Creative Preschool Learning Themes
Do you struggle with finding activities to do with your preschooler? Or maybe you’d like to do learning activities with your 3 or 4 year old but have no idea how to go about it? Over the course of 2 years, we are sharing creative preschool learning themes and we invite you to join along with us!
Whether kids attend preschool or not, they can learn at home with you doing simple projects and activities as well as ones that are more involved. Little Sister and I have been working with some of our favorite blogging buddies doing themed preschool prompts. Fostering creativity while learning is important to all 6 of us. We hope you will find inspiration and ideas to create a fun learning experience with your preschooler!
Fun Themed Preschool Activities
BODY PARTS
- Skeleton and X-ray Crafts for Kids
- Roll & Draw a Body Game
- Preschool Activities: Hair & Why it’s There
- Learning About our Brain Preschool Activity
- Preschool Music Video: Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
COUNTING TO 100
- Count to 100 Printable Snail Activity
- Place the Ones Free Printable Math Activity
- Counting to 100 Beaded Sculpture
- Play Dough Squish Math Game
- 100 Chickens Preschool Counting Activity
FLOWERS/PLANTS
- 3D Paper Flower Art
- Tissue Paper Flower Collage
- Painted Tin Can Succulent Pots
- Free Flower Learning Activity Printables
- Flower Math Dice Game Printable
FOOD THEMED ACTIVITIES
- Pretend Play Smoothie Cafe & Printables
- Preschool Fruit and Vegetable Sorting Activity
- Learning ABout the 5 Food Groups + Printable
- Candy Mosaic Art
- My 1st Cookbook + Free Template
MAPS/GEOGRAPHY
- Make Believe Princess Map Craft
- Alphabet Ocean Hunt
- World Map Activities
- Map Learning Activities with Planes
- Visual Mind Mapping for Kids
SCIENCE ACTIVITIES
- Tornado in a Jar
- Static Electricity Butterfly Experiment
- Candy Science: Pop Rock Balloons
- Science with Preschoolers: Making Charts
- Preschool Science: Investigating Superhero Signals
SCISSOR PRACTICE
- Snowflakes Made Using Paper Straws
- Paper Plate Hair Cutting Activity
- Paper Plate Turtle Preschool Scissor Practice
- Preschool Paper Banner Craft and Cutting Practice
- Playdough Cutting
SHAPES
- Shapes Busy Bag
- Triangle Ship Craft & Shape Matching Game
- Build & Learn Shape Factory
- Make & Play with Shape Dice
- Draw, Build, & Create with Shapes using 1 cardboard box
SIGHT WORDS
- Fly Into Learning Sight Words Printable
- Sight Word High Five Game
- “Family” Pop Art Coloring Page
- Roll and Write Sight Words Activity
- Digital Art with Color Sight Words
- Paint Sample Sight Word Puzzles
SPACE/SOLAR SYSTEM
- Outer Space Discovery Bottle
- Marbled Planets Art
- Pie Plate Solar System
- Investigating Saturn’s Rings with Preschoolers
- Puffy Paint Solar System Window Art
- DIY Hanging Glow-inthe-dark Constellations
WEATHER
- Easy Windy Art
- Sketch the Weather Calendar Printable
- Preschool Cotton Ball Clouds Activity
- Blizzard in a Bag Craft
- Printable Weather Board Game
- Printable Weather Chart
WHEN I GROW UP I WANT TO BE…
- Future Career Collage and Printable
- Emergent Reader Printable
- When I Grow Up Color and Write Free Printable
- Fortune Teller Fun
- Digital Photo Challenge
- When I Grow Up Flashcards and 3 Ways to Play
5 SENSES
- Textured Hot Air Balloon Sensory Craft
- My Five Senses & Popcorn Preschool Observation Mini Book
- Learning About the 5 Senses Potato Head Game and Free Printable
- Five Senses Collage Mini Book
- Explore Spring with Your 5 Senses
Animal Themed Preschool Ideas
BIRDS
- Adorable Shredded Paper CD Birds
- Duck Finger Puppets
- Paper Plate Bird Nest Craft
- Egg Carton Owls
- How to Make a Clay Bird
- Bird Seed Writing Tray
BUGS
- Alphabet Snail and Number Spider Web Lacing
- Ladybug Alphabet Matching Activity (with free printable
- Tape Resist Ant Tunnel Art
- Learning About Bees Activities and Free Printable
- Build a Bug Creative Play Dough Challenge
RAINFOREST
- All About Anacondas – kids activities
- Rainforest Math Clip Cards – fine motor practice
- Paper Plate Macaw Craft
- Build a Digital Rainforest
- Printable Rainforest Coloring Prompts
OCEAN THEMED
- DIY Ocean Drum
- Puffy Paint Ocean Collage
- Octopus Kids Craft
- 10 Ocean Crafts and Activities
- Ocean Sensory Play & Matching Game
ZOO THEME
- Recycled K Cup Lion Craft
- Giraffe Finger Puppet Craft
- Who Lives in the Zoo Sorting Tray
- Zoo Creative Drawing Ideas
- Z is for Zebra Alphabet Craft
- Design a zoo with kids
Fun Preschool Themes
WATER ACTIVITIES
Playing with water is fun! Use these creative ideas in the Spring or Summer to incorporate preschool skills into outdoor fun.
