Letter W Preschool Activities (A Free Preschool Lesson Plan W is for Water)
Whether you are planning preschool for a crowd or you just want some activities for your child, kids will love these preschool activities about the letter W. These activities include games, music, books, science ideas, crafts, and more! Kids will enjoy and learn from these creative and hands-on Letter W activities for preschool. This post includes all you need to teach the free preschool lesson plan W is for Water.
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 features in the song.
Earlier we talked about the line that says, “We speak in many different ways!” One way to speak that is not in the song is with sign language.
Today, we’ll learn signs to represent the lines “There are children in the deserts. And children in the towns.” Each of these words can be found in this super helpful signing dictionary that shows how to make the signs.
Remember, we learned the sign for “children” before. We put our hands out with palms facing down. Then we pat down and pat out as if we are patting the tops of children’s heads.
To make the sign for “in,” hold your left hand in front of you, palm facing your stomach, and thumb tucked down. Tuck your right thumb behind the other fingers of your right hand, and then with your right palm facing your stomach, move your right hand like you are putting the fingers of your right hand into your left hand.
One way we can sign the word “desert” is by holding out only the pointer finger across the chin, and then pulling the hand slightly towards your elbow while tucking in the pointer finger and repeat.
“Town” is signed by holding up both hands with the fingers pointed up, thumbs tucked in, and then putting the tips of your fingers together like you’re forming the top of a roof. Make this roof symbol twice, once in front of each shoulder.
Sing the song again, reviewing all the signs learned so far.
Write: Letter W Worksheet
I introduced our letter for the day, W! Both uppercase and lowercase w is made with straight lines, down up down up. I introduced the sound that W makes, and we practiced making the sound together.
There are so many fun ways to learn that we don’t often do worksheets, but once in a while we do. Worksheets in moderation can be fun and are a great way to practice different skills.
I created a Free Printable Letter W Worksheet (included in Free Lesson Plan Checklist) to practice writing the letter w and recognizing its sound.
Talk and Play: Letter W Storytelling
We continued getting familiar with the sound of letter w by playing a storytelling game. I had put the W Alphabet Picture Clues (included in Free Lesson Plan Checklist) into a paper bag. We each drew three pictures from the bag. Then we each told a story including the three things we drew.
For example, Little #4 drew her three pictures and then told a story about a walrus that found a magic wand. He took the wand and saved his friend that was a whale.
We played a couple times, each round drawing new pictures and telling stories that included the pictures. This was a fun way to get really creative.
You could have each person tell their own story like we did or tell one story altogether by taking turns adding parts of the story.
Play: Handel’s Water Music
I love introducing my Littles to masterpieces of art and music. So I kept the activity really simple this time and turned on Handel’s Water Music. If you want to hear a more famous section, start around 36:30, but the whole composition is beautiful.
We listened and swayed. Little #4 danced, and we talked about what water might be doing to match the feel of the music at different sections of the song.
Play: Water Color
I left the music on low in the background and got out the water color paints. Without direction, Little #4 simply created whatever she felt like. This type of process art is really helpful in encouraging creativity.
You might want to experiment with some of these 11 water color techniques, like splattering paint, sprinkling salt, or using masking tape.
Talk: What’s So Important about Water?
I asked, “What’s so important about water?” We discussed how our bodies are made of a lot of water. If we want to be healthy, we need to drink a lot of water. We talked about how all living things or things that grow need water in order to keep living.
Read: Water by Melissa Stewart
We read National Geographic Readers: Water
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The book has a lot of interesting text. We didn’t read it all during preschool, but the 9 Cool Facts are fascinating. It also contains beautiful pictures to discuss.
Play: Thumbs Up for Living Things
In order to help Little #4 understand what kinds of things need water, we played a quick game of Thumbs Up. I said something and if it needs water, she put her thumb up. If it doesn’t need water, she put her thumb down. I said things like rocks, grass, people, elephants, fish, tables, etc.
Little #4 did great until I said, “Lillie Doll.” She put her thumb up. When I said Lillie didn’t actually need water, she replied, “No, my doll actually needs it to live because I don’t want my doll to die!” I guess I’m okay with that. 🙂
Play: Water Charades
We played a quick game of charades, acting out different things we can do with water. We thought of our own ideas, but you could also write some down on slips of paper, such as drink, clean, swim, bake, water the garden, ice skate, etc.
Sing: Give Said the Little Stream
After talking about how much water helps us, I said how we can help others like water helps us. We sang Give Said the Little Stream, which is a family favorite.
Read: Water by Emily Neye
The next book we read was Water (All Aboard Science Reader) by Emily Neye. My daughter wanted to read and reread this one. It introduces the water cycle through the fun ways kids experience water.
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With lively illustrations by Cindy Revell, this book shows that “Water can be many things.”
Play: Preschool Water Cycle Experiment- How to Make Rain
We did two different experiments with water as part of this preschool lesson. In this first experiment, we learned about the water cycle. Little #4 got really excited about this experiment when I asked, “Do you want to make rain?”
Please, of course, during this experiment be careful and prevent burns!
We briefly learned about the water cycle in the book we read, but now it was time to dig in.
