Preschool Picnic Ants & Watermelon Theme

Explore a variety of preschool Picnic Ants and Watermelon themed activities. This page is packed with  learning objectives, and fun, hands-on ideas for small group, whole group, and independent learning centers to support your early childhood program.

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Preschool Picnic Lesson Planning Ideas

Below, you'll find our Theme Map outlining key topics to explore, suggested learning objectives to guide your lessons, and a Free Activity Plan! Pre-K Printables Club Members can download their Picnic Planning Guide and all of our printable resources including instruction pages for free inside our Activity Library! Not a member? Learn More Here!

Here’s a list of preschool learning objectives for a fun and engaging “Picnic, Ants, and Watermelon” theme, organized by developmental domain:

Cognitive Development

• Recognize and sequence the steps involved in planning a picnic.
  
• Identify patterns using watermelon seeds or red/green colors.
  
• Explore simple concepts of nature (e.g., insects like ants, fruits like watermelon).
  
• Sort and classify objects by color, size, or type (e.g., picnic items, fruits).
  
• Make predictions and observations during simple experiments (e.g., "Do ants like sugar or bread more?").
  
  

Language and Literacy

• Listen to and retell stories related to picnics, ants, or summer (e.g., The Ants Go Marching).
  
• Build vocabulary related to the theme (e.g., “basket,” “picnic blanket,” “colony,” “slice”).
  
• Engage in rhyming and alliteration games with picnic- and insect-related words.
  
• Participate in group discussions about what they like to eat at picnics.
  
• Follow multi-step directions during theme-related activities.
  
  

Creative Arts

• Create ant crafts using fingerprints or pom-poms.
  
• Make watermelon slice art using tissue paper or paint stamping.
  
• Design and decorate a paper picnic basket with their favorite food drawings.
  
• Sing theme-related songs ("Ants Go Marching," "Watermelon Song").
  
• Use dramatic play to role-play a picnic with pretend food and ants.
  
  

Physical Development

• Use fine motor skills to glue “seeds” onto paper watermelons.
  
• Practice cutting shapes (triangles for watermelon slices).
  
• Participate in gross motor games like "Ant Trail Obstacle Course" or picnic relay races.
  
• Engage in outdoor play that mimics bug movement (crawling like ants, hopping like grasshoppers).
  
  

Social and Emotional Development

• Practice sharing and taking turns during a pretend picnic.
  
• Cooperate in small group activities, such as preparing a picnic together.
  
• Discuss emotions connected to summer and outdoor fun (e.g., excitement, frustration with bugs).
  
• Identify foods they like or dislike and respect others’ preferences.
  
• Build confidence by contributing ideas during group discussions.
  
  

Math Concepts

• Count watermelon seeds or ants in groupings.
  
• Use positional words (e.g., ants go under the basket, watermelon is on top).
  
• Create AB or ABC patterns with cut-outs of ants, watermelon slices, and other picnic foods.
  
• Compare sizes (big/little ants or watermelon slices).
  
• Graph favorite picnic foods among classmates.
  

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Free  Preschool Picnic Ants & Watermelon Activity Plan

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Preschool Picnic Activities 

Below you will find a sample of some of our favorite activities for this theme. Click on a button below to find specific activities by type.

Pre-K Printables Club members can download all of our printable products, and instruction pages for hands-on activities for FREE using the member links in our shop listings and activity library. Not a member yet? Join here

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Fingerprint Ant Collage

This idea was submitted by Community Member Chris R. of Angels in Training Daycare. 
"​We began a unit on picnics this week. Yesterday we used magnifying glasses to try and find ants, study the different parts of ants and see if we could locate an ant hill. For ant pictures they tore up paper to make ant hills, used an ant stamp and made ants using their fingerprints and then drawing in the legs and antennas. They added picnic food from pictures they cut out of a magazine. View Member Instructions

Create a Picnic Tablecloth

For this art invitation to create your own tablecloth you will need a large white sheet, fabric markers, stencils, paint shirts
Be sure children wear paint shirts when using fabric markers. Explain to students that they will be working together to create a classroom picnic blanket. Set out the markers and invite children to create any design of their choosing on the blanket, encourage them to write their name to really make it special! 
Once the blanket is complete, use for an outdoor or indoor picnic! Place in the dramatic play center for children to use as they wish, encourage them to use it for other purposes as well such as fort building!

