Preschool Worms Snails and Slugs Theme Planning Page

Explore a variety of preschool Worms, Snail and Slugs 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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• Activities
  • Art & Creativity
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Preschool Worms Snails and Slugs Theme Planning  Section

Quick Links:

Theme Map/Learning objectives
Free activity plan
Club Members can download our Worms, Snail, and Slugs theme planning guide and all of our printable resources including instruction pages for free inside our Activity Library! Not a member? Learn More Here!

Preschool Worms Snail and Slugs Topic Ideas & Learning Objectives

Below, you'll find our Theme Map outlining key topics to explore and suggested learning objectives to guide your lessons.

Here are some preschool learning objectives tailored for a Worms, Snails, and Slugs theme. These objectives align with early childhood developmental domains and can be used to guide your activities for the week:
Cognitive Development

• Children will be able to identify and name worms, snails, and slugs.
• Children will explore and describe the basic characteristics (body structure, movement, habitat) of worms, snails, and slugs.
• Children will compare and contrast these creatures using simple observation skills (e.g., slimy vs. dry, hard shell vs. no shell).
• Children will participate in simple science experiments (e.g., watching how worms move through soil).

Creative Arts

• Children will use a variety of materials to create art inspired by worms, snails, and slugs (e.g., painting with slime-like textures, making shell collages).
• Children will use imagination during dramatic play, pretending to move and behave like worms, snails, or slugs.

Language and Literacy

• Children will listen to and engage with themed books, songs, and poems about worms, snails, and slugs.
• Children will be able to retell simple stories or describe events related to the theme using sequence and vocabulary (e.g., slimy, crawl, shell).
• Children will expand vocabulary with words like “tentacle,” “mucus,” “burrow,” and “gastropod.”

Math and Problem Solving

• Children will practice counting using worms, snail shells, or slug trails in activities (e.g., count how many spirals on a snail shell).
• Children will explore patterns and sorting (e.g., sorting creatures by type, size, or color).
• Children will engage in simple measuring activities, such as comparing the lengths of pretend worms.

Physical Development

• Children will improve fine motor skills through activities like threading “worm” string through holes or tracing snail shell spirals.
• Children will practice gross motor skills by imitating movements—sliding like slugs, stretching like worms, or curling like snails.

Social and Emotional Development

• Children will practice taking turns and sharing during themed games and sensory bin activities.
• Children will express empathy and respect for living creatures, learning how to gently observe or care for small animals.
  

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Free Worms Snail and Slugs Preschool Activity Plan

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Worms Snails and Slugs Preschool 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.

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Snail Spin Art

Introduce your preschoolers to spin art! 
This fun snail spin art craft is an extension idea from our Free Swirl by Swirl Pre-K Book Companion View the Blog Post or Buy Now

Try this!

Create a Tissue Paper Snail

Here is an opportunity for Artist Exploration. 
Read the book Snail Trail by Jo Saxton, or watch it on YouTube.
After the story invite children to "paint with scissors" using tissue paper to create a snail. Children can glue the tissue paper to a paper plate, then use the printable freebie from the Snail Spin Art tutorial for the body. 

Materials to Spark Creation

Add some fun materials to spark creation and allow for free exploration in the art space this week. Some ideas: Shells, Garden Stencils, Paper Plates, Spirograph, Fake Worms, and Yarn. You will also want to add extra brown paper and markers to the space this week. 

Worm Tracks

Supply preschoolers with thick yarn or string, paint, and card stock. Squirt a few drops of paint on the cardstock. Cut a long piece of yarn for each child. Invite them to drag the yarn through the paint to make worm tracks on the paper. **biocolors would be fun for this project or invite your preschoolers
to a color mixing activity to make brown

Invitation to Paint with Rubber Worms

A creative and hands-on art activity that will captivate your preschoolers! Explore textures and colors as you paint with squiggly rubber worms. Perfect for enhancing sensory development and imaginative play.
View the Blog Post or View Member Instructions

Try This!

Dirt Cup Snack

Create Dirt Cups with chocolate pudding, chocolate cookies, and gummy worms for snack.

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Gastropod Study Station

In the Gastropod Study Station, little malacologists can explore the world of snails and slugs! With photographs, magnifying glasses, shells, and toy snails and slugs, children can observe and learn about these fascinating creatures. If you have the Worms, Snails, & Slugs Activity Pack, you can also add Label the Parts of a Snail and 3-Part Vocabulary Cards to enhance the learning experience. This activity promotes curiosity, observation skills, and vocabulary development.
View Member Instructions

Pretend to be Worms

Put a brown sheet over a table, children can crawl underneath pretending to be worms underground.

