How to Create a Simple Preschool Family Theme Book

Inside: Simple Toddler and Preschool Family Theme Book 

When I was planning our family theme for our toddlers and young preschoolers, I was frustrated.

As I searched for activities, nothing seemed developmentally appropriate for this age group. Actually, I encounter this with many of the activities I see on Pinterest. They might say they are for younger children, but they really are not.

I knew I needed to simplify things, so I came up with my own idea. Oh, and a printable, too! (You can find that towards the end of this post.)

We never really know how an activity works until we try it. And I can tell you that this simple family book worked!

We have a family tree in our classroom. During back-to-school, I ask our families to send me a digital family photo. I then make a copy of these photos and place them in twig frames that surround our classroom tree. You can see it in my You Tube video.

How to Create a Simple Preschool Family Theme Book

I folded an 11 x 17 inch of construction paper in half, so it opened on the right side like a book.

I then cut the top to resemble a roof and made a couple of cuts at the bottom to resemble a door that can open and close.

I made one of these for each child in my 2 year old class.

I then made copies of my family printable. (Note: You might need to make more than 1 copy for some children since obviously not every family has the same mix. Make as many copies as you need to get the correct amount of family members and genders.)

I went through my students’ questionnaires so I could see who was in their families, dogs and cats included. (I like to have our family theme at the beginning of the year, when I am just getting to know them.)

I cut apart the different family members from the printable and had them ready to go for each child.

Watercolor the House

We invited our children to paint their houses with watercolors.

Who’s in your family?

After the paint was dry, I sat with each of my students, one by one, to talk about who is in their family. I had already written the names of each family member underneath the printed family member.

Glue the Family Members Inside the House

I gave the children a glue stick to adhere the family members inside the house.