Community helpers play a vital role in helping our communities run efficiently. Therefore, it is important to introduce our young learners to these community helpers so they can recognize them and understand what they do.
This is why including a Community Helper theme in your preschool curriculum is so important. Not only is it an important theme, but also a fun one!
To support you in teaching your preschoolers about community helpers we created several community helper preschool activities. Keep reading to learn more about each activity!
Community Helper Preschool Lesson Plan
As mentioned above, we have created SEVERAL learning activities to teach your preschoolers about community helpers. These activities range from a read aloud to a STEM project, with several other areas of learning in between.
In addition to our community helper read aloud and STEM project, we have learning activities for math and literacy centers, hands on exploration stations, and even circle time! Each of these learning activities comes with its own community helper preschool lesson plan. This makes each ready to teach activity easy to implement in any classroom.
How Do You Introduce Community Helpers to Preschoolers?
The best way to introduce preschoolers to any new idea or theme is through several different points of learning. That’s why we like to use one theme to guide the creation of ALL lessons for a particular unit.
This is exactly what we did with the Community Helper theme! We used this theme to guide our creation of each lesson plan. It’s amazing how easy it is to add a theme to any area of learning to create a cohesive learning experience for students. Take a peek at each of the learning resources in our Community Helper PreK Bundle to see how we carried this theme through all of the lessons.
Community Helpers Preschool Songs
At the center of any preschool day is circle time and at the center of circle time is a song! That’s why we created a special community helper preschool song as part of our community helper circle time resource.
This song follows a familiar tune that most students will recognize, but the lyrics tie back to community helpers. Along with singing the song, there are two corresponding activities to further support the lesson.
In addition to the song, you will find several other community helper theme lesson plans for circle time. These circle time activities can be used to begin each class over the course of the unit.
Let’s take a look at what types of activities are included:
- print or projectable text
- 2 reread/review the text activities
- 3 responding to text activities
- song lyrics with a familiar tune + 2 corresponding activities
- pocket chart poem + 2 corresponding activities
- 3 game-style whole class activities
- 5 corresponding independent worksheets
- 1 emergent reader
Community Helper Preschool Projects
Our favorite type of preschool projects are ones that engage students in inquiry based learning. That’s why we regularly include hands-on learning activities in our exploration stations and create STEM projects for all of our preschool theme lesson plans. Including, in our Community Helpers bundle!
In this bundle, you’ll find different preschool projects for your students to further explore community helpers. The first series of projects are found in our exploration stations.
There are nine exploration stations. At each station, students will encounter a different type of hands on learning activity:
- Explore: Explore and read the pages. Match the helpers to the place they work.
- Color: Color the pictures, or use the code to color the pictures.
- Match: Match the “vehicle” to the worker.
- Make: Use play dough to make the community helper tools on the cards.
- Find: find the community helpers on the map.
- Clip: Clip the tool that matches the community helper.
- Solve: Solve the school scene puzzle on the mat.
- Create: Follow the instruction card to create a fireman hat.
- Write/Draw: Draw or write about community helpers.
In addition to providing teachers with all of the details for each exploration station activity, this resource also includes any additional materials you may need to effectively implement these in your classroom.
Here are the additional resources you will find in the Community Helper Exploration Station activity set:
- 9 printable exploration stations
- Text to read aloud to students
- Tent signs for each station
- Editable work-boards
- Editable checklists for students
- Labels
- Letter banner template
The next inquiry project included in our community helper learning bundle is a PreK STEM project. This project follows our PreK STEM Exploration Process that is easy for students to follow and teachers to implement!
This process begins with a simple problem that needs to be solved. The problem students need to solve in the community helper PreK STEM project is to help a bus drive fast by building a ramp.
Don’t worry! You don’t need complicated materials in order for your preschoolers to build these ramps. All of the materials needed can easily be found in your preschool classroom, such as blocks, cups, tape, toy cars, and cardboard.
In addition to the materials list provided, here are the other detailed instructions you will find to help you use this project in your classroom:
- Step-by-Step Lesson Plans
- STEM Exploration Process posters
- STEM Event and Exploration posters
- School Bus templates
- Vocabulary Cards
- Explore Science Connections with QR Codes and an Infographic
- Materials List
- Planning Poster
- Recording Sheets
- Reflection Sheets
Community Helper Pre K Math Worksheets
Hands on and inquiry based learning doesn’t stop with our exploration stations and STEM project. You will see these types of learning carried throughout all of the learning activities in this bundle. Just take a look at the math and literacy activities we created!
