Preschool Fun in the Summer Sun Theme Activities
Below you can find fun and engaging Preschool fun in the sun activities! Use the ideas on this page to plan your lessons!
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Club Members can download our Summer Fun activities and this Fun in the Summer Sun Theme Planning Guide for free! Not a member? Find out more about our membership
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Fun in the Summer Sun Preschool Theme Map
Nature Sun Catcher
Go on an adventure in the sunshine, collect flowers to create a sun catcher.
Or create a sunshine shaped suncatcher! See details on how to Make a Suncatcher on my blog.
Or create a sunshine shaped suncatcher! See details on how to Make a Suncatcher on my blog.
Sidewalk Chalk Tape Resist ArtLay down strips of painters tape in any design you choose.
Set out sidewalk chalk and encourage your preschooler to fill in the shapes. When you're done peel back the tape (get your preschooler to help to support fine motor development) to reveal the masterpiece. Try making your own sidewalk chalk with our easy to follow tutorial. |
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Plaster Casting in Sand
This is a fun learning experience for preschoolers to explore during summer.
Supplies:
Dampen the sand by stirring in a bit of water. Flatten the surface of the sand and press the shells into sand. Gently lift the shells from the sand to leave the impression. Mix the plaster of paris with water until it reaches a pancake batter consistency. Spoon the plaster mix into the impressions in the sand The plaster should be set in about 30 minutes. Carefully lift the casts from the sand and place on a wire rack to dry overnight. |
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Shadow Drawing
Use everyday objects, or take them outside to practice tracing their friends shadow with chalk. Place toys, plastic animals, etc while in the sun and draw/trace shadows.
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Create a Sun with Squish & Twist Painting
Use the Squish & Twist painting method to invite your preschooler to blend colors and create the sun.
Solar Printing Process ArtThis week is the perfect time to try out Solar Printing!
Soak in the sunshine while engaging in this experiment that doubles as an art process. Get all the details for Solar Printing on my blog. |
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Shell Stamping
Put out plates with different colored paints and a variety of shells. Lay out a large section of chart paper. Invite students to dip the shells in the paint and stamp them across the paper.
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Sand Bottle Art
Provide students with funnels, scoops, colored sand, and bottles to make their own art pieces.
Painting with Ice Cubes
Have children make unique pictures by painting with ice cubes. Add water and food coloring to an ice tray. Freeze and then pop out of the tray. Let children move the ice cubes around their paper to transfer the colors!
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Sing a Song
Ice Cream Stand*
Invite your preschoolers to play in a pretend ice cream shop! This invitation supports creative play, social skill development, math & literacy skills and is sure to keep little ones busy for hours.
This Ice Cream Dramatic Play pack makes it easy to set up this invitation to play. |
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Beach Fun
Transform your dramatic play space into a beach. Place a large sandy colored sheet (fabric "beach themed" shower curtains work great for this), and a blue water sheet on the ground. Add beach chairs, sunglasses, sun hats, empty (clean) sunscreen bottles, beach bags, towels, lunch coolers, beach balls, and shovels and pails to your space this week.
Summer Puppet Show
Add cutouts of people dressed for summer, summer items (cooler, beach umbrella, beach ball, etc) and invite students to tell a summer time story.
Lemonade Stand
Set up a lemonade stand in your dramatic play center. Provide cups, plastic lemons, straws, play money, and more. Have your students pretend they are either buying or selling lemonade on a hot summer day.
Pretend Pool Party
Set up the Dramatic Play area with beach towels, sunscreen bottles, pool floaties/noodles. Set down a large blue sheet for the pool. Have children pretend they are at a pool party. Don't forget the bbq so you can grill some tasty food when you get hungry.
Make Summer Objects with Pattern Blocks
This set of Summer Pattern Block Mats is a great addition to your learning space during this theme.
Build a beach ball, anchor, sand castle and more! See everything included in the Summer Pattern Block Mats Shop Listing |
Buy this Activity!
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Sandpaper castles
Cut sandpaper into a variety of 2D shapes.
Encourage your students to build their own castles using this textured paper. Find more details and tips for this activity on our Sandpaper Castles blog |
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Build and Trace Shadows
Take your blocks outside for building, or use cardboard boxes in a variety of sizes. After building encourage your architects to trace their creations on the sidewalk using chalk.
Sandcastles
Provide castle forms, and tools for the sandbox. Have students practice building sand castles.
Shell Tower
Challenge students to use shells to build the tallest tower they can!
