Letter S Preschool Activities (And Free Preschool Lesson Plan: S is for Seasons!)

Whether you are planning preschool for a crowd or you just want some activities for your child, kids will love these preschool activities about the seasons. Through games, music, books, crafts, and more, today we learn all about the letter S! Kids will enjoy and learn from these creative and hands-on Letter S activities for preschool. This post includes all you need to teach the free preschool lesson plan S is for Seasons.

This lesson continues our alphabet lesson plan series and is intended to help make your experience teaching preschool in your home easier, educational, and more fun.

Preschool at Home

Most importantly, the best part of doing preschool at home is the chance to teach my kids (and whatever buddies are with us) the things that really matter, laugh together, and shower them with love at this young and important age. My hope is that these lesson plans and activities help you in your efforts to do the same.

If you haven’t seen my quick tips for getting started with successful home preschool, check them out.

Use and share these plans to talk, sing, read, write, and play your way through the alphabet; these kinds of activities are the foundation of building strong readers. You can use our full lesson plans, or, of course, pick individual activities to do with the Littles in your life. Lastly, I am also a budget-friendly Mama, so no worries there: our activities are always easy on the pocketbook. Now, let’s get to it!

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Visit the Preschool Lesson Plan Index to see what free plans are published or in the works!

Update: You can now get ALL of the Alphabet Lesson Plans, Checklists, and Printables, (plus Bonus Ideas and 75+ exclusive preschool printables!) all in one budget-friendly digital product…A to Z and Beyond! Preschool Curriculum.

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INTRODUCTION

First off, gather on the floor for circle time and start with a welcome song. We have been singing, “Hello to All the Children of the World”. Each week we have been briefly spotlighting one of the countries or features in the song.

Earlier we talked about the line that says, “We speak in many different ways!” One way to speak that is not in the song is with sign language.

Today, we’ll learn signs for that line “We speak in many different ways.”

To make the sign for “we,” point to the right side of your chest, and then point to the left side. We can sign “speak” by holding the hand open and tapping the side of the pointer finger on the chin. “Different,” as we learned last week, is signed by beginning with the pointer fingers crossed, then pointing them away from each other. We can sign “ways” by holding the hands with thumbs in and palms facing each other, and then motioning on the right and then the left as if you are showing to different paths.

Each of these words can be found in this super helpful signing dictionary that shows how to make the signs.

Write: Sticker Writing with the Letter S

I introduced how today we are learning about the letter S. Both the uppercase and lowercase letter S are made of curvy shapes.

On a piece of paper, my Little traced an uppercase and lowercase S with a pencil. Then she used stickers to make the letters.

Sing: The Sound of the Letter S

The big and little S have the same shape as each other and look kind of like a snake, which also helps us remember what sound S makes: sssssssss.

We sang the S Song from the Alphabet Operetta. It talks about how Sister Suzy thought she saw an S on the sidewalk, but it was really a snake.

One of my absolute favorite ways to learn about the alphabet is with the CD, The Alphabet Operetta. The songs are fun and teach the basic phonetic concepts of the alphabet. We listen to it in the car a lot (even my big kids are okay with that!), and then I often throw an individual song into our preschool learning.

Click image for purchasing information.

It’s hard to find the hard copy CD these days, but you can stream it very reasonably. You can also start a free trial of Amazon Music Unlimited and listen on there.

Talk: S Word Opposites

We practiced the sound of the letter S by naming several words that start with S, then thinking of their opposites. For example, we talked about serious (silly), small (big), sad (happy), spiky (smooth), sour (sweet), and smile (frown). A lot of those opposites start with S too!

Sing: “Smiles”

The last opposite we talked about was smile and frown, which led into the song “Smiles.” This is a classic, simple song that says, “If you chance to meet a frown, do not let it stay! Quickly turn it upside down, and smile that frown away…”

We had fun making frowny and happy faces while we sang.

Read: Seasons by Jenny B. Harris

The S-word that we’re going to learn a lot about today is seasons. I introduced the topic by reading Seasons by Jenny B. Harris. This book uses simple words and pictures to show fun things kids do in each season. It’s a perfect introduction to learning about the seasons.

Write and Craft: Seasons Wheel

It can be hard for kids to understand the cycle of the months and seasons. Many years ago, I made a large wheel to teach our preschool group about the seasons. I laminated the wheel and we used it often. It worked really well!

For this lesson, each child makes their own version of this wheel. The circular nature of the wheel shows the concept of the cycle and helps kids understand the months and seasons in a big way.

