December Preschool Themes

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The holiday season is here and the year is quickly coming to an end, but before we get too far ahead of ourselves, there’s still a month left to plan before Christmas break and this list of December preschool themes should keep your kiddos engaged and learning through the end of the year.

From major holidays to community helpers, these December preschool themes are so much fun and make it super easy for you to weave in your various subjects and work on a number of concepts all at the same time.

Christmas

You expected this one, right?

I sure hope so!

It just wouldn’t be a list of December preschool theme ideas without Christmas making the cut.

Counting ornaments, making patterns with Christmas bows, identifying colors on wrapping paper… There are so many easy ways to learn while incorporating the holiday season.

Christmas Around the World

Speaking of the Christmas season, different variations of this winter holiday are celebrated around the world and this instantly opens up an amazing number of educational opportunities for your preschoolers.

Teaching your preschooler all about how Christmas is celebrated in Germany, Italy, or France will help them understand the connection between themselves and people in other parts of the world as they learn about the different ways that they celebrate the same holiday.

The Arctic

While solely not a winter theme unit, learning about the Arctic during the winter months also helps your preschoolers establish a bit of a connection with what they are learning as they learn about one of the coldest places on Earth while it’s cold in their own communities.

The weather isn’t the only thing to learn about though! The animals of the Arctic would make for some pretty fun science lessons!

Gingerbread

Whether you’re constructing a gingerbread house and counting gumdrops or sequencing the story The Gingerbread Man, the opportunities for fun and engaged learning are endless when it comes to a gingerbread theme for preschoolers.

BONUS: If you’re using real gingerbread or even making some of your own, your home and/or classroom will smell amazing for days!

New Years

Of course, all good things must come to an end and Christmas is no exception. Just because the holiday is ending though doesn’t mean that the learning has to stop!

There are plenty of creative ways to tie learning into a New Years theme. The holiday itself is full of math! Counting down from ten to one or changing the calendar over to a new month and year, this is a fantastic theme for ending your year.

Polar Express

I just couldn’t pass up the chance to get this theme on this month’s list of ideas. The book, the movie, the story in general; the whole thing is gorgeous and absolutely perfect for the holiday season.

Work in new vocabulary words with things you find in the story or practicing forming letters with a personalized letter to Santa. This is one of our all-time favorite Christmas themes and I can’t imagine trying to celebrate the holiday season without it.

Community Helpers – The Baker

With the amount of baking that we do during the holidays, it should come at no surprise that this one makes the list. While bakers may not be as prominent as they once were in our communities, it is still an important role to teach your preschooler about as there are some incredible learning opportunities that can go along with it.

Whether you’re making a batch of Christmas cookies and having your preschooler help you measure the ingredients or talking about what happens when you bake a cake for the batter to go from a liquid to a solid, this learning filled December preschool theme would be the highlight of the month!