And Then Comes Summer Story Time ActivityThe book And Then Comes Summer by Tom Brenner (affiliate) is such a fun way to lead into summer activities.
Our story time companion activity is a great way to engage in discussion and keep the fun going with an extension activity! Get this And Then Comes Summer Story Time Companion pack in my shop. |
Available in my shop!
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Roll and Write Letters*
Sidewalk chalk is a summer staple when you have young children.
Set out this set of Roll and Write Letters Sidewalk Chalk cubes to encourage letter formation with sidewalk chalk. |
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Sand Box Letter Press
Place moistened sand in a sensory bin along with cookie cutter letters. Encourage the children to press the letters into the sand. Extend the learning: Can they find the letters in their name? Or the first letter in the word "beach", "sand", or "crab"?
Name Building Popsicle
Incorporate name building into your summer with this fun activity from the Editable Name Activities Set.
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Snow Cone Letter Match*
This letter matching activity from Pre-k Printable Fun is easy to set up.
Invite preschoolers to practice letter identification and matching with this Summer Fun in the Sun activity. |
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Summer Letter Formation PracticeTracing cards are a great invitation to set up for preschoolers. They are easy to create individualized learning activities and break the learning up into smaller parts. Dry erase markers provide less resistance than other writing tools.
You can print these cards from the Summer Tracing Set from PKPF that also includes a variety of worksheets for children to work on tracing letters, numbers, shapes, and lines. |
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Summer Word BuildingDive into summer with literacy fun! This set is easy to set up with your magnet letters and a magnet board or cookie sheet. Preschoolers work on letter sounds and identification as they fill in the missing letter.
Magnetic Letters Summer Word Activities |
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Beach Inspired Sand Tray
Writing trays are great for practicing letter formation! Follow our tutorial showing how to make your own low cost beach inspired sand tray! Use it to practice tracing letters (or numbers, and shapes)!
Summer Rebus Rhymes-Coming Soon!
Sunny Letter Walk
Cut out sun mats from yellow construction paper. Write a letter on each of them (make 2x as many mats as students). Place them in a large circle on the floor. Play the song Mr. Sun or your favorite summer music and have the children walk around the circle while the music is playing, When it stops have the students identify the letter they are standing next to.
Day At the Beach Story Time ActivityWhat's better in summer than a day at the beach? When you can't get to the beach a second best is reading about the beach!
Grab a copy of Day at the Beach by Tom Booth (affiliate) to pair with our fun story time extension activities. Explore vocabulary from the book, engage in discussion and a follow-up activity. Get our Day at the Beach Story Time Companion set in the shop. |
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Collecting Letter Shells
Write Letters on the inside of Shells. Place them face down around room. Provide your students buckets, and have them collect shells and identify the letters on each one from around the room.
*And Then Comes Summer by Tom Brenner
Day at the Beach by Tom Booth
Beach Day by Karen Roosa and Maggie Smith
Fun in the Sun by David Catrow
Is It Warm Enough for Ice Cream? by DK
Day at the Beach by Tom Booth
Beach Day by Karen Roosa and Maggie Smith
Fun in the Sun by David Catrow
Is It Warm Enough for Ice Cream? by DK
Ice Cream Scoop Count*
This activity is an engaging way to encourage preschoolers to work on number recognition and counting skills. This easy to set-up activity is included in the Summer Fun in the Sun pack from Pre-K Printable Fun
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Shell Patterning
Set up different patterns using shells (AB, AAB, ABB, ABC, etc.) and have students complete the patterns.
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Sort Sunglasses
Set up different colored sunglasses. Have children sort them into bins based on color or size. Extend the activity by sorting by two attributes (examples: Big red sunglasses, small red sunglasses).
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Summer Graphs
Ask a series of summer themed questions (examples: who likes to go to the beach? Do you like chocolate or vanilla ice cream) Have students graph the results.
Beach Ball Number Toss-Fun for Groups!
This is a fantastic group activity. Use a sharpie to add numbers (or letters, or names, or shapes) to the beach ball. Toss it to a friend! The child will look and announce which numbers they are touching. Looking for more low cost activity ideas? Check out this post!
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Build an Ice Cream Cone Patterning*
Practice patterning by recreating the pattern on the card. Extend by creating your own patterns. This activity can be found inside our Summer Fun in the Sun Activity Pack.
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Study the Water Cycle*
Recalling and exploring the water cycle is a great idea to revisit each season.
