March arrives with a swirl of anticipation, bringing with it the whispers of spring and the joy of celebrating creativity. This transitional month, teetering between winter’s farewell and spring’s embrace, offers a perfect canvas for preschoolers to explore, learn, and have fun. From chasing rainbows to crafting their own flower gardens, March’s themes and activities create a magical blend of play and education that captivates young minds.
March Themes for Preschoolers
Rainbows and Leprechauns: A St. Patrick’s Day Celebration
St. Patrick’s Day offers a treasure trove of enchanting possibilities. Preschoolers can chase imaginary leprechauns, craft rainbows, and dive into tales of pots of gold.
Welcome Spring: Exploring Nature’s Awakening
As flowers bloom and days grow longer, children can explore the wonders of spring through nature walks, sensory activities, and creative crafts.
Windy Days: Weather Fun for Curious Minds
The blustery winds of March become an inspiration for kite flying, pinwheel-making, and weather exploration.
Green Everywhere: Celebrating Plants and the Environment
Celebrate the lush greenery of March by planting seeds, crafting leafy artwork, and learning about the environment.
Animals in March: Lambs, Lions, and Baby Animals
March’s iconic animals take center stage with themed crafts and stories that teach about wildlife and weather transitions.
Weekly Themes for a Fun March Schedule
Week 1: Colors of the Rainbow
Kick off March with a vibrant exploration of colors. Each day can focus on a specific color of the rainbow, with activities like painting, sorting colored objects, and rainbow crafts. This week’s highlight could be creating a giant rainbow mural together as a class.
Week 2: Shamrocks and Gold Coins
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by diving into Irish-inspired crafts and stories. From creating shamrock necklaces to searching for hidden gold coins in a sensory bin, this week is all about imagination and festive fun.
Week 3: Blossoming Flowers
Bring spring into the classroom with flower-themed activities. Children can make paper flowers, learn about how plants grow, and even start their own mini gardens. Add a storytime session featuring books about blooming flowers for extra enrichment.
Week 4: Weather Wonders
Wind, rain, and sunshine provide endless learning opportunities. Preschoolers can explore weather through hands-on experiments, dramatic play as meteorologists, and crafts like making cloud mobiles or sunny day drawings.
St. Patrick’s Day Crafts and Activities
Crafting Paper Plate Leprechauns
Transform ordinary paper plates into mischievous leprechauns. With a bit of paint, construction paper, and googly eyes, children can craft their very own magical friends.
Building Miniature Leprechaun Traps
Let preschoolers design tiny traps to catch those tricky leprechauns. Use boxes, glitter, and pipe cleaners to create whimsical contraptions sure to spark giggles and creativity.
Painting with Gold Glitter for Pot-of-Gold Art
Add sparkle to the classroom by letting kids paint their interpretation of pots of gold at the end of rainbows. This sensory-rich activity is a feast for the eyes and imagination.
Creating Rainbow Collages with Preschoolers
Using colored paper, tissue, or even fabric scraps, children can create stunning rainbow collages. Display their masterpieces as a classroom centerpiece for March celebrations.
Spring-Themed Crafts
Coffee Filter Butterflies
With simple materials like coffee filters, markers, and water, preschoolers can create colorful butterflies. Watching the colors blend is as magical as the end result.
DIY Flower Crowns
Let the children feel like royalty by crafting flower crowns from paper flowers, pipe cleaners, and ribbons. These crowns make for adorable photo opportunities!
Tissue Paper Cherry Blossoms
Bring the beauty of cherry blossoms indoors by crafting them from tissue paper and glue. Mount them on painted branches for a delightful seasonal decoration.
Painting with Nature: Leaves, Sticks, and Flowers
Take art time outdoors and let kids use natural items like leaves and sticks as painting tools. This tactile experience connects creativity with the world around them.
Weather-Themed Activities
Making Pinwheels to Celebrate Windy Days
Preschoolers will love creating their own pinwheels with colorful paper and straws. Watching them spin in the March wind will fill the day with excitement.
Rain Cloud Science Experiments
Bring science to life by using shaving cream, water, and food coloring to simulate rain clouds. It’s a mesmerizing way to teach about precipitation.
Creating Tornado Bottles for Fun Weather Science
Combine water, glitter, and dish soap in plastic bottles to create mini tornadoes. Preschoolers can shake them and watch the swirling magic unfold.
Sunny Day Chalk Art Creations
Take advantage of sunny days by heading outdoors for sidewalk chalk fun. Encourage children to draw sunshine, rainbows, and their favorite weather scenes.
Music and Movement Ideas for March
Dancing Under the Rainbow: Musical Movement
Use rainbow-colored scarves or ribbons and encourage kids to dance to cheerful music. This activity enhances coordination and brings joy to the classroom.
“It’s Raining, It’s Pouring” Sing-Along with Props
Hand out umbrellas and raindrop cutouts to make this classic nursery rhyme interactive. Kids will love acting out the lyrics!
Animal March Parade: Musical Pretend Play
Have preschoolers march like lions, lambs, or baby chicks to music. Add instruments like tambourines or shakers to enhance the fun.
DIY Instrument Crafts to Welcome Spring
Let kids create their own instruments, such as paper plate tambourines or rain sticks. Use these homemade instruments for impromptu music sessions.
Literacy and Storytime Activities
St. Patrick’s Day Story Hour: Tales of Leprechauns and Rainbows
Read engaging books about leprechauns and Irish folklore. Follow up with a discussion about the stories or a related craft.
