Summer Time Themes??????????

[Unregistered]

I have been ordering a curriculum kit, but this summer am not going to order. I have kids 2-6 years old. I would like to have weekly themes and create my own and use some of the things I have been accumulating this summer.

I need weekly theme ideas so I can out activities and special days together.

Any suggestions????????

[spud912]

I always get my cues from my enrolled children. What are they into? What topics do you NOT cover during the school year? There are SO many choices! Have fun with it!

Here are some of my kids favorites:

• Bugs (have the kids catch bugs outside, do a "bug" hunt in the yard or in your house using dollar store bugs)
• Gardening (buy some cheap dirt and seeds and let the kids "plant" a garden)
• Dinosaurs (make dinosaur fossils using dinosaurs from Wal-Mart dollar bins and playdoh, freeze dinosaurs for the "Ice Age" and have the kids extract them)
• Farm Life (have the kids make various farm animals with paper plates, make a "barn" using a giant box)
• Zoo Animals (there are a million ideas on Pinterest!)
• Arctic Animals (I know, it's not exactly summer-ish, but I like any excuse for the kids to play with ice in the summer)
• Ocean (do a sensory bin with aquarium-type stuff)
• Beach
• Luau
• Pirates
• Medieval (make a castle out of a huge cardboard box and have the kids paint it)
• Mythical Beasts
• America Theme (for 4th of July week...teach them the Pledge of Alliegiance, teach them about the United States)
• Father Theme (leading up to Father's Day)
• Science Theme (incorporate simple science experiments, play with magnets, light exploration, geology....examine various rocks and paint them)
• Weather (make a paper mache volcano and "explode" it, get the 2-liter connector to demonstrate tornados, fly kites)
• Community Helper segment (vets, doctors, dentists, delivery person, nurse, etc)
• All About Me segment (outline their bodies onto butcher paper and decorate themselves, have them bring in family photos, etc)

[daycare]

I always get my cues from my enrolled children. What are they into? What topics do you NOT cover during the school year? There are SO many choices! Have fun with it!

Here are some of my kids favorites:

• Bugs (have the kids catch bugs outside, do a "bug" hunt in the yard or in your house using dollar store bugs)
• Gardening (buy some cheap dirt and seeds and let the kids "plant" a garden)
• Dinosaurs (make dinosaur fossils using dinosaurs from Wal-Mart dollar bins and playdoh, freeze dinosaurs for the "Ice Age" and have the kids extract them)
• Farm Life (have the kids make various farm animals with paper plates, make a "barn" using a giant box)
• Zoo Animals (there are a million ideas on Pinterest!)
• Arctic Animals (I know, it's not exactly summer-ish, but I like any excuse for the kids to play with ice in the summer)
• Ocean (do a sensory bin with aquarium-type stuff)
• Beach
• Luau
• Pirates
• Medieval (make a castle out of a huge cardboard box and have the kids paint it)
• Mythical Beasts
• America Theme (for 4th of July week...teach them the Pledge of Alliegiance, teach them about the United States)
• Father Theme (leading up to Father's Day)
• Science Theme (incorporate simple science experiments, play with magnets, light exploration, geology....examine various rocks and paint them)
• Weather (make a paper mache volcano and "explode" it, get the 2-liter connector to demonstrate tornados, fly kites)
• Community Helper segment (vets, doctors, dentists, delivery person, nurse, etc)
• All About Me segment (outline their bodies onto butcher paper and decorate themselves, have them bring in family photos, etc)

pirates....hands down our favorite all time theme.... I would do it every week if I could....

[Christina72684]

We stopped using a bought curriculum last year and have just started making themes for this summer and the next school year. Here are some of ours:

Oceans (we're going to a local fish store)
Gardening/Nature (we're planting veggies, flowers, and other plants)
Zoo Animals (going to the Zoo)
Farm Animals (doing it the week of our local 4H fair)
Weather
Transportation
Water
America (4th of July week)4
Eating Healthy & Exercise
Doctor/Dentist
Pets/Vet

I think that's it. Here's an AMAZING website where I got most of my ideas

https://www.preschool-is-fun.blogspot.com

[LK5kids]

We do:
Camping week
Sun week
Bubble week
Ice cream week
Strawberry week
Root Beer week
Sand week
4 th of July
Ocean week
Watermelon week

I also add in things like making garden/stepping stones

We really only do one or two things per day and maybe only three times per week. I keep it laid back.

