Balls Theme for Preschool

This balls theme for preschool page includes preschool lesson plans, activities and Interest Learning Center ideas for your Preschool Classroom!

A ball theme?  Really?  Preschoolers love all kinds of balls: beach balls, basketballs, super duper bouncy balls! 

You'll find more themes to help you with your planning on my preschool themes page.

Let the Ball Theme Planning Begin!

Balls Theme Art

Ball Painting--Big Time!

Secure LARGE paper and balls (dodge balls, tennis balls, whatever!) and paint.  Yes, I said paint!

Bowl or toss balls that have been dipped in paint onto the paper!

Yarn Balls

Materials:  yarn, watered down glue, small balloons, brushes

The children brush glue on the balloon.

They wrap the yarn around the balloon and brush more glue on it. (Optional:  sprinkle glitter on them before they dry!).

Let dry.

Pop balloon and remove

Play games with their yarn balls or hang from the ceiling.

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Balls Theme Block Center Ideas

Ball Tubes

Provide paper towel tubes and other cylinder shaped blocks to the block area as well as balls that will fit in the tubes.

Provide dump trucks.

The children will figure out how to transport the balls to the different parts of the block area!

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Balls Theme Circle Time Ideas

Circle Time is such a great time for children to learn the social skills of being together as a large group AND to learn more about your theme!

Ball Name Game

Although this may be something you do at the beginning of the year, it is always nice to revisit each others' names!

Sit in a circle.  Name a child's name and roll the ball to that child.  Only that child should reach for the ball.

That child then names a friend's name and rolls the ball to them.

Tell the children to only choose a friend who has NOT had a turn yet!

The Magic Ball

Of course, this is great.  You pass the ball while singing the song.  I am not a fan of games for preschoolers where they are "OUT", as this song suggests.  If you do this, a great time would be when dismissing them from circle to go to another activity.  When they are "Out" in this song, they go to choose their next activity, or got get their jacket on, etc.

The magic ball goes round and round.

Pass it quickly if you are around.

If you're the one to hold it last.

That means it's time for you to __________(sing activity here..get jacket on, go to interest centers, wash your hands, etc.) 

And you are out!

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Snack Recipe Ideas to Cook Up for Your Theme!

Cooking with children helps develop their math skills and helps them to learn how to follow directions. It also allows for some great conversation!

Ask many questions while cooking with your children to encourage conversation! Be sure to ask specific themed questions while making these fun snacks!

Ball Shaped Snacks   Thank you Susan for this idea!

Offer snacks such as clementines, pretzel wheels, and blueberries.  I also think that any kind of dough you could have the kiddos roll into balls and bake would be fun!

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Balls Theme Ideas to Transform Your Dramatic Play Area

Sports Ball Store

Provide boxes with different balls for the children to sell in their store.

Provide a cash register, paper and pens for receipts, bags for purchases!

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Balls Theme Ideas for your Easel

More Than Just Painting (Although that is always THE favorite in our classroom!)

Create A Ball

Provide paper plates instead of paper.  The children are going to create their own ball!  My thought was for them to have a circle shape and create their own design on the circle so they are creating a design on the circle (ball) shape.

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Balls Theme Large Group Games 

 

that help build their muscles while they have fun together

Exercise Balls

Provide large exercise balls for the children to use!  They lay their belly on the top, feet on the floor and try to balance on them.  Be sure the floor is padded and the activity is supervised.

Bowling

Rather than purchasing a plastic bowling set, why not make your own instead with the children?  Collect 2 liter plastic bottles or 1/2 gallon plastic milk containers.  Put a little bit of water or sand in the bottom and provide heavy balls to roll!

Felt Balls Thank you, Wendy R., for this idea!

Have the children help make balls from felt.  They can then paint them and use them in tossing games or parachute games to promote motor skills.

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Balls Theme Ideas for Your Library and Literacy Activities for your Preschool Classroom

Book Suggestions for the Library

(I LOVE Amazon, and some of the links below will take you to the Amazon website.  If you do choose to purchase yours through Amazon, they do send me a few cents--which supports my coffee habit! )

Ball! by Ros Asquith

Elmo's World: Balls! (Sesame Street) (Sesame Street(R) Elmos World(TM)) by John E. Barrett

Beach Ball by Peter Sis

Bear and Ball by Cliff Wright

Hit the Ball Duck by Jez Alborough

Kipper's Lost Ball by Mick Inkpen

Little Pig's Bouncy Ball by Alan Baron

Sam's Ball by Barbro Lindgren

The Story of Red Rubber Ball by Constance Kling Levy

Don't limit yourself to these titles!  Look for other books both fiction and non-fiction to have around your preschool classroom!

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Balls Theme Activities to help your Preschoolers develop their math skills and those small muscles in their hands!

Bouncy Ball Sorting

Provide cups or bowls that are numbered 1-10.

Provide a large collection of bouncy balls.

Provide un-numbered bowls/cups.

The children place the correct number of balls into the numbered cups.

The children sort by attribute (color, specks, etc.) into the non-numbered bowls/cups.

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Balls Theme Music and Movement Activities and Ideas to get your Preschoolers Movin' and Groovin'!

Take Me Out To The Ball Game! (song)

Take me out to the ball game.

Take me out to the crowd.

Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks.

I don't care if I ever get back.

Cause it's root, root root for the home team.

If they don't win it's a shame!

And it's ONE, TWO, THREE strikes you're out!

At the old ball game!

One, Two Three!

Here's a ball (make a small, ball shape with your fingers).

And here's a ball (make a ball shape using both hands).

And here is a great, BIG ball as you can see (make a huge ball shape using your arms)!

Let's count them together...Ready?

One, two, three (make each shape again as you count)!

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Balls Theme Activities for the Senses!

Sink or Float

Mhmmm...always a fun sensory activity!  

The children try to predict if each type of ball will sink or float!

Ball Sand

Add a spray bottle to your sand table as well as melon ball scoops and ice cream scoops for the children to make sand balls with.

Sand Golf  (Thank you Jennifer for this idea!)

Set up two baking tins with a scene from a golf course and put alligators and other animal figures along with a pond area and provided little Pom poms and other movable balls with sticks/ wooden and or real for them to hit into hole area with flag.

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Balls Theme Science Activities--for your Preschool Scientists in Training!

Pumping Air

Provide some slightly deflated balls and pike pumps.

Work with the children to inflate and deflate balls.

Provide paper bags and other bags to try to add air to (such as baggies) to experiment with air.

Heavy or Light

Provide scales to weigh balls.  Use balance scales and actual scales.

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Writing Activity Ideas for Your Ball Theme!

Pom Pom Names

Have the children print the letters of their name or the letters they know with a marker.

Give them colored pom poms to glue onto their letters for a textured name or alphabet!

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Please CONTACT ME with any activities you'd like to see added to this page! This is such a fun theme that leads to so many child-directed preschool lesson plans in the classroom!

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Go to MAIN THEMES page from this Balls Theme Page

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Go to Preschool Plan-It's Home Page

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