This evaporation observation is excellent to perform during summer as the water will evaporate faster in the hot weather. Tie this into why it's so important to drink more water during hotter months. Water Cycle Preschool Science Activities |
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Hot and Cold Sorting*
Have children practice sorting objects that are hot or cold. Set out a variety of pictures that represent hot and cold. Have children sort into two groups. Use this set of Hot and Cold Sorting Mats to make the activity even easier!
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Summer Sink or Float coming soon!
Solar Oven
Treat your preschoolers to a tasty snack while exploring science!
Build your very own solar oven and then test it out by making yummy s'mores. Perfect to pair with your Summer Fun Theme or a Camping Theme Exploration. |
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Shadow Exploration
Exploring shadows with preschoolers is a fun and easy way to incorporate science into summer theme. Use everyday objects, or take them outside to practice tracing their friends shadow with chalk.
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What Melts in the Sun?
Supplies Needed:
Muffin tin 6 test items - we used peanut butter, peep candy, gummy candy, cheese stick, and chocolate candy Instructions: Place each test item in a section of the tin and place outside in a sunny area. Check on the items periodically and note the time in the sun and the condition of the items. Compare the time it takes each item to to melt and the change in texture |
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Make Your Own Sun TeaBrewing tea out in the sun simply tastes better than quick brewing with hot water. This is also a fun science exploration to enjoy with preschoolers. Brewing tea is a fun science and discovery addition to a Fun in the Sun theme. Keep reading to see the process and tips for supporting learning along the way.
Find more information and tips for this project on our Make Your Own Sun Tea blog post. |
Try this!
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Lemon Science ActivitiesLemonade in the summer is so refreshing!
Dive into some lemon science fun with our Lemon Science Activities set. Included in this set is a fun lemonade recipe. See our Making Lemonade Tutorial on our blog. |
Buy this Activity in Our Shop!
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Make Your Own Moon SandThis sensory rich activity is perfect for preschoolers and they will have a blast helping you make it! This tutorial has all the information you need including the simple ingredient list.
Find all the instructions for mixing up this fun play material and teaching tips in our Make Your Own Moon Sand blog post. |
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Make Your Own Ice CreamWhat do preschoolers like more than eating ice cream? Making their own of course! This preschool cooking activity is easy and includes a variety of learning opportunities.
Find the details and teaching tips for this activity on our Make Your Own Ice Cream blog post. |
Try this!
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Make a bouncy ball
Mix together ½ cup of warm water and 1 TBSP of Borax then add 1-2 TBSP of Clear Glue. Mold into a ball.
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Pool Noodle Marble Run
Cut a pool noodle in half long ways. Then have a race using different colored marbles or sizes!
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Make your own Bottle Fountain
Recycle some used water bottles by poking different sized holes in the bottom. Then fill with water and watch how the water escapes!
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More Fun in the Sun Science & Discovery Ideas:
DIY Garden Sundial from KCedventures
Sun Upcycled Crayons from mamasmiles
Summer Sensory Washing Stations from Little Bins for Little Hands
Sun Upcycled Crayons from mamasmiles
Summer Sensory Washing Stations from Little Bins for Little Hands
Ice Cube Fine Motor Fun
Place white or blue craft cubes blocks inside a small lunch cooler. Provide your student with plastic cups and a pair of tongs. Have them use the tongs to remove the "ice cube" blocks from the cooler and place them in the cups.
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Ice Cream Cone Shape Clip Cards*
Get in a bit of math with this fine motor activity!
Preschoolers identify the shape of each ice cream and then use a clothespin to clip the matching shape on the bottom of the card. You can find this activity in the Summer Fun in the Sun Activity Pack from PKPF. |
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Trace & Color Fine Motor Practice
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These Trace & Color pages make setting up fine motor practice easy this summer, the set includes a variety of themes great for all year round including several fun summer themed pages.
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Water Challenge-Fine Motor
Place two bowls inside a sensory bin. Add water to one bowl, along with sponges.
Challenge students to transfer the water to the other bowl by absorbing and squeezing the sponges.
Challenge students to transfer the water to the other bowl by absorbing and squeezing the sponges.
Beach Bin Sensory Hunt-Fine Motor
Bury different summer themed objects in a sand sensory bin. Give students a visual list of what to find.
Give them scoops, tongs, tweezers, etc. and have them dig through the sand to find each item on the list.
Give them scoops, tongs, tweezers, etc. and have them dig through the sand to find each item on the list.
