Letter P Preschool Activities (And Free Preschool Lesson Plan: P is for Planets!)
Through games, music, books, crafts, and more, today we learn all about planets, outer space, and the letter P! Kids will love and learn from these creative and hands-on Letter P activities for preschool. This post includes all you need to teach the free preschool lesson plan P is for Planet.
This lesson continues our alphabet lesson plan series and is intended to help make your experience teaching preschool in your home easier, educational, and more fun.
Preschool at Home
Most importantly, the best part of doing preschool at home is the chance to teach my kids (and whatever buddies are with us) the things that really matter, laugh together, and shower them with love at this young and important age. My hope is that these lesson plans and activities help you in your efforts to do the same.
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. Lastly, 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.
INTRODUCTION
First off, 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 have been briefly spotlighting one of the countries or geographical features in the song.
Last week we learned about the sea, which was the last geographical feature mentioned. So this week we talked a little about what it takes to be a good friend to go with the line in the song, “Then what good friends we all could be.”
We discussed questions like the following. Who is one of your good friends? What makes that person a good friend? How do you feel when you are with a friend? How can you be a good friend to others?
Write: Chalk Writing- Find the Letter P
I introduced what the Letter P looks like with its straight and curvy shapes. We saw how the big P and little p look the same, except for their size.
In order to reinforce what P looks like, my Little found the Letter P among other letters. The task was to find the P, circle it, trace it, and then write it.
We did ours outside with sidewalk chalk. However, it could be done on a small chalkboard or whiteboard, a plastic sheet protector with a dry erase marker, or even simply a sheet of paper.
Play: The Sound of the Letter P and Preschool Rhythm Patterns
I introduced the sound of the letter p, and we practiced making the sound together. Next, we brainstormed several words that begin with the letter p.
After the listing slowed down, I said how one word that starts with p is pattern. A pattern is when the same order is repeated over and over.
To practice the sound of the letter p, we made different preschool rhythm patterns to go along with the nursery rhyme Peas Porridge. The rhythms are any three-beat pattern. We started with P words: pat, pat, pound. Pat is patting the tops of your thighs with your hands and pound is making fists and knocking them on the ground.
After practicing the rhythm several times, we added the words to the nursery rhyme.
Peas Porridge Hot
Afterwards, we practiced with other rhythms, such as pound, pat, clap and pat, clap, partner clap.
Read: Clara and Clem in Outer Space
This Young Reader is a fun way to introduce the theme of today: planets and outer space.
In Clara and Clem in Outer Space by Ethan Long
Click image for purchasing information.
On the applicable pages, mention how Earth and Mars are planets.
Play and Sing: Pretend Space Travel
Just like Clara and Clem went into outer space, we can pretend to do the same. (Pretend is a really fun word that starts with the letter P!)
As we pretended, we had the music playing in the background of Jupiter from the Planets. We followed the feel of the music through our actions.
We used boxes for our spaceships. Laundry baskets work well too. You could also use several chairs pushed together if you want to all ride in the same ship.
After counting down to blast off, we zoomed through space. We pointed and said what we could see in outer space. We ate space food and pretended to float with low gravity on our destination planet. Again, the music guided our movements.
Talk: Space Travel and P is for Planets
We gathered back into our circle to talk about space travel. After watching this short and interesting video about what and how astronauts eat in space, I answered some questions about space travel.
Next, I mentioned again how in space, there are many planets. P is for planet! What is our planet that we live on called? Do you know the names of any other planets? What exactly is a planet?
In order to teach a little bit about what a planet is, we did a simple visual demonstration. One ball represented the sun. I held that ball.
Another ball represented Earth or another planet. I had my Little turn the ball in a circle and we showed how one time around is one day. Next, my Little walked around me in orbit. One time around the sun is a year on Earth.
Read: 8 Little Planets by Chris Ferrie
We read 8 Little Planets by Chris Ferrie.
Click image for purchasing information.
Sing: Planets Song
We sang and danced to this Planets Song. In this song, each of the planets sings a little about himself.
Play: Planets Puzzle
We love puzzles at our house. (Another great activity that starts with the letter P!) I made two outer space puzzles for us to put together.
Play: Outer Space Bingo
After completing the puzzles, we played Outer Space Bingo.
As we drew the different planets in the game, I shared a few more interesting facts about the planets. At that site, you can click on each planet name for further information.
This classic game never gets old. We have come back and played it different days as well.
Play: Planet Craft
After playing BINGO, it was craft time! My Little loved this planet craft and displayed it proudly in her bedroom afterwards. You can find the full DIY Tutorial for the Planet Craft here.
Read: Planet Earth: As You’ve Never Seen It Before by Alastair Fothergill
As the paint dried on our planet craft, we looked at pictures in a nonfiction book about the planet Earth. Check your library for options or invest in one like Planet Earth: As You’ve Never Seen It Before by Alastair Fothergill
Click image for purchasing information.
This book has remarkable photos of parts and pieces of Earth unphotographed before.
Talk: What is your Planet Like?
As we looked at the pictures, we talked about some of the features of Earth like mountains, rivers, volcanoes, and more. I asked, “What do you love about Earth?”
We talked about being really grateful for our planet and how we can show that gratitude by the way we treat it.
Next, we turned to talking about the planets that we painted. What is your planet like? Does it have many of the same features as Earth? Do humans live there? Aliens? What are they like?
Use the imagination!
Eat: Make Popsicles and Other Foods that Start with the Letter P
While the paint continues to dry, whip up a smoothie and make popsicles to share. You could also do this at the beginning of the lesson, so they are ready to eat by the end. I wanted to make some to share with older siblings when they got home from school.
Try making a smoothie from 2 cups water, 2 giant handfuls of greens (spinach, kale, collard greens, etc.), 1 banana, and about 1 1/2 cups frozen berries. Blend it all, and lastly, freeze into popsicles.
Other foods that start with the letter P are plums or prunes, pancakes, popcorn, pears, pasta, potatoes, pumpkin seeds, peas, passion fruit, pineapple, pepperoni, peaches, peanut butter, or pizza.
Sing: Goodbye Song
Glue the pieces together of the planet craft and then finish off the lesson. We closed up by reviewing our letter of the day: what Letter P looks and sounds like.
Lastly, we sang our goodbye song and see you next week!
Our next preschool lesson will be Letter Q is for Quilts. It has a lot of fun activities!
Leave a comment and share 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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