Gardening

Add gardening tools outside for children to pretend to be scientists studying gastropods and worms. 

Bait Shop

Transform your dramatic play stand into a bait shop. 
Add all kinds of play worms, some little buckets, bobbers (no hooks), and pretend fishing poles. You could also set up a "pond" nearby using a large blue blanket or silk scarves. 

Pretend to be a Snail

Gather a variety of boxes that preschoolers could put on their backs to pretend to be snails. Decorate the boxes as snail shells (preschoolers could help with this!). Add ribbon at each side of the box, so they can tie the boxes on their backs or ribbon with Velcro for easy attachment. Let them move around like snails and imagine how snails would interact with one another. You could even add items from the forest to the center that they could use in their play!

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Construct a Worm, Snail, & Slug Habitat

Invite your preschoolers to create a pretend worm, snail, & slug habitat.  Add pretend worms, snails & slugs, brown felt (dirt), and rocks.  Encourage them to consider what type of materials these creatures use and what they can use to represent those materials. ​
Add plenty of photos for inspiration!
View Member Instructions

Invitation to Build Snails

In a tray, put out a few different colors of play dough, rocks or other round objects, small pipe cleaners, googly eyes, etc. Invite preschoolers to construct their own snail using the materials.

Snail Shell Stack

Purchase snail shells. Invite students to try to stack the shells on top of each other to make the highest tower.

Build a Spiral

Read: Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature by Joyce Sidman and create spirals using blocks.

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*Where's My Shell?
​Uppercase & Lowercase File Folder Game

Invite preschoolers to practice uppercase and lowercase letter matching with this file folder game included in the Worms, Snails, & Slugs Activity Pack

Buy this activity!

Worm Hunt and Find Letter Matching Game*

Engage your little ones in a letter-matching adventure with this delightful printable file folder game! Perfect for preschoolers, this worm hunt activity promotes early literacy skills while having fun. Ready to print and play, it's sure to keep your kids smiling as they match letters with cute worms! Buy Now

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Snail Trails and Letters

Create snail trails with chalk outside. Invite children to follow the snail trail from left to right, top to bottom.
Make a reference about how books are read in the same manner.

Sorting S and W  words

This engaging preschool activity helps young learners practice sorting words that start with the letters S and W. With adorable visuals and simple instructions, this printable is the perfect way to reinforce letter recognition and early literacy skills. Ideal for classroom centers or at-home learning! Buy Now

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Swirl by Swirl Free Pre-K Book Companion

The Free Swirl by Swirl Book Companion Set is a fun and interactive activity designed to engage preschoolers in the world of nature. With a book review, conversation questions, and vocabulary activity, children will learn about animals, plants, and their habitats while enjoying the colorful illustrations. This activity encourages curiosity and language development, making it perfect for preschoolers who love exploring and learning about the world around them. Buy Now

Get this freebie!

​Provide a lot of books about these little creatures,
be sure to include fun stories as well as non-fiction reference books and early reader books. 

Here are some of my favorite books about Worms, Snails, & Slugs to get your lessons off on the right foot!

Are You a Snail? by Judy Allen
Wiggling Worms at Work by Wendy Pfeffer
Some Smug Slug by Pamela Duncan Edwards
Wonderful Worms by Linda Glaser
Sammy the Snail's Amazing Day by Sandrine Lahomme
Under One Rock by Anthony D. Fredericks
Snails Are Just My Speed! By Kevin McCloskey

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Let's Measure Worms and Slugs*

This Let's Measure Worms & Slugs activity is perfect for preschoolers to learn about measurement! Download and print this fun activity to engage your little ones in measuring these adorable creatures. It's a hands-on way to introduce math concepts in a playful and interactive manner. Buy Now

Buy this activity!

Digging For Worms Counting Mats*

Engage your little ones in a fun and educational activity with these adorable Digging for Worms Counting Mats! Perfect for preschoolers, these printable mats will help them practice their counting skills while having a blast. Watch as they dig up worms and place them in the corresponding jars, reinforcing their understanding of numbers 1-10. A hands-on learning experience that your kids will love! Buy Now

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Buckets of Worms

Gather 10 buckets or containers. Mark each bucket with a number (either write on or tape paper) so you have one for each number 1-10.
Next, you will need a basket of worms! You can use math counters like these from Learning Resources, strips of construction paper, or the printable worms from the our  ​Worms, Snails, & Slugs Activity Pack.
Challenge children to count out the worms and add the corresponding number to each bucket.

