Sunny days and back-to-school time, August is a great month to incorporate a variety of fun activity ideas into your preschool classroom. Turn math, literacy, fine motor skills, and art into a fun summer activity for your little learners! This list of 56 awesome activities for August is a great way to bring some exciting preschool activities to your students!
1. Color Collage Sorting
Back to school is a great time to practice basic skills like colors and shapes. This color collage is great practice for colors. Using colored paper, let students find other items of the same color and glue them to the page.
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2. Friendship Bracelets
Fill the first few days with books about friendship to add to the positive culture and climate in your classroom. Let students work together to create matching friendship bracelets or create one for now and one to give to a friend later. These would also be ideal for a childcare program and assigning students together to be buddies!
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3. Handprint Butterfly
These precious butterfly crafts are adorable and easy! You need a craft stick and construction paper to make the wings. You can add pipe cleaners for antennae and decorate however you would like!
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4. Summer Sun Sponge Painting
Celebrate the days of summer with this adorable sponge stamp sun picture craft. Crafts for kids, like this one, are great for back to school. During the first few days of school, crafts set the tone for the year and give students something to look forward to in centers, circle time, and art time.
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5. Seashell Painting
Seashell painting is a fun craft that lets little ones explore the ocean. Summer is a perfect time to learn about the ocean or beach. Tie in ocean animals and places to travel to see the beach!
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6. School Bus Photo Frame Craft
Have students flash their biggest smile for this back-to-school craft! These craft stick school bus picture frames are great for building community as they start their school year and make new friends. This would be a great part of a back-to-school theme.
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7. Paper Plate Duck Craft
The paper plate duck craft is super cute! It pairs well with the children’s book 10 Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle. You can learn more about other pond animals or transition to ocean animals. This craft would also fit in well with an alphabet theme at the beginning of school.
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8. Paper Picnic Blanket Weaving
This super easy picnic blanket weaving craft will pair wonderfully with camping books and a faux fire in your camping-themed lesson planning. Students can use construction paper to weave their own blankets.
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9. Sunshine Snack
This adorable sunshine snack is a great first day of school craft! It promotes healthy choices and food, creativity, and positivity! This would be good for a culinary program at school or a culinary club for preschoolers. Use the fruits and pretzels to build a funny smile and a yummy snack!
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10. Camping Binoculars
Camping books paired with this adorable binocular craft will be a big hit! Take a paper towel tube and cut it in half to create the set of binoculars. You could also use construction paper as well. Let students personalize their binoculars with stickers and artwork.
Learn More: Preschool Plan It
11. Sunflower Art
Plant seeds are always interesting for students to learn more about. This bright and beautiful craft is great for starting back to school and helping students add some cheer and color to your classroom bulletin board, all while learning about how plant seeds grow and change.
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12. Glue Practice Dots
This glue practice dots page is great for teaching little ones to use glue and only use a small amount. This is helpful at the beginning of the school year. It is also a good time to teach the proper way to use scissors.
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13. Color Hunt Around the Room
A back-to-school color theme is important for preschoolers to have the chance to learn about colors and color recognition. Use this color hunt to add movement and teamwork to your centers.
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14. Rainbow Train Color and Counting Game
The rainbow train counting and color game is good for small groups or partner work. This would also be good for centers. Students can practice rolling, counting, and color recognition.
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15. Color Puzzles
Color printable poster centers could be a big hit for your kiddos! These are easy to print and laminate and allow for students to practice color recognition. Days with books about colors leading up to this center activity would be a great way to introduce this lesson theme.
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16. Crayon Name Puzzles
When preschoolers learn how to spell their own names, you can expect to see the biggest smile! These crayon name puzzles will quickly become favorite activities for seatwork or center time. Students will enjoy success and the confidence that comes with that.
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17. Coloring Sheets
These coloring sheets are easy and perfect for morning work! This printable template features each color and item that is that color so students can practice color recognition and fine motor skills by coloring. This is a great preschool activity to add to your back-to-school theme.
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18. All About Me Caterpillar
Preschool activities that allow students to tell about themselves and their families are ideal for your back-to-school theme. This all about me activity for kids is a great way for students to share about themselves while building friendships and learning about their peers. Activity ideas like this are also great for social and emotional learning.