Step 1: Put Ice in a Sauce Pan
Describe how this pan is like the earth. The ice in the pan is like the water that is on the surface of the earth, such as icebergs, rivers, oceans, lakes, and even puddles.
Step 2: Heat the Pan
Heat the water to create steam. Talk about how the sun heats the earth and the water on its surface. As the water heats, it rises into the air, just like you can see this steam rising up. A big word for this is evaporation.
Step 3: Catch Steam with a Lid
Place a lid over the pan to “catch” the steam. This lid represents the clouds. As water rises into the air, it gathers together and cools, changing back into water droplets and creating clouds. The big science word for this is condensation.
Step 4: Make it Rain
Collect steam on the lid until big droplets of water form. Then hold the lid over a bowl and watch the droplets fall down. This is your rain!
Just as the droplets of steam gather together on the lid, water droplets gather together in clouds. When the droplets in clouds get big enough and heavy enough, they fall from the sky as rain! The science word for this is precipitation.
Although this experiment might seem really simple to some, for a preschooler it is actually fascinating to watch the water change form from solid to liquid to gas and back to liquid. Tying that visual process to the water cycle is an amazing way for preschoolers to learn.
Sing: The Water Cycle Song
To reinforce the ideas taught in the experiment, we sang a simple song about the water cycle. It was a song I learned a LONG time ago, and I couldn’t find it on YouTube. (And you all don’t really want to hear me sing either, trust me!)
So instead, I found this Water Cycle Song with a video that would be great for learning. We moved our fingers where the water was. So during evaporation we lifted our hands up into the air. During condensation we wiggled our fingers around in the air, and during precipitation we brought our hands back down like falling rain.
Play: Preschool Water Science Experiment- Lift an Ice Cube with a Match
I saw this second experiment in a book I got from the library. It is Fun with Science: Water by Brenda Walpole. I couldn’t find the same edition online anywhere, but this book looks very similar: 175 Science Experiments to Amuse and Amaze Your Friends
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The edition we got from the library was great. The author showed a ton of fascinating experiments and tricks. “How It Works” sections were included with interesting and clear explanations. Older kids would love doing everything in it, and I found several activities ideal for a younger crowd, including “Lift Ice with a Match.”
To begin, I handed Little #4 a match and an ice cube. “Can you lift this ice cube with the match?” I asked. She tried balancing and poking the ice cube with no success. So I told her we were going to do some science magic.
We put the ice cube in a bowl with water so the top of the ice cube floated above the water. Next we carefully laid the match across the top of the ice cube.
Little #4 poured salt over the match. We waited a second and then slowly lifted the match. Magic! The ice cube came with it!
I was not disappointed with Little #4’s reaction. She loved it!
Read: Watch Out! Near Water By Claire Llewelyn
Water is necessary and a ton of fun! However, it can also be dangerous. I recently shared what I learned when my son almost drowned. Sadly, drowning is the leading cause of death from preventable injuries in children ages one to four. So, I knew I wanted to include water safety in this preschool lesson about water.
We read Watch Out! Near Water by Claire Llewelyn. It is part of the Watch Out! Series
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This book teaches that water is fun but also dangerous. It’s very matter of fact. For example, it says, “Underwater, [people] stop breathing and after a minute or two they die.” We included a lot of discussion too. Between the book and answering questions, my daughter had a definite picture of reality without being scared. This book is a clear introduction to water safety, good rules to follow, and why.
Play: Buoy: A Water Safety Game for Kids
I created a water safety game as part of this preschool lesson. We call the game Buoy. We have played Buoy several times now. The game is an ideal way to teach water safety for preschoolers, but it can be adapted for other ages as well. My Littles have fun with it and are learning important water safety rules at the same time.
In the game, players pick a card on their turn. The player answers the question or earns or loses Safety Coins as the card directs. The cards (24 included) teach and reinforce water safety rules for kids. The players use the Safety Coins to buy supplies. The first player to buy one Swimming Day Bag, one Life Vest, and one Boat is the winner!
I created Buoy to help my kids learn and understand important life-saving skills in a fun way. I hope it does the same for you and your Littles. Just let me know where to send your Free PDF of the Printable Game! Or, a copy is included in the Free Lesson Plan Checklist for this lesson.
Sing: Row, Row, Row Your Boat
After playing Buoy, we sang the classic song Row, Row, Row Your Boat. My kids love the little-known second verse:
Row, row, row your boat, Gently down the stream. If you meet a crocodile, Don't forget to scream!
If you have several Littles in your preschool group, this is a fun song to sing in a round.
Eat: Foods that Begin with Letter W
We had watermelon for our snack!
Some other foods that start with the letter w are wafers, water (maybe infuse it with berries or other fruits), wheat toast, wheat muffins, wheat anything ;), walnuts, wild rice, waffles, or wontons.
Sing: Goodbye Song
We closed up by reviewing our letter of the day: what Letter W looks and sounds like.
To finish off, we sang our goodbye song and see you next week!
Our next preschool lesson will be Letter X is for X-ray! It has a lot of fun activities, including a healthy bodies scavenger hunt!
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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