Lesson plan for 4 year olds: full examples you can copy
Lesson plan for 4 year olds: full examples you can copy
Three complete lesson plans for a pre-K room of 4 year olds. Two cover a week each, one on pumpkins and one on dinosaurs. The third lays out a half-day morning hour by hour. Every box holds a real activity, with objectives and materials under each plan. Open any of them in the free lesson plan template and change what you like. Then print it or send it to Google Docs.
What changes when the children turn four
A 4 year old can sit for a fifteen minute morning meeting and hold a pencil well enough to write a wobbly first name. They can also stay with a task long enough for you to teach something in a small group. That’s the difference. In the year before kindergarten, the plan starts to look like school in small doses. Most of the day is still spent playing.
Three rows appear on a plan for fours that were not on the plan for threes.
- Literacy and phonics. One letter a week, tied to the theme. P for pumpkins in October, D for dinosaurs in January. The children hear the sound at meeting and find it in the book. At the table, they trace the letter.
- Writing. Names first, then labels on drawings. After that, a line of their own words with a picture. Nobody copies sentences off a board. On Friday, a page from every child goes into the class book.
- Small groups. Set aside twenty minutes in the morning and pull four children at a time for ten frames or letter games while the rest of the room is in centers. You’ll find out who has it and who needs another go.
The math row moves on too. Threes sort and count to three. Fours count to ten with a ten frame and continue a pattern. They start writing numbers, too. The plans below use the pre-K preset rows from the template: morning meeting, literacy and phonics, writing, math, science and discovery, art, outdoor play, and small groups.
Example 1: a week on pumpkins
Pre-K, 4 year olds. Mid October, with one big pumpkin that sits in the room all week and five mini pumpkins for sorting. The letter is P. Cut the pumpkin open on Monday, then wash and dry the seeds that afternoon. You’ll use them for the rest of the week.
| Area | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morning meeting | A pumpkin on the rug. What do you notice? | Weather chart, then guess: how heavy is it? | Vote: carve it or paint it? | Job chart swap: pumpkin patch helpers | Show and tell: something orange from home |
| Literacy and phonics | Read Pumpkin Pumpkin. The P sound. | P words: pumpkin, pie, pig | Read Too Many Pumpkins | Rhyme time: pie, sky, fly | Retell Pumpkin Pumpkin with picture cards |
| Writing | Trace P, then write P | Label a pumpkin drawing: stem, seed | Write my name on a paper pumpkin | Draw and write: my jack-o-lantern face | Class book: our pumpkin |
| Math | Sort mini pumpkins by size | Count seeds to 10 on a ten frame | Pumpkin patterns: big, small, big | Measure the pumpkin with string | Graph: carve or paint? Count the votes. |
| Science and discovery | Cut it open. Slimy or smooth? | Sink or float? Guess first. | Count the lines on the outside | Plant a seed in a cup | Pumpkin in the yard: watch it change all month |
| Art | Mix orange: red paint and yellow paint | Pumpkin seed collage | Paint a mini pumpkin | Jack-o-lantern faces on paper plates | Pumpkin prints with a cut pumpkin |
| Outdoor play | Pumpkin roll down the hill | Pumpkin patch relay | Bowling with a small pumpkin | Seed toss into buckets | Nature walk: find something orange |
| Small groups | Letter P games | Ten frame practice with seeds | Pattern strips | Cutting practice on pumpkin lines | Name writing check ins |
Wednesday’s vote becomes Thursday’s graph. It’s the same activity twice, and four year olds like seeing their own vote turn into a bar. Whatever wins, do it on Friday.