Count and Clip Cards*

This Count and Clip Cards Printable Preschool Activity is perfect for little learners to practice counting, number recognition, and fine motor skills. Simply count the objects on each card, and clip a clothespin onto the correct number. A fun and engaging way to reinforce early math skills! Buy Now

Buy this activity!

Worm Sorting

Cut long, medium, and short sized pieces of strings to make worms or you can purchase fake plastic worms of different sizes. Have your preschoolers sort the worms based on size (small in one bowl, medium in another, and long in another). You can put a model in each bowl to help them or allow them to do it completely independently. Add a fine motor component by having your preschoolers use tweezers or tongs to pick up the worms and put them in the correct bowl. View Member Instructions

Worm Math Snack

Give each child a variety of gummy worms to count up! Another opportunity is to point out the designs and colors on the gummy worms and make patterns.

Feed the Bird Counting

Practice counting and fine motor skills with this delightful feeding activity.
Try for Free

Get this freebie!

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Create a Worm Farm

Engage your little learners with a hands-on DIY Worm Farm project! Teach them the wonders of nature, recycling, and responsibility while having fun exploring the world beneath our feet. Perfect for preschool classrooms! View the Blog Post or
View Member Instructions

Try this!

Earthworm Life Cycle*

This Earthworm Life Cycle printable preschool activity is a fun and educational way to teach young children about the fascinating journey of an earthworm from egg to adult. Perfect for hands-on learning! Buy Now

Buy this activity!

Worm Sensory Play

 Fill your sensory bin up with Kinetic "Play Dirt", soil or wet sand. Bury pretend worms for children to discover. Other filler items to consider this week: used coffee grounds, dry black beans, cooked cold spaghetti noodles, slime. View Member Instructions

What's the Difference?

Learn a bit about slugs including how they differ from snails. Share this short youtube video with your preschoolers or watch for yourself and share the information. **Before watching the video invite your preschoolers to think of ways slugs might be different than snails. Write down their ideas, see if any were proven or disproved in the video.  

Search for Worms, Snails, & Slugs

Get out and get dirty! Search for Worms, Snails, & Slugs in their natural habitat. 
When you find them, take photos and have a discussion.  Talk about their habitat. What materials do they notice? Is the area dry or wet? Are there puddles of water? How about shelter? What do they eat?
If they had a pet _____ what materials would they need to recreate their habitat? 

**Extension ideas:

• Invite children to construct a pretend habitat in the block center.
• Set up a habitat in the classroom and bring in a creature for observation
• Set up an invitation to draw or cut and paste to make a habitat with paper. 
• Read a fact book about worms, snails, or slugs

Worm Slug Snail Observation

Place a snail, slug, and or worm in the classroom for brief observation. Encourage preschoolers to draw the creature. Set out plenty of books that will answer all the questions they will have!
**If time and materials permit, observe each of these creatures. After the observations invite children to make comparisons. 

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Use Dough to Create Worms, Snails, & Slugs

Learning to roll dough between their hands to make snakes is great for physical development and helps them in developing skills to craft more complex play dough creations.
For older preschoolers challenge them to use clay this week. It can be a bit harder to work with which beefs up the workout for their little hands. Buy Now

Garden Creature Obstacle Course

Create a garden creature obstacle course! Include tunnels to encourage preschoolers to wiggle through like worms, large rocks (or item to represent a rock) to glide over like a snail, logs, etc. 

Snail Relay Race

Get ready to crawl in this Snail Relay Race! Preschoolers will love scooting across the floor in their snail shells. This activity promotes gross motor skills, coordination, and teamwork. Supply backpacks, Bilibos, or cardboard boxes to act as snail shells. Who will be the fastest snail in the race? Find out in this fun and engaging preschool activity!
View Member Instructions

Weaving worms

Provide pipe cleaners (worms) and a strainer, encourage preschoolers to weave the pipe cleaners through the strainer.

