Who doesn’t love a good movie? I thought a special week of sweet movies with good lessons would be a fun way to end the summer before we dive back into our full on school schedule (for more info on what we do daily in addition to my themed plans, check out my posts Preschool Calendar Time and Mommy I can READ: Teaching Your Emergent Reader). Don’t forget to check out my LAST toddler post “Popcorn and PJs” for more movie themed ideas like making a popcorn bucket name craft and popcorn counting. (It’s my last toddler post because I’m going to be streamlining my plans and just posting under preschool from now on since my toddler will be 3 and is working more on pre-k skills like counting and letter recognition rather than younger toddler exploration and play. If you have a toddler and keep up with my posts, there will still be age appropriate activities under my preschool lessons in the “art” and “extras” sections…after all, even 3 and 4 year olds still like sensory play!)
–Literacy:
-ABC popcorn hunt: I buried our ABC magnets in a cake pan then filled it with popcorn and had my littles find, identify and match the letters on a page.
-M is for movie writing practice: I gave my preschooler this letter M writing practice page and had him complete it.
-Movie reel story sequencing: You can use this movie reel printable to either have your little draw the events from a story or movie in order, or have them draw their own story (I did the latter). Before we began, we discussed how writers sometimes use story boards to come up with what will happen first, next, then, and last. Then I had my little draw the main events in his story (and go back and add details to his drawings because they were pretty rushed).
–Math:
-Popcorn counting: My little is working on counting large groups of objects accurately, so I gave him a few big handfuls of popcorn and had him count the pieces correctly before he could eat them for a snack.
-Popcorn subtracting (and adding) page: I printed this popcorn themed subtraction page then turned some of the minus signs into plus signs and had my little use popcorn kernels (popped would’ve been easier, but it was kind of close to dinner time and I didn’t want him ruining his supper by eating them all!) as manipulatives to make the first number in each sentence then add to it or take away from it according to the problem.
-Popcorn number sequencing: I printed this popcorn number sequencing page from Teachers Pay Teachers then had my little write the missing numbers as he counted the popcorn pieces.
–Science/Social studies:
-Popcorn: 5 senses observation: Review the 5 senses with your little and tell them that scientists use their 5 senses when investigating things in the world to learn more about them. Then pop some popcorn either in a popper or over the stove (with a glass lid if you have one) where your little can see and hear what’s happening. Discuss all the things you observe about the popping corn using your 5 senses- colors, sounds, temperature, smells, what the popcorn looks like, the steam coming out…and of course what it tastes and feels like when it’s done popping.
-Movie lessons: Throughout the week, my littles watched several movies that teach lessons such as “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (listen to your parents, be respectful, family is important), The Lorax (care for the Earth), Luca (be true to yourself, be proud of who you are, be brave), and Soul Surfer (don’t give up even when things are hard, God will carry you through hard times). After watching, we discussed the movie and what message(s) the director/writer was trying to portray. If you don’t have those movies available, here’s a list you can use of kids’ movies that teach good lessons.
–Art: All of my art this week was toddler appropriate, so check out my post Popcorn and PJs for lots of fun ideas! We did make chocolate drizzled popcorn- not exactly art but it sure tasted yummy! To make it you just melt 1/4 cup of chocolate chips in the microwave and use a spoon to drizzle the chocolate over some popped popcorn. Then put it in the fridge for about 10 minutes to re-harden the chocolate so it’s less messy!
–Supply/Shopping list:
- ABC magnets
- unpopped popcorn
- popcorn
- “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” book and movie
littlelovesandlearning.com 