Try this!

​Create Watermelon Art

This craft uses art materials that are commonly on hand. You will need a plain paper plate, paint (red, yellow, green), black marker or black construction paper to cut and glue (for seeds), scissors, gluesticks, markers
Begin by providing information about watermelons through a tasting party or a book about watermelons, if you choose a tasting party try to include a yellow watermelon as well. Place materials on the table and invite children to create a slice of watermelon of their own. Students can choose the materials that appeal to them. They may choose to cut their watermelon into a crescent or wedge, or leave it whole! 

​Picnic Collage

Gather photos of picnic food (magazines, cut out from construction paper, or even shapes cut from construction paper), plain white paper plates, scissors, glue sticks, tissue paper squares
 Set the materials out on the table, be sure there are enough glue sticks and scissors for each child. Invite children to create a picnic lunch using the materials of their choice. View Member Instructions

​Make an Ant

Materials: Newspaper, chenille sticks, googly eyes or black markers, masking tape

Place the materials out on a small table, use shallow dishes for the googly eyes, spread the rest of the materials around the table. Show children how to squish the newspaper into a ball, they may wish to secure it with tape. Children can use masking tape to attach three balls of newspaper together to create the body of the ant, and the chenille sticks for the legs and antennae. 

**Teacher Tip: When children are using the tape, give them an opportunity to try to use the tape on their own before helping. Peeling the tape and tearing it is great for fine motor development and developing perseverance. 
**If you have the Picnics, Ants, & Watermelon Activity Pack from Pre-K Printable Fun be sure to print the Parts of an Ant page and review with children before the activity, then hang for refer

Picnic Drawing

Invite children to draw a picture of what they would love to do on a picnic!
Invite children to share their drawing and what they would like to do on a picnic with the group. 

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Teddy Bear Picnic 

Create a kit for your preschoolers to set up a teddy bear picnic!
Suggested Accessories: Picnic Blanket, Picnic Basket, Play Food, Tea set, Dishes, Blank paper and crayons for making signs. View Member Instructions

​Create a Sandwich Shop*

Transform your dramatic play space into a sandwich shop!
Children can create sandwiches for people on their way to a picnic. 
This Sandwich Shop Dramatic Play Pack makes setting up this invitation a breeze!

Picnic Dramatic Play Invitation

Community member Cheryl V. set up this lovely invitation for her preschoolers to have a pretend picnic. 

Ant Colony

Put antenna headbands in the dress up area and invite children to pretend to be ants in an ant colony.
You can add boxes/blocks so that they can build paths and use them as tunnels. View Member Instructions

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Build a Small World Play Park

Provide a variety of materials that children can use to create a miniature park in the block center. Include greenery such as fake grass, small trees, small rocks, blue, brown, and green felt, little picnic baskets and people. View Member Instructions

​Build an Ant Farm

After observing a small ant farm, or even watching a video, invite your preschoolers to create a pretend ant farm in the block center. View Member Instructions

Block Picnic Blanket

Set out pattern blocks, or other blocks and allow the children to create their own patterned picnic blanket.
View Member Instructions

Gather and Stack Picnic Food

Pretend to gather and stack food like ants!
Place several different plastic food items in the building area along with play dough. Invite children to try to build the largest food stack by attaching the food items together using the play dough. View Member Instructions

*Watermelon Uppercase-Lowercase Letter Matching

This letter recognition and matching set from PKPF is a great addition to your literacy center this week. This activity is included in the Picnic Activity Pack

Picnic Preschool Activities Pack

​Make Watermelon Letters

Provide preschoolers with black beans (to represent watermelon seeds), letter cards, and a red paper plate. Children can arrange the beans on the paper plate to create the letters they see on the cards. 
View Member Instructions

The Watermelon Seed  Pre-K Book Companion

Read the book The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli, follow up the activity by asking children to come up with their own story of what they think would happen if they ate a watermelon seed. 
Extend the learning with the printable activity, vocabulary review, book review, and discussion questions included in our Watermelon Seed Pre-K Book Companion (note: this is a Pre-K Printables Club Members exclusive activity)​​​

Pre-K Printable Club Members click here to download in our shop listing!

