March already?! Are you looking for some great activity ideas to do for the month of March? Our March Curriculum Planning Pack has been updated for 2021 to includes some great new activities covering four different themes: 'St. Patrick’s Day', 'Mother’s Day', 'Spring' and 'In the Garden'. All of the activities included are linked back to Aistear and Montessori Learning and also include relevant Observation Sheets. If you are looking to include these themes in your March Curriculum Planning, here are some tips and ideas to introduce them.
March Curriculum Planning Themes
St. Patrick's Day: The St Patrick’s Day celebration creates a great opportunity to focus on the Aistear theme of ‘Identity and Belonging’ . Aim 2 states that ‘children will have a sense of group identity where links with their family and community are acknowledged and extended’. St. Patrick’s Day gives the children a chance to explore this theme in greater detail. They can discover what it means to be a certain nationality and how this is celebrated within the community. Show the children some videos and read some stories about St. Patrick to begin. Many of the older children will be able to tell of their own stories from their St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. This is a great way to draw on their language skills. Use props to tell the story to include shamrocks, Irish flags, leprechauns and pictures of the St. Patrick’s Day parade.
Mother’s Day: Mother’s Day is a great opportunity for children to express their gratitude to those who care for them. Although Mother’s Day is traditionally about 'mammies' it can include any special figure in a child’s life. This can be a Grandmother, Aunt, Teacher, family friend or cousin. When learning and talking about this topic ensure that you have books/stories about mothers that reflect the different cultures in your classroom. Remember that the children in your class come from all different backgrounds with all different type of family configurations. You can start the theme by learning about why we celebrate the day and how we show our gratitude to those we love. In addition, learn some poems and songs about mothers and make some art work to send home to that special person.
March Curriculum Planning - Get Outside!
Spring: A Spring theme is a lovely theme to begin in March as there are so many learning opportunities around us at this time. It can give the children a sense of time and change as they learn about what month and season it is. In Spring Time, flowers are starting to bloom and trees are beginning to bear leaves. Baby animals such as chicks, lambs and calves are born. There is so much to talk about and expand on this theme. Some of the themes you can follow on with are On The Farm, Baby Animals, Weather or Growing Plants/Flowers.
In the Garden: The weather will soon allow us to be back outside again enjoying the things we love in the garden. This is another great theme to do as children can learn so much from being outside. This theme can include learning about insects and bugs, seeds, flowers, plants or vegetables. The children can learn about how seeds are planted and how they need to be looked after to grow. Introduce them to the different textures of seeds, plants and soil. This can be done by creating a sensory bin or allowing the children to plant their own seeds or plants. In addition, if you are learning about bugs or insects the Early Years Shop now has a wonderful Butterfly Garden available to purchase. This product allows you to watch your very own caterpillars grow until they cocoon and turn into beautiful butterflies! This is a wonderful experience for both children and adults alike and will teach the children about The Life Cycle from egg to butterfly.
