Encourage students to find out what their parents were like as children. Create a simple questionnaire for children to give to their parents. Include questions about where they lived, who they lived with, what they enjoyed and what they wanted to be when they grew up. Send home a note asking parents to fill it out, discuss the answers with their children and sent it back with childhood photos. Each child can then show the photo to the class and talk about what he learned about his parents.
Tape a large piece of paper across the classroom wall. Draw columns onto the paper and write each child's name at the top of one column. Ask children to think about how many people are in their families, including close relatives like grandparents and step-parents. Cut out construction paper circles that will fit inside the columns. Each child must draw one face for each member of his family, then tape them to his column. The class will have a finished graph that compares the size of each child's family.
Ask each student to pick one relative with whom he has a special relationship. Preschoolers are likely to immediately pick their moms or dads, so encourage them to think about everyone in their family so they'll think more creatively. Each child must create a story about the things she does or would like to do with the relative. A teacher can write the story down for her or she can create a book of drawings.
Preschoolers should be able to spell their own names or at least know some of the letters, but it's unlikely they can spell any other relatives' names. Ask each child to tell you the names of all her family members. Write the names down in large, clear letters on a piece of paper, then have her either trace the names or practice rewriting them underneath. To practice this exercise repeatedly, laminate the paper. Give each child a whiteboard marker so she can write, erase and repeat.