Counting to 10, and recognizing the written number with its equivalent value, is an important concept for preschool students to learn. Help the students in your classroom learn numbers by letting them play with manipulatives, such as toy cars, looking at the numbers and using their fingers to count. While preschoolers won't necessarily sit still enough for a lecture, letting them use manipulatives allows them to release some energy while participating in an activity. For example, pass out a small cup of beans and a bingo-like grid to each student with the numbers zero to 10 on the paper. Let students place the correct number of beans in each square and then compare the quantities to see which number is greater than and less than.
Introduce letters one at a time, and make that letter the theme of the day. For example, when introducing the letter "A," pass out apples for snack time, and read a story about Arthur the Aardvark. Depending upon your exact age group and the intelligence of the class, you may also be able to integrate penmanship with the letter introduction as well. Although you can choose to introduce the letters alphabetically, consider grouping together letters that look similar, which can help students write them better. For example, if teaching your class manuscript -- also known as ball and stick -- teach students how to form the letters "o" and "a" near each other, and "n" and "h" together.
Hone your preschoolers' hand-eye coordination and basic physical skills with activities intended to let out their pent-up energy. While you can begin to teach kids some traditional physical education skills -- such as dribbling, throwing or catching a ball -- increase their hand-eye skills by tossing beanbags into a square, or using their fingers to pick up tiny objects such as beads.
Teach your preschoolers about being good community citizens and community helpers such as police officers and firefighters. For example, ask a police officer to stop by the class and discuss "stranger danger" or invite a firefighter to come visit your class and teach basic fire safety skills, such as the "stop, drop and roll" and what they can do to help prevent fires. Consider visiting the fire station for students to get a better understanding of the firefighter's equipment.