Turn each preschooler from a caterpillar into a butterfly to symbolize the growth and change she's experienced. Buy butterfly wings at the dollar store. Each child can also make her own wings by stretching stockings over frames made of wire clothes hangers. Tie a loop of elastic to each wing to slip over the child's shoulders. Set up a tent at the front of the room or enlist two teachers to hold up a curtain. When each child's name is called, she crawls into the tent or behind the curtain. She puts on her wings and "flies" out the other side as a preschool graduate.
Performing a skit entertains parents and shows off all the new things children learned that year. Break children up into pairs or small groups. Choose a lesson for each group to act out. One group may pretend to be cooking and talk about the kitchen safety rules they learned, while another may pretend to be planting a garden and talk about the parts of a flower. Teachers can be in the skit as well to help prompt children if they forget their lines. At the end of the skit, have everyone line up for a bow and pronounce them all graduates.
Show preschoolers that they are becoming big kids by molding your graduation after a high school or college graduation ceremony. Make caps by gluing a square of painted cardboard or card stock to the top of an upside-down plastic bowl. Glue on a tassel made of yarn. Make gowns by draping a towel or piece of solid-colored fabric over each child's shoulders. Have children march in to "Pomp and Circumstance." Print up diplomas and present them one at a time to each child. Show them how to flip their tassels to the other side of the cap when they receive their diploma.
Show students that they are ready for kindergarten. Create a "Kindergarten Welcome Packet" for each child. Put lined paper, pencils, and markers into a manila envelope. Contact each child's elementary school to get a school map and circle his kindergarten classroom. Include a picture of the preschool class so children can remember each other. At graduation, call each child up to the front of the room and hand him his packet in place of a diploma.