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Lesson planning is an essential skill for teachers to have. As educators and caregivers, a large part of the job involves harnessing children's natural curiosity and providing them with engaging learning opportunities that help them develop new skills and knowledge. Creating effective lesson plans for toddlers is an essential part of this process, but it's not always easy to know where to start.
With so many different factors to consider, from attention spans to developmental levels, it can be hard to know which elements to include in your plan to keep your little learners engaged and excited about learning. In this article, we'll explore some tips and tricks for creating effective lesson plans for toddlers and discuss how to differentiate your lesson plans for toddlers of different ages, to lay the foundation for a lifetime of learning.
Experience Curriculum on brightwheel
Table of contents
- The importance of toddler lesson plans
- Elements of a lesson plan for toddlers
- Evaluating your lesson plan
- Differentiating lesson plans by age
- Examples of lesson plans for toddlers
- Engage families with lesson plans
- Bottom line
The importance of toddler lesson plans
A lesson plan is a detailed guide that helps teachers organize the key objectives that children need to learn and how that learning will happen in the classroom. It’s similar to a roadmap showing the learning trajectory for each lesson. Lesson plans help teachers thoughtfully prepare engaging and meaningful activities to stimulate children’s overall development. Teachers ensure that the lesson is aligned with established learning standards and each child’s different learning level so that children can meet learning goals successfully.
Lesson planning also allows teachers to assess the quality of their instruction and make any improvements to their delivery. Teachers can easily monitor class progress and determine what changes they need to make. Planning can also save valuable instruction time by establishing a clear weekly or monthly outline that teachers can follow, while also allowing for flexibility to meet the unique needs of each child.
Finally, lesson planning also encourages collaboration between teachers and families. Families can see what their children are learning each day and continue reinforcing learning objectives at home. They can get a clearer understanding of where their child is excelling and what skills or areas need extra attention.
Elements of a lesson plan for toddlers
A well-structured lesson plan ensures you are prepared to help children reach their educational goals. To create a successful lesson plan for the children in your childcare center, you'll need to consider five components:
- Learning objectives
- Lesson materials
- Lesson procedures
- Related requirements
- Assessment
1. Learning objectives
Learning objectives are goals that you hope to achieve with your lesson. Include at least one objective per lesson that states what children will learn and which cognitive, physical, social, and emotional skills they will develop by completing the lesson.
Learning objectives can focus on skills such as understanding the relationship between cause and effect, learning pattern recognition, and identifying colors.
For example, a learning objective for a necklace threading activity may be: “Children will develop their fine motor skills and learn to identify colors and recognize patterns by threading colored beads.”
2. Lesson materials
This lesson plan section lists the materials you will need to teach the lesson. Materials in this section can include:
- Handouts (like coloring pages, worksheets, and laminated flashcards)
- Necessary supplies (like crayons, pencils, paint, construction paper, and scissors)
Lesson plans for toddlers should also incorporate educational materials that encourage the children to play, such as alphabet blocks, musical toys, and color sorting toys.
A list allows you to purchase materials in advance, prepare a budget, and stay organized. You’ll also avoid altering lessons due to a lack of necessary materials.
3. Lesson procedures
This section of your lesson plan provides a step-by-step outline of the lesson and explains how you will introduce the lesson topic to the children. The lesson procedure may also describe the methods you will use to teach the material and explain the real-world applications of the skills the lesson will teach.
The constraints of your lesson procedures will differ depending on your teaching philosophy and methods. For example, if your childcare center utilizes the Montessori method, your lessons may prioritize hands-on activities that encourage children to explore materials independently and learn at their own pace.
If your childcare center utilizes a Reggio Emilia-inspired approach, your lessons may prioritize project-based activities that encourage children to explore through collaboration with each other.
No matter what teaching philosophy your childcare center uses, creating an outline of your lesson’s procedures will help ensure that your lessons are focused and aligned with your teaching philosophy.
