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Springtime brings temperate weather, new growth, and plenty of opportunities for your children to explore the world around them. Spring-themed activities stimulate preschoolers' cognitive abilities as they learn more about the elements of nature, such as plants, flowers, animals, and even weather changes. Spring activities also foster social development and boost literacy skills through play and hands-on learning.
While the spring season provides the perfect backdrop for different activities, you may be looking for some new ideas to keep your preschoolers engaged. This article will provide plenty of creative and fun spring activities for preschoolers—all designed to help your children explore, learn, and play.
Spring themes for preschool
Children are naturally curious and love learning new things. With the advent of spring, many exciting activities and themes can keep your preschoolers busy and entertained.
Plant theme
Introduce children to different kinds of plants, their life cycles, and how they grow. Plant seeds with your classroom and watch them grow throughout the season. Have the children observe the changes in plants over time as new leaves and flowers emerge. Discuss how different plant parts are used for food, medicine, clothing, and decorations.
Weather theme
Spring allows children to explore the weather and how it changes over time. Have children observe weather patterns like rain, wind, and sunshine. You can also discuss where rain comes from and why we need it for plants to grow. Create a chart to track the weather changes and discuss why it is essential to know what weather you will experience each day.
Also, encourage children to dress appropriately according to the weather and talk about how they can be safe when outdoors in different types of weather.
Spring animals theme
Introduce your preschoolers to animals that come out during spring, such as birds, bees, butterflies, and frogs. Explain how each animal plays a different role in nature and why they are essential to our environment.
Give children the opportunity to observe these animals up close by taking them on outdoor nature walks or setting up bird feeders. Once the children are more familiar with the different animals, encourage them to create animal habitats using materials such as construction paper, popsicle sticks, straws, and clay.
Shapes and colors theme
Incorporate shapes and colors into your spring activities to boost preschoolers’ cognitive development. Have them look for natural shapes in clouds or leaves and talk about the different colors they see in trees, the sky, and flowers. Grab some construction paper for a craft activity where your preschoolers can create collages of shapes and colors.
Allow children to practice their fine motor skills by having them cut out shapes or use glue sticks to put art projects together. Encourage children to draw and color with chalk on the sidewalk to stimulate creativity, allowing them to explore different shapes and colors while having fun.
Gardening theme
Introducing children to plants and how they grow, different types of flowers, and the importance of watering will excite them about gardening. Explain how plants help us in our everyday lives, from providing food and oxygen to helping conserve energy.
You can discuss all the different colors associated with gardening and show them some creative ideas for decorating pots or creating flower arrangements. This theme also lends itself to many simple and age-appropriate gardening activities.
Bugs theme
Get children interested in bugs by going on a bug hunt and exploring the different insects that come out during springtime. Let them observe butterflies, ladybugs, or worms up close and discuss their various characteristics. Explain why bugs are essential to our environment and how we can help protect them.
Arts and crafts theme
Preschoolers love to express their creativity through arts and crafts. During springtime, encourage children to create various art projects related to the season, such as:
- Making flower prints with potatoes
- Creating rainbow wind chimes using sticks and yarn
- Crafting paper butterflies or caterpillars
While doing arts and crafts, encourage children to explore the concepts of texture, shape, color, and size.
Music and movement theme
Incorporate some music and movement activities into your spring curriculum. Have the preschoolers create their own dances to songs about the season or have them participate in an obstacle course involving various movements such as hopping, skipping, or jumping.
Water play theme
Have your preschoolers explore water and teach them about its properties by filling up different containers such as cups, bowls, bottles, or buckets. You can also add food coloring to create a rainbow of colors.
Let them observe what happens when they add different items, such as rocks, sand, or clay to a bucket of water. For a different sensory experience, provide them with sponges, paintbrushes, and other objects for a tactile exploration of the water.
Space theme
A space-themed lesson plan can boost children's scientific thinking, mathematical understanding, and literacy skills. By engaging in activities like learning about solar eclipses, building rocket ships from recycled materials, or even participating in a simplified "astronaut training" obstacle course, children can develop fine motor skills, grasp basic astronomy concepts, and cultivate teamwork and problem-solving abilities.
This theme can inspire awe and curiosity about the world beyond our planet, encouraging questions and discussions that build cognitive skills.
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March activities for preschoolers
March is the perfect time to prepare for the coming of spring. There are plenty of fun and creative activities for preschoolers that you can introduce in your classroom. Here are some activities that will help get them excited about the season.
