Jungle Theme Preschool Unit

An engaging and fun Preschool Theme Unit all about Jungle Friends! This Jungle Theme Preschool Unit has a printable counting book along with activities each day to read, make, experience and work! Your preschool will love these fun hands on activities.

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Jungle Animals Preschool Unit - Counting Book Featured Image

Whether you are in the middle of winter or approaching the warmth of summer, your preschool children will love a week or two in the jungle. Figuratively speaking of course.

I’ve put together a fun and engaging jungle preschool theme unit for you and your preschool to enjoy. Have fun with it! If you have fun, your students will have fun too.

What is involved in a Jungle Theme Preschool Unit?

The perfect theme units start with amazing books as the foundation. Reading out loud to the children in your class or home is an incredible gift for them. As you read aloud to a child, you are helping them develop imagination, helping them learn rich vocabulary and language structure, helping them build listening skills and auditory processing skills.

Listening to books read aloud during preschool is essential. So that’s where we start. Each day, you will read together a jungle book. Once you’ve read a book about the theme, the next step is to make something with your hands.

Each day we’ve provided a fun craft to make and enjoy. The kinesthetic process of crafting and creating is also essential for preschool children.

They are building fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, depth perception, and spatial awareness, all while creating something they love. Crafting is the second part of our jungle preschool theme unit.

Hands-On Jungle Fun and Seatwork for your Jungle Preschool Theme

Next, you will complete some kind of activity related to the jungle. It might be science, or a game, or a pretend play activity. These activities broaden your student’s awareness of the world. More importantly, hands-on activities related to the theme help make everything your child is hearing or learning more memorable and more concrete.

Jungle theme activities will bring variety and spice to your preschool jungle theme unit. Finally, with the inspiration of the literature and crafting experience as fuel, you and your child will complete two or three pages of seatwork. I’ve provided a Jungle Friends counting book to help you get started.

You might also add some phonics work such as our Alphabet Pages printable if your child is ready for that. Because preschool children have very short attention spans, this needs to be the shortest part of your school day. Too much seatwork burns children out and once you’ve lost their attention, it doesn’t actually help them learn.

That ability to focus will be your guide. If your child loses interest after one page, be done. Don’t stress him out. If your child is on fire and wants to keep going, do a few more. As long as you are both focused and having fun, seatwork is good.

The Jungle Friends Counting Book for the Jungle Preschool Theme

To make our Jungle Friends Counting book more hands-on and less worksheet – add little jungle counters like these or little stickers to the book experience.

As you count each item on a page, add one counter or sticker to cover it. This helps your child keep track of where you are and adds a kinesthetic element to the seatwork which will help with retention and attention span both.

The Jungle Friends Counting Book is a great way to tie the required subject of math with the fun of your theme. Besides amazing jungle graphics, here’s what your child will find in the free counting book.

  • Counting Pages 1-20, with a place to practice writing the number.
  • Ten-Square Pages for Numbers 1-20, asking your child to color the appropriate number of squares for each number (or use chart stickers.)
  • Counting Activity for numbers 1-10, without the number provided, where your child needs to count and come up with the correct number.
  • Ten Writing Practice Pages for Numbers 1-10.

Jungle Preschool Theme Unit: Week One

Day One

Read: Over in the Jungle: A Rainforest Rhyme by Marianne Berkes

Make: A Forest Collage from My First Pallette

Experience: Choose an activity from this jungle party post at Kids Party Cabin

Work: Two or three pages per day in our Jungle Friends Counting Book or your seatwork of choice.

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Day Two

Read: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Make: A Wild Thing with Shapes from Still Playing School.

Experience: Monster Hands Match from Toddler Approved

Work: Two or three pages per day in our Jungle Friends Counting Book or your seatwork of choice.

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Day Three

Read: Jungle: A Photicular Book by Dan Kainen and Kathy Wollard

Make: Articulated Snake Craft from Kids Craft Room

Experience: Enjoy Jungle Play Dough Play from Pickle Bums

Work: Two or three pages per day in our Jungle Friends Counting Book or your seatwork of choice.

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Day Four

Read: Roar! A Noisy Counting Book by Pamela Duncan Edwards

Make: Paint Splat Lion by Glued to My Crafts Blog

Experience: Jungle Small World Play from Rainy Day Mum

Work: Two or three pages per day in our Jungle Friends Counting Book or your seatwork of choice.

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Day Five

Read: Rumble in the Jungle by Giles Andreae

Make: Jungle Slime from Buggy and Buddy

Experience: Walking in the Jungle Gross Motor and Sequencing Game from the Preschool OT Toolbox

Work: Two or three pages per day in our Jungle Friends Counting Book or your seatwork of choice.

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Jungle Preschool Theme Unit: Week Two

Day Six

Read: Little Tiger by Julie Abery

Make: Cardboard Tube Tiger Craft from Creative Family Fun Experience: Animal Camouflage Activity from Stir the Wonder

Work: Two or three pages per day in our Jungle Friends Counting Book or your seatwork of choice.

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Day Seven

Read: Walking through the Jungle by Stella Blackstone

Make: Abstract Giraffe Painting by Arty Crafty Kids Experience: Crazy Cool Giraffe Science Experiment from Preschool Powol Packets

Work: Two or three pages per day in our Jungle Friends Counting Book or your seatwork of choice.

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Day Eight

Read: What’s Following Us? by Brandy Cooke

Make: Lion Art from Emma Owl Experience: Jungle Animal Yoga for kids from The Inspired Treehouse.

Work: Two or three pages per day in our Jungle Friends Counting Book or your seatwork of choice.

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Day Nine

Read: Little Monkey by Julie Abery

Make: Bended Leg Monkeys from Artsy Craftsy Mom

Experience: Host a Jungle Scavenger Hunt from Fiver Marigolds.

Work: Two or three pages per day in our Jungle Friends Counting Book or your seatwork of choice.

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Day Ten

Read: The Very Noisy Jungle by Kathryn White

Make: Print out these free jungle masks to have a noisy jungle right in your own home or preschool.

Watch: From Preschool Play and Learn Experience: Jungle Animals and Their Sounds on YouTube.

Work: Two or three pages per day in our Jungle Friends Counting Book or your seatwork of choice.

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If you take a picture and share them on Instagram make sure to #kidsactivityzone or tag us @kidsactivityzoneblog so we can see them!

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2 Comments

  1. Good morning! I was wondering where you got the Number Counting Book pages and if those were available for download.
    Thanks!

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