Art

• Art is an excellent way to help with motor skill development in young learners. Holding a paintbrush, drawing with pencils and crayons, or simply finger painting helps children understand the world around them and how to develop hand-eye coordination. Plan your activities around themes the children are studying. For instance, if the unit is the spring season, paint flowers using different media like tissue paper, paper egg cartons, origami, or collage with construction paper.
  
  

Science

• Science is an interesting topic for many young learners because it builds their awareness of the natural world -- and most children love to play outside. Organize your lessons by theme to maximize the students' experience. Take your students on frequent nature walks around school to experience the seasons and collect pine cones or acorns to use during craft time. During a theme on the ocean, visit a local aquarium on a field trip and use sand in art projects. Many schools also sponsor 4-H for hatching and raising young chicks in the classroom to learn about life cycles. For a unit on outer space, visit a planetarium and watch child-friendly documentaries about the stars.
  
  

Games

• Games foster healthy competition in young children and can help them learn about working in a team setting. Match games with material from the lesson to reinforce what children have learned over a unit theme. Play frequent drawing games with your class to help them learn how to take direction. For example, give each student crayons or colored pencils and a sheet of paper. Instruct students to draw shapes in certain colors, such as "a blue circle inside of a red square."
  
  Alternatively, play silly games with your class such as charades. Charades can be done in teams or as a large group using a variety of themes like animals or emotions; kids can really let loose trying to act out each direction.
  
  

Literacy Activities

• Since children often don't know how to read or write until first or second grade, plan simple activities to introduce them to reading. Teach them to write and recognize their names by practicing on large-lined paper. Sing the alphabet during your morning circle routine to get them familiar with the sounds each letter makes. Once they understand each letter, teach them words that relate to the theme and have them match these to a picture. For instance, if the theme is springtime, match words like "flowers", "eggs," "rabbit," "sun" and "green" to pictures of each. For older primary students, play games like hangman or do crosswords with vocabulary words.