Fun Picnic Preschool Theme Ideas & Picnic Lesson Plans
My new picnic preschool theme activities and picnic lesson plans are perfect for summer learning! I’ve got many engaging ideas including printable activities, crafts, picnic games, and books to read together.
Combining all these picnic theme ideas into a thematic unit study for your preschool students is a great way to get everyone excited about learning this summer.
Get them up and moving while encouraging healthy physical activity and developing critical fine motor skills with preschool picnic games. Then, gather everyone for a picnic-themed preschool story time they’ll love.
Finally, end the day with fun picnic songs and printable picnic theme activities or crafts. Keep reading to discover all the fun you can have with a picnic thematic unit in your preschool classroom this summer.
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Fun New Picnic Preschool Theme
Preschool teachers can use thematic units to keep students engaged in the learning process with lessons and activities that pique their interest and take advantage of their natural curiosity.
Picnic lesson plans that surround this exciting theme can be an inspiring way to help preschoolers develop literacy, numeracy, gross motor, and fine motor skills.
Every subject from art to math can be taught with engaging play-based picnic lesson plans. Want to learn more about how you can use thematic units in your preschool classroom this year?
Discover Thematic Units for Preschool from The Primary Parade to get the scoop on why thematic unit studies are a great idea for your preschool classroom.
Picnic Lesson Plans & Printables
Summer is the perfect season for a picnic! Want to go on a picnic with your preschool students right in the classroom? My picnic lesson plans and creative picnic preschool theme ideas make it easy to take advantage of this fun theme with your students.
You can take these picnic theme ideas outside too! Sometimes getting outdoors with your preschoolers is a great way to grab their attention. Then, you can use my preschool picnic theme activities to keep them engaged and learning.
I’ve created printable picnic activities to help your preschool students practice letters, numbers, counting, and fine motor skills.
Discover my favorite beautiful books about picnics to read aloud with your students. Then, get up and get moving with preschool picnic games like a ring toss or a wheelbarrow race.
Lemonade Counting
Preschoolers can practice counting skills as they count the number of ice cubes on each lemonade ten-frame card. Then, color the corresponding number on the printable count the cubes activity page.
Skills preschoolers will get to practice with this picnic theme activity include counting, number identification, fine motor skills, concentration, and one-to-one correspondence.
Non-Standard Picnic Measurement
Non-standard measurement helps preschoolers learn basic measurement concepts without feeling anxious about reading measurement tools correctly.
My new picnic measurement activity encourages preschoolers to use a non-standard form of measurement (a printable “ant” ruler) to measure various picnic foods.
Then, preschool students can record the number of “ants” each object measures on their printable measurement worksheet. It’s a great way to get some extra practice writing numbers.
They’ll also be able to match the letter in the corner of each printable picnic food to the letter on their worksheet, giving them an opportunity to practice letter identification skills too.
Counting Ants
After measuring with ants, get ready to count them! Help your preschoolers practice counting skills with my printable picnic theme activity all about counting ants.
Each printable picnic counting mat features an adorable picnic scene and a number in the bottom right corner.
Teachers can encourage preschoolers to identify the number on their picnic counting mat and add the correct number of tiny plastic ant counters to the scene.
It’s a great way to help preschoolers learn important numeracy skills like number identification, counting, and one-to-one correspondence. Plus, they’ll be getting extra fine motor skills practice as they grab the tiny ants and place them in the picnic scene.
Picnic Alphabet Letter Mats
Are you looking for picnic lesson plans to boost your preschoolers’ literacy skills this summer? My picnic alphabet letter mats are the perfect addition to your summer picnic lesson plans!
This hands-on activity will make a great addition to your classroom literacy center too.
Printable picnic alphabet mats feature uppercase letters and lowercase letters of the alphabet with a fun picnic blanket background to get preschoolers excited about practicing letters.
Students can use small objects (like the plastic ant counters mentioned above) to form the letters of the alphabet with this hands-on picnic activity.
Count the Watermelon Seeds
What’s a summer picnic without a big slice of watermelon? Grab some watermelon slices without all the mess using my counting watermelon seeds printable pages.
