Holiday Activities and Freebies!
Themed learning can be such a great way to keep young kindergarten student engaged in skill practice while also learning about new topics and building their vocabulary. In this post, I’m sharing some of my favorite kindergarten monthly themes that students love!
Here are some of my favorite theme ideas for each month of the school year. I’m sharing two or three ideas for each month because I always liked to split the month into a couple of different themes. However, you can easily make one theme last all month.
I think an apple theme is such a fun idea for the very beginning of the school year! There are so many fun apple-themed activities that you can use to practice literacy and math skills as students ease into the daily learning routine. Students can also learn about the apple life cycle as well as enjoy the story of Johnny Appleseed.
A scarecrow theme is another fun idea for September. You can welcome fall together as a class with engaging crafts and themed activities. One of my favorite read-alouds for a scarecrow monthly theme is “The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything” by Linda Williams. It’s a fun springboard for a lot of fun learning activities.
As the excitement for Halloween builds throughout the month, you can help students channel some of that excited energy with a festive holiday theme that also incorporates learning activities.
A bat theme is always a great choice! Students can learn fun facts about bats and then share what they’ve learned through writing craftivities. Bat-themed literacy and math activities are also a great way to add engagement to your daily routine.
You could also use a spider theme to show students that these creatures are more interesting than spooky! From crafts to math and everything in between, a spider theme is always a hit in October!
You can’t go wrong with a pumpkin theme for October. There are many ways to incorporate this seasonal staple into your daily learning activities throughout the month.
You can embrace the season of thanks with your November classroom theme! I have always enjoyed a Thanksgiving theme in November, so students can learn more about the history of this holiday.
You could also narrow the focus of your monthly theme by choosing a turkey theme. After learning about turkeys with nonfiction text, students can also enjoy other engaging turkey read alouds during a month of turkey-themed fun!
December is usually a shorter month in the kindergarten classroom, but it’s always jam-packed with seasonal activities and excitement.
You can embrace the season with your choice of monthly theme! If you can use Christmas-related activities in your classroom, that makes a fun theme. Students will love the themed learning activities and crafts for a Christmas theme.
You could also try a seasonal theme that isn’t holiday-specific, like a gingerbread theme. There are so many fun gingerbread activities that you can incorporate into your December lesson plans!
One of my favorite themes for December is Polar Express. This read-aloud is so magical and it can inspire a lot of fun activities, including a little bit of magic in your own classroom!
After winter break, you can welcome your students back to school with a fun theme!
A general winter theme is always fun for students as you make the activities inside the classroom match the weather that’s happening outside the classroom!
A snowman theme is another great option! There are so many fun learning activities and read alouds that can match a snowman theme.
I absolutely love reading “The Mitten” by Jan Brett with my students in January. You can easily turn this into a monthly theme for your classroom!
Finally, a penguin theme is another fun theme idea for January. Students always love learning all about these interesting animals!
With Valentine’s Day around the corner, you can incorporate some holiday fun into your monthly theme. Students will enjoy Valentine-themed learning activities all month long!
Valentine’s Day isn’t the only holiday that you can use for your monthly theme! You could also have a patriotic theme by focusing on President’s Day or American symbols.
Help your students learn all about spring by centering your monthly theme on this season! A spring theme is a fun way to usher in the seasonal change.
A St. Patrick’s Day theme is another fun idea for March! Students will love learning with a side of rainbows, pots of gold, and leprechauns.
As Easter approaches, you could incorporate some holiday fun into your monthly theme! Students will love practicing literacy and math skills with Easter-themed activities.
Another fun theme for April is an insect theme! Students can learn all about different types of insects and then share what they learned through writing craftivities.
To end a school year full of themed learning, I’ve always loved to look toward summer vacation for my monthly themes.
If your students are looking forward to beach vacations over the summer, an ocean theme can be a great addition to your May lesson plans!
Another great monthly theme for May is a farm theme. Students always love to learn more about farmers and farm animals with themed activities.
Did you spot a few themes that you’d like to incorporate into your kindergarten lesson plans this year? I’d love to save you some time! I have put together a bundle of thematic units that are full of the engaging learning activities, crafts, and other printables you need for all of the monthly themes that I mentioned in this post.
You can find this bundle in the A Spoonful of Learning shop or in my TPT store.
Be sure to save this post if you’d like to come back to it later! Just add the pin below to your favorite board of teaching ideas on Pinterest. You’ll be able to quickly find these monthly theme ideas when you’re mapping out your school year.
