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A Year’s Worth of the Best Toddler and Preschool Themes

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Last Updated on August 14, 2024 by Sheryl Cooper

Inside: Looking for the best toddler and preschool themes you can do in your classroom or at home? This collection is filled with playful learning activities for year-round fun. Free printable list included!

Are you like I was, searching for themes that will work with toddlers and preschoolers? Do you have stacks of notes with ideas but not sure where to go next?

Take a deep breath. I am hoping to help you with this collection of preschool themes.

In this post I am sharing a year’s worth of themes that teachers can use in the classroom or at home.

I’ve organized these preschool themes by month, but the more general themes can be used any time of the year. These are just suggestions.

So get out your planners and pencil in some of these ideas!

 

Bonus! I’ve created a printable list of themes as a handy resource. Scroll down towards the bottom of this post to find it!

best toddler and preschool themes

 

 

I am often asked how long each of my themes are. We used to do a theme a week but realized that usually didn’t allow enough time for thorough exploration.

Today, most of our themes are at least 2 weeks, sometimes longer.

As I get to know my students, I learn more about their interests. In addition to the planned themes, I will also add activities that connect to these interests.

The themes that are shown below are simply suggestions. Pick and choose which ones you feel would be a good fit for your classroom environment.

A Year’s Worth of the Best Preschool Themes

Under some of the theme titles I have included lesson plans you can purchase. Some I have helped create, and others were written by my early childhood educator friends.

Also included under some of the titles are links to more resources, such as classroom photos and video tours. Simply click on them to get a better idea of how we used these themes in our classroom.

Some of these themes I have not (yet) included in our classroom curriculum, but they were shared in our Teaching Toddlers and Preschoolers Facebook Group.

Please note that it’s important to keep the age and learning levels of your children in mind when selecting themes. Some of these themes are more appropriate for older preschoolers. For this reason, I’ve provided a variety of ideas for each season. 

SEPTEMBER

Related: Classroom Ideas for Back to School

All About Me

In the 2022-2023 school year, we moved transportation to September. You can see what we did here.

Shapes and Colors

Family and Friends

Fairy Tales

OCTOBER

Fall

Apples

Pumpkins

Spiders

Bats

Forest 

Farm

Halloween

NOVEMBER

Leaves and Pinecones  

Five Senses

Thanksgiving

Nutrition

DECEMBER

Related: Hands-On Ideas for Your December Themes

Jingle Bells

Gingerbread

Christmas

JANUARY

Related: Big Collection of January Themes Ideas

Winter

Snow and Ice

Hibernation

Arctic Animals

Penguins

Opposites

Day and Night

Martin Luther King, Jr.

FEBRUARY

Related: Ideas for February Themes

Feelings/Emotions

Valentines

 Presidents’ Day

Community Helpers

Around the World

MARCH

Related: Ideas for March Themes

Dr. Seuss

St. Patrick’s Day

Rainbows

Dinosaurs

APRIL

Related: Big Collection of April Theme Ideas

Spring

Spring and Easter

Note: If Easter is in March, we move this unit to that month.

Spring Animals

Bugs and Butterflies

Gardening

Worms

Frogs

Birds

Weather

Recycling/Earth Day

Pets

MAY

Related: Big Collection of May Theme Ideas

Transportation

In the 2022-2023 school year, we moved this theme to September. You can see what we did here.

Construction

Space

Deserts

Zoo

Bees

SUMMER

Summer

Beach

Water

Sharks

Sun

Sand

4th of July

Bubbles

Camping

Pools

Watermelon

 Ice Cream

 

👉 Download this free list of themes as a handy resource:

free toddler and preschool themes printable list

 

You can find more teacher posts in this collection.

 

 

best toddler and preschool themes

 

 

 


 

Toddler and Preschool Activity Plans

Looking for an entire year’s worth of learning activities? We’ve done the work for you!

I have helped create each of these packets, along with a team of talented educators and homeschoolers.

Easy to follow activity plans include activity modifications and adaptations to meet the needs of all learners.

Every theme comes with recommended reading lists, songs, material lists, and more.

Click on the graphics below for more details.

Toddlers (18 – 36 months):

toddler lesson plans

Preschool (3 – 5 Years):

preschool lesson plans

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About Sheryl Cooper

Sheryl Cooper is the founder of Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds, a website full of activities for toddlers and preschoolers. She has been teaching this age group for over 25 years and loves to share her passion with teachers, parents, grandparents, and anyone with young children in their lives.

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