Letter I Activities for Preschool and Free Preschool Lesson Plan: I is for Igloo

Today we are exploring winter with the Lesson Plan I is for Igloos! We’ll get into a little bit of winter survival and different kinds of houses as well. This is part of our alphabet lesson plan series. These winter activities for kids and other Letter I activities for preschool turned out to be both really fun and educational.

I hope your home preschool adventures are going well and that these lesson plans are helpful for you. If you haven’t seen my quick tips for getting started with successful home preschool, check them out.

Use and share these plans to talk, sing, read, write, and play your way through the alphabet; these kinds of activities are the foundation of building strong readers. You can use our full lesson plans, or, of course, pick individual activities to do with the Littles in your life. I am also a budget-friendly Mama, so no worries there: our activities are always easy on the pocketbook. Now, let’s get to it!

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Visit the Preschool Lesson Plan Index to see what free plans are published or in the works!

Update: You can now get ALL of the Alphabet Lesson Plans, Checklists, and Printables, (plus Bonus Ideas and 75+ exclusive preschool printables!) all in one budget-friendly digital product…A to Z and Beyond! Preschool Curriculum.

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Introduction

Gather on the floor for circle time and start with a welcome song. We have been singing, “Hello to All the Children of the World”. Each week we briefly spotlight one of the countries in the song. This week we learned a little bit about Japan, starting with finding Japan on the World Map.

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Here are a few fun facts about Japan for kids. I shared a couple that my Little relates to or would find interesting. Then we counted to ten in Japanese. I really like this brief international focus each week as it keeps my kiddo aware of variety in traditions and languages.

Write: Ice Writing and the Letter I

I introduced the letter “I” with it’s straight shapes and lower case “i” with a dot. We practiced writing with an I word…ice!

Wrap an ice cube with a towel to keep little hands warmer, and then write on construction paper with the ice. As the water dries, the paper can be reused. This was such a simple activity, but my Little thought it was as cool as magic!

Play: Words that Start with the Letter I

Next I introduced the two sounds that I makes, and we played a game to practice and think about words that start with the letter I. Using the Alphabet Picture Clues for the Letter I, we took turns describing the word so the other person could guess.

These Letter I Alphabet Picture Clues are also included in the Free Preschool Lesson Plan Checklist.

Play: Make Banana Ice Cream

One of our favorite I words is Ice Cream! So, here near the beginning of the lesson, we needed to make our snack for later: Banana Ice Cream!

Banana Ice Cream is naturally sweet and very easy to make.

1. Cut a banana into slices and put the pieces into a plastic bag that zips closed. Put the banana in the freezer.

2. Later, when the banana is frozen and you’re ready to eat your snack, put the frozen banana into a blender, and blend away! Slowly add milk to the blender until you reach your desired consistency.

3. Enjoy!

Talk: I is for Igloo

We gathered back and sat in our circle to talk about our next I word, which was igloo. Little #3 wasn’t sure what an igloo was at first. I showed him a picture, and we talked about what igloos are made of, who builds them, and why.

We discussed how the weather or climate where people make igloos is snowy and cold like winter where we live.

Read: Blizzard by John Rocco

There are so many fun books about winter. Check your local library for countless options, or buy a new one to add to your collection.
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats is a classic that I’ve enjoyed since I was little.

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For this lesson, I chose to read Blizzard by John Rocco. It’s based on a true story about what a young boy does when a blizzard blows through town.

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Sing: Five Little Snowmen Standing in a Row

Sing this simple winter song, Five Little Snowmen Standing in a Row, as you act out corresponding motions and countdown the snowmen.

Repetitive songs like this are perfect for young minds, while the countdown keeps the song fresh.

Play: Paper Plate Ice Skating

This fun activity includes music and movement. Turn on some music. The Chinese Dance from The Nutcracker Suite is a great one for this, as is the rest of that ballet music.

Put a paper plate under each foot and pretend to ice skate around the room.

Read: The Snow Day by Komako Sakai

Here is another fun winter story. The Snow Day by Komako Sakai is about what bunny does when there’s no school because of the snow.

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Talk: Winter Survival

What do bunnies really do when it’s cold outside? What about the other animals?

We talked about adaptations like more fur and extra fat that help animals survive in cold climates. We also discussed how some animals hibernate.

What about people? How do we survive when it’s frigid outside?

Discuss these questions with answers such as wear warm clothes, start a fire, and build shelters. Remember, one of these kinds of shelters is an igloo.

Write and Play: Build an Igloo

Little #3 was really excited when I told him we were going to build our own igloos that we could keep inside.

We practiced writing the letter I by writing on a paper plate the phrase “I is for igloo.” Younger kids can trace the letters.

Using that paper plate as a base, we built igloos from sugar cubes and liquid glue.

This project requires some engineering, as he had to think about what design would work and how to balance the cubes so they would stay on each other but also curve up.

It was a bit of a challenge and that was part of what made it so much fun!

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Read: If You Lived Here: Houses of the World by Giles Laroche

While igloos are one interesting type of shelter, there are so many different kinds of houses. If You Lived Here: Houses of the World by Giles Laroche is a unique book that has neat pictures of different kinds of houses around the world. It includes interesting information like the house type, materials used to build the houses, where and when they were built, and other fascinating facts.

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The book was interesting for Little #3 and me.

Eat: Banana Ice cream & Foods that Start with Letter I

We finished making our banana ice cream as described above and dug in. Yummy!

Besides ice cream, other foods that start with Letter I are iceberg lettuce, Italian sodas, Italian soda bread, Italian anything (pasta, cheese, etc.) Idaho potatoes, instant oatmeal (or anything else instant), Indian food, or ice pops.

Yes, ice cream is the perfect fit for the wintry theme AND the letter I. 🙂

Sing: Goodbye Song

Sing your goodbye song and see you next week. Our next preschool lesson will be Letter J is for Job. It’s a really fun one!

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Bonus: Instrument Guessing Game

We played this game during our E is for Ears Preschool Lesson, but it would also be a great fit for Letter I activities because Instrument starts with I!

I made this Instrument Guessing Game Free Printable to go with this instrument video I found on YouTube. I like this video because of the variety of instruments like bagpipes and harmonica.

Little #3 practiced writing numbers as he listened and guessed the order of the instruments. You could circle the instrument you most want to learn how to play.

Leave a comment to let me know what activities your Littles are enjoying, what types of posts you’d like to see, or any other questions or thoughts you have. I love hearing from you. Share pictures on social media using #lovinlifewithlittles. Thanks for visiting and Happy Preschooling!

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