Letter of the Week Theme: Y is for Yesterday
The letter of the week theme today is “Y” is for Yesterday!” Along with the letter of the week, we explore, numbers, shapes, and colors. You’ll get song, game, craft, and snack ideas, plus printables!
Print the one-page Preschool Weekly Focus and fit in activities throughout the week. Over the course of all 33 weeks, your child will enjoy classic preschool songs and games, and experience activities to encourage development of both gross and fine motor skills.
If you want to start at the beginning, check out A is for Animals or visit the preschool curriculum page to find the complete A-Z outline for an overview of each letter.
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Preschool Letter of the Week Focus
Letter of the Week = Y
Theme of the Week = Yesterday
Number of the Week = counting by 10s
Color of the Week = color wheel
Shape of the Week = review
Letter Activities
- Identify the letter Y: look for Y in books and on signs
- Color, stamp, or decorate the letter Y (download a free printable letter Y)
- Practice writing the letter Y (download a free printable for letters Y and Z)
- 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 Y
- Letter Y activity at www.starfall.com
Number Activities
- Review numbers 1-10 (counting, identifying)
- Practice counting by 10s (counting by 10s printable)
- Counting by 10s (YouTube – The Singing Walrus)
Shape and Color Activities
- Go on a shape hunt to review squares, circles, triangles, and rectangles
- Review shapes and practice drawing favorite shapes (free printable shape review page)
- The Color Wheel (YouTube – roomofplasticflowers)
- Color wheel: Download a color wheel from Mr. Printables and fill in the colors with crayon or marker
- Paper towel color wheels from Teach Preschool
Get the entire bundle of printables, PLUS supplemental worksheets and resources in my shop!
Letter “Y” and Yesterday Theme Activities
- Physical activity: do yoga together (Alphabet Yoga A-Z on YouTube)
- play with a yo-yo
- cook fried eggs together and watch the yolk go from runny to firm
- play yucky and yummy at mealtimes: use paper or a whiteboard to track the yucky vs. yummy food (talk about the way our taste changes as we get used to different foods)
- play a yesterday or today question game: graph or tally the answers with yellow and turquoise (e.g. ask your child if they ate pancakes yesterday or today, if you went to the park yesterday or today, did you read with grandma yesterday or today)
- make a yellow brick road with LEGO: also, count bricks up to 20 to practice counting, make groups of 10 bricks and count by 10s
Items You Might Use this Week
Yoga mat
100 healthy foods list available in my shop!
Letter “Y” and Yesterday Theme Books
- Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett
- Looking for Yesterday by Alison Jay
- Yes Day by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
- Yoko by Rosemary Wells
- You Be Good and I’ll Be Night by Eve Merriam
- Yuck Said the Yak by Alex English
Letter “Y” and Yesterday Theme Arts & Crafts
- Yarn art: glue pieces of yarn onto a large Y shape (you can cut a simple Y out of cardboard or heavyweight cardstock)
- Yarn wrapped vase (from Hands On As We Grow)
- Letter Y yak craft (example at Crystal & Co.)
Letter “Y” Snack and Food Ideas
- yakisoba
- yams
- yogurt
- yuca (cassava root/tapioca)
Letter “Y” Field Trip Ideas
- yarn shop
- yoga studio
- yacht
**If you want to try a virtual field trip, here are a few possibilities:
Yacht | Boats for Kids (YouTube – Things That Go TV): Video footage of a yacht with kid-friendly narration.
How Cotton Yarn is Made into Yarn Cones and Yarn Balls (YouTube – The Crochet Crowd): The narration is too complex for a preschooler, but the video of big machines twisting and packaging the yarn is mesmerizing.
Additional Preschool Activities This Week
Sing The ABC song this week.
Have a “yes” day. Say YES to as many things as possible!
Practice retelling a story: what happened first, next, last
Preschool-on-a-Page
This one-page plan lists all the ideas we covered for letter, number, shape, color, and animal activities for the week. Use the preschool letter of the week to intentionally engage with your child and more than anything READ, READ, READ with them.
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.
Preschool Letter of the Week Curriculum
I’ve made it easy for you to start a letter of the week curriculum with a complete preschool plan available in my shop. I spent all the hours browsing Pinterest for ideas and searching for activities that promote motor skill development, teach classic songs and games, and make learning fun. I used a letter of the week preschool learning plan to teach my three daughters, and you can too! Download the entire set and get started today!
- Weekly Theme Cards
- Weekly Focus Pages
- letter of the week outlines for crafting
- letter, number, and shape worksheets
- supplemental worksheet activities
- over 100 additional book recommendations
- supply list for crafts and activities
- list of concepts and kindergarten readiness activities introduced
Visit my Preschool Letter-of-the-Week Page to find the complete list of A-Z weekly themes
Preschool Letter of the Week Printables
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