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19. Missing Number Practice
Find the missing number with this easy-to-print worksheet. Students can practice coloring the numbers as well. They can also practice using glue when they attach the missing numbers.
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20. Roll and Color Beginning Sounds
Circle time is a great time to practice early literacy skills like beginning sounds. This activity is a great follow-up at center time or independent working time. Preschool is ideal to spend plenty of time working on strengthening early literacy skills.
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21. Rainbow Bear Matching
Preschool is the time to build foundations. Color recognition is important and plenty of time should be spent learning colors and shapes and animals. Morning seat work is the perfect time to let preschoolers practice color recognition with this rainbow bear color matching game.
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22. Shark Snack
The best thing about this shark snack is that it is a no-bake. These are the best kinds of snacks for little ones because they can make them and eat them right away. These would be a great way to kick off an ocean theme!
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23. Haircut Scissor Practice
Preschool is the perfect time to learn cutting skills by allowing scissor practice. These adorable printables with a funny smile and kind eyes allow preschoolers to practice cutting skills with various lines. You could make a huge printable poster to share with the whole group and demonstrate how this works.
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24. Color Pattern Towers
Building and patterns always work well together. These pattern towers are fun and good for practicing colors as well. Building patterns and matching colors is also a good way for students to practice hand-eye coordination and motor skills.
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25. Friendship Chain
Activities for kids that build community at the beginning of the year are important for setting the classroom culture in a positive way. Creating a friendship chain is a great way to start the year! Add this adorable craft to your list for the first day of school crafts. This would be ideal to include in your circle time on the first day!
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26. Steam Camping Tents
Crafts for kids are tons of fun, but STEAM activities are even better! This camping tent STEAM activity allows students the chance to build something and put thought into how and why. Put the items in paper bags and let children brainstorm how to build something that will stand!
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27. Letter Game
Add this literacy game to your activity calendars for the month of August! This is perfect to incorporate into your literacy program at school. Store the items in paper bags and allow this center to be portable and include movement as students swat the letters.
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28. Alphabet Books
These alphabet books include sight words and are great practice for young readers. Give families time to practice these at home as well. These are great to add to any child care program, literacy program, or center in your preschool classroom.
Learn More: ABC’s of Literacy
29. Color Coding Fence Activity
Your back-to-school theme could include this color-coded fence activity, which will allow little learners to practice colors and number recognition. Colored craft sticks and laminated templates will provide tons of fun for preschoolers.
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30. Color Matching Busy Book
This is a school color-matching busy book. Get the kids excited about back to school by including a fun kids activity like this one in their daily centers or stations.
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31. Test Tube Patterns
This test tube pattern skills activity resembles an ice cream cone. This is a great way for students to practice fine motor skills, color recognition skills, and pattern building. Add this to center time, circle time, or family time.
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32. Pool Noodle Patterns
Spend the last few days of Summer by the pool, lake, or a big bucket of water! Cut a few pool noodles into rings. Then, gather some friends and have them build social skills by learning to work together to collect different color patterns.
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33. The Wheels On The Bus
Get excited about school with this classic! This video is a good way to get kids ready for their very first school bus trip. Have them act out their favorite part of the song for some exercise as they sing along.
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34. Phonics Buses
These cute little buses are perfect for introducing letters! Start by sounding out each one! Then, place the buses in a row to have your learners spell their names!
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35. Watermelon Name Display
This cute craft is perfect for any preschool classroom. Write your students’ names on a slice of watermelon. When they arrive for the first day of school, hand it to them to share with the class!
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36. Flower Collages
This crafty is great for developing color recognition skills. Cut out different colored paper from old magazines or new craft paper. Your little ones can then sort and glue the matching colors together on each petal!
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37. Watermelon Seed Count
Introduce math concepts by counting watermelon seeds. After eating some tasty watermelons, collect the seeds. Use the printable template to help your little ones visualize what numbers look like.
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38. Exploding Watermelons
Exploding fruit is dangerous but makes a fantastic collaborative activity for the whole family! Grab some safety goggles and hundreds of rubber bands. Carefully stretch the bands over the watermelon as your kids watch in anticipation!
