Preschool: Farm

This week was all about cows, pigs, horses, and barns with our Preschool Farm theme.  We love taking a trip to a local farm every spring here in Wisconsin, so this unit was the perfect tie in to expand our learning afterwards.

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  Here were our plans for our farm theme:

  And here are the details for each activity:

Mrs. Wishy Washy Retelling:

Our first book this week was Mrs. Wishy Washy’s Farm by Joy Cowley. After reading, Madelynn drew to show what happened in each part of the story.

Little Blue Truck Matching Game:

Our next story was Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle. After reading we practiced sound vocabulary with a matching game. Madelynn chose 2 cards and tried to find the sound to match each character from the story. We took turns trying to make matches until all matches were found.

Farm Problem & Solution:

Our next story was Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin. Before reading we discussed and defined problem. We talked about how every story usually has a problem or something that goes wrong. After reading, Madelynn drew and labeled the problem in the story (The cows wanted electric blankets.) Then we talked about and drew how the problem was solved (The duck helped make a trade for the typewriter.)

Barnyard Inferring:

Our last book was Cock-a-Doodle-Doo! Barnyard Hullabaloo by Giles Andrae. First we discussed the animals that live on the farm. Then I read the poems 1 at a time without showing the illustrations.  Madelynn used the clues in the text along with what she knew to infer the type of animal and draw it on her response page. She loved when I showed her the picture to check if she was right.

Tracking Print:

Our last book was this letter F for Farm alphabet reader. Madelynn identified the picture then pointed to each word as she read. Since we switched to the more difficult version she is working on learning new sight words each week. Afterwards she colored all of the pictures in.

Color by Sound Farm:

This week we focused on ending sounds so we started with this color by code activity. Madelynn looked at the small pictures in the larger picture, and identified the ending sound. Then she followed the directions to make each spot the correct color.

Farm Sound Stamping:

Next, for more letter practice we used our dot stampers. We started out stamping inside the letter to make a F. Then Madelynn had to find the upper and lowercase f’s in the farm, stamp them and make the “F” sound each time. Then she stamped the other letters different colors and tried to make the sounds for each one.

Farm Sound Toss:

To practice identifying tricky vowel sounds, I set up this farm themed ring toss game.  First I placed farm animal puppets on top of upside down plastic cups to make them stand up. Then I taped a middle sound card on each one.  Madelynn chose a word card, identified the missing middle sound, then tried to toss a ring around the animal with that sound.

Tractor Name Craft:

For this week’s name craft we created this tractor pulling name hay bales.  First, Madelynn cut the craft pieces out. Then she wrote the letters in her name on each hay bale. Next she glued the tractor pieces together and added the hay bales in order to spell her name. 

Farm Journaling:

For our journal this week Madelynn chose to draw her favorite farm animal. Our local farm has a kitty barn that is just too cute for words, filled with the most adorable tiny kittens every year. So naturally she said “I like kitties.” I drew lines for each word, then we worked on writing the sounds together.

Farm Number Writing Tray:

Our first math activity this week was a farm themed number writing tray.  To make this fun sensory activity I filled our tray with dirt. Madelynn used barn number cards as a model and chose which ones she wanted to practice.  Then she used a farm animals and/or her finger to write numbers in the tray.

Positional Word Farm:

Our math focus this week was finding and placing objects in relative locations. I printed and laminated positional word cards and farm animal/object cards then attached a piece of magnetic tape to the back of each object. Madelynn chose a positional word card and used the magnets to arrange the objects on the farm.

Roll and Go Farm:

For this positional word game we started out by setting up our Little People Farm and animals.  Then Madelynn chose an animal and rolled a die with positional words on it to find out where to put the animal in relation to the barn.  We took turns practicing all of the different positions.

Where is the Farmer?:

For our next positional word practice activity, I created this simple printable book with cut out pieces.  On each page I used a different positional word (above, below, behind, next to, between, etc.) and Madelynn cut and glued the farmers in the correct spot on each page.

Farm Sorting Book:

For our last math activity, I put together this book with opposites on each page and farm themed pictures for sorting.  I laminated and added velcro to all of the pieces so they could be used over and over again.  Then Madelynn practiced identifying left/right, in front/behind, over under, and on/off.

Wishy Washy Sensory Bin:

In this bin: “mud,” plastic animals, tin tub, water, scrub brushes

To set this activity up I filled a small bin with 1 cup water. Then I added  2 cups cornstarch a bit at a time, and sprinkled a few spoonfuls of unsweetened cocoa powder in for color and scent. I added the animals to the “mud” mixture, then filled a separate tub with water and scrub brushes. To help contain the mess I placed both bins inside a larger bin.

Farm Directed Drawing:

For this directed drawing I drew one part of the farm at a time on my paper, and Madelynn followed along by drawing the same or similar shape on her paper.  She is quite the perfectionist, so I had her use a pencil in case she wanted to erase try any part of the farm again.  Then I had her outline the entire farm with a black crayon.  (You could definitely skip the pencil and start with a black crayon to save time.) To finish off the project, Madelynn used watercolors to paint her farm and add details to the background.

Ice Cream in a Bag:

Have you ever made ice cream in a bag? We tried it for the first time in tot school last year and I was SHOCKED at how easy and delicious it was! So I knew I had to bring this activity back for preschool this year. Here is the recipe:

  1. Mix 3 cups crushed ice and 1/3 cup salt in a gallon freezer bag. 2. Mix 1/2 cup whole milk, 1/4 tsp vanilla, and 1 Tbsp sugar in sandwich bag. 3. Drop the small bag inside the large bag and SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE! **Wear gloves the bag will get really cold ** 4. After about 5 minutes take the small bag out and enjoy, yum!

Cow Craft Plate:

To make this cute little cow, we started by using a balloon to stamp black paint spots on a paper plate. After the plate dried, Madelynn cut and glue paper pieces onto the plate to make a cow face.

Farm Animal Matching Bin:

In this bin: oatmeal, Melissa & Doug Farm Animal Pop Blocs, spoons, cups

Want all of this week’s Farm activities for preschool?  You can grab them here:
On my site : Farm Plans & Printables On TpT: Farm Plans & Printables

Or you can grab our entire year of themes and plans:
On my site here: Preschool Bundle On TpT here: Preschool Bundle

Then check out the rest of our 45+ themes on the Preschool Curriculum Main Page.