Theme planning

[mlv]

Hi, I was just wondering if any one else does weekly theme planning. I have always done it when I worked at a preschool. I have continued to do them since I opened nearly 2 years ago. I find lately I can't come up with something different. I would love some fresh ideas if you have any.

[playfelt]

Depending on the ages in care you may want to think of some themes that you maybe haven't done before that you can do at home that maybe didn't work well at the centre. You can do more with baking, make a theme around sorting laundry and giving them a basket of socks to sort or a basket of washcloths to fold from lunchtime. Make use of the toys you have to sort blocks by colour, count the cars and create a parking lot for them with a piece of bristolboard and a marker. The activities you do do not always have to be about a major theme or last an entire week but can be centred around reading a book and then doing a related activity. My point is in homecare you may very well be dealing with a younger group as well as mixed ages and you can downplay the lessons accordingly so that they just naturally happen from what the children are showing interest in.

[AmandaKDT]

I like this website, it has a whole bunch of theme ideas.

http://www.preschool-plan-it.com/preschool-themes.html

[2cuteboys]

Child Care Lounge on pinterest has quite a few theme topics, complete with crafts, songs and games. The themes themselves aren't especially imaginative, but they have good activities in them.

[Momof4]

You can check my website, I list my themes for the entire year right on one page. at the end of Dec. I figure them out for the whole year and mark my calendars and write them on my website. Send me a pm.

If I have children going to JK in Sept. I start at A & for example the theme of Art & Artists and the #1, then I hit Z & maybe something like Zebras and the #20 by the end of Aug. before they go to school. I always have season themes, safety, jungles, farms, birds, butterflies and a lot of other standards but my water experiments in the summer and science experiment week in the winter are popular too.