4. Related requirements
Related requirements are guidelines that extend beyond the scope of your lesson. This section describes how your lesson aligns with national, state, and local educational standards and your childcare center's teaching goals.
5. Assessment
This section describes how you will assess the children to determine whether they have met the lesson objectives. This section may include a wrap-up activity that tests the children's understanding of the new concepts, such as questions you can ask the children.
Save time with brightwheel's Experience Curriculum, a complete curriculum system with learning materials and digital lessons. The flexible lesson plans for baby, toddler, and preschool age groups can be accessed directly in the app and matched to the materials in the monthly curriculum kits. The daily learning experiences incorporate 35 research-based skills into playful games and discovery projects that support children's social-emotional, physical, and cognitive development.
Evaluating your lesson plan
After you teach your lesson, evaluate your lesson plan. Reflecting on your lesson plan will help you think critically about your teaching methods so you can improve the lesson for future classes.
To evaluate your lesson plan, take notes on how you presented the lesson. For example, suppose you find that you rushed while explaining the activities or explained them too thoroughly and lost the children’s attention. In that case, you may want to adjust the amount of time you allot for instruction before allowing the children to begin the activity.
Asking yourself the following questions after the lesson can help guide your evaluation:
- Did you stray from the plan you outlined?
- Did you allow enough time for the children to ask questions?
- Did the children struggle to complete the lesson or activity?
- Did the assessment show that the children learned the required skills?
- Did any children struggle to understand the lesson?
After asking these questions, consider what you would change about your lesson plan. These changes can help your lesson plan meet your children’s needs and better fit their unique learning styles. You can also better prepare for the children you will teach in the future.
Differentiating lesson plans by age
Toddlers develop their skills quickly, so a 3 year old has very different needs to a 1 year old. Keep the CDC’s developmental milestones in mind for each age group when you develop or update lesson plans. This will help you tailor the activities to the students in your care.
If you are caring for children of different ages in the same group, you do not need to develop entirely separate lesson plans for each child. Instead, by being mindful of how the developmental milestones are different for each age, you can make modifications to the activities so their learning needs are met. For example, during playtime, 1 year olds can push objects around and explore the space, while 2 year olds can be given toys with buttons or simple puzzles, and 3 year olds can play with playdough.
Below you will find a brief description of the developmental milestones for 1 year olds, 2 year olds, and 3 year olds, per CDC’s recommendations, as well as some suggestions of how to differentiate your lesson planning for each age group.
Lesson plans for 1 year olds
Children by 1 year reach the following milestones:
- Social/Emotional Milestones: Play games with you.
- Physical Development Milestones: Pull up to a standing position; walk while holding on to furniture or objects for support; pick up smaller objects with their fingers.
- Language/Communication Milestones: Wave “bye-bye”; call a parent “mama” and “papa” or an equivalent special name; understand “no” and stop or pause when they hear it.
- Cognitive Milestones: Put objects in a container; look for things they see you hide.
Suggestions for lesson plans for 1 year olds:
- Build on the words the child is trying to say. For example, if they say “ta”, validate and say “yes, this is a truck”. Similarly, respond with words when the child points to an object. For example, if they ask for a cup by pointing to it, say “you want the cup? Here is the cup”, and so on.
- “Read” books with the infant. Reading can be talking about pictures. Babies this age like books with things they can feel or flaps they can lift.
- Play with blocks and other toys that encourage the child to use their hands, and let them push objects around (ex. empty boxes). This helps the child develop their fine and gross motor skills. Be mindful that while the child needs to move around and explore, they need limits to stay safe. Beyond making sure they are in a space with no dangerous objects, teach the child to respond to “no” by stopping unwanted behaviors.
Lesson plans for 2 year olds
Children by 2 years reach the following milestones:
- Social/Emotional Milestones: Look at people’s faces to see how they react to different situations; notice when someone is sad or upset.
- Physical Development Milestones: Walk up a few stairs with or without help; run and kick a ball; eat using a spoon.