I also have buckets of water out with the cheapo Wal-mart brushes to " paint" with, my plexiglas-glass easel with shaving creme, water table, rock painting, super bubbles, etc. out all summer in the yard.

Example:We might just make strawberry shortcake, play with strawberry playdoh & do one other thing for strawberry week or some weeks might be a little more involved. It just depends. I always have a fun snack associated with the theme.

[daycare]

july is national ice cream month.... We got nuts on this one.

we even do an ice cream social with all of the parents at a local park.

[spud912]

pirates....hands down our favorite all time theme.... I would do it every week if I could....

Yeah, it's one of my kids favorites also.

I forgot about the camping theme...although we do that in the fall so we can spend the majority of time outside (it's too hot in the summer!). The camping theme was hands down my kids favorite theme of all time! I borrowed a tent from one of my dc families and put an air mattress in it. I kept the tent out there all week and it was just the very best thing ever for the kids. It was actually one of my cheapest themes too!

My kids also REALLY liked the mythical beast theme. This is something NOBODY does for preschoolers so there was very little for me to go off of (it was completely inspired by their interest in these things). I ended up getting some mythical beast books and toys on Amazon for everyone to play with and I taught them about the origins of their favorites (in a much nicer, toned down way though because the real stories are not very child-friendly). This theme was blocked together with two other themes (castles and medieval times with knights/kings/queens/etc) so they loved mixing everything together. This block lasted about a month.

[Unregistered]

I love all of the ideas! I listed them all and had the kids help me choose which they liked. We have all weeks figured out for summer. In order they are
All about Me
Community Helpers
Weather
Transportation
Animals
America
CLOSED - My vaca week
Eating Healthy/ Exercise (will also do sports this week)
Music
Campin
Pirates
Beach/ luau

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE GREAT IDEAS!!

[Meeko]

I do most of the above mentioned themes during the school year. I am much more easy going during the summer months.

We follow the same schedule each week.

Monday - art and craft day (all kinds)
Tuesday - bake day (all kinds of treats to take home and share)
Wednesday - water day (Sprinklers, water games etc.)
Thursday - music and dance day ( all variety of music and dance)
Friday - free play and movie day. (Movie day includes "tickets" which they "buy" with play money....and bagged treats etc....not just plonked in front of the tv...we make it much more fun.) It makes for a relaxing Friday!

[MsMimi]

My summer program is 11 weeks long with a different theme each week.
Week One: Days of the Dinosaur
Week Two: Expedition to Egypt
Week Three: Ancient Rome
Week Four: Medieval Madness
Week Five: Land of the Free
Week Six: Pioneer Days
Week Seven: The Wild West
Week Eight: Fantastic Fifties
Week Nine: Mission to the Moon
Week Ten: The Future & Beyond
Week Eleven: Walt Disney

[Michael]

More: https://www.daycare.com/forum/showthread.php?t=43729

[Laurel]

I have been ordering a curriculum kit, but this summer am not going to order. I have kids 2-6 years old. I would like to have weekly themes and create my own and use some of the things I have been accumulating this summer.

I need weekly theme ideas so I can out activities and special days together.

Any suggestions????????

I don't usually do themes at all but in the summer I have when I've had school agers. We've done a 'vacation around the U.S. theme.'

We have a map of the U.S. up and we 'visit' each state. We do something associated with each state. We started with Kentucky and did cave exploration. I got a video from the library to watch on spelunking and then we made a room dark, moved the sofa, used tables to crawl under, etc., had flashlights and played 'cave'. "Oh no, don't bump your head on the stalagmite." :: This is good for a rainy day.

For Florida we squeezed our own oranges and made orange juice. We made a beach cake too. Oh it was soooo cool. Light brown sugar was the sand, we found blue cotton candy for the water, teddy grahams were lying on fruit stripe gum towels. It turned out so cute.

We didn't get to many states cause we did too many things from each state. I'd suggest one and even then you won't get to them all in one summer but it was loads of fun.

Laurel