Summer theme for 3 and 4 year olds: a week of activities
A summer theme lesson plan for 3 and 4 year olds: what a day looks like, then the week's circle time (ten to fifteen minutes, with a child holding the book), books, craft, song, snack, letter and outside time, each with what changes at this age.
A day of the summer theme with 3 and 4 year olds
- Arrival, sign-in, and a job from the helper chart.
- Circle (ten to fifteen minutes): calendar, “How do we stay cool when it is hot?”, sing “row, row, row your boat”, then Kip and the Crab.
- Centers, with the craft at one table: paper-plate sun.
- Letter S: trace it once, then hunt for S around the room.
- Snack: Ice Cream in a Bag, with children pouring and counting.
- Outside: shade or sun.
- Rest, then a longer read-aloud: The Sun Is a Star.
Summer circle time
- Good morning song, then say each name together.
- Calendar: the day, the date and the weather.
- Ask: “How do we stay cool when it is hot?”
- Sing: Row, Row, Row Your Boat.
- Read: Kip and the Crab (level 3).
Threes and fours: ten to fifteen minutes; let a child hold the book.
Summer theme books
- Kip and the Crab (level 3, free on peabody.kids): A summer day at the beach.
- Fish in a Dish (level 2, free on peabody.kids): Water and something kind.
- The Sun Is a Star (read aloud, level 5): A read-aloud: true facts about the sun.
- Tom and the Big Fish (read aloud, level 6): A read-aloud: a silly fishing day.
Summer craft: Paper-plate sun
You need (4): paper plate, yellow paint or crayon, yellow and orange paper strips, glue stick.
- Color the plate yellow.
- Glue strips all round as the rays.
- Draw a face on your sun.
With a grown-up. No heat, nothing hot.
Summer 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.
Summer snack
Ice Cream in a Bag from the Peabody Kitchen: picture steps, allergy swaps and safety lines on the recipe.
Letter S activities
SsS is for sun. Print the two pages (a trace page and a color page).
Threes and fours: trace S and s once, then find S in the room and in the book.
Outside activity: Shade or sun
Call "Sun!" and everyone runs into the sunny part; call "Shade!" and everyone runs to the shade.
Summer theme for toddlersSummer theme for 2 year oldsSummer theme, all ages
Checked 2026-10-30