Eating a Watermelon Sequencing

This activity supports preschoolers in learning how to sequence a series of events, an important skill for reading comprehension. 
This is included in the ​Picnic Activity Pack

Picnic Preschool Activities Pack

Ant Puppets

Put out ant puppets and encourage children to create stories about the ants and put on a show.
View Member Instructions

Take a few good books with you on a picnic!
Here are a few fun theme related book choices.

The Watermelon Seed By Greg Pizzoli
We're Going on a Picnic By Pat Hutchins
Ants from National Geographic Kids
On Beyond Bugs: All About Insects by Tish Rabe
The Teddy Bears' Picnic by Jimmy Kennedy

Picnic Story Time Companion Activities

Read aloud the book The Bears' Picnic by Stan & Jan Berenstain. Follow-up with our Free Picnic Story Time Companion Activity for added literacy engagement and a fun craft. 

Ant Counting Mats

These ant counting mats are a fun way to practice counting and number recognition skills this week!
Pair these mats with the included printable ant math counters, plastic ants, or pom poms for added engagement. 
These number mats are included in the Pre-K Printable Fun  Picnic Activity Pack ​

Picnic Preschool Activities Pack

​Watermelon Seed Count & Graph

Serve slices of watermelon for snack, invite preschoolers to count up the seeds in each of their slices and compare quantities by making a graph. 

Picnic Lunch Number Sorting

Invite your preschooler to learn how numbers can be represented in many different ways with this Picnic Lunch Number Sorting Activity from PKPF. 

Picnic Lunch Number Sorting

Color Patterning

Use paper squares to encourage patterning. Set out paper squares in 2-3 colors, invite children to create a patterned picnic blanket by gluing the paper squares on a larger piece of paper. Ahead of time encourage your preschooler to place the squares on the paper and describe their pattern before gluing it. 

Ant Color Matching

This is the one time you would want ants at a picnic! For a fun color matching activity. 
Invite your preschooler to match up colored ants to the same color watermelon card. The color word is also included on the cards for literacy support. 
​Find this activity included in the
 Picnic Activity Pack ​

Picnic Preschool Activities Pack

Practice Basic Operations

Introduce subtraction to advanced preschoolers and pre-k students with this engaging subtraction mat. Use pom poms or play dough as manipulatives while engaging with these I Can Subtract mats. 
Or introduce addition with the picnic themed mat from the Basic Operations: I Can Add set

I Can Subtract Basic Operations Activity Pack

Sorting Heavy and Light Picnic Items

Read a book full of facts about ants. Discuss with children how ants can carry 5,000 times their body weight. Provide a basket full of objects that are both heavy and light, include picnic items as light as a paper plate up to objects that are just a few pounds in weight (perhaps a small watermelon). Have children start with paper plate, and then they might try to live some other objects. Encourage them to use descriptive words for the weight of the objects such as: Heavy, Light, Hefty, Substantial, Massive, Lightweight. Invite children to weigh the objects and themselves to compare. Suggested items include: Picnic Basket, Paper Plate, Tupperware, Soda Bottle, Blanket, etc. View Member Instructions

Count the Items in a Picnic Basket

Preschool students can practice their counting skills while identifying and sorting different picnic items. This engaging activity promotes math skills, cognitive development, and critical thinking in young learners.

*Life Cycle of an Ant

Learn about the life cycle of ants with this mini books included in the Picnic Activity Pack

Picnic Preschool Activities Pack

Watermelon Volcano

Cut a hole in the top of a watermelon and dig out some of the flesh and seeds. Add baking soda and dish soap into the watermelon along with drops of red food coloring. Have children add vinegar and watch the fizzing start and erupt from the watermelon!
View Member Instructions

Ant Farm Observation

Add a simple ant farm to your program for observation. Encourage children to draw what they see each day and/or take photos to monitor ant activity. View Member Instructions

Melting Picnic

Place a variety of food items that you might bring along to a picnic into a muffin tray (one food per spot). Have children predict which they think will melt in the sun. Leave outside on a sunny day, observe changes, and talk about their predictions. View Member Instructions

Watermelon Seed Transfer-Fine Motor

Provide tweezers for picking up watermelon seeds and transferring to a container. 
View Member Instructions

Picnic Play Dough​

\Encourage your preschoolers to manipulate play dough with a fun themed dough mat. They can add ants to the picnic blanket or food!
This mat is included in our
Summer Play Dough Mat pack.

