Preschool September Themes
September is rapidly
coming to a close but that doesn’t mean that it’s too late to incorporate
some great September themes into your preschool lesson plans.
September is a fun month because it’s all about going back to school,
meeting new people and getting ready for the holidays ahead. That makes September
a terrific month for transitional themes that allow you to really explore some
creative lessons. You can begin teaching fall themes during the month of September
but you can also use themes that aren’t related to any particular season
so it’s still an in-between kind of month.
| In terms of holidays, the big one in September is Labor Day. Of course, that’s passed now but that doesn’t mean that the important lessons it brings with it should be over. Reinforce what the preschoolers learned about work and community all year long. September usually isn’t a terrifically busy month so it’s a great time to do some community service with preschoolers. You can make sandwiches to be taken to a soup kitchen or you can have the kids learn a song and go share it with the elderly at a nearby home. Set something up with someone in your community to help kids learn that the important lessons of Labor Day should be lived out all year long. |
September
is a great month for all kinds of outdoor activities. It’s usually
not too cold in most places to really get out and enjoy the weather. Take the
kids outside for lots of physical education. Go on field trips and treasure
hunts. Have the kids start noticing what is changing in the area, such as the
changing leaves as well as subtler changes in the weather. September is a great
month for taking the time to help kids notice what’s going on in the world
around them.
Of course, there
are plenty of indoor activities that are great for September as well. Did you
know that September is classical music month? This makes it
a terrific month to incorporate music themes into your children’s
days. Classical music CD’s and DVD’s for kids can be used
during rest times. During more active times, children can learn to make this
kind of music themselves. They’ll have fun doing it, build up their motor
skills and probably even experience a boost in self-esteem from the praise they’ll
get for performing for family and friends. You can incorporate short
lessons about the history of classical music to supplement this type of theme.
Interestingly, September
is also National Chicken Month. This is terrific because September
is a great time to teach kids a lot of lessons about nutrition.
This can sometimes be difficult to do in the months that follow since we all
make exceptions to our dietary rules for Halloween, Thanksgiving and the Winter
Holidays. But in September, we can eat relatively healthy. Teaching
kids about the health benefits of chicken compared to red meat and
of free-range or organic chicken as compared to other chicken can be part of
the chicken theme for September. Of course, coloring activities and cooking
activities will go well with these. Even physical education can be worked in;
a group of preschoolers can play chicken, chicken, turkey instead of
duck, duck, goose.
September may be
more than halfway over but there is still time to incorporate new September
themes into your preschooler’s day. And of course, some of these
themes can easily spill over into next month which means that all your planning
will actually be done in advance!
