Three complete lesson plans for a room of 3 year olds. There’s a week on colors and another on farm animals, plus one full day with a nap in the middle. Every box has a real activity, with objectives and materials under each plan. Open any of the three in the free lesson plan template and change what you like. Then print it or send it to Google Docs.

What is different about planning for 3 year olds

A 3 year old has just left the toddler room or started preschool from home. Some are still in diapers, and most are learning to share and sit through a story. A plan written for 4 year olds will run this group into the ground by Tuesday.

Planning for threes differs from pre-K in four ways.

• Keep activities short. Circle time is ten minutes. A table activity is done when the child says it’s done, so plan more than you think you need. Expect half to last five minutes.
• There’s no phonics row or writing row. Threes learn letters by hearing their own name and seeing it on a cup. They learn to write by squeezing play dough and holding a paint dabber. The literacy row is books and talk.
• Sensory play gets its own row. The rice bin is where a 3 year old does a lot of thinking. It is not a filler.
• The routine is the curriculum. Hand washing, snack, nap and coats take up a big part of the day, and every one of them is a lesson. Put them on the plan so the whole team runs them the same way.

Sensory play and free play get the same weight as math on these plans. Rename the rows in the template if your room runs differently.

Example 1: a week on colors

Preschool, 3 year olds. Late September, once the children know where the bathroom is. One color a day, then all of them on Friday. Each row uses the day’s color. If a child remembers only one thing from Monday, it’s red.

Wear the color yourself. On yellow day, a yellow shirt on the teacher does more than any flashcard. The color bins from free play stay out all week so the sorting keeps happening without you.

Example 2: a week on farm animals

Early October, in a preschool room of 3 year olds. Every child already knows a few farm animals and can make the sounds. That makes them a good theme for this age: nobody starts the week behind. Bring back Monday’s circle time bag of toy animals every day.

Thursday’s barn painting works best with one roller between two children and a very big piece of paper on the floor. On Friday, making cotton ball sheep with tongs is the week’s fine motor work, disguised as farming.

Example 3: one full day for 3 year olds

Tuesday from the colors week, with times down the side. Leave this daily plan for a substitute or pin it by the door for a new assistant. Lunch and a nap take up the middle of the day. That time matters. A 3 year old who skipped nap won’t learn much after two o’clock.

There’s very little in each box. The morning has one circle, one block of centers and one outdoor session. That is enough. Move snack earlier if children arrive hungry. If the group is falling apart before lunch, pull the story forward.

What 3 year olds are working on

An objective for a 3 year old should describe something you can watch them do. Most threes are working towards the skills below. Pick two or three a week and write them on the plan.

• Circle time: sit with the group for a short story, join in with the actions of a familiar song, take a turn when the ball rolls to them.
• Books and language: turn pages one at a time, name pictures, finish the last word of a repeated line, answer a what question about a story.
• Math and sorting: count a few objects by touching each one, sort by one feature such as color or size, match a pair, say big and small.
• Sensory play: pour and scoop, fill a container to the top, say what something feels like.
• Art and fine motor: hold a crayon or a paint dabber, use a glue stick, snip paper with scissors. Squeezing play dough counts too.
• Music and movement: stop when the music stops, march and hop, copy a simple action.
• Outdoor and gross motor: climb, jump with two feet, throw a ball forward, ride a trike.
• Free play: choose an activity and stay with it, play alongside another child, pack away with help.

Don’t put all of these on one plan. Two or three objectives a week is plenty. If every child can already do it, it isn’t an objective. If nobody can, it’s a plan for next year.

How to write a lesson plan for 3 year olds

1. Pick a theme the children can touch. Colors work, and so do farm animals, pets, water, trucks or bugs. Space doesn’t work, because a 3 year old can’t pick up a planet.
2. Fill in circle time and the book for each day first. Choose books with a repeated line the children can say with you, as in Brown Bear and Big Red Barn on the plans above.
3. Write two or three objectives from the list above. Say what a child will do so you can tick it off.
4. Plan one sensory activity and one messy art activity every day. The same rice bin can run all week. Threes like repetition more than variety.
5. Fill the rest of the grid one line at a time. Put free choice in any box you can’t fill. Leave the routine on the plan: snack, nap and hand washing.
6. Read the materials list on Friday for the week ahead. Most of what a threes room needs is dry rice, play dough, paint and books.

The template does the layout. Choose weekly or daily, pick the preschool preset, rename the rows to match yours and fill in the boxes. Your plan saves automatically in your browser.

How this changes for 4 year olds

A lesson plan for 4 year olds keeps the same shape and adds a little more sitting. Circle time stretches to fifteen minutes. Add a phonics row, usually one letter a week. Small group work starts to show up in the afternoon. The math row moves from sorting to counting to ten and simple patterns. See the pre-K fall leaves week in our preschool lesson plan examples. If your room has mixed ages, plan for the threes and let the fours go further in the same activity.

Themes that work for 3 year olds, by month

• September: colors, all about me, apples.
• October: farm animals, pumpkins, fall leaves.
• November: family, food, being thankful.
• December: winter clothes, lights, gingerbread.
• January: snow and ice, pajamas, bears.
• February: hearts and friends, dental health, pets.
• March: wind and weather, rainbows, frogs.
• April: bugs, gardens, rain.
• May: flowers, farm to table, trucks.
• June: water, bubbles, the beach.

For a longer list with activities under each, see our preschool themes page.

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