Toddler School: Football Theme!

Toddler school is back! And in true #momlife fashion this is the week that both of my kiddos get the flu! Go figure. 😅 Needless to say we didn't get everything done that I wanted to but such is life. We are just rolling with it!

 It feels so weird good to be blogging again. And I am so excited to kick it off (see what I did there!?) with a fun football theme! 🏈

If you're new around here, here's the run down on how I toddler school:
- I do weekly themes with my little ones
- All activities are adaptable to meet your kiddos wherever they are
- Each activity is play-based and focuses on the development areas of your little one
- I do one activity a day (usually) that lasts around 20-30 minutes

Here's what we did this week:

You can get my blank thematic planner here.

Books:

One of my favorite things about setting up a new theme is getting all the cute books that go along with it! Here are some of our favorite football themed books:

Austin Plays Fair

by Tony Dungy

Dino-Football

by Lisa Wheeler
**Cohen (4) is dinosaur obsessed (like many 4 year olds are amiright?)
so this one was by far his favorite**

Goodnight Football

by Michael Dahl

My First Book of Football

by Beth Bugler

My Football Book

by Gail Gibbons

NFL 1-2-3
**Avery (almost 2) LOVED this one in particular. It was so cute
hearing him read the numbers for me**

T is for Touchdown

by Brad Herzog

Activities:

Football Sensory Table:

This is a super cute and easy to set up sensory table! We just used our green rice, mini footballs, mini helmets, mini trophies and goal posts. Anytime I'm working on a new theme I always take a trip to dollar tree first! You can find all kinds of fun themed things there to toss into any sensory table 👌

Encourage your little one to explore the sensory table! Use helmets and trophies to scoop. Flick footballs through the field goal posts. Just have fun with it!

** In the beginning little ones will need supervision and help learning the boundaries and rules associated with sensory play **

Touchdown Letters:

Using yellow construction paper create goal posts onto butcher paper. Print out the letters included and glue onto butcher paper. Practice calling out letters and having your little one find them!

Don't want to create a giant field goal? You can get a small printable version here! Fo' freesies!

Football Drop:

Prep football drop box by coloring a shoe box green and adding goal posts. Cut slits into the box and label with shapes! Print and cut out football shapes (you can get these in the activity pack below!) Work with your little one to identify the shapes and drop into the right goal post!

Football Cubes:

Print and assemble cube. Let your little one roll the cube and identify the number shown. 

To add in a little gross motor fun: once your little one identifies the number have them do that many jumps, laps, etc.

Football Art:

Football Kicker:

Truthfully we did not get to this activity this week due to all the sickness but it is super easy to set up! Using plain 'ol paper write numbers 1 through 5 (1 number per page) and lay on the floor in a line - think like a football field. Let your little one kick a football and call out the number they get!

Want any of this week's printables?  You can grab them here!

Up next week: 1st Day of Preschool 🏫

Confessions from Toddler School: Football!

Are you ready for some football!?! I know we are! We are huge football fans in our household so this is always a fun week for us!

Here's what we did this week:

You can get my blank thematic planner here.

Books:

Not gonna lie, finding toddler style books for football was TOUGH. But we did find a few that we really liked! Our favorite by far was the Sports Illustrated board book. Cohen loved it! And I loved the juxtaposition (You like that word!? Sometimes my brain still functions like a normal adult 🤣) between the cartoon style and the real NFL photos!

 

Activities:

Field Goal Words:

I have to admit I was super impressed with myself when creating this activity! All I used was a piece of chart paper and a cut out football! What I loved most about this (aside from how easy it was to create) was how adaptable it is to any skill! 

Although I am kicking myself for not laminating this. After 1 day it was pretty worse for wear. But laminating could have solved that issue and would have been made it dry erase so I could swap out the learning skills. Live and learn!

Football Drop:

This is a tried and true staple in our house! We have used this exact same activity 3 years in a row and it is still in tact! 👌 It was first used as a fine motor activity to get the footballs into the slots. The next year we added shape matching. This year we're adding word families! 

So easy to make and durable!

Football Puzzle:

This little activity was so. much. harder. than I had anticipated. I had initially wanted to put something on each piece to help line it up properly but numbers felt too "easy" for my little one. Although thinking about it now I could have chosen a random starting number which would have increased the difficulty...Hindsight is 20/20 am I right!?

Football Word Slide:

We used the same printable football for this activity! I just cut out a window and added a strip of paper to practice -all words. Cohen loved sliding and changing the word. I loved how much it helped his fluency. I will definitely incorporate more of this in the future. 

Football Toss:

I use a box and made a large cut out to toss the football into however Cohen created a different game out of it! He called it Quarterback - and in his little voice it is the cutest thing ever. He throws the ball to mama and then once I catch it I run around the kitchen island while he chases me. Once he catches me, he "tickles" (tackles) and gives a lot of kisses. It's my new favorite game!

Want all of this week's printables and plans?  You can grab them here!

Up next: Fall Leaves 🍃🍂