Daily calendar-related math and reading activities are an excellent way to establish foundational knowledge into your preschooler, preparing them for basic concepts they are sure to encounter in their early years of elementary school. The key factors behind successfully teaching with a calendar are modeling and consistency. Your 3-4 year old will most likely not catch on to every concept immediately, but by modeling everything every day they will begin to sink in – think about other similar concepts you’ve already taught your preschooler: singing the ABCs, counting to 10 (or higher), etc. Most likely they didn’t catch on immediately, but instead learned these skills over many days, weeks, and even months of repetition.
All that to say, don’t be discouraged if your child doesn’t catch on quickly to all of the activities I’ll be introducing. Keep at it. Keep modeling, keep practicing, and stay consistent. I’ll be describing a different activity every day, breaking everything down into small components to make it a little easier for your preschooler to grasp the concept. Feel free to choose the activities you like the best, and skip the ones you don’t feel your child is ready for. Just remember to keep your time short – I recommend no more than 10-15 minutes depending on the activities you decide to do. And it’s not necessary to begin your calendar on the first day of the month – I actually prefer not to, since some kids get confused when they see a totally blank calendar without understanding the concept of passing time and adding a new number each day.
The important thing, as always, is to HAVE FUN!
Click the links below to check out each activity. Enjoy! 🙂
1. Introducing Your Calendar
2. Count to Today
3. Months of the Year
4. Initial Sounds with the Months
5. Days of the Week Song
6. Identifying the Day of the Week
7. Today is ______.
8. Find the Number
9. Holidays and Special Days
10. What’s the Weather?
11. Show Me the Weather!
12. Rainy Day Craft
13. Count the Letters
14. A Calendar Full of Colors
15. Which Card Says Monday?
16. Count the Months and Days of the Week
17. Build a Word
18. Going on a Hunt
19. Word of the Week
20. Say it, Spell it, Clap it, Stomp it!
21. More Sight Word Fun
22. I Spy a Sight Word!
23. Today, Tomorrow, and Yesterday
24. Identifying Tomorrow & Yesterday
25. Daily Counter
26. Time to Talk Patterns!
27. Pattern Power!
28. More Fun with Patterns
29. Match the Number
30. Order Up!
31. Let’s Celebrate!
Frozen Coke Fridays 