In this community helper themed math resource, students go beyond math worksheets to engage in a variety of learning activities through math centers. While it may seem that math centers will take more effort on the teacher’s part than math worksheets, we think we can change your mind!
With the use of our math centers resource you have everything you need to easily implement math centers. This includes printable materials, teacher preparation tips and activity instructions.
Even with a couple extra steps for preparation, we promise these hands-on activities will keep your preschoolers more engaged and excited to learn about math, and community helpers!
Here are the different math activities students will explore through these centers:
- Shapes: Trace the 2D chef hat shape
- Counting and Color: Counting Speed Limits
- Graphing: Graphing Community Helpers
- Measurement: Medical Kit Measurement
- Comparing Numbers: Fire Hose Counting
- Pattern Cards: Community Helper Patterns
- Counting: Count the Band-Aids
- Number Recognition: Tools
At the completion of these centers, preschoolers will have explored a variety of math concepts: one-to-one correspondence, counting, number recognition, graphing, patterns, 2d shapes, comparing numbers and non-standard measurement. ANd, if we didn’t convince you that the hands on centers are just as easy as worksheets – we still have you covered! Along with each printable center activity you will also find no-prep math worksheets that match each center’s activity.
Community Helper Literacy Activities
In addition to using hands-on learning for math, one of the most effective ways to engage children in literacy development is also through hands-on learning. Therefore, we have created several literacy center activities to use alongside the math centers.
Like each math center, each literacy center covers a different skill: rhyming, syllables, letter recognition, beginning sounds, uppercase & lowercase letters, free writing, letter matching, name writing, syllables and fine motor. In addition, these skills are covered through the lens of community helpers.
Let’s take a look at how students will explore community helpers through literacy:
- Rhyme: Rhyming Tractors
- Uppercase and Lowercase: Mail Sort
- Counting Syllables: Tool Cards
- Fine Motor: Follow the path
- Writing: Write the Room
- Beginning Sounds: Match
- Letter Match: Upper and Lowercase
- On My Own Craft: Make a Puppet
- Writing Own Name: Community Helper Hat
- Free Write: My Body Writing Center
Community Helper Read Aloud
As students develop their individual literacy skills, it is essential to give them opportunities to see these skills in action. That’s why read alouds are such an integral part of any preschool curriculum.
Just like the learning activities above, it is easy to create a read aloud around a central theme. All you need is a book that explores that theme! The book we selected for the community helper theme is Clotheslines Clues to Jobs People Do by Deborah Hembrook and Kathryn Heling.
If you have not read this book yet, it is a delightful children’s book that teaches students about the diverse world of jobs and occupations through the simple task of laundry! Moreover, part of the joy of this book is the journey readers get to go on as they follow clues provided by different types of clothing hanging on a clothesline – each piece of clothing teaches kids about a specific job or profession.
From a chef’s apron to a firefighter’s uniform, young readers learn about a diverse group of people in the community and the roles they play that help our communities thrive. Beyond introducing readers to the concept of different jobs, it also encourages observational skills and critical thinking. All the things we love to see in a book! Especially when using it as a read aloud.
This community helper read aloud is designed to be taught over the course of several days. Therefore, providing teachers with at least three days of ready to teach reading activities and students with several opportunities to revisit a text.
Here is a quick overview of the reading comprehension activities your students will encounter throughout this read aloud:
- Detailed lesson plans
- Comprehension questions
- Whole group response to text activities
- Response to text worksheets
- Writing pages
- Retelling Puppets
- Vocabulary cards and worksheets
- Quiz
- Craftivity template
PreK Community Helper Activities
All of the community helper activities have been carefully created to support learning in all subject areas. Therefore, providing your students with a comprehensive learning experience not only of community helpers but of the important areas of learning
This is why we have bundled all of the lessons together in one ready to teach Community Helper PreK Bundle. However, each resource can also be purchased independently.
Regardless of whether you choose to use every activity or only a few, we are confident that your students will leave class knowing more about their community helpers each day of the unit!
