All about me and Week of the Young Child themed preschool lesson plans. Arts and crafts, games, math, science, group time activities, songs and snack ideas.

Art 

Child Collage
Supply the children with magazines with pictures of children, construction paper and glue and let them make collages.

Me Puppet
Have the children create a sock puppet by placing buttons and yarn on a colorful sock with tacky glue.

Button Picture Frame
You will need six popsicle sticks, tacky glue, buttons, two small magnets, construction paper and a picture of the child. Then you make a frame with four popsicle sticks. Lay two stick parallel to one another (stick 1 and 2) then complete the from with sticks 3 and 4. Then to make the picture stay in you will need to add stick 5 and 6 on the top and bottom of the frame. So you have sticks 3 and 4 (the sides) with a stick on the top in front, top in back, bottom in front and bottom in back. Follow? Connect these sticks with glue. When dry have the children decorate these sticks with paint. Let that dry. Then let the children glue buttons on the frame. Let that dry. Cut a piece of paper to fit the back of the frame. Glue that on. Cut the picture to fit in the frame, and insert the picture. Then glue the magnets at the top and bottom of the back of the frame. Viola.. an awesome gift.

Finger Prints
Supply each child with a piece of white paper and different colored non-toxic stamp pads. Show the child how to make fingerprints on the paper, using only one finger at a time.

Self Portrait
Childen can use torn paper to make a self portrait.

Shadow Art
Use an overhead projector, or the sun to create a siloutte on the wall. Tape a piece of paper on the wall, and trace the outline. Have the child cut out the siloutte. YOu may choose to have them decorate the shadow.

I like.... Collage
Supply the children with many different magazines, with foods, toys, etc. Let the children cut out things they like and glue them onto a piece of paper.

Feet Butterflies
Have children take off shoes and socks, paint the bottom of their feet with non-toxic tempera paint. Have the child step onto a piece of paper with their feet and heels together. When dry, add antennae with markers or crayons or yarn.

Me Puppet
Take a picture of each child. Have the child cut out the picture and glue to a popsicle stick.

Paper Bag Puppets
Supply each child with a brown paper bag, yarn and other items to make a puppet. The flap at the bottom of the bag is the mouth.

Paper Plate Faces
Have the children draw facial features onto a paper plate to make a face. Supply the children with yarn or easter grass for hair.

Paper Plate Faces 2
Have the children cut out facial features from a magazine and have them glue them onto a paper plate for a funny face.

Paper Plate Faces 3
Supply the children with different multicultural colors of paper. Have them tear the paper and glue them onto a paper plate to cover the paper plate. After the glue dries have the children draw on facial features with a marker or crayon, or they hay glue on facial features from a magazine.

I Like...
When I was in Second Grade we did an "All about Me" Board and a warm fuzzies book. The "All About Me" board was a bunch of pictures of me and my family and there were also things that said a little bit about me... like "My favorite food is Spaghetti" or "I have a cat named Missie" The Warm Fuzzie book was a book that the teacher wrote compiling all the nice things the other children said about me. "I like her hair" "She is a good student" "I like to play with her" I still have this book somewhere amounst the few things that made it from move to move. Anyway, have the children sit in a circle and say one nice thing about the child sitting next to him/her.

Life Size Me
Have the child lay on a piece of butcher paper and trace them. Have the child color the paper, then cut it out.

Life Size Me II
Have the children make crazy poses on black butcher paper. Trace them, then have the children cut them out. Finally hang them around the room for some fun shadows. Do the parents know which one is their child?

Feeling Painting
Divide a piece of paper into 4 sections. Have the children draw a picture of Happy, Sad, Mad and scared one in each of the 4 sections. Label the boxes for the children.

____ Friends, Holding Hands
Fill in the blank with the name of your class. Write this title in the middle of a piece of butcher paper. Then individually, paint a child's hands with a paintbrush and non-toxic paint. Using a paintbrush will increase the quality of the print, opposed to dipping the hand in paint. Have the child make a handprint around the edge of the paper. Wash the child's hand and repeat with all the children and teachers on your class.

Games, Math and Science

Hair Color Chart
Have the children raise their hands if they have brown hair. Count and record the number of children that have brown hair. Repeat for red, blonde and black. Graph the results. Ask the children "what color hair do most of the children in our class have?"

