Thanksgiving is a major event and serves as a fun theme for a preschool classroom. When incorporating a Thanksgiving theme in your classroom, there are a variety of ways the holiday can be explored. During arts and crafts, make turkey handprints and write what children are thankful for on their pictures. In math, practice one-to-one correspondence by having children match a number of turkey feathers to a numbered turkey. During the discovery portion of your class, bake different Thanksgiving treats with your students -- apple pie and cornbread, for example. At the end of the month, invite caregivers in to have a Thanksgiving feast with their children.
In January, avoid a case of the winter doldrums by presenting your preschool students with a winter theme. For an art and a discovery lesson, have students paint with food-colored ice cubes. Read aloud different winter-themed books and discuss the letter, W, for winter, during your literacy time. Fill your dramatic play area with winter clothing, Styrofoam packing peanuts for snow and sleds and invite children to pretend they are playing in the snow. For a culminating activity, have a winter feast at the end of the month. Serve hot chocolate and bowls of snow (vanilla ice cream topped with whipped cream), have a snowball fight with crumpled up paper and play pin-the-carrot-on-the-snowman.
After a long winter, celebrate the coming of spring during the month of April. Make a bulletin board that features a garden of flowers made from your students' handprints. Learn about the letters, F, for flower, and, S, for spring. At the beginning of the month, have kids plant seeds, tend to their plants and make daily observations. Dissect the rhyme, "April Flowers Bring May Flowers" and read various spring-themed books. Throw a spring fling party at the end of the month. For a gross motor activity, have children do a bunny hop. Bake sugar cookies and allow children to decorate them with pastel icing and colorful sprinkles. Hide silk flowers and send children on a flower scavenger hunt.
Commemorate the end of preschool with a graduation theme. Discuss what graduation means with students and talk about what they've learned during the school year. For an craft activity, make graduation hats from paper plates. Revisit the entire alphabet -- the names and sounds of each letter. Read stories and poems about graduation. Send children off on a high note with a graduation ceremony. Invite caregivers into the class to watch their children perform songs, share things they've learned and watch them be presented with their first diplomas.