One theme to consider in your preschool classroom deals with teaching children about how animals survive in different environments. For instance, many animals spend part of their lives living in burrows and dens. Create different dioramas in shoe boxes that can be placed around your classroom. These dioramas can show different animals, from bears to beavers, that spend a large part of their lives hibernating or otherwise inside a burrow, den or lodge. You may even decide to be ambitious and create a replica of a den in a corner of your classroom that children can climb inside.
Another theme that you can use in your classroom is one that teaches preschoolers about the diverse types of animals that live on each continent. There are many types of projects that can be developed with this theme. Create a large basic wall map of the world that is made of felt with each continent clearly shown. Next create a variety of different animal cutouts and place a Velcro backing on each cutout. The children can place the animals where they think they live. Another idea is to create areas in your classroom that represent each continent, using props, such as stuffed and plastic animals. Have children gather around each area for a lesson or story that relates to an animal that lives on that particular continent.
One way to introduce students to the idea of conservation is to develop a theme around endangered habitats of the world, such as the rain forest. It is not particularly useful in a preschool environment to delve into the geopolitical issues that surround these endangered places. Instead, talk about why these habitats are important and what can be done to protect them. Decorate an area of your classroom with large cutouts that represent the types of habitats you are focusing on, along with stuffed animal toys that represent a type of animal that lives in each habitat.
Use a theme about animal habitats to teach children about non-mammals, like fish, reptiles and birds. You can also use this theme to teach children that things aren't always as they appear, such as the fact that although a dolphin might look like a fish it is actually a mammal. Create cutouts of different species of birds and, using string, hang them from the ceiling as mobiles. Place a continuous sheet of blue paper on the bottom section of your classroom walls and then add cutouts of fish, sea grass, coral octopi, sea turtles and squids. Above the “surface” of the water, add a lily pad or two for frogs and a strip of sandy beach for different types of reptiles that spend time on land as well as in the water.