Example 2: a week on dinosaurs
Pre-K, 4 year olds. A January week, when the room needs a theme with some noise in it. The letter is D. The fossil dig stays in the sand table all week. Bury the toy dinosaurs again each afternoon so it feels new the next morning.
| Area | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morning meeting | A dinosaur footprint on the rug. Whose is it? | Sort the toy dinosaurs: big or small | Meat or plants? Talk about teeth | Vote: favorite dinosaur. Chart it. | Share: a dinosaur fact you learned |
| Literacy and phonics | Read Dinosaur Roar! The D sound. | D words: dig, dinosaur, dirt | Read How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? | Rhyme time: dig, big, pig | Retell Dinosaur Roar with opposites |
| Writing | Trace D, then write D | Label a dinosaur: head, tail, legs | Write my name on a dinosaur egg | Draw and write: my dinosaur eats… | Class book: our dinosaurs |
| Math | Count dinosaurs to 10, write the number | Measure a dinosaur with footprints | Sort dinosaurs: two legs or four | Dinosaur patterns: big, small, big | Count the eggs in the nest, then add one more |
| Science and discovery | Fossil dig in the sand table | Make fossils: press toys into play dough | Frozen dinosaur eggs: melt the ice | Compare a T. rex footprint to your foot | Bones: what is inside us? Feel an elbow. |
| Art | Dinosaur skin: sponge paint on paper | Salt dough fossils | Paper plate dinosaur with spikes | Volcano painting in red and orange | Dinosaur egg collage |
| Outdoor play | Stomp like a T. rex, tiptoe like a raptor | Dinosaur egg hunt | Footprint trail with chalk | Dig for bones in the sandbox | Lava tag |
| Small groups | Letter D games | Counting to 10 with dinosaur counters | Sorting by two rules | Cutting practice on zigzag lines | Reading check ins |
The two-rule sort in Friday’s small group is the hardest thing on this plan. Big and green, or small with spikes. Most fours can do it with the toys in their hands. On paper, they can’t yet, which is fine. Keep the toys in their hands.
Example 3: a half-day pre-K morning
Tuesday from the pumpkins week, in a half-day program that runs from 8:30 to 11:30. Three hours is short, so the plan has no filler. Morning meeting and phonics fit before snack, along with the small groups. The story doubles as the math lesson.
| Time | Activity | Materials | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arrival and table time 8:30 | Name writing, puzzles, play dough | Name cards, whiteboards | Greet each child by name |
| Morning meeting 8:50 | Weather chart, then guess how heavy the pumpkin is | Pumpkin, chart paper | Fifteen minutes, then move |
| Phonics and writing 9:05 | P words, then trace P and write P | Letter cards, whiteboards, P sheets | Whole group for five minutes, then tables |
| Centers and small groups 9:25 | Pumpkin seed collage, ten frames, sink or float | Seeds, glue, ten frames, water tub | Pull groups A and B for ten frames |
| Snack 10:10 | Pumpkin bread and apple slices | Cups, napkins | Allergy list on the wall |
| Outdoor play 10:25 | Pumpkin roll down the hill | Small pumpkins | Count the rolls |
| Story and math 10:55 | Read Too Many Pumpkins. Sort mini pumpkins by size. | Book, five mini pumpkins | Who can order all five? |
| Music and goodbye 11:15 | Five Little Pumpkins with actions. Pack up. | Song card, cubby labels | Send home the seed cups |
If your program runs the full day, add lunch, a rest, an afternoon block of centers and a second outdoor session. The pre-K daily plan in our preschool lesson plan examples shows a full day laid out the same way.
What 4 year olds are working on
An objective for a 4 year old should describe something you can watch them do. These are the skills most fours are working toward, row by row. Pick two or three a week and write them on the plan.
- Morning meeting: sit for fifteen minutes and answer a question in a full sentence. Wait for a turn to talk.
- Literacy and phonics: say the sound for the letter of the week, name three words that start with it, find rhymes.
- Writing: write their first name with a capital at the front. Trace a letter, then copy it. Draw a picture and tell you a sentence to write under it.
- Math: count ten objects and write the number, show a number on a ten frame, continue an AB pattern, name a circle and a triangle.
- Science and discovery: guess before a test and say what happened after. Sort by one rule, then by two.
- Art: cut along a line, glue small pieces on purpose, mix two colors to make a third.
