Here are a list of some of the themes I use. (I teach preschool for 3, 4 and 5 year olds.)
helping others(i do this unit around thanksgiving to help children understand that some people are not as fortunate as others.)
pets
farm animals
zoo animals
animals of the forest
community helpers
transportation
sanitation(hand washing, covering your mouth when coughing/sneezing)
stranger danger
safety(bike safety, car safety, 911)
fire safety
growing
insects/bugs
dinosaurs
our solar system
taking care of our earth
all about me
my family
friendship
manners
apples
my body
sports
vehicles(cars,ATVs,Buses)
Emergencies(police,doctor,firemen)
fruit
Sea animals
Then plan around those themes, are you looking for craft ideas? For out cooking plans we made turkey feed….basically trail mix for the kids…We had the kids make it, they sat around a big party bowel and each one got to dump ingredients into the bowl. Pretzel sticks, cocoa puffs, marshmellows, raisens, candy corn, and gummy worms. It was fun and they enjoyed making it and taking it home to eat. They decorated paper bags and got to scoop it out and put it in their bags. Another thing we have done is making pumpkin playdough…any simple playdough recipe with orange food coloring and maybe some pumpkin spice oil or something. We also learn about sharing and being helpful and in turn being thankful. Its fun to cut out pictures of things, objects, dogs, cats, toys, beds, or have fun di cuts. Then ask for a pic of their families. And have them make collages out of those items and title it “I am thankful for….” We also have the kids paint paper plates with orange paint and put their pics in them as a room wall decor that says our lil pumpkins. Shaving creme art is always fun. You can focus on individual animals and makes pictures of them like a sheep with cotton balls, etc…and they can learn what those animals do. And another thing that we would do is make handprint turkey pictures. Have them color and decorate a big piece of paper and then dip their hands in brown paint and dip fingers in orange/yellow/red and then stamp their papers to make turkeys. Hope that all made sense, those are just some of the things we would do for projects and then learn about those things as we did them, like whats on the farm, what do the animals do and say and sleep and eat and how big they are. What grows, the harvest of and learn about farming and seed and soil, (good time to plant lima beans right now). So any how, have fun, I loved teaching preschool and the two year old age is one of the funnest.~
theres a great website you can use to print things off and get ideas its
i work in a playschool 2.5-4 and i get sooo many ideas and print oputs that just need laminating to use brilliant!!
Try looking online (just type in ’2yr old lesson plans) or buying a lesson plan theme guide book at a teaching supplies store. When I taught 2 year olds I bought a theme book and swore by it!!
I use these great websites for planning activities at home. Some are easily transferable to a classroom situation, and some are actually geared toward teachers. Good luck!