Back to School Theme Learning Activities & Shelf

I made this Back to (Home) School shelf specially for my son. This year, I made a huge decision to homeschool him. You know how first day of school is such a unique and amazing experience for the children and I want to make sure it is a special day for my son too as he starts his first day of home school.

To read more about how we do learning at home with our theme based learning shelf, I encourage you to read our How HTS Works page first. To know why we do theme based learning, check out this page.

Back to School Learning Shelf

• Unique Hashtag on Instagram: #backtoschoolHTS
• Focus Book: Welcome to Kindergarten by Anne Rockwell and If You Take a Mouse to School by Laura Numeroff

Also check out this 40+ Back to School Books post from Days with Grey.

This learning shelf and the activities are created for children of ages 1.5 years old to 6 years old. My son was 5 years 5 months old and my daughter was 3 years 1 month old when I made this learning shelf for them. All the activities have been categorized into the six main learning areas (language, numeracy, motor skills, discovery of the world, arts & creative expression, social & emotional development) that I am focusing on for my children.

BACK TO SCHOOL THEME ACTIVITIES FOR TODDLERS (1.5 TO 3 YEARS OLD)

• Apple and caterpillar letter matching activities (language)

*This printable and instructions are exclusively for my newsletter subscribers only. Subscribe to my newsletter and receive the password to access the HTS Printable page as a welcome gift!

• Markers color matching in atissue box (numeracy, motor skills)

• Playdough & letter beads matching in a lunchbox. TIP: Again, for younger toddlers, you may want to do just 5 to 8 letters each time. Keep the rest of the letter beads for another session. (language)

• Making basic shapes with crayons (numeracy, motor skills)
• Paint palette pompoms color matching. I challenged my daughter to use her training chopsticks to pick up those pompoms. (numeracy, motor skills)

• Paper clip flower petal counting. My daughter counts and clips on the corresponding number of paper clips. (numeracy)

• Apple counting 1 to 5 puzzle. Cut the paper apples into half. Write the numbers 1 to 5 on one side and draw corresponding number of dots on the other half. (numeracy)

All the above activities are suitable for the preschoolers too.

BACK TO SCHOOL ACTIVITIES FOR PRESCHOOLERS & KINDERGARTENERS (3 TO 6 YEARS OLD)

• Peg on the missing number in the number sequences on the popsicle sticks. This idea is from Planning Playtime. I got these clothespins with numbers from Target but this set from Amazon is very similar. (numeracy)

• We are using the same Apple Letter Matching Printable. Read more about how we do this activity here. (language)

*This printable and instructions are exclusively for my newsletter subscribers only. Subscribe to my newsletter and receive the password to access the HTS Printable page as a welcome gift!

• Writing names with crayons (language)
• Chinese sight words post it note scavenger hunt (language)
• Word family flower. This is a fun way to practice word families and beginning sounds. I say a word and my son forms the word with this flower learning toy. (language)

• Apple addition to 10 puzzle. Cut the paper apples into half. Write the number pairs that add up to 10 on each side of the matching puzzle. (numeracy)

• Paper clip flower petal addition. My son solves the addition question on the flower centre and clips on the corresponding number of paper clips. (numeracy)

• Sewing through the apple following the number sequence. (numeracy, motor skills)

CRAFTS, EXPERIMENTS & SENSORY PLAY

• All About Me 3D Apple Book. Make this cute 3D apple book from Hello, Wonderful. Interview your child and write down some fun facts about him/her in the book. Also ask your child to draw a picture of him/herself. I plan to make one All About Me book every year! (discovery of the world)

How are you celebrating first day of school with your children? Share your ideas with me in the comment below! Be sure to check out the rest of our learning shelves!