Summer Play Dough Mats

Catching Ants-Fine Motor

Place small black pom pom "ants", and large black "pom pom" ants around your class. Set out a small and large jar (with a label) in your group area. Invite each child to search for an ant and place it in the correct jar. Extend the learning: ask the group to guess which jar has more ants, count the number of ants (don't forget to let them go!)

Picnic Food Lacing Cards-Fine Motor

Make your own picnic inspired lacing cards. Have children practice their fine motor skills with these picnic food lacing cards. Attach a string or shoe lace and have children weave the string in and out of each hole. For added fun, they can place the completed lacing cards in a picnic basket!
Get tips for making your own lacing cards on our Make Your Own Lacing Cards blog post. 

Try this!

Roll & Color Picnic-fun for small groups

Play the Roll and Color Picnic game from our Picnics, Ants, & Watermelon pack. This is fun for small groups as well, Students can take turns rolling, and coloring the page!

Picnic Preschool Activities Pack

Park Games-Gross Motor

This is a fun week to introduce outdoor toys such as frisbees and jump ropes.
Be sure to teach children how to use these materials safely. View Member Instructions

Sack Hop-Gross Motor

Provide burlap sacks for a sack hop (encourage children to simply hop around in the sacks rather than race, at this age they will be just learning to navigate this idea)! Be sure the space you use is free of potential hazards. 
View Member Instructions

Ants go Marching-Gross Motor

Use the popular children's song The Ants Go Marching.
Have children march around the classroom or outside and act out the song. View Member Instructions

Ant Path-Gross Motor

With chalk or painter's tape, put out several different types of lines on the pavement or floor for children to follow. Have them pretend they are ants trying to get to a picnic. Place picnic baskets at the end of the lines with plastic food. Childre will follow the lines to get to the baskets, pick a piece of food, and bring it back to the "ant hill"
View Member Instructions

Picnic Pop-Up-Gross Motor

Play a picnic version of Hot Potato by giving children different plastic foods that they might bring to a picnic.
Have the children stand in a circle and pass the food back and forth as quickly as they can. 
View Member Instructions

​*At the Picnic I Spy-Group Game Activity

Play I Spy as a group! Place the object cards around the room, mark the items on the mat as you find them. Find this I Spy mat and cards set included in our Picnic Preschool Activities Pack. 

Picnic Preschool Activities Pack

Read Aloud: Hey Little Ant by Philip M. Hoose

Read the story Hey Little Ant (this story is about a boy who is about to squish an ant on the sidewalk until the ant speaks up and asks what would happen if the roles were reversed). Talk about how they would feel if they were the boy or the ant and what they would do in the situation. This book is a great way to introduce empathy to young learners!

Picnic Nutrition-Group Discussion

Talk about different types of food as you pack a picnic basket with plastic food. You can tell children how some foods are considered fruits, vegetables, diary, grains, etc. Talk about how we need a variety of food to stay healthy. View Member Instructions

Take a Class Picnic-Field Trip

Set up a class picnic. Give each student a job to help with the setup such as helping to pack the picnic baskets, laying out the blankets, getting cups, etc. Have students practice their manners and taking turns waiting for food to be passed around. View Member Instructions

Ant Feelings Memory Game

Support preschoolers in emotion identification and get the conversation started about emotions with this ant themed game included in our Picnics Activity Pack. 

Picnic Preschool Activities Pack

Play Ant and Picnic Themed Board Games

Play games such as Ant in the Pants, Cootie Bug, Hi-Ho Cherry-o that have to do with food or ants to help students practice turn-taking. View Member Instructions

EDUCATOR RESOURCES : CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT & PARENT ENGAGEMENT IDEAS

Watermelon wiggle

Purchase and oblong watermelon to use as a "spinner" for your group activity this week. Place it in the center of the group space and spin it to choose a child for your group learning activities.

Family Engagement: Picnic

Invite families to the program to have a family picnic. You can utilize one big blanket or provide blankets for each family to have their own picnic at the program. 

Themed Calendar

Bring your theme into your calendar activities with this set of Summer Calendar Cards which includes watermelon themed cards!

Summer Calendar Activities

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Picnic Preschool Activity Pack

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Free Berenstain Bears Picnic Pre-K Book Companion

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