Height Chart
Measure each child's height and create a graph to represent the children's height in your class.

Eye Color Chart
Have the children raise their hands if they have brown eyes. Count and record the number of children that have brown eyes. Repeat for blue, green and hazel. Graph the results. Ask the children "what color eyes do most of the children in our class have?"

Where's Your ....?
Ask the children "Where's your ____?" Fill in the blank according to their age.
Here are some examples:
head, eyes, nose, foot (easy)
fingers, ankles, knees, neck, forhead (medium)
knuckes, wrist, thigh, forarm, palm, spine (hard)

Feelings Chart
Ask the children "How do you feel today?" Record the answers and create a chart. Talk about the results.

Listen to your heatbeat
Allow the children to listen to their heartbeat with a stethescope. The toy ones work, but some of your parents may have access to a real one.

Guess how I feel:
Have one child stand in the middle of the circle and act out an emotion. The other children can guess what it is.

My Friends and Me Jump
Take pictures of the children and laminate them. Have the children hop from one picture to another.

My Friends and Me Musical Chairs
Set out the pictures on the floor in a circle. Have the children walk around the circle of pictures. When the music stops have the children race to their picture. Every child should have an picture to stand on.

My Friends and Me Time
Set out the pictures on the floor in a circle. Have each child sit on his/her own picture for circle time.

I am Special Because.... 
Have the children finish the sentence "I am special because...." Record their answers.

Jump Jim Joe
Sung to "Hurry Hurry Drive the Firetruck"
Have the children sit in a circle before lunch. Pick one child, have that child pick a friend, then have the two children hold hands and follow the directions as you sing:
Jump, Jump, Jump Jim Joe,
Shake your head,
Nod your head,
Tap your toe,
Round and round,
And round we go,
Go and wash your hands
WITH SOAP

1, 2, 3 Good Friends
Sung to "10 little Indians"
1, 2, 3 good friends,
4, 5, 6 good friends,
7, 8, 9 good friends,
10 good friends are we!

You can also sing it in Spanish
Uno, dos, tres amigos,
Cuatro, cinco seis amigos
Siete, ocho, nueve amigos
Diez amigos son!

Who is here today?
Sung to "the Farmer in the Dell"
Who is here today?
Who is here today?
Everybbody clap your hands,
Who is here today?
Jill is here today!
Jill is here today!
Everybody clap your hands,
Jill is here today!
Substitute Jill for the names of the children in your class. Great circle time song where the children can dance or jump while you sing their name.

My Friend May I?
Played just like Mother May I? The child and parent stand at opposite sides of a room. The child asks if he/she may: take so may step forward. i.e. "Mother may I Please take 3 baby steps forward?" the answer would be either, "Yes you may", or "No you may not." The child wins when they reach you. Encourage the use of descriptive words, such as little, big, huge, tiny, and giant. You can also play this with a group of children. The winner would be the one who reaches you first.

Name Ball Game
Have the children sit in a circle and supply the children with a ball or bean bag. The child must say the child's name that they are going to pas the beanbag to or roll the ball to.

Friend Memory
Ask the parents to supply you with a picture of each child in the class. Make 2 black and white photo copies of each photo and glue the copies to the back of a blank index card. Now you have the cards to play memory.

Who is missing?
Have all the children cover their eyes. I have found that when they lay on their bellies they tend to peek less. Tap one child on the shoulder. That child will hide. Then the other children have to guess who is missing.

Hello My Friend!
Have one child sit in the middle of a circle on a chair. This child should cover his/her eyes. Then pick one child to go up to the child in the middle and say "Hello my friend, can you guess who I am?" The child in the middle gets three guesses. Then the child who spoke sits in the middle and the child that was in the middle chooses another speaker. The children can use their normal voices, but if they are familiar with the person in the chair, silly voices can be more difficult and amuzing

Follow me
Play follow my friend just like follow the leader.

Mystery Can
Send a large coffe can home with a child. Send a letter with the can similar to this:
Dear parents:
This month we are going to be playing a game called "Mystery Can" I am sending the can home with your child. Please help your child find something to place inside the can that is special to your child and return it tomorrow with three clues written on a piece of paper. The children will try to guess what it is and the first person to guess correctly will take home the can.

Me Me you!!!
Played like "Duck, Duck, "me" instead of "duck" and "you" instead of "goose."