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39. Watermelon Sorbet
Looking for a refreshing treat? This simple sorbet takes minutes to make and is super healthy with no added sugar! Simply blend some watermelon with water and lemon juice. Be sure to freeze the watermelon ahead of time!
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40. Watermelon Slime
This easy recipe is sure to be a hit with your kids! All you need is glue, baking soda, and some contact lens solution. Add small black pom poms to make them look like watermelon guts.
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41. The Way We Go To School
This video is great for showing kids how to get ready for school! From getting dressed in the morning to carrying books, this catchy video covers it all! Use the video to build healthy habits like brushing your teeth every day.
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42. Color By Number
Color by number is an awesome activity to introduce numbers and build motor skills by coloring in the lines. The completed coloring pages reveal a hidden picture! Coloring time can be the perfect time to talk to your kids about the new school year.
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43. Berry Sensory Basket
Add some sensory play to your lesson plans to stimulate language development. Cut felt leaves and stems and mold strawberries out of sticky rice. Add some strawberry-scented barley to cover the bottom of the basket and let your kids enjoy!
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44. Counting Sunflowers
Counting is an essential skill your kids will learn in their preschool classrooms. Give them a head start with this sunflower activity! Grab the biggest sunflower you can find and have your kids pick out the seeds. Help them count as they place the seeds in a cup.
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45. Edible Playdough
Non-melting ice cream? Yes, please! Blend together frosting and powdered sugar to make moldable “ice cream”. Let your little ones play with their food to create dough pets. Give them dough shape mats to practice their shapes before they eat!
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46. Stained Glass Windows
Stained glass is perfect for any colors-themed lesson. Cut or tear sheets of colored tissue paper before building a window frame from craft sticks and then gluing wax paper to the back. Then your kids can design the window of their dreams with bits of scrap paper.
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47. Water Balloon Parachutes
Take the last batch of Summer’s water balloons and fill them up. Then tie the end around both handles of a plastic shopping bag and launch it into the air! Try to catch it before it lands and pops the balloon! Keep extra balloons handy just in case.
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48. Lemon Volcanoes
Rainy days occur; even in the Summer. Keep your little ones entertained with this fun science experiment. Cut the top and bottom off of a lemon. Squish the insides to release the juice and add some baking soda to set off the volcano! Add dish soap for extra bubbles.
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49. Park Bingo
Make your trip to the park even more fun with bingo! Print out the bingo cards and see how many of the squares your local park has. Your kids cross off the square as soon as they play on the feature! Give them a hand with the bigger play structures.
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50. Back to School Bingo
Help calm fears about going to school with a cool game! Fun activities can ease your preschoolers into learning. The cute school theme will help them recognize things around their classroom. Alternatively, use it on the first day of class to build a sense of classroom community!
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51. Sunflower Butter
If your kids have nut allergies, let them enjoy a modified PB&J with some homemade sunflower seed butter! Making it at home allows you to control the ingredients and sugar levels. It’s the perfect activity to build basic skills in the kitchen.
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52. August Holidays
Find inspiration using this August activity calendar! Nearly every day during the month celebrates something special. You can decide if the day should include educational activities or be centered around an art or science theme!
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53. Summer Color Scavenger Hunt
Explore the great outdoors and build color recognition skills at the same time! Lead your little ones around the backyard or through a flower-filled field to help them find parts of nature to match their colors!
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54. Lemonade Tasting
Lemonade is the perfect Summer drink. Make some yellow and pink lemonade. Taste each and tally who likes which one for counting practice. Introduce new words to start reading!
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55. Whisking Bubbles
The best Summer activities always involve bubbles! Grab some whisk and dish soap from the kitchen. Pour soap into a container and let your kids whisk up some bubbles. Add food coloring to create rainbows!
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56. Home-Made Bubbles
Enjoy some Summer fun with huge bubbles! Mix together the secret bubble solution and then help your little ones find or make different-shaped bubble blowers using pipe cleaners. Use a hula hoop to make massive bubbles and see what kind of bubble trouble you can get into together!
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