Make egg carton caterpillars
Get your class excited about the coming of spring by helping them create egg carton caterpillars. As the children create their masterpieces, you can discuss why caterpillars are so important in springtime, how they turn into beautiful butterflies, and where they might find caterpillars in your school garden or neighborhood. This craft will help children practice their fine motor skills and encourage creative thinking as they learn about nature. For this activity, you will need egg cartons, craft scissors, pipe cleaners, paint or markers, glue, and googly eyes.
Plant seeds
As the weather starts to warm up, it’s time to teach preschoolers about the life cycle of plants. Start with some small pots, potting soil, and different types of seeds. Help each child fill their pot with dirt and seeds. This is also a great activity to teach children about how to care for plants, such as placing them in a sunny area and watering them regularly.
Make wind chimes
Make cheerful noises around your classroom by making beaded wind chimes with children. You will need string, drinking straws, jingle bells, beads of different sizes, paint, paintbrushes, paper cups, pipe cleaners, a hole puncher, and scissors. This activity helps develop fine motor skills, stimulates creativity, and encourages sound appreciation.
Go on a scavenger hunt
Going on an outdoor scavenger hunt will encourage children to explore their environment and discover new things. This is an opportunity to learn about different animals, plants, and other elements of nature. Create a list of things commonly found during springtime and send your children outside. Encourage your children to try to find everything on the list.
Create a spring-themed sensory bin
You can create a sensory bin filled with spring items and colors. Stimulate children's senses with tactile items such as dried beans and peas, sand, rice, flowers, and rocks. There are many spring-themed sensory ideas to consider as you engage your preschoolers in exploring the season.
April activities for preschoolers
April brings spring blooms, allowing you to bring creative ideas for activities and projects into the classroom. Here are some ideas to keep preschoolers engaged and learning all month long.
Sing springtime songs
Start the month with a musical rendition of some of your favorite spring tunes. Singing songs is a great way to start each day, and help the children stay focused. Songs also help introduce basic concepts while getting your preschoolers engaged and involved. Have the children learn the words to the songs and add their movements to make it more interactive.
Explore flower activities for preschoolers
As flowers start to bloom, introducing flower activities will encourage preschoolers to explore and learn more about them. Here are three flower activities for preschoolers that will jumpstart their flower exploration:
- Create a rainbow garden using paint and pom poms instead of paint brushes.
- Make a flower-petal collage. Gather flower petals and leaves and help children glue them on construction paper to create their very own artwork.
- Learn the parts of a flower with this simple craft. Using construction paper, cut out the different parts of a flower, including the petals, leaves, and stem. Have your children label the different parts and color or paint the flower.
Play an egg-and-spoon Easter activity
The Easter holiday ushers in the perfect time for arts and crafts. First, have your preschoolers decorate a plastic Easter egg. Then, set up an area in the classroom where they can walk in a straight line, balancing the plastic egg on a spoon. While it might be challenging at first, this activity will help them practice and strengthen their motor skills. And if the eggs fall, you will not only be free from having to clean up a mess but you can also surprise the children by putting a treat inside.
Make grass crowns for Earth Day
Earth Day is celebrated on April 22. This is a great time to incorporate Earth Day-themed activities that celebrate our planet and nature. For a simple grass crown activity, give your preschoolers green construction paper and help them make blades of grass by cutting the paper. You can also give them different shades of green crayons and allow them to draw more blades on their crowns. They can decorate them with nature stickers like flowers, birds, and insects. Don’t forget to let them wear their crowns for the day after crowning them protectors of nature.
Create a butterfly craft
This simple butterfly craft uses only a few materials and encourages children to use their imaginations as they learn about the lifecycle of a butterfly. To prepare the wings, allow children to color the coffee filters using markers or watercolor paints. Once they're done decorating, leave the filters to dry. When the filters are dry, fold them accordion style and twist a pipe cleaner around the middle so that the two ends point upwards in a big letter "V". Next, pinch the ends of the pipe cleaner and curl to make a small spiral, like a butterfly antenna. Finally, pull apart the folds of the coffee filter to shape the butterfly wings.
May activities for preschoolers
As the spring season winds down, allow your preschoolers to explore the beauty of nature with these fun and creative activities. With these exciting ideas, you can help them learn essential concepts and encourage them to get creative.
Read books about spring
Picture books often provide fantastic images of the wonders of spring. These three books are sure to capture their attention:
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- Chasing Rainbows by Tish Rabe: Follow the adventures of a young boy who discovers a rainbow on his journey home.
- The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter: This classic book tells the story of a mischievous rabbit who ventures into Mr. McGregor's garden.
- Rainbow Stew by Cathryn Falwell: This book is an excellent option, as it follows a group of children on a magical journey through the colorful sky.
