Read the children pancake-based, age-appropriate books at story time. Appropriate books include "Pancakes, Pancakes!" by Eric Carle, about a little boy determined to have pancakes for breakfast; "Hey, Pancakes!" by Tamson Weston, about three children who attempt to make pancakes while their parents are asleep; and "Curious George Makes Pancakes," by Margaret Rey and H.A. Rey, where Curious George helps make pancakes for a fundraiser. Talk to the children about each story and see if they can pick out the word pancake and other related words in the books.
If you are at a school that allows cooking in the classroom, bring in a small burner and make "P"-shaped pancakes for each child as a snack. If you are not able to do so, see if the cafeteria staff can make the pancakes in the cafeteria and bring them to your class. Otherwise, you can have the children create pretend "P"-shaped pancakes out of clay. Help the children create the shape of the first letter of their names in the "pancake" clay. This activity will help the preschoolers get familiar with the letters of the alphabet.
Cut out words to spell "Pancake" from poster board paper and hide them around the classroom. Write the word "Pancake" on the board and tell the kids you need their help in finding all the words. As the children run around finding the letters, they must bring each one up to the board and tape it underneath the matching letter written on the board. Ask them to say what the letter is, but help them out, as they may not know all of their letters at this age. This activity will help preschoolers see that letters put together in a certain order create words.
Write the names of several pancake mix-ins, such as bananas, blueberries, strawberries and chocolate chips on the board. Give the children magazine pictures of a variety of foods, including the ones written on the board. Call out a mix-in such as blueberries, and the kids much search through the pictures to find one. Whoever does first must then place the picture of blueberries under the correct word. Preschoolers will need guidance, as they may know letters but not words, so give them hints such as telling them the first letter of the matching word.