opportunities for hands on, real life, play based experiences and allow them to continue to explore it for as long as they are interested. We include fied trips, etc. to add to what they can learn.

[DCMomOf3]

The book The Complete Daily Curriculum has the basic themes and some I hadn't thought of.

If you want more sophisticated themes, how about theater. extend your dramatic play time into putting on a play, discussing props, acting, music, etc.

Peit Mondrain would be a good artist to study (thisa link is for 2nd - 5gr http://www.teachervision.fen.com/geo...-plan/352.html)

[Crystal]

I don't really do weekly themes, but focus more on what the children are interested in. Some topics we have explored in depth, with some of our small group studies continuing for weeks and even months:

Favorite Authors: display several books from one or two authors each week. Print out photos of the author and type up a small bio.

Art and Artists: collect several postcards of work from well-known artists and display. Provide the real tools and materials for the different types of art and allow children to explore and create. Be available to ask questions to extend thei thinking in figurng out how different types of art is created and how the tools work.

Buildings/Construction: field trip if possible. Ask children what they already know. Hang blueprints (you can call a constrcution company for these) and provide additional blueprints in the block or building area. Provide REAL tools and materials for the children to build and create small structures with. (hammers, nails, screws and screwdrivers, drills, saws, etc. UNDER CLOSE SUPERVISION and assistance of course) clay, cement, sticks, wood, etc.

Other topics:
Music and musicians
On the farm
Fall Foods
Community helpers
Furry Friends
Zoo Animals
Forest Animals
Weather
Sea life
Cooking

I always try to provide real life, hands on experiences with the tools and materials that are used in real life for the subject matter. We build on the children's knowledge by offering them those experiences and being available to them to ask and answer questions as they explore each topic. You'd be amazed at what they may already know, what they are capable of learning and doing when given the opportunity, and how valuable learning through these types of experiences can truly be!

[Crystal]

oops....double posted....for some reason my first post deleted, then my second post moderated, now they are both there!

[kendallina]

I don't really do 'themes' per se, but do go off the children's interests, although it ends up being 'theme-y' sometimes which helps me to focus. I think it's great to explore something in-depth.

Like, if you wanted to explore Matisse, you could spend one whole day introducing it to the children, show them pictures, maybe they could help you put them up on the wall. Learn about Matisse himself before and I'm sure there are lots of ideas you could think of. Talk about the colors they see, how they're blended together, then they could paint their own interpretations of his pictures. They could even use clay to create sculptures that are interpretations of his work. Maybe talk about the time period that he was alive in and listen to some music that is appropriate for that time period. Then...you could take it further and talk about what life was like back then and how it differs from now (like, what kinds of toys did children have then, how did people get travel...). Obviously it's getting off topic, but that's one of the wonderful things about exploring a topic in-depth is that it can lead you many places.

After a few days of doing a topic like this, I like to sit down with the kids (preschool age and up) and brainstorm about what we know about the topic and just let the children talk. While we're talking, I'm drawing out a web of whatever they're saying. Just follow their lead, they'll be able to get lots of ideas going.

Now that I think about it...I think your post was asking for ideas on creative themes, not ideas for activities related to this theme...oops. I got carried away!

Katy

[Michael]

Some other threads on Themes: https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.php?tag=themes

[Unregistered]

themes

I just got moved from the two year old room to the three year old room and am excited... They pre plan a hand full of the themes every room in the daycare should do on said week (IE: Valentines, Christmas, Halloween, Dr. Seuss, Martin Luther King Jr ect) we have to come up with 34 more themes... After googling and a few of my own ideas I have 26 of my 34 with two more weeks left to finish getting my themes ready... A few of my ideas (based on my kiddos interest which I know since I am there 2 year old teacher now ) are: Eric Carle week (my kids love all the "bear bear" books... Brown bear brown bear, polar bear polar bear ect.) Laura Numeroff week (If you give a mouse a cookie, If you give a cat a cupcake ect) Chicka chicka boom boom and abc week, dinosaur week (cant wait to make the fossils), ocean and beach week, game week (will be making our own board games from paint chip samples, making a tic tac toe board using water bottle lids, learning what games are played in other countries, and playing some good old fashioned candy land and chutes and ladders, camping week ( so excited to make a tent with my kiddos and do our story time in it with flash lights, and making trail mix, hand print fire craft...) Picnic week (so many cute crafts for this one... have done quite a bit with my twos and we loved it) Wild Wild West Cowboys and Indians, Monster week, Insects bugs and butterflies, artic animals, under water animals, jungle animals ect... So much... Im doing a few basic ones such as transportation, road signs, all about me, fruit and veggie week, summer, spring, fall, and winter ect ect... Gonna be a fun year... So excited!!

[Sprouts]

I don't really do weekly themes, but focus more on what the children are interested in. Some topics we have explored in depth, with some of our small group studies continuing for weeks and even months:

Favorite Authors: display several books from one or two authors each week. Print out photos of the author and type up a small bio.

Art and Artists: collect several postcards of work from well-known artists and display. Provide the real tools and materials for the different types of art and allow children to explore and create. Be available to ask questions to extend thei thinking in figurng out how different types of art is created and how the tools work.

Buildings/Construction: field trip if possible. Ask children what they already know. Hang blueprints (you can call a constrcution company for these) and provide additional blueprints in the block or building area. Provide REAL tools and materials for the children to build and create small structures with. (hammers, nails, screws and screwdrivers, drills, saws, etc. UNDER CLOSE SUPERVISION and assistance of course) clay, cement, sticks, wood, etc.

Other topics:
Music and musicians
On the farm
Fall Foods
Community helpers
Furry Friends
Zoo Animals
Forest Animals
Weather
Sea life
Cooking

I always try to provide real life, hands on experiences with the tools and materials that are used in real life for the subject matter. We build on the children's knowledge by offering them those experiences and being available to them to ask and answer questions as they explore each topic. You'd be amazed at what they may already know, what they are capable of learning and doing when given the opportunity, and how valuable learning through these types of experiences can truly be!

Cool can I register for ur preschool ?

[Lianne]

oops....double posted....for some reason my first post deleted, then my second post moderated, now they are both there!

You're such a troublemaker that they have to moderate your posts ::

[Bookworm]

Last month, we did an "Around the World" theme. We picked different countries from four continents and did different activities pertaining to that country. We had cooking activities or a special snack every day. We even invited other daycare parents who were from other countries to come talk with us and bring anything that they might have from their home country so we could see it. It was wonderful and the we learned a lot about other cultures. I also ordered travelogues from National Geographic Travel and Abercrombie and Kent travel for pictures and I bought a world map to put on the wall so the kids could mark each country we visited. We painted the flag of each country and for laughs, we also put up the price of a trip to that country if booked through NG Travel and A&K Travel, usually between $4,000-$10,000. The kids really enjoyed it.

[spud912]

I am a science nerd, so all this month, we are doing science themes. First, we are working on chemistry (aka science experiments). Next, we are doing a week of magnet work (introducing some new toys that will be available for future play). Lastly, we are doing a "light" theme where we are pulling all sorts of ideas to explore light and some electricity .

Next month we are doing dinosaurs, natural disasters, and possibly a rock (aka geology) theme. I love doing different themes! It keeps ME interested in daycare!!