The April Curriculum Planning Pack has been updated for 2021. The pack now includes eight new activities from four curriculum planning packs on the Early Years Shop. This includes two new activities each from the Easter, Spring, In the Garden and Where I Live packs. In addition, there is an April printable calendar, a Famous Dates List and the Observation Sheets to go alongside the plans. The observation sheets include Aistear and Montessori Learning and can be printed off for staff members to observe the children. There is plenty to talk about and discuss with the children in the month of April. For instance, insects to Easter chicks and Jazz music to recycling. Visit our Exploring Nature with Children category on the Early Years Shop. You will have plenty to keep your preschoolers busy all month long!
April Curriculum Planning Theme Ideas
Here are some themes you may like to incorporate into your calendar that relate to the month of April;
Weather and Flowers - April is famous for the quote ‘April showers will bring May flowers’. With this you can teach the children how the flowers need sun and water to grow - a great way to teach children ‘cause and effect’. If the flowers get watered they will grow, if the flowers don’t get watered they won’t grow. From showers, to sun and rainbows, the children will learn lots from what is just outside the window.
Insects and bugs - Now that the weather has warmed up a bit we will see more bugs and insects about the place. Therefore, April is a great time to teach the children about these wiggly little creatures. Get outside and see what live creatures you can find in the garden or nearby park.
Recycling and Reusing - Why not celebrate Earth Day in April. This is the perfect opportunity to introduce the children to the idea of recycling and reusing. Arrange to have different rubbish boxes to teach the children how to separate the rubbish. This is a great start for them to get a better understanding of what can be recycled. Similarly, they can keep some of the recyclables to re-use for their very own arts and crafts projects!
Penguins - On the 25th of April every year the penguin annual migration northwards occurs. Therefore, consider having a Penguin theme to celebrate this beautiful, fluffy animal that we all know and love. Explore where penguins live, how they live, what they eat, how they look after their young and much more. After that, the children can learn songs and rhymes and even how to walk like a penguin!
Where I Live - The Aistear theme of Exploring and Thinking is 'about children making sense of the things, places and people in their world by interacting with others, playing, investigating, questioning, and forming, testing and refining ideas'. Why not learn all about the community in which all the children live? What route do the children take to get to school, who are the people who work in the community, what services does it have? This is a great theme for children to learn about their locality. For instance, is there a local library, post office, Garda station, community centre or swimming pool?
Music - Children love music and dancing to it! Jazz Music is celebrated internationally every year on the 30th of April. Why not use this day as a basis for a jazz music theme. You can go online and find nursery rhymes such as Old McDonald Had a Farm as shown in the below video. This will give children a better understanding of the instruments used and the style of music that Jazz is. In addition, have the children make a trumpet from some of their recycled cardboard and get out those jazz hands!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWEg4JL-6xo If you are a member of the Early Years Resource Factory, this updated for 2021 April Curriculum Planning Pack is FREE as part of your membership. If you are not a member you can sign up here. Similarly, you can sign up for a trial which will give you access to EYRF for 7 days so that you have a better idea of what the service entails. Click here for your 7 day trial!