Wormy Pick Up

Add rubber worms to a plastic shoe box that is filled with newspaper, or brown crinkle paper (dollar tree). Provide your child with tweezers and encourage them to pick out the worms (practice counting each one you find)! View Member Instructions

Get Moving with Music

Herman the Worm is a fun song for preschoolers from The Learning Station that incorporates math skills too!

Self-Regulation like a Worm, Snail, & Slug

Preschoolers develop at a rapid speed, learning ways to handle their emotions can be difficult. I love what Community Member Ashley T. suggested for this theme...
"Slow down their thinking like a snail, dig deep into who they are like a worm, and always leave their own trail like a slug"
As an extension of this discussion you can place images of these creatures in your calm down space or prominent location in your learning environment as a reminder for preschoolers and adults. 
View Member Instructions

Move Like a....Worm, Snail, or Slug

There are several ways you can play this game with kids!

• Print photos of these creatures, draw from a jar and challenge children to move like the drawn creature. 
• Take turns, one at a time choose one of the creatures and move like it. Everyone else guesses which creature they are moving like. 
• Play sloooooow music and encourage children to move like the creatures. Supply tunnels as well as things children can squeeze through like pillows. 
  

Positive Contributions

This idea comes from reader Destiny H. 
She suggested talking about the amount of work each creature does to support the ecosystem. Each contributes in a positive way! Encourage preschoolers to think about what they can do to make the earth a better place. 
This would be a great follow-up to observing Worms, Snails, and Slugs such as a Worm Farm or this
Build a Worm Viewer from Spell Out Loud. 
Book Suggestion for this activity: It's a Good Thing there are Earthworms by Jodie Sheperd

Get up & Move, Don't Be a Slug!

This idea was contributed by reader Lori O. 
Use slugs to make a connection for preschoolers between emotional health and physical health. 
​Follow-up an observation of slugs (either real or a video) with a discussion about how worms, snails, and slugs move. Mention how important movement is for the brain! Then....get moving! 
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Dirt and Germs

This idea shared by our reader Laurie C. packs in so many different skills!
"Let them dig under your rocks for worms in your garden before you plant your plants !! Tell them it’s okay to get dirty ... then reinforce hand-washing remind them some germs can be seen like dirt and some are invisible. "

I love how she included this as a precursor for getting ready for gardening. This is great for children learning planning skills and contribution. As educators we are always encouraging hand-washing, using this activity as a teachable moment is fantastic! 

Snail Race Game-Teamwork

Play this fun game in a small group.
Choose a mainpulatives to use as playing pieces. You could use pom poms, snail erasers, or snail math counters.
Take turns rolling the playing cube and moving your piece around the board. Encourage children to identify the shapes they roll. If they cannot identify a shape use descriptions to help them recall "This shape has 4-sides, what shapes do we know that have 4 sides"

Slowly Slowly

Here is a fun rhyme that teaches the concept of slow with your preschoolers from Jbrary.
Follow along with their Youtube video, and get the lyrics, and some tricks and tips!

Being Respectful and Safe with Living Things

Bring snails, worms, or slugs into the classroom for students to observe. Talk about the rules for observing them and how we can be respectful and safe with living things.

How Does the Snail Feel

Create snails that show different emotions. Hold them up and have students identify the emotions. Talk about what could make the snail feel that way. Use the snails to have students identify their emotions for the day.

Worm Feelings Dance

Have your students imagine how a worm would dance. Then invite them to show different worm dances based on emotions. Example, "Show me an angry worm dance" or "Show me a happy worm dance."

Singing to the Worms

Worms need love just like we do! Learn and sing this fun song about worms.

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Communication

Send home a note about this upcoming theme. Include some of the planned activities. Ask for donations of items that could be used for these activities such as a terrarium for an observation tank, snail shells, or time to contribute to a big project.  By communicating what you are doing in the program, parents can engage their children at home and talk about the same topic and help make real world connections. 

Family Involvement-Backyard creature Hunt

Encourage families to go on a Backyard Creature Hunt. See what creatures they can find in the backyard. Children can then talk about what they found during circle time or even share a photo. A picture of a worm may not be big news to adults, but I guarantee it will be a HIT with the preschoolers. And they can never see too many. 

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Pre-K Printables Club Members

Pre-K Printables Club members can download all of our printable products for FREE through the member links in our shop listings and activity library.  Not a member yet? Join here!

Worms Snails and Slugs Preschool Activity Pack

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Free Swirl by Swirln Pre-K Book Companion Set

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Feed the Bird Preschool Counting Game

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