Fall is a great time to explore camping in the preschool classroom. Many parents camp in the fall because of the cooler weather and crunchy leaves.
Camping is a theme that can reach preschoolers on all their sensual levels. The smell of the outdoors, the crunchy sound of the leaves, the sight of the beautiful outdoors, the feelings of putting together a tent and the taste of roasted marshmallows. It is a week that the kids will love.
Here are a few activities to make the theme of camping come alive in your classroom.
Art Art is my favorite time of the day with these fun activities. Sleeping bag-Have parents donate a large white sleeping bag or a $1 from each parent. Take fabric paint for the kids to decorate. You can cut out stamp shapes of tents, leaves, fish, etc. or let the kids be creative to create their own sleeping bags. They will enjoy the finished project. Campfire-Take a black construction paper and allow the kids to glue pretzel sticks as wood for the fire. Then you can sponge paint red and orange or use fruit roll-ups. Be sure to glue marshmallows on the top of the fire. Binoculars-Collect toilet paper rolls for the kids to use. Decorate with stickers of bugs or other things you might see while camping and glue the two rolls together.
Homeliving Put up a tent for the kids to play in. Be sure to include some laterns, sleeping bags, flashlights, etc. You can even make a pretend fire out of butcher paper. The kids will love to pretend to camp. If you do not have time to put tent up, have the kids help you the first day. They will love seeing it all come together.
Fishing Make fishing poles using bamboo stick and string. Be sure to tie a strong magnet to the end. Laminate different letters of the alphabet and place magnets on the letters. Allow the kids to take turns fishing and telling you what letter they caught.
Sensory table Place earthworms in soil in the table. You can get them or any kind of worm from a bait or sporting store. The kids love holding them and watching them dig. You can also have a worm race by taking them out and putting them on wax paper. The kids love it.
Campfire lunch Plan a fun picnic lunch outside in nature. Make hotdogs and fruit cups for the kids. If your school allows, visit a local park that has hiking trails for the picnic lunch.
Snacks Kids will love making trailmix together. Have each child bring an assortment of pretzels, chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, cereal, etc. Then take turns pouring it in a big sack. Let each child shake to mix it up. Simple Smores-Allow the kids to spread fudge frosting and marshmallow fluff on graham crackers using craft sticks. Yum!
Songs These are just a couple of songs that we love to do during this theme. A Camping We Will Go A camping we will go A camping we will go Hi Ho to the forest we'll go A camping we will go *additional verses: We'll pitch the tent right here... We'll sleep in a sleeping bag... We'll hike in a field of grass... We'll roast hotdogs by the fire... Going on a bear hunt is a fun, song to sing and you can also get the book to read along with it.
These are just a few suggestions to get your creative juices flowing. Enjoy the week and allow the kids to enjoy nature.
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