Preschool Letter of the Week: A is for Animals

Letter of the Week Theme: A is for Animals

We’re diving into our letter of the week preschool learning plan at the obvious starting point: A is for Animals! Find the complete A-Z outline on the letter of the week preschool page. Each week follows a preschool plan with a weekly focus on letters, numbers, shapes, colors, and a theme.

I did these activities with my oldest daughter at 3 and 4 years old, but my younger daughters wanted in on the fun of “school” with us, so they started much younger. Exposure to a variety of words, concepts, and information is the idea, not whether or not your child does it “right.”

No need to have a formal “school” time either. You can print the one-page Preschool Plan for the week and fit in activities whenever you can. Have FUN with your kiddos!

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Preschool Plan Weekly Focus Areas

Letter of the Week = A
Theme of the Week = Animals
Number of the Week = 1
Color of the Week = Red
Shape of the Week = Square

Letter Activities

• Sing the alphabet song
• Identify the letter A: look for A in books and on signs
• Color, stamp, or decorate the letter A (download a free printable HERE)
• Practice writing the letter A (download a free printable for letters A and B HERE)
• Use a stencil to practice tracing the letter A
• Go on a letter sound hunt around the house (look for items that start with the letter of the week)
• Look at a picture dictionary and talk about words that start with A
• Letter A activity at www.starfall.com

Number Activities

• Identify the number 1 (what do you have 1 of?)
• Practice writing the number 1 (download a free printable for numbers 1 and 2 HERE)
• Number sticker book – add stickers corresponding to the number of the week (download the free printable HERE)

SHAPE AND COLOR ACTIVITIES

• Go on a shape hunt around the house or in books
• Practice drawing and coloring squares (download a free printable HERE)
• Use a red crayon to trace and color this week
• Talk about things that are red

Get the complete letter of the week preschool learning plan with printable worksheets, resources and more!
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Animal Theme Activities

• Play leapfrog, or Duck Duck Goose (you can have your child set up stuffed animals in a circle to play with if mom is up for some extra running – you get to be all the creatures!)
• Do an animal puzzle
• Sing Old MacDonald Had a Farm
• Pretend to be an animal (hop like a bunny, slither like a snake, run like a cheetah, lumber like an elephant)
• Baby animal matching game from Turtle Diary: discuss what baby animals are called
• Guess the Animal Sound Game (YouTube – Mister Teach)

Letter “A” and Animal Theme Books

• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr
  (Fun introduction to the alphabet. Listen to the song on YouTube for read-aloud inspiration.)
• Click Clack Moo Cows That Type by Coreen Cronin
• Laura Numeroff’s “If You Give..” series, including “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie,” “If You Give a Pig a Pancake,” “If You Give a Dog a Donut,” and lots more.
• Marc Brown’s “Arthur” books about lovable aardvark Arthur
• James Dean’s “Pete the Cat” books
• Any books about farm animals or pets (kids especially love baby animals)

Arts & Crafts

• Apple star painting: Cut an apple in half horizontally and remove seeds. Have your child brush a thin layer of paint on the cut side of the apple, trying to keep the paint from filling in the “star” in the middle. Press the painted apple onto a paper placed on a flat surface. You should see the “star” in the middle! See an example HERE from Messy Motherhood.
• Make an animal cave or den out of a box. You can go as big or small as you like with this one. We used a shoebox to make a bear cave. Use construction paper to cover the walls, crumple some up to make rocks or trees. Leave the box open and make a pond, grass, or flowers on the outside of the cave. Let them use their imagination. Your child can use a toy animal to play in the cave.
• Letter A alligator craft from Fun with Mama

Letter “A” Snack and Food Ideas

• apples
• applesauce
• animal crackers
• asparagus (great opportunity to introduce your kids to new foods!)
• angel food cake

Letter “A” Field Trip Ideas

• art gallery
• apple orchard
• aquarium
• airport
• pet store

**You may need to try a virtual field trip at this point in time. Here are a few possibilities:

Georgia Aquarium webcam

Farm Food 360 (Virtual tours from Canadian farms and food processing)

Apple orchard field trip

Airport virtual tour (Atlanta international terminal)

Preschool-on-a-page: A is for Animals

This one-page plan lists all the ideas we covered for letter, number, shape, color, and animal activities for the week. Intentionally engage with your child and more than anything READ, READ, READ with them.

Preschool Learning Plan

I have a set of Weekly Focus Theme Cards you can download to post on a bulletin board or even tape on a wall.

All 26 weeks provide activities promoting letter, number, shape, and color recognition and formation. In addition, you’ll do projects and play games to develop fine and gross motor skills, encourage imagination, and learn new concepts. Your child will learn songs, play games, and work on tasks that require multi-step instructions.

It would be impossible to list all the book options for each weekly letter and theme. The recommended reading selections are comprised of both “newer” books and award-winning, classic works to expose your child to a variety of authors and well-known titles. Feel free to add to the suggested titles as desired and make your own choices based on your preferences or availability of material.

Learning Through Play

Over the course of this 26-week preschool plan, your child will be introduced to all of the following:

Songs and Chants

• ABC song
• Five Little Monkeys Jumping On the Bed
• Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
• Hokey Pokey
• Itsy Bitsy Spider
• Old MacDonald Had a Farm
• Row, Row, Row Your Boat song
• Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
• The Wheels on the Bus
• You Are My Sunshine

Gross Motor Skills

• Balance activities
• Hopscotch
• Kicking a ball
• Skipping
• Throwing and catching a ball
• Red Light Green Light
• Yoga

Fine Motor Skills

• Building towers
• Picking up objects with tongs or tweezers
• Pick-up sticks
• Scooping and pouring
• Using glue
• Using scissors

Complex Thinking

• Sorting objects by size
• Following directions with multiple steps
• Giving clear directions
• Manners
• Timing (first, next, last)
• Pattern identification
• Retelling a story for comprehension
• Rhyming
• Syllable identification
• Days of the week
• Maps

Games

• Dominoes
• Hot potato
• I Spy
• Memory
• Simon Says
• Scavenger Hunt
• Tic Tac Toe

Self-Knowledge

• Writing name
• Knowing first, middle, and last name
• Birthday
• Phone number
• Address
• Safety/911

Plus so much more…

Visit my Preschool Letter-of-the-Week Page to find the complete list of A-Z weekly themes

Preschool Printables for this Week

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Letter of the Week Preschool Learning: A is for Animals