- Outdoor play: hop on one foot and catch a big ball. Pedal a trike around a corner.
- Small groups: follow a two step instruction, keep going when the first try is wrong, take turns with a shared set of counters.
Two or three objectives a week is plenty. If every child can already do it, it isn’t an objective. If nobody can, it belongs on the plan for spring.
How to write a lesson plan for 4 year olds
- Pick the theme and the letter together: pumpkins and P, dinosaurs and D, snow and S. The letter should start the theme word so the children hear it all week without a worksheet.
- Fill in morning meeting and the book for each day. Two books a week is enough. Read each one twice.
- Write two or three objectives from the list above. Say what a child will do so you can tick it off.
- Plan the small groups for the week. Usually one phonics game and one math game, each run twice so every child gets both. Put the group names on the plan.
- Fill the rest of the grid one line at a time. Art and science should connect to the theme every day. Outdoor play can be free on two of the days.
- Read the materials list on Friday for the week ahead. Fours use paper and glue at a rate that surprises new teachers.
The template does the layout. Choose weekly or daily and pick the pre-K preset. Fill in the boxes, then print it. It saves itself in your browser.
Running small groups with one teacher
Small groups scare new pre-K teachers because the rest of the room is still there while you work with four children. Set up the centers before the group starts so nobody needs you for glue. Sit with your back to a wall, where you can see the whole room. Keep each group to ten minutes. When the timer goes, stop, even if it was going well. If you have an assistant, they run the second group on the same day using the same activity.
If your room has threes and fours together
Plan for the fours and let the threes join the parts they can. Morning meeting, the book, art and outdoor play work for both ages. The small groups are for the fours. Threes get free choice in that slot. They aren’t missing anything they’re ready for. Our lesson plan for 3 year olds shows the same weeks scaled down if you want to run both plans side by side.
Themes that work for 4 year olds, by month
- September: all about me (letter M), apples (A), the farm (F).
- October: pumpkins (P), fall leaves (L), fire safety (F).
- November: community helpers (H), harvest (H), family (F).
- December: gingerbread (G), winter (W), lights (L).
- January: dinosaurs (D), snow (S), penguins (P).
- February: hearts and friends (H), dental health (T), pets (P).
- March: weather (W), rainbows (R), Dr. Seuss (S).
- April: bugs (B), gardens (G), Earth Day (E).
- May: ocean (O), camping (C), the zoo (Z).
For a longer list with activities under each, see our preschool themes page.
FAQ
What should a lesson plan for 4 year olds include?
A theme and a letter of the week, with an activity for each learning area on each day. Add two or three objectives you can watch a child do, the small groups and who is in them, and a materials list. Keep each box to a line or two so a substitute can follow it.
How long should activities be for 4 year olds?
Allow about fifteen minutes for morning meeting and ten minutes for a small group. Centers take twenty to forty minutes. Outdoor play can run longer. A table activity is over when most of the children at the table have drifted away, so have the next one ready.
Should 4 year olds be learning letters and numbers?
Yes, through play and short daily practice rather than worksheets. One letter a week, its sound and a few words, plus counting to ten with real objects. By the end of the year, most fours can write their name and say most letter sounds. They can count ten things. The plans above include all of that without a desk in sight.
How is a pre-K lesson plan different from a preschool one?
A pre-K plan adds a phonics row and a writing row, plus a slot for small groups. Its math row moves from sorting to counting and patterns. Morning meeting is longer, and the objectives point toward kindergarten readiness. A preschool plan for 3 year olds leans on sensory play and songs instead.
What about a full day program?
Use the same weekly grid. Add lunch and rest to the daily plan, followed by an afternoon block, usually centers with a second outdoor session and a story. Keep phonics and writing in the morning while the children are fresh. Small groups belong there too.
Can I use these lesson plans in my classroom?
Yes. All three plans are free. Open one in the template and change the rows and boxes to suit your room. Then print it or copy it into Google Docs or Word.
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