How to use it

1. Choose weekly or daily. Weekly prints sideways with a column for each day. Daily prints portrait with time blocks down the side.
2. Pick an age group. Infant, toddler, preschool, pre-K, kindergarten and daycare each load a typical set of rows. Rename, add, remove or reorder any of them.
3. Type straight onto the plan. Edit the teacher and class lines, the week, the theme and every cell in the grid.
4. Turn on the boxes you need under the grid: learning objectives, materials, standards, assessment and notes.
5. Print the plan, copy it into a Google Doc, or download it as a Word file. Clear it to print a blank template.

Why teachers and parents use it

• The plan saves itself in your browser. Monday’s half-finished plan is still there on Tuesday.
• You set the rows to match how you run the day.
• One click puts the whole grid in Google Docs or Word if your director wants it in a shared folder.
• Weekly prints sideways, leaving boxes wide enough to write in by hand.
• Nothing is uploaded. There’s no account.

What goes in a preschool lesson plan

A preschool lesson plan maps out the week. For each learning area, it names the activity and what the children will get from it, along with what you need to have ready. Most preschool plans cover circle time, literacy, math, science or sensory play, art, music and movement, outdoor play, and free play in centers. A theme ties the week together: apples in September, pumpkins in October. It gives you a reason to pick one book over another. Want to see finished plans first? Read five preschool lesson plan examples, each with a button that opens it in this template. Keep each cell to a line or two. The plan is for you and your assistant, and a plan nobody reads because it’s too long is worse than a thin one.

Writing objectives that are worth the ink

An objective says what a child will be able to do, in words you could tick off while watching. Explore fall leaves is an activity. Sort leaves by color and say the color name is an objective. You don’t need one for every cell. Two or three for the week, written in the objectives box, is what most licensing visits and Creative Curriculum style planning ask for. If your state wants early learning standards on the plan, turn on the standards box and note the code beside each objective.

Weekly or daily?

Use the weekly plan for planning. The whole week fits on one wide page, so you can see that Tuesday is heavy on sit-down work and Thursday has nothing outdoors. The daily plan helps you run the day or leave instructions for a substitute. It also suits an infant and toddler room where the plan is really a schedule, with times down the side and what you’re doing and what you need across the top. Print both if you like. The rows you set in one don’t affect the other.

Preschool themes by month

• September: apples, all about me, farm, community helpers
• October: pumpkins, fall leaves, spiders, fire safety
• November: harvest, turkeys, thankfulness, family
• December: winter, gingerbread, holidays around the world
• January: snow, penguins, arctic animals, hibernation
• February: friendship, dental health, groundhogs, hearts
• March: rainbows, weather, plants and seeds, nursery rhymes
• April: spring, bugs, rain, Earth Day
• May: flowers, butterflies, mothers, ocean
• June: summer, camping, transportation
• July: beach, ice cream, dinosaurs
• August: back to school, colors, shapes

FAQ

Is the preschool lesson plan template free?

Yes. It is free to use, print, copy into Google Docs, and download as a Word file. No signup, no account.

Can I use it as a Google Docs lesson plan template?

Yes. Click Copy for Google Docs and paste into a blank Google Doc. The table keeps its headings and color. You can also download the Word file and open it in Google Docs with File, Open, Upload.

Can I print a blank lesson plan template?

Yes. Click Clear the plan and print. You will get an empty weekly or daily grid with the rows you chose, ready to fill in by hand.

Does it work for pre-K, kindergarten, toddlers and infants?

Yes. Pick the age group to load a typical set of rows for that room. Pre-K and kindergarten add writing and small groups. Infant and toddler rooms get rows for sensory play and for motor and language work. Rename any row.

Will my plan still be there next week?

Yes, on the same computer and browser. The plan saves itself as you type. Nothing is uploaded, so it will not appear on a different device.

How long should a preschool lesson plan be?

One page. A line or two per cell is enough for you and your assistant to run the day. Put detail in the objectives and materials boxes rather than in the grid.