Well, it is finally here! Dr. Seuss’ birthday week! Are you ready to engage your toddler and preschool child and immerse them into the wonderful world of Dr. Seuss!? This week I will be celebrating all week long with some preschool lesson plans, starting with my Cat in the Hat Preschool Lesson Plan. Each lesson plan will focus on Language and Literacy Skills, Early Math Skills, Science and Sensory Skills, Creative Art Skills, and Music and Movement. For each day, I will plan out an activity for each category based on the theme of the book. I hope you and your child will have as much fun as I did with Evie!
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Language and Literacy
Cat in the Hat is one of my FAVORITE books. Right now, it might not be the most age-appropriate book for Evie. She might sit through three, maybe four, pages and then she’s off like Thing One and Thing Two! However, this doesn’t stop me! While she is coloring, I have a Cat in the Hat picture that I drew for her, I would read her the book. We talked about rhymes, and we discussed all the shenanigans that occurred throughout the book. Don’t be afraid to break it into smaller sections. Read the book throughout the day!
Early Math Skills
One of the first activities we did from my Cat in the Hat Preschool Lesson Plan, was Red and White Stripes. An Early Math Skill that I love focusing on is patterns! Patterns are so much fun, and I know your child will love creating their own patterns with these red and white sticks. The best part: there is MINIMAL prep work involved. It took me 5 minutes to paint and 10 minutes to dry! BOOM! It was that easy! The only things you need are craft sticks and paint, but construction paper will work just as well! If you use construction paper, simply cut the paper into strips! With two different colors, you and your child can practice an “AB” pattern, an “AABB” pattern, an “ABB” pattern, or an “AAB” pattern.
With Evie, I stuck to the basic “AB” and “AABB” patterns. In all honestly, Evie and I had more fun counting the white stick and the red sticks. Shes not quick ready for pattern recognition but we adjusted this activity to fit her learning needs. While she is not creating patterns just yet; it was a great way to talk about some colors, and it gave her something to manipulate and practice her fine motor skills!
Science and Sensory
This was one of Evie’s favorite activities, for the only reason that she got to knock things over! She is starting to develop those gross motor skills and the fine motor skills to be able to balance block on top of each other. To help her out a little, I used red plastic cups and index cards. I love stacking blocks (or cups) with Evie. It is a great activity to practice and improve her hand-eye coordination.
Maybe your child is a lot like mine. Maybe she likes to knock towers down after someone builds them up. That’s okay! Manipulation of blocks (or cups) is a great activity to work with their spatial awareness!
At first, Evie only put the cups inside one another. We talked about different ways she could stack the cups. After a couple of tries, I would assist by adding an index card and stacking the cups up. She was interested in taking the top cup off, then trying to put it back down on the tower. This activity really demonstrated her controlled movements and gross motor skills!
The best part of this activity was watching her continue with activity throughout the day. She went back to it after nap time, and she pulled her dad over to play with him too!
Creative Art Skills
One of the last activities we did from my Cat in the Hat Preschool Lesson Plan was Dot the Cat. As we introduced an activity to practice her gross motor skills in the previous activity, I introduced an activity to help her practice her fine motor skills. For this activity we got a little messy together! Using red paint and a cotton swab, we practiced stamping red dots on Cat!
During this activity, observe how your child is holding the cotton swab. Are they pinching the swab between their fingers? Are they using their fist to hold the swab? If you observe your child holding the swab in their fist, encourage them to move towards the pinch hold. This was a very messy task for me. I think more paint ended up on me than paper!
Another thing to look for, is your child dotting? Is your child drawing? Are their movements controlled? Are their movements wild? One thing I noticed was that Evie observed what I did and followed my lead. I would start dotting and then she would dot too. When I stopped painting with her, she would start drawing with the cotton swab. When I started dotting again, so would she.
Music and Movement
I LOVE DANCING. Am I good at it? Nope. Does my child care? Not even a little. She’s just sitting there next to be with that little leg pop and lock. Music and Movement is a great time to bust out the instruments, or create some of your own, and have fun! This is a time to truly allow your child to express all the big feelings that they have inside of them and let loose!
While I did not watch the movie Cat in the Hat, I did utilize the music from the movie! Hello YouTube!
What Do You Think of this Cat in the Hat Preschool Lesson?
Thank you for reading! I am so excited to hear how your Cat in the Hat Day went with my Cat in the Hat Preschool Lesson Plan! Please feel free to leave a comment and share your child’s artwork! I am so thankful to share in your learning journey. If you are looking for more fun filled lesson plans, please subscribe so you don’t miss a thing!