You can use the Seasons Wheel Free Printable (in the Lesson Plan Checklist).

The printable has a top piece that covers all except one season at a time. It is attached with a brad fastener and can turn, so kids can see and focus on one season at a time.

Talk and Sing: Months and Seasons

With our Seasons Wheels in hand, we gathered back into our circle space. We turned the wheels to see and review each season.

Then we talked about how the year is divided into twelve months. We sang the “Months of the Year Song,” while we pointed to the different months on our wheels. Kids need repetition, so we repeated this short song several times.

What month and season is it right now? Which season comes next? Do you have a favorite season?

Last, we found our birthday months on the wheel. We turned the wheel so we could see what season our birthdays fell in.

Read: Books on Individual Seasons

I chose two seasons to read another book about, our current season and the one with Little #4’s birthday. You could just do the current season or include the next, your favorite, etc.

The Seasons set by Moira Butterworth is really good. She wrote a book about Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall.

Click image for purchasing information.

Each book is more detailed than an easy reader. The books cover a lot of concepts such as the weather, holidays, and traditions of each season. Kids will especially have fun with the science experiments in each book.

Another good set that has pictures and concepts great for preschool are the seasons books by Ailie Busby.

Sing: Seasonal Songs

With each season we read more about, we also sang a song. Here are some suggestions.

Winter: “Once There Was a Snowman”

Spring: “Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree”

Summer: “Oh, What Do You Do in the Summertime?” or “In Summer” with Olaf

Fall: “Autumn Leaves are Falling” (Tune of London Bridge)

Play: Seasons Sort

After digging into two specific seasons, we reviewed all the seasons with a seasons sort.

We had four paper lunch sacks with one season written on each. I had made several pictures representing different things about the seasons such as what the weather is like, which clothes we wear, activities we do, and what the trees look like. You can use the same pictures I made with the Seasons Sort Free Printable (access with the Lesson Checklist).

We placed those pictures upside down. My Littles took turns choosing a picture and deciding which season it belonged to.

Sorting is an important skill, and in this case, it’s also a really helpful way to review the seasons overall.

Talk: Plants Through the Seasons

Some of the pictures we have used both on our Seasons Wheel and in the Seasons Sort had images of trees through different seasons. We revisited what plants are doing during different seasons. We discussed what plants need to survive and how those needs are provided by people and/or nature.

The seed (an important S-word!) is planted and then nurtured with sunlight and water.

Sing: “Oats, Peas, Beans, and Barley Grow”

In order to reinforce this discussion, we sang and acted along to the song “Oats, Peas, Beans, and Barley Grow.” This classic ditty shows the farmer planting his seeds, watering, hoeing, and watching them grow before harvesting.

Play: Planting Seeds

Next it’s time for some hands-on science. Plant some seeds, and watch them grow over the coming weeks. If you’d like to add more writing practice, keep a journal of how the sprout grows.

Here is some information on seeds that grow quickly. There are lists of all types of plants, including edible plants such as Basil Seeds or Lettuce Seeds. Alternately, draw a face on your container, and grow Wheat Grass Seeds as your little face’s hair-do.

Eat: Foods that Start with the Letter S

After getting a bit dirty, wash up and have a snack. Some foods that start with the letter S include Satsumas, sandwiches, veggie straws, sticks (cut-up veggie sticks or pretzel sticks), Skittles, suckers, smoothies, salami, salsa, Saltines, sushi, snow peas, or salad.

Hey, serve anything you have on hand and call it a Snack!

Play: Sardines or Hide and Seek

I had planned on playing Hide-and-Seek, a favorite, but we didn’t have time. So instead, we played later in the day. Littles #4 and #5 are ALWAYS up for a game of Hide-and-Seek.

Another fun game you could play if you have time at the end of preschool is Sardines. One person hides, and everyone else looks for that person. If you find the hider, you don’t tell. Instead, you hide with them. Eventually all but one will be squished like sardines into the hiding place. The last person to find the group hides first in the next round.

Sing: Goodbye Song

We closed up by reviewing our letter of the day: what Letter S looks and sounds like.

Lastly, we sang our goodbye song and see you next week!

Our next preschool lesson will be Letter T is for Team. It has a lot of fun activities!

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Leave a comment and share what activities your Littles are enjoying, what types of posts you’d like to see, or any other questions or thoughts you have. I love hearing from you. Share pictures on social media using #lovinlifewithlittles. Thanks for visiting, and Happy Preschooling!

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