Skip to the content
Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

Jungle theme for toddlers: a week of activities

A jungle theme lesson plan for toddlers: what a day looks like, then the week's circle time (two or three minutes, on laps), books, craft, song, snack, letter and outside time, each with what changes at this age.

Plan this week for toddlersThe whole jungle week

A day of the jungle theme with toddlers

  1. Arrival and free play on the floor.
  2. Sing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” with actions; repeat it while you change and feed.
  3. Hold and pass something real for the week (jungle), and say its name.
  4. Snack: a toddler-safe version of fruit dip (check the recipe's lines for under-4s).
  5. Outside: a short walk looking for vine.
  6. Read Go, Snail, Go! on laps, pointing and naming.
  7. Nap, then the song once more at pick-up.

Jungle circle time

  1. Hello song: sing hello to each child by name.
  2. Look out of the window together: sun, rain or clouds?
  3. Show the theme: hold up something real and name it.
  4. Sing: Row, Row, Row Your Boat.
  5. Read: Go, Snail, Go! (level 3).

Infants and toddlers: two or three minutes, on laps.

Jungle theme books

  • Go, Snail, Go! (level 3, free on peabody.kids): Slow and steady, for the fast-and-slow talk.
  • I See a Boy (level 3, free on peabody.kids): Animals and bees seen one at a time.
  • Lion and Mouse (read aloud, level 4): A read-aloud fable: even the small can help the big.
  • The Tortoise and the Hare (read aloud, level 5): A read-aloud fable: the slow one wins.

Infants and toddlers: one book, read every day; point and name.

Jungle craft: Paper-chain vine

You need (4): green paper strips, glue stick, paper leaves, tape.

  1. Loop a strip and glue its ends.
  2. Thread the next strip through and glue it: make a chain.
  3. Glue on leaves and tape the vine across the room.

With a grown-up. No heat, nothing hot.

Infants and toddlers: let them touch and hold the materials while you make it; nothing small enough to swallow.

Jungle song: Row, Row, Row Your Boat

The words

Row, row, row your boat, Gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, Life is but a dream.

Traditional; public domain. From Top 52 nursery rhymes with lyrics.

Jungle snack

Fruit Dip from the Peabody Kitchen: picture steps, allergy swaps and safety lines on the recipe.

Letter J activities

JjJ is for jungle. Print the two pages (a trace page and a color page).

Infants and toddlers: skip the trace page; show the picture page and say the word.

Outside activity: Through the jungle

An obstacle path: crawl under a vine (a rope), step over logs, tiptoe past a sleeping tiger.

Jungle theme for 2 year oldsJungle theme for 3 and 4 year oldsJungle theme, all ages

Checked 2026-10-30