Last Updated on March 6, 2024 by Sheryl Cooper
Inside: Our toddlers and preschoolers learned about mother and baby animals during our spring animals theme. We also brought out some Easter goodies and adorned our dramatic play area with bunnies!
We swapped out the green from our St. Patrick’s Day theme and brought in some pastel colors for our spring animals theme.
It was raining like crazy while we were setting up the classroom, but I had to chuckle because that’s what spring is like in the Pacific Northwest!
I love embracing each of our seasons! See those cherry blossoms through the window? We will be bringing some inside the classroom to explore.
We’ll also be having fun with plastic eggs, rabbit ears, fun spring books, and some mother and baby animal matching.
Welcome, spring!
Toddler and Preschool Spring Animals Theme Activities
Before I start sharing my photos, I must disclose that this is NOT how it looks once my students have joined the environment. I don’t want to mislead you!
I’ve been sharing some reality photos on Instagram, such as this one. The fact that it is one of my most popular photos shows that this hits home with many of you.
I love setting up our environment with great care, even though I know it won’t look like this a few minutes after my little friends arrive.
Dramatic Play
If you’ve been here awhile, you might recall my sheer happiness when I found some stuffed fabric carrots in the dollar spot at Target.
Yes, I was THAT person who did a dance when I found them. My husband didn’t even flinch. He knows how this works.
So I made a big deal about it on Instagram.
And then I made this fun carrot sensory bin with them.
And now, a year later, they are part of our spring animals dramatic play area.
And, of course, many bunnies!
Light Table
If there is a Dollar Tree near you, grab one of these clear plastic egg trays! They are perfect for the light table with plastic eggs.
We then added cups that you get from egg dying kits that matched the colors of the eggs, along with bug tongs.
Related: Ultimate Light Table Activities
Block Area
We hadn’t used our wooden dollhouse in awhile, so it was brought out this week to use with our Calico bunnies.
I also placed a copy of Bunny’s Noisy Book on the table, as our children love to stop and look at books no matter where they are placed in the classroom.
Related: The Best Blocks Activities
Easel
Lately our 2 and 3 year olds have wanted to paint 3 at a time, so I outlined 3 animals on a big sheet of paper.
This is my reality photo:
Just keeping it real here!
Playdough:
I found these fun animal eggs after Easter last year and added them to our playdough table. The children loved opening them up and pressing playdough inside them, and they really had to work their fingers to open and close the eggs.
Related: Playdough Learning Activities
Mama and Baby Animal Matching:
I rummaged through our bin of plastic animals to put together this mama and baby animal matching activity.
This turned out to be much more popular than I anticipated. Goes to show we really don’t know until we add the children to the mix.
Music:
Spring Activity Plans
I’m so excited to be one of the authors of these hands-on plans for toddlers and for preschoolers!
Easy to follow plans include activity modifications and adaptations to meet the needs of all learners.
For more information, click on the graphics below:
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Hey Sheryl,
Thank you so much for your blog! I teach two and young three’s and there is just not a lot of ideas out there without trying to modify. i enjoy your blog and incorporating some of your ideas into my classroom. Oh! What is the name of the book your using with the mommy animals and their babies? Have a great day!
Thank you,
Melissa
Thank you, Melissa! I believe the book you are referring to is called My First Baby Animals by Violet Peto. I love the photos!