This engaging numeracy activity for preschoolers will encourage subitizing, one-to-one correspondence, fine motor skills practice, and number identification.
Have your preschool students count the number of seeds on each printable slice of watermelon. Then, color the matching number on their matching “count the seeds” watermelon worksheet.
Top 10 Picnic Books to Read Aloud
Picnic books are so much fun to read during the summer! You can enjoy these read aloud picture books about picnics with your preschoolers outdoors, in the classroom, or even on a picnic together!
Take your students outside with a tasty snack and cold lemonade. Then, gather together on a picnic blanket to share some of our favorite engaging picnic books for preschoolers.
- The Perfect Picnic by Ciara Flood
- Max and Marla Are Having a Picnic by Alexandra Boiger
- The Lost Picnic by B.B. Cronin
- Mouse’s First Summer by Lauren Thompson
- Good News, Bad News by Jeff Mack
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s Garden Picnic by Eric Carle
- The Teddy Bears’ Picnic by Jimmy Kennedy
- Sun by Sam Usher
- The Rattlebang Picnic by Margaret Mahy
- The Pickwicks’ Picnic by Carol Brendler
After reading some of these fun picnic books, you can do some of my printable picnic preschool theme activities together to help your students boost their literacy and numeracy skills during the summer months.
These fun activities will help bring the stories to life and increase retention and reading comprehension skills.
Preschool Picnic Games
Having a picnic isn’t just about the food, playing outdoor games together is another really fun aspect of summer picnics. Engaging in games with your preschool students is a great way to encourage healthy physical activity.
Plus, preschool picnic games make it easy to help your students get the wiggles out before completing activities that require more focus.
Preschool picnic games will help your students develop important gross motor skills. Gross motor skills are large movements that require whole body movements like running and jumping.
Discover some of my favorite preschool picnic games for your picnic preschool theme unit below.
Wheelbarrow Race
A wheelbarrow race is definitely an outdoor preschool picnic game. You’ll need lots of space to play this preschool picnic game with your students.
When you’re ready to play, divide your students into teams of two and designate one student as “the driver” and the other student as “the wheelbarrow.”
The driver holds the wheelbarrow’s ankles and the player who is the wheelbarrow walks on his or her hands.
Students must start at the designated starting line and race to the finish in this manner. The first team to cross the finish line wins.
Ring Toss
Ring Toss is the perfect outdoor game for preschoolers! This classic game is a simple and fun way to keep kids entertained and encourage healthy physical activity outdoors.
Preschool students will take turns tossing the rings and trying to loop them around the poles. A ring toss game is perfect for practicing hand-eye coordination and gross motor skills with students.
I-Spy
I love adding a game of I-Spy to my picnic lesson plans because it’s the type of game you can play outdoors or in the classroom. This classic preschool picnic game encourages students to be observant, recount details, and take turns.
Designate one student to be the first spy. Everyone will get a turn as the spy, but there’s only one spy at a time.
The spy must look around the room and find an object to “spy.”
Then, the spy says “I spy something…” and shares a description of the object like “I spy something purple.” The other students must try to guess the object.
More Picnic Theme Ideas
There are so many awesome picnic theme ideas you can add to your picnic preschool theme lessons this summer! After having all kinds of fun with the preschool picnic games I shared, get ready for more picnic preschool theme fun with some of the picnic theme ideas below.
Think about adding some fun picnic songs to your picnic theme ideas for the summer. Here are a few of my favorite picnic preschool theme songs to sing aloud:
We’re Going On A Picnic by Maple Leaf Learning
Five Hungry Ants by The Kiboomers
Let’s Go Picnic by Larva Kids
When kids sing, they’re learning important early literacy skills like rhyming, developing phonemic awareness, and increasing their vocabulary. Plus, singing picnic preschool theme songs is lots of fun!
What are some of your favorite picnic theme ideas and activities for preschoolers? Share your favorite preschool picnic games, books, songs, and activities in the comments. I can’t wait to read them and try a few of your favorites with my preschool students too!
Amazing activities!
Thank you so much!