My husband and I met while we were in college, both studying to be secondary social studies teachers. We like all things social studies, especially studying about and teaching our girls about America! I was excited to plan this United States Theme Preschool Week, and hope that you find something that your preschoolers will enjoy.
At the time we did these activities, Maggie was a young 2, and Lena was a young 4.
If you regularly do preschool using weekly themes, be sure to check out Over 30 COMPLETE Weekly Preschool Theme Units that we've completed as well as my entire list of 52 Weekly Preschool Themes. You may also want to check out of Daily Home Preschool Schedule and this handy FREE Printable Preschool Planning Page.
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Bald Eagle Craft
This darling little craft is from Learn Create Love (one of my very favorite kids craft websites). We didn't have brown paint, so we had a little lesson on color mixing as we made our brown. Lena loved flying her eagle around the room. I love how the black sharpie outlines really makes it look fancy!
Math/American Flag Craft
This simple American flag craft provided lots of fine motor and math practice. First we looked at an American flag and counted the number of red stripes.
Then, Lena cut narrow strips of red paper and glued them on to a piece of white paper.
We cut out a square of blue paper, and glued it in place. Lena then counted the number of stars on an American flag and put 50 little star stickers on her paper flag.
Statue of Liberty Craft
We ended up not having time to do this adorable Statue of Liberty craft, but it was too cute not to share. Head over to Buggy and Buddy for the directions.
Music
Use some of the free streaming radio or music available to you to teach your kids about American music. Since jazz was born in America, we used Pandora to listen to lots of jazz this week. We also listened to folk music, and some patriotic tunes.
Picture Books
Boy, do we have a lot of books about the United States. I have several more stashed up in my gift closet that I felt the girls weren't quite old enough to appreciate, yet. Read all about our choices here!
American Landmark Memory Game
These memory or matching cards from Oopsey Daisy's Mommy School were great for us this week. Lena knew most of the landmarks pictured, but they were great to teach Maggie. After a few rounds of memory, she knew all of them! There are 16 cards, which I think is a perfect amount for young children to play with. It provides just enough challenge while allowing them to easily find matches.
State Identification
Your young child CAN learn to identify all the states. When I taught middle school, way too many of my students couldn't identify the states. My husband, who teaches AP US History, still has students who don't know the states. They're not that hard to learn, especially if you take advantage of your young childrens' spongey brains that will just soak it all up. Our girls are using four main ways to help them learn.
Puzzles- Puzzles are a great way to help to learn the states, even if they require quite a bit of help from you. Melissa and Doug make several, with different features. We have this one, and - like all Melissa and Doug products - it is fantastic. The one drawback is that Some of the states are joined together, which can make it difficult to help with the identification. My 2 year old can put in the largest states, and my 4 year old can add in a fair amount of the others.
Placemats- There are several US Geography placemants available. We have this one, from Totally Tots, and have found it to be of great quality.
Your little one will just stare at the states while they eat breakfast. Quiz them on one or two a day. Make up silly names to help them remember. Our girls have learned "Moosey Maine" and "OOOOOOOOOOOOklahoma" (like the song), for example.
Put Them in Context- The idea of learning states is so abstract for little minds, that a little context can really help them to figure it out. Whenever you read about a state or a location in a book, or if it comes up in conversation, pull out a map and show your little ones where it is. It will help them to integrate some information about a particular state with what they already know. For example, one of the first states our girls could identify was South Carolina, because that is where their cousins live. They also easily learned Florida, since their grandparents have vacationed there recently. The more 'real world' you can make it, the more easily they will learn.
Technology- There are lots of great iPad games available to help with state identification. This Montessori style app is our favorite and is perfect for helping young children learn to locate and identify the states.
I love the simple design. It uses a basic drag-and-drop puzzle to help show children where the states are located. It then provides additional information about each state. It is called United States of America- Montessori Approach to Geography, and while it isn't free, it will really grow with your child and could provide a great resource for review for many years. I think the $2.99 price tag is worth it.
Baseball
Go to a baseball game this summer to celebrate our great American tradition! Find a minor league game, or even a little rec league game to attend. We finally managed to get to a game for our local minor league team this week. The girls had a blast. My husband and I had stress headaches by the end of it!
Apple Pie
There is nothing so American as apple pie, so we made one this week. I learned two things. First, apparently I don't have an actual pie pan, so I made ours in a square casserole dish. Second, no one else in my family likes apple pie, so I had to eat the whole thing. *sigh* At least it had fruit in it, right?!
Let your kids help you mix and stir your apples together. They could also cut some little shapes out of your top pie crust.
Need even more ideas for your own United States theme? Be sure to follow What Can We Do With Paper And Glue on Pinterest, and check out the United States Theme board!
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