Scoop your own ice cream-Fine Motor
Scooping ice cream is a fantastic way to build fine motor skills-and a tasty summer treat!
Shell Impressions-Fine Motor
Provide your students with a sensory box of kinetic (or wet) sand, and shells, and have them practice making shell impressions.
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Beach Ball Towel Toss-Gross Motor
Gather your beach towels and beach balls for a fun way to get little ones moving!
Pair off giving each pair of people a beach towel. Place a ball in the middle, work together to wave the towel to make the ball fly into the air.
Pair off giving each pair of people a beach towel. Place a ball in the middle, work together to wave the towel to make the ball fly into the air.
Splash in the ocean-Gross Motor
Place a large blue sheet or blanket on the floor. Have your students take off their socks, and shoes, and take turns "splashing" their feet in the "water" as they name shapes, letters, numbers, or any skills you are working on this week.
HopscotchCombine math and motor skills with a fun invitation to play hopscotch.
This DIY is from community member Piper M. of Brainy Bumblebee Academy. Find more ways to spruce up your outdoor space on my blog post DIY Ideas for Your Outdoor Space |
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Giant Bubbles-Gross Motor
Create giant bubbles by making your own wands from loops of yarn or other recycled objects. Challenge students to make the largest bubble! Check out our tutorial for how to make your own bubble solution.
Wet Sponge Toss-Gross Motor
Set up a target outside. Add sponges to a bucket of water.
Have children pick up the wet sponges and try to hit the target.
Have children pick up the wet sponges and try to hit the target.
Ice Cream Scoop Toss-Gross Motor
Toss Ice Cream Scoop "Balls" into a large bowls.
Sprinkler Fun
Play outside in the sprinkler.
Summer Community HelpersWhile community helpers are important all year round, there are certainly ones that are more obvious during each season.
During the summer months preschoolers may notice construction workers, librarians, farmers, and lifeguards more. What other community workers are important during the summer months? Explore the important workers in your community through Community Helper Conversation cards. |
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Take a trip to the beach or community pool
Teach students important safety rules for the beach/pool and take a trip to practice skills and have fun in the sun!
Summer Scavenger Hunt Field Trip
Have students look for summer themed items throughout the community and report back how many items they were able to find from the scavenger hunt list.
Sunny EmotionsExplore emotions with this fun Sunny Emotions dough mat from our Summer Fun in the Sun activity pack.
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Buy this Activity in Our Shop!
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Summer Themed Yoga
Have students do summer themed yoga poses on a beach towel and work on breathing and mindfulness.
Pack for a Summer Vacation
Provide students with a variety of winter and summer items, along with a suitcase.
Have them practice sorting items they would take on a summer vacation.
Have them practice sorting items they would take on a summer vacation.
Collaborative patterning
Cut out a large yellow circle "Sun" (a yellow paper plate works well for this). Collect: orange, yellow, and red clothespins (you can pain them) sun rays, and place them in a basket in the center of your group area, with the sun. Start a pattern using the clothespin "sun rays". Invite each child to get up and take turns completing the pattern by clipping a clothespin to the sun.
Participate in a Group Song Together
Before singing this song: show a photo, or watch a video about a beach!
Sing this song to the tune of the "Wheels on the Bus"
The waves at the beach roll in and out, in and out, in and out.
The waves at the beach roll in and out.
all day long.
Variations:
The dolphins at the beach leap and splash
The fish at the beach swim here and there
The crabs at the beach go snip and snap
The shovels at the beach go dig, dig, dig
Sing this song to the tune of the "Wheels on the Bus"
The waves at the beach roll in and out, in and out, in and out.
The waves at the beach roll in and out.
all day long.
Variations:
The dolphins at the beach leap and splash
The fish at the beach swim here and there
The crabs at the beach go snip and snap
The shovels at the beach go dig, dig, dig
Play a Game Together*-TeamworkThis is a great game to play with a partner.
Take turns rolling the playing cube to move the cherry to the top of the stack. This Ice Cream Cone Race to the Top Game can be found inside our Fun in the Sun activity pack. |
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Ice Cream Theme Sign-in ActivityWelcome your students to class with this engaging name recognition activity.
Includes a variety of themes and available in the shop! |
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Create Outdoor Learning Opportunities
Be ready for learning outside this summer with our Summer Dry Erase Binder !
Activities from this set support preschool math, literacy, and fine motor development. You can also check out this post with suggested ways to create outdoor learning spaces. |
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