Preschool themes for the whole year: 52 weeks, free, with the books and songs

Here are 52 preschool themes, one for every week of the year, grouped by season from the start of school. Each one comes with books, a three-step craft, a public-domain song with its words, a snack from the Peabody Kitchen and a letter pack, and each opens in a free theme planner that lays the week out Monday to Friday. Peabody is free through the end of 2026, with no sign-in and no ads.

The list below gives every theme with the months rooms usually run it and the week's song. Tap a theme for its page, its letter pack and its print sheets.

How a theme week is built

Every theme has the same parts, so a week looks familiar to the children and to you:

• Circle time in five lines: a hello song, the calendar, the theme's question, the song, and the book.
• Books from Peabody's free stories. Levels 0 to 3 are books a four-year-old can follow along with; anything above level 3 is marked as a read-aloud for the grown-up.
• A craft with six materials or fewer, three steps, nothing hot, made with a grown-up.
• A song from Peabody's lists of public-domain rhymes, with the words printed so families can sing it at home.
• A snack that links to its recipe in the Peabody Kitchen, with allergens, swaps and lines for under-4s on the recipe page.
• A letter pack: a trace page and a color page for the week's letter.
• Outside time: one game, run three days of the week.

Fall

• All about me: August, September. Song: This Little Piggy.
• Apples: September to November. Song: Oranges and Lemons.
• Farm: September to November, and April. Song: Old MacDonald Had a Farm.
• Pumpkins: October, November. Song: Ring Around the Rosie.
• Leaves: October, November. Song: Pease Porridge Hot.
• Scarecrows and harvest: October, November. Song: Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary.
• Thankful: November. Song: Polly Put the Kettle On.

Winter

• Bears and hibernation: December, January. Song: Wee Willie Winkie.
• Winter and snow: December to February. Song: Mary Had a Little Lamb.
• Gingerbread: December. Song: Pat-a-Cake.
• Shadows and light: December to February. Song: Hey Diddle Diddle.
• Night and day: December, January. Song: Brahms' Lullaby.
• Trains: December, January. Song: Simple Simon.

Spring

• Spring: March. Song: Baa, Baa, Black Sheep.
• Birds and nests: March, April. Song: Sing a Song of Sixpence.
• Seeds and growing: March, April. Song: Lavender's Blue.
• Rain and rainbows: March, April. Song: Doctor Foster.
• Frogs and ponds: April, May. Song: Jack Be Nimble.
• Flowers: April, May. Song: Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary.
• Rocks and dirt: April, May. Song: Humpty Dumpty.
• Bugs: April to June. Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider.
• Butterflies: May. Song: Ring Around the Rosie.

Summer

• Summer: June. Song: Row, Row, Row Your Boat.
• Zoo animals: May to July. Song: Pop Goes the Weasel.
• Ocean: June to August. Song: Rub-a-Dub-Dub.
• Beach and sand: June to August. Song: Rub-a-Dub-Dub.
• Water: June, July. Song: Jack and Jill.
• Jungle: July. Song: Row, Row, Row Your Boat.
• Camping: July, August. Song: All Through the Night.
• Boats: July, August. Song: Rub-a-Dub-Dub.

Any time of year

These fit whenever the weather won't cooperate or the room needs a change. The months are where rooms often put them.

• Colors: September, January. Song: Lavender's Blue.
• Shapes: September, January, February. Song: Hot Cross Buns.
• Weather: September, March, April. Song: Rain, Rain, Go Away.
• Five senses: September, February. Song: Peter Piper.
• Community helpers: October, February. Song: The Muffin Man.
• Dinosaurs: January to March. Song: Hickory Dickory Dock.
• Transportation: February, March, June. Song: Row, Row, Row Your Boat.
• Space: January, February, July. Song: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.
• Pets: September, February. Song: Three Little Kittens.
• Nursery rhymes: January, September. Song: Humpty Dumpty.
• Fairy tales: January, February. Song: The Queen of Hearts.
• Friends and kindness: February, September. Song: Pat-a-Cake.
• Feelings: September, January. Song: Little Miss Muffet.
• Families: September, November. Song: Hush, Little Baby.
• My body: October, February. Song: This Little Piggy.
• Food and cooking: March, November. Song: Old Mother Hubbard.
• Construction and tools: October, March. Song: London Bridge Is Falling Down.
• Music and instruments: January, May. Song: Old King Cole.
• Mixing colors: February, March. Song: Little Boy Blue.
• Counting: September, January. Song: One, Two, Buckle My Shoe.
• Letters and sounds: August, September. Song: Peter Piper.
• Opposites: February, March. Song: The Grand Old Duke of York.

Why the order goes this way

Start with names and faces. All about me runs in the first weeks while the room learns itself. Then follow what the children can already see: the apples on the snack table, the leaves on the path, the snow at the window, the frogs in the spring puddles. Keep the any-time themes in your pocket for a long rainy stretch or a week when the plan falls through.

None of this is a rule. Many rooms run the same theme two weeks when the children are into it, or skip one that doesn't fit. The month pages show each month's themes in one place, and the full index has all 52.

Try this on Friday afternoon

1. Open the planner and pick next Monday. The week snaps to Monday on its own.
2. Pick the theme and your room's ages: infants and toddlers, twos, threes and fours, or mixed ages. The notes change for each.
3. Print the two sheets: the plan for the wall (landscape, days across) and the family note for the door.
4. Print the letter pack from the theme's page and put the books on the shelf.

The planner keeps your last twelve weeks in the browser. Its "Send to my other phone" link holds only the theme and the week, nothing else.

Three things providers ask

Do I have to follow the 52 weeks in order?

No. The seasons are a starting point. Pick by the weather, by what the children are talking about, or by what you have on the supply shelf.

Are the songs safe to print and send home?

Every song is a public-domain rhyme from Peabody's lists, such as the nursery rhymes with lyrics. The planner and the family note print the words.

Are there holiday themes?

No. There are no holiday, character or brand themes. The late-November week is "Thankful": saying thank you, sharing food and the people we are glad of.