Preschool
SpringResources for EducatorsTheme Units
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The saying goes that April showers bring May flowers, but for a preschool teacher, the month of April brings way more than that!
Warmer weather hits and the Spring season is in full swing, of course, but more importantly, the first of the month ushers in a whole new list of fun April preschool themes!
April Themes for Preschoolers
Whether you’re looking for a few new ideas to supplement your lesson plans or you’re wanting to put together a few new thematic units for your preschool classroom, this list of April preschool themes is the perfect place to start!
From bugs and butterflies to weather and rainbows, this list of April themes has plenty of fun activities and ideas to keep you and your preschoolers busy all month long!
Bugs and Insects
With the warmer weather comes the bugs and insects making it the perfect time to teach your little learners all about these tiny creatures. Incorporate printables to work on letter recognition or grab a few simple materials and try your hand at making some insects of your own!
Gardening/Flowers
As the temperatures rise, so do the plants and April, being Lawn and Garden Month, is the perfect time to try building your own flower garden by planting a few seeds or mimic the bright colors of nature with a few flower crafts. You can cover everything from shapes and colors to even life cycles and the parts of a plant!
Earth Day
It just wouldn’t be a complete list of April preschool themes if we didn’t mention Earth Day! Started in 1970, Earth Day is celebrated each year on April 22nd. While taking care of our Earth, our environment is a big responsibility, there are so many things that little ones can do to help and teaching them a few of these with a theme unit dedicated entirely to Earth Day is a great way to start.
Recycling
Continuing along the same lines as the Earth Day theme unit, one devoted to recycling can be a ton of fun! Gather supplies ahead of time and teach your preschoolers the fun of recycling by showing them how to reuse old things to create something new.
Rainbows
While most have never heard of this special day, April 3rd just happens to be National Find a Rainbow Day, so it makes it’s a timely addition to this list of April theme units.
From rainbow crafts that’ll have you working on colors to learning a little about the science behind these incredible light shows, there are so many amazing things that you can include in a rainbow theme unit. Not to mention all of the bright and colorful rainbow books that you can add to your shelf for the duration.
Squirrels
These furry little creatures seem to just come out of the woodwork once the Spring season hits and there are so many ways to incorporate them into a fun day, or week, of learning. Use one of their favorite foods (acorns) to work on math or create a sensory bin. You can even take a nature walk to see if you can see a few of them running around outside!
Planning ahead? Make sure you check out these preschool theme ideas for May as wel!
Weather
There is no better opportunity to teach your children all about changes in the weather than when it is changing right in front of you.
Since Spring tends to bring with it a variety of different weather patterns, it’s a great time to learn about things like thunderstorms and warmer temperatures while observing them for yourselves.
Caterpillars and Butterflies
If you’ve never watched a caterpillar turn into a butterfly, well I’ll tell you, it truly is incredible. It’s also a fantastic learning opportunity for your students!
Another awesome learning opportunity? Gaining some fine motor practice while you lace up the stages of a butterfly life cycle! The possibilities really are endless with a theme unit like this!
Easter
Obviously, an Easter theme could easily fit into March as well. It will all depend on the year of course, but you could easily work on a number of concepts like colors, patterns, shapes, and more with an Easter theme unit!
Plastic Easter eggs, for example, are an excellent way to work on fine motor skills, and jelly beans are perfect for working on colors or practicing sorting!
Zoo
If you’re a zoo lover, you’ll be pleased to know that there is an entire day of the year devoted entirely to you!
Plan a field trip to your local zoo in honor of National Zoo Lovers Day on April 8th to learn about the various animals that call the zoo home or work on those visual discrimination skills by matching those animals to their shadows!
Whatever you do, your little learners will have a blast with this wild theme unit!
Kites and Wind
We’ve already covered weather, but did you know that April 12th is National Big Wind Day? Well, now you do!
Work on patterns, shapes, colors, and more. Add in a few science experiments, try to build a flying kite of your own, there is just so much that you can do with a theme unit on kites!
Community Helpers – Trash Collector
Finished with your spring cleaning? Where does all of that trash go? As curious as most preschoolers are, they’re probably all wondering the very same thing. Add a community helper theme to your list for the month and answer all of their burning questions about trash collectors and garbage trucks.