Insect activities for preschoolers
Spring is the time for warmer weather and buzzing insects. Insect activities are a perfect way to celebrate the season with your preschoolers.
Here are some creative activities to try:
- Insect collage craft: This activity combines imagination with paper crafting! Press an assortment of leaves, sticks, and acorn caps and allow the children to glue the pieces on paper in the shape of an insect.
- Bug hunt: Take your class on a bug hunt outdoors! Give each child a magnifying glass and help them search for bugs. Provide containers for safe bug storage. Explain the importance of handling the insects carefully before releasing them back into their habitats.
- Insect math: Incorporate basic math concepts into your insect activities by challenging your preschoolers to count and compare insects. Have them count the number of legs or antennae on each insect and compare sizes to see which is bigger.
- Insect snacks: Get creative by creating snacks in the shape of insects, like butterfly-shaped cookies! This activity will get your children excited about snack time while teaching them about the different insects they can find in their environment.
Have a teacher award ceremony
Teacher Appreciation Week typically falls during the first full week of May each year as a time to celebrate educators for all they do. You can encourage your preschoolers to celebrate their teachers by having them create a drawing or note describing their favorite thing about their teacher using a printable trophy or ribbon template.
At the end of the week, have children present their homemade awards to their teachers with a fun ceremony. This not only gives you the chance to hear what your preschoolers appreciate in their teachers, but it also gives your preschoolers the opportunity to practice their communication skills.
Play an interactive match game
Celebrate Mother’s Day by playing a match game inspired by the P.D. Eastman book Are You My Mother? In the story, a baby bird goes around looking for his mother. Using matching flashcards or a digital presentation with slides, have your preschoolers match baby animals to their mother. This sorting and grouping activity will boost cognitive skills, helping your preschoolers notice similarities and differences.
Create a popsicle stick American flag
After discussing the significance of Memorial Day with your preschoolers, you can celebrate the holiday with a popsicle stick American flag activity. Using popsicle sticks, help them create a popsicle “square” by gluing seven popsicle sticks horizontally over two vertical ones. Using different sizes of red, white, and blue buttons, have them glue the buttons to the popsicle stick to create their own American flag. If you don’t have buttons, you can decorate the popsicle sticks using paint or markers.
Outdoor spring activities for preschoolers
The onset of spring presents the perfect opportunity to get your preschoolers excited about the great outdoors. For lesson planning success, be sure to incorporate outdoor activities that are engaging and developmentally appropriate for preschoolers.
Here are some outdoor spring activities that will help your preschoolers explore their environment and enjoy the sights and smells of nature.
Go cloud watching
Cloud watching is a simple activity that helps children develop their concentration and observation skills. On a cloudy day, have your preschoolers explore the sky as you point out various cloud shapes and sizes. You can also have them color pictures of the different clouds they see and display their drawings in the classroom.
Take nature walks
Nature walks allow children to learn about the outdoor environment and its inhabitants while enhancing their gross motor skills. Take children on fun walks around your neighborhood or at a nearby park and have them observe insect behavior and their habitats. You may even want to capture the bugs with an insect net for closer observation. Have children collect items for a nature collage, such as leaves, rocks, pinecones, or feathers. At the end of your walk, use what you’ve collected to create nature-inspired art projects.
Go bird watching
One of the joys of spring is seeing the return of migratory birds. Bird watching will help children appreciate nature's beauty and improve their observation skills. Plan a trip to your local bird sanctuary or a park and let your preschoolers observe the different species of birds that have returned. Bring along some binoculars and guidebooks so they can identify the types of birds they see.
Fly kites
On a windy day, head to a nearby park or open space for a fun-filled kite-flying day. Kite flying is a great way to help children understand weather patterns and the power of nature. This activity also develops their coordination and problem-solving skills.
Create sidewalk chalk landscapes
This activity allows children to bring their love for nature and creativity together, while also promoting teamwork and appreciation for the environment. Begin with a brief discussion about the different landscapes found in nature, such as forests, rivers, or mountains. Use images to help spark ideas and get the children excited about the kind of natural landscape they could create.
Let the children choose the theme and have them start to draw the landscape using a variety of sidewalk chalk colors. Encourage them to add details like animals, flowers, and other natural elements to make it come alive. After completing their sidewalk chalk landscape, have the children take a walk along it, pausing at different points to talk about what they've drawn and learn more about the natural elements in their chosen landscape.
Get in the mood for spring
Spring activities offer excellent opportunities for preschoolers to learn and explore. Incorporating creative projects into the learning process helps to ensure that every child is engaged, actively participating in activities, and enjoying their learning experiences.
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