Preschool Picnic Lesson Planning Ideas
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Picnics are so much fun, especially for preschoolers! Eating outside, packing a fun lunch, munching some watermelon...what's not to love?
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*Create a Picnic Tablecloth
Materials: Large white sheet, fabric markers, stencils, paint shirts
Procedure: 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!
Follow-Up: 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!
Procedure: 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!
Follow-Up: 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!
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."
"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."
Create Watermelon Art
Materials: plain paper plate, paint (red, yellow, green), black marker or black construction paper to cut and glue (for seeds), scissors, gluesticks, markers
Procedure: 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!
Procedure: 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
Materials: photos of picnic food (magazines, cut out from construction paper, or even shapes cut from construction paper), plain white paper plates, scissors, gluesticks, tissue paper squares
Procedure: Set the materials out on the table, be sure there are enough gluesticks and scissors for each child. Invite children to create a picnic lunch using the materials of their choice.
Procedure: Set the materials out on the table, be sure there are enough gluesticks and scissors for each child. Invite children to create a picnic lunch using the materials of their choice.
Make an Ant
Materials: Newspaper, chenille sticks, googly eyes or black markers, masking tape
Procedure: 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
Procedure: 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
Materials: Large white piece of paper, markers
Procedure: Invite children to draw a picture of what they would love to do on a picnic!
Follow-up: Invite children to share their drawing and what they would like to do on a picnic with the group.
Procedure: Invite children to draw a picture of what they would love to do on a picnic!
Follow-up: Invite children to share their drawing and what they would like to do on a picnic with the group.
*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.
Suggested Accessories: Picnic Blanket, Picnic Basket, Play Food, Tea set, Dishes, Blank paper and crayons for making signs.
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!
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.
*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 Picnics Preschool Activities Pack
Make Watermelon Letters
Materials: Red paper plates, black seed shape cutouts, glue
Preparation: Set the materials out on a small table
Procedure: Invite children to the table, encourage them to create a letter by gluing the seed cutouts to the plate.
Variation: Make this an activity children can practice a variety of letters with over and over by using a plastic plate and no glue. Try this with a brown paper plate and ants
Preparation: Set the materials out on a small table
Procedure: Invite children to the table, encourage them to create a letter by gluing the seed cutouts to the plate.
Variation: Make this an activity children can practice a variety of letters with over and over by using a plastic plate and no glue. Try this with a brown paper plate and ants
Read Aloud Activity
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. Write down what they say to create a class book. Some children may want to draw illustrations to go along with the class story.
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 PKPF Picnic Preschool Activity Pack
This is included in the PKPF Picnic Preschool Activity Pack
Storytime Activity
Pair this picnic weaving craft (great for fine motor!) with your favorite book about picnics. Get your freebie on the Picnic Weaving Craft Blog post.
Take a few good books with you on a class picnic!
Here are a few fun theme related book choices.
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
Pignic By Matt Phelan
On Beyond Bugs: All About Insects by Tish Rabe
We're Going on a Picnic By Pat Hutchins
Ants from National Geographic Kids
Pignic By Matt Phelan
On Beyond Bugs: All About Insects by Tish Rabe
*Life Cycle of an Ant
Learn about the life cycle of ants with this mini books included in the Picnic Preschool Activities pack from PKPF.
Anatomy Of Fruit Investigation
Explore watermelon and other fruit with a scientific approach this week.
Explore fruit inside and out using this Anatomy of Fruit investigation pack from PKPF as a guide.
Explore fruit inside and out using this Anatomy of Fruit investigation pack from PKPF as a guide.
- Materials: Watermelon, watermelon knife (for teacher use only), magnifying glass, large plate, paper towels, small plates, water for washing the fruit, the book Watermelon by Rhonda Cox, Watermelon Investigation sheets from the Anatomy of Fruit Pack
- Preparation: Place the materials where they are accessible by teachers, however leave everything off the table initially. Prepare a safe space for cutting the fruit, be sure the space is clean.
- Procedure: Read the book Watermelon by Rhonda Cox. Talk to children about the parts of a watermelon. Ask if anyone has ever investigated a watermelon before (provide a definition for investigate as needed). Tell children they will get a chance to explore a watermelon. Ask them what they think it will be like inside, how will it look? smell? feel? taste? Write their predictions down.
- Allow children to explore the outside of the watermelon, encourage them to record their observations. Once everyone has explored the outside of the watermelon, take the watermelon to the cutting area and cut it open. Before cutting into slices, allow children to look at the watermelon cut in half.
- Next, cut the watermelon into individual slices for each child. Use the investigation sheets as a guide for exploration. After the investigation, enjoy as a snack while reflecting on the experience.
- **Teacher Tip: Have a scale handy to weigh the watermelon if desired. Children may wish to weigh themselves to see if they weigh more or less than the watermelon.
*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.
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 Preschool Activity Pack.
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 Preschool Activity 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.
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 PKPF Picnic Preschool Activity Pack.
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 PKPF Picnic Preschool Activity Pack.
Build a 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 and small trees, small rocks, blue, brown, and green felt, little picnic baskets and people.
Build an Ant Farm
After observing a small ant farm, or even watching a video, invite your preschoolers to create an ant farm in the block center.
Fine motor and Gross motor development
- Add the Watermelon & Picnic Basket Play Dough Mats to your Play Dough center to encourage both fine motor and math development. (Included in the Picnics, Ants, & Watermelon Pack)
- 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.
- 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.
- Provide tweezers for picking up watermelon seeds and transferring to a container.
- 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 items as light as a ball of paper up to objects that are just a few pounds in weight (perhaps a small watermelon). Have children start with a ball of paper, 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.
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.
Catching Ants
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!)
EDUCATOR RESOURCES : GROUP ACTIVITIES, CIRCLE TIME, & PARENT ENGAGEMENT
Roll & Color Picnic
Play the Roll and Color Picnic game from the Pre-K Printable Fun Picnics, Ants, & Watermelon pack in small groups
*At the Picnic I Spy
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 the PKPF Picnics Preschool Activities Pack.
Family 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.
RESOURCES FOR PRE-K AT HOME-COMING SOON!