- Fairy Soup Pretend Play
- Polka Dot Splash
- Squirt, Squirt Ocean Art
- Matisse Inspired Water Play
- Water Balloon Letter Smash
MONSTERS
Monsters don’t have to be scary! Here are some cute activities and crafts to help make monsters more fun.
- Monster Eyes Counting Game Printable
- Spooky Monster Family Portraits
- One-Eye Monster Creative Drawing Prompt
- Monster Mumble Phonics Game + Free Printable
- Mix & Match Magnetic Monsters
- Jonathan James and the Whatif Monster Book + Craft
NINJAS
- Paper Bag Ninja Puppets
- Fingerprint Ninjas
- Ninja Finger Puppets
- Easy T-Shirt Ninja Mask
- Paper Plate Ninja & Cardboard Tube Nunchucks
- N is for Ninja Craft
ROBOTS
Robot crafts and activity printables are popular with younger children. Here are a handful of ‘must do’ robot ideas.
- Recycled Robots & Dog using Tin Foil
- Sponge Painted Shape Robots Craft
- 3 Easy Preschool Robot Art Ideas
- Lego Stamped Robot Art
- Robot Math Activity + Free Printable
- Geometric Shape Robot Pillow
FAIRY TALES
Teaching children about popular fairytales is a fun way to bring back some of your own childhood memories and nostalgia!
- Fox Tale Soup Storytelling Bin
- Cinderella’s Carriage Craft
- Fairy Tale Mad Libs Printable Activity
- Three Little Pig Activities & Printables
- Little Red Riding Hood STEM challenge
Meet the Creative Preschoolers and their Moms!
Artsy Momma: Amanda & Little Sister
Little Sister, who is 4 years old, loves to be imaginative! When she’s not busy playing tea party, dress up, and pretend play with her stuffed animals, she is usually busy dancing, singing, or coloring. She enjoys doing crafts, many of which can be found here on Artsy Momma along with the rest of our family’s creative journey!
“At this age, it’s important to follow your child’s lead with learning rather than discourage by forcing them to learn something they are not interested in at the moment. Child-led learning with direction is a great way to balance structure with interests. If they love animals, try reading a book with animals for every letter of the alphabet. If they don’t want to do the project your way, let them try it their own way or have them do the more structured way afterwards. By doing so, you will be instilling a lifelong love of learning.” – Amanda
Handmade Kids Art: Jamie & MWow:
M-Woww is 4 and is passionately curious about the colors pink, purple and anything her older brother is doing. At Handmade Kids Art we focus on fostering creativity through art and play.
“Preschoolers naturally are inquisitive and ask a lot of questions just like a scientist, mathematician or artist. STEAM is the combination of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math. Integrating STEAM based play is an easy and innovative way to enrich your preschooler’s learning!” – Jamie
A Little Pinch of Perfect: Katie & Little Tiger
Little Tiger is 4 and loves learning and teaching her younger brother everything she knows. You can see her adventures and more at A Little Pinch of Perfect, where learning is made fun through play!
“Preschoolers naturally want to understand the world around them and play with everything they see. By giving them the right tools, play can become an effective learning modality. When children play and learn they are more attentive, can explore their natural curiosity, and best of all enjoy learning which is a great way to start their educational experience.” – Katie
Pink Stripey Socks: Leslie & Chuck
Hi! I’m Leslie. I love to make things with and for kids. I blog over at Pink Stripey Socks, where I share my crafty creations and everyday adventures with my preschool son. Come join us for some creative, artsy, and craftsy fun!
“Being creative and making art with preschoolers is profoundly important. While making art, children can freely explore materials and express their thoughts or feelings. Art also provides children with rich opportunities to create, problem solve, develop fine motor skills, and build self-esteem.” – Leslie
I Heart Crafty Things: Rachel & Little Red
Little Red just turned 5 and loves reading, painting and pretend play. At I Heart Crafty Things we focus on creating fun and simple children’s arts and crafts and often couple our activities with books that you can read together as a family. We also enjoy creating educational activities and printables that help make learning fun at home.
“There are so many benefits to reading with your preschooler daily including a higher aptitude for learning, basic speech, communication and logical thinking skills and most importantly, a stronger relationship with you. This is why instilling a love of reading in your preschooler is one of the best gifts you can give them. Book extension activities help to bring books alive to preschoolers and is a fabulous way to help them develop a love of reading.” – Rachel
School Time Snippets: Kristina & Little Sis
Little Sis is 4 and is my girly girl amongst a house of boys. She loves pretend play, being crafty, and playing with her brothers. School Time Snippets began to share our homeschooling journey with Big Brother, but has expanded to hands-on learning and play activities for children of all ages.
“We use our hands and fingers for many things– just think of all the things you have manipulated with your finger and hand muscles today alone! From food prep to dressing to writing, all those activities and more require fine motor skills. Now imagine how important that skill is to a young child still developing and growing! The best part of strengthening fine motor skills is that there are so many playful ways to work on them through various tasks like scissor work, prewriting, threading, playing with playdough, and more!” – Kristina