- Language/Communication Milestones: Point to objects in a book when you ask them (for example, if you ask “where is the truck?” they point to it on the page); say at least two words together (for example, “want toy”); use multiple gestures, beyond waving and pointing, including blowing kisses and nodding yes.
- Cognitive Milestones: Try to use switches, buttons, or knobs on toys; play with multiple toys at the same time; hold one item on one hand while using the other hand (for example, holding a box and taking the lid off).
Suggestions for lesson plans for 2 year olds:
- Help the child learn how the full words sound, even if they cannot say them yet, by repeating the words they say in full. For example, if they say “or nana”, repeat by saying in full “you want more banana”.
- Sing songs, such as “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes,” to teach names of body parts. After singing it a few times, see if they sing some of the words when you touch a body part without saying the name.
- Play with toys that encourage the child to use their hands to build things and solve problems. For example: give them blocks to build towers; simple puzzles with shapes, colors or animals; or toys where they can push buttons or pull levers.
Lesson plans for 3 year olds
Children by 3 years reach the following milestones:
- Social/Emotional Milestones: Notice other children, and approach them to play together; calm down within 10 minutes after they are dropped off by their parents.
- Physical Development Milestones: String items together, like beads or macaroni; put on some loose clothes on their own, like a jacket; eat using a fork.
- Language/Communication Milestones: Ask questions such as “what”, “why” or “where”, such as “where is my mommy?”; describe the actions in a picture on a book, such as “running” or “eating”; talk clearly enough for others to understand; and hold a conversation with at least two back-and-forth exchanges.
- Cognitive Milestones: Draw a circle and other basic shapes when shown how; know how to avoid touching hot objects, like the stove, when they are told not to.
Suggestions for lesson plans for 3 year olds:
- When reading with them, ask questions, such as “What is happening in the picture?” or “What do you think will happen next?” to help them develop both their language skills and their imagination.
- Teach simple songs and rhymes, such as “Itsy Bitsy Spider” or “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”
- Play counting games. Count body parts, stairs, and other things you use or see every day. Children this age are starting to learn about numbers and counting.
- Play with playdough by squishing it, pressing it, pinching it, and making balls in different colors, to build hand and finger muscles and fine motor skills.
Examples of lesson plans for toddlers
Toddlers thrive in an environment that offers routine and consistency, and a well-designed lesson plan helps to achieve this. A thoughtfully crafted lesson plan allows educators to cater to the individual needs and interests of each child, promoting engagement and active participation. Below are free lesson plans for toddlers:
"A is for Apple" toddler lesson plan
This weekly lesson plan includes a variety of activities centered around the theme of the letter “A” and apples.
Letter of the week lesson plan
This template focuses on a different letter of the alphabet each week and encourages letter recognition through books, activities, and crafts.
"All About Me" lesson plan
This lesson plan encourages children to share about themselves with their teacher and classmates.
Daily lesson plan template
Customize this free, printable template to suit your teaching style and children's needs. Use this template to identify the learning objectives and record the developmental domains and pre-academic skills each lesson supports.
Engage families with lesson plans
Lesson plans enable communication and collaboration between educators and families, ensuring a cohesive and coordinated approach to learning. Keep families in the loop by sharing milestones, activities, schedules, and lessons through a daily report. This practice can improve communication with families, increase their engagement, and build trust in your program.
Weekly or monthly newsletters are another great way to bring curriculum visibility to families. You can easily share digital newsletters via email and they’re quick to update and distribute. When families see what their child is learning, they feel more involved in their child’s education and are motivated to engage in school activities and supplement those activities with other learning experiences at home.
Bottom line
Detailed lesson plans play a vital role in preparing you to teach your children new skills, assess their understanding of the material, and evaluate your teaching procedures. By incorporating key elements such as clear learning objectives, age-appropriate activities, and intentional teaching strategies, you can provide a structured and engaging environment for toddlers to thrive.
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