Springtime Books for Preschoolers
Introduce children to books like The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle or Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert. These stories are perfect for March’s blossoming theme.
Weather Stories: Exploring the Elements Through Books
Choose books like Cloudette by Tom Lichtenheld to teach about weather in an engaging way. Pair the story with a weather-related activity for a full-circle experience.
Rainbow Word Hunts for Pre-Reading Skills
Hide colorful word cards around the classroom for children to find. This activity combines color recognition with early literacy skills.
Math and Science Exploration in March
Counting Gold Coins in Sensory Bins
Turn a simple sensory bin into a math adventure by adding gold coins. Encourage preschoolers to count, sort, and group the coins, building early numeracy skills.
Growing Grass Heads for Science Fun
Preschoolers can decorate small pots or cups with funny faces, plant grass seeds, and watch their “hair” grow. This project introduces the basics of plant life cycles and responsibility.
Sorting Spring Flowers by Color and Size
Use artificial flowers or flower cutouts to let children practice sorting by attributes like size, shape, or color. This hands-on activity sharpens observational and classification skills.
Exploring Rainbows with Color Mixing Experiments
Provide water, food coloring, and droppers for a rainbow-mixing experiment. Preschoolers can discover how primary colors blend to create new hues, sparking curiosity about color theory.
Dramatic Play Themes for March
Leprechaun’s Hideout: A Pretend Play Adventure
Transform a corner of the classroom into a leprechaun’s hideout with green decorations, shamrocks, and gold coins. Encourage children to pretend they’re sneaky leprechauns hiding treasure.
Farmer’s Market Fun: Pretend Shopping for Spring Produce
Set up a pretend farmer’s market with toy fruits, vegetables, and baskets. Kids can role-play as shoppers, farmers, or cashiers, practicing social interactions and imaginative play.
Weather Station Imagination Zone
Create a weather station complete with maps, thermometers, and microphones. Kids can pretend to be meteorologists, delivering weather updates to their “audience.”
Flower Shop Role Play
Stock a pretend flower shop with artificial flowers, vases, and play money. Preschoolers can take turns arranging flowers, running the register, and “buying” bouquets.
Outdoor Activities for March
Rainbow Scavenger Hunts in Nature
Organize a scavenger hunt where kids search for items matching the colors of the rainbow. This activity sharpens observation skills and encourages outdoor exploration.
Kite Flying for Wind Exploration
Choose a breezy day to introduce kite flying. Let the kids decorate their kites beforehand, turning it into both a craft and a thrilling outdoor activity.
Gardening with Preschoolers: Planting Easy Seeds
Provide soil, seeds, and small pots for children to plant their own mini gardens. Fast-growing seeds like radishes or marigolds offer quick gratification and teach patience.
Creating Mud Art: Messy Outdoor Fun
Let kids use mud as a medium to create art on cardboard or large paper. This messy yet rewarding activity encourages tactile exploration and creativity.
Art Projects Inspired by March Themes
Shamrock Stamping with Potatoes
Cut potatoes into shamrock shapes for children to use as stamps. Pair with green paint for a fun and festive art activity.
Finger Painting Rainbows
Set up stations for kids to create rainbows using finger paint. This sensory activity allows them to explore textures while creating vibrant artwork.
DIY Wind Sock Creations
Help preschoolers craft wind socks using tissue paper, ribbons, and paper towel tubes. These colorful creations can be hung outdoors to catch the March breeze.
Lion and Lamb Masks to Explore March’s Weather
March is said to “come in like a lion and go out like a lamb.” Kids can create lion and lamb masks using paper plates, cotton balls, and markers to symbolize this weather proverb.
Sensory Activities for March
Rainbow Rice Sensory Bins
Dye rice in various colors and fill bins with it for a tactile and visual sensory experience. Add scoops, funnels, and small toys to enhance the play.
Spring Garden Sensory Play
Create a garden-themed sensory bin with soil, fake flowers, and toy gardening tools. Preschoolers can “plant” flowers and dig, fostering fine motor skills.
Cloud Dough Creations
Make cloud dough using flour and oil, and let children mold, squeeze, and shape it. Add glitter for an extra magical touch.
Shamrock Slime for Tactile Exploration
Whip up some green slime and add glitter or shamrock confetti. This gooey activity is irresistible and offers a calming sensory experience.
Special March Celebrations
St. Patrick’s Day Party Ideas for Preschool
Plan a classroom party with themed snacks like green cupcakes, rainbow fruit skewers, and shamrock-shaped sandwiches. Include games like “Find the Gold Coins” for extra fun.
Spring Equinox Celebration Activities
Teach preschoolers about the arrival of spring with a special celebration. Incorporate flower planting, seasonal songs, and crafts to mark the equinox.
March Birthdays in the Classroom
Celebrate March birthdays with a spring or St. Patrick’s Day theme. Let the birthday child choose an activity or snack for the day.
Celebrating National Craft Month
March is National Craft Month, so embrace it by hosting daily or weekly craft sessions. Highlight different techniques like stamping, collage-making, or weaving to keep things fresh.
Conclusion: Wrapping Up March with Memories
As March comes to a close, reflect on the month’s adventures and accomplishments. Display a gallery of the children’s artwork, revisit favorite stories, and share a slideshow or memory book of the activities. The themes, crafts, and explorations of March not only bring joy but also lay the foundation for future learning. With the excitement of spring on the horizon, preschoolers are ready to bloom just like the world around them.
