Free Forest Preschool Lesson Plans
Our free forest preschool lesson plans mix fresh air with fun while still delivering solid fun preschool theme ideas that support learning and growth. These plans make space for movement, wonder, and lots of hands-on activities, all while learning about the forest habitat and the animals within.
Included are over sixteen forest themed activities to complete your weekly preschool lesson plans, including cognitive, social, and physical development activities. Ready to get a little dirty?
Get ready to head into the woods—without even leaving your classroom.
These forest themed preschool lesson plans make it easy to take learning outdoors, but also just as easy to bring the woods to life right inside your classroom! Kids love learning what makes forests so full of life—from tall evergreens to the tiniest bugs under the leaves. These nature-based themes offer tons of hands-on ways to explore science, math, and literacy.
But you’ll also find social-emotional activities, online activities, and lots of picture book recommendations for your forest lesson plans as well. Counting pinecones, measuring sticks, sorting leaves, matching animal tracks, mimicking bird calls – we’re just getting started!
Ready to bring some wild energy into your classroom?
Read this: Learn At Home Preschool Lesson Plans Collection
Forest Animals Lesson Plan for Preschool
Jump into these fun animal and forest learning activities for preschoolers! Easy to prep and use, they are a great place to start in planning your forest theme.
Literacy Activities for a Forest Preschool Theme
Forest Animal Song and Rhyme Pack – This fun forest animal-themed song and literacy pack is a great way to get your kids moving and practicing different animal sounds and actions. Plus, preschoolers love helping to point to the words and find the matching animal card for the song! The animal cards can be used to sort and create new animal sounds and movements too!
Forest Animals Emergent Reader with Color Words – Grab this printable emergent reader with forest animals and repeating predictive text. Invite your preschooler to color in the animals to match the color words and color in the color word. Read each page out loud and invite your preschooler to point to each word and re-read it with you. Invite your preschooler to add their own additional page at the end by drawing a new forest animal and adding the same predictive text with you at the bottom.
Picture Books About the Forest
One of the best ways to teach preschoolers about any theme is by hand-selecting the highest-quality picture books! This is a book list of our best-loved picture books for a forest theme.
- Llama, Happy Little (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 52 Pages – 04/12/2023 (Publication Date) – Independently published (Publisher)
- Aicher, Hope (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 24 Pages – 10/20/2024 (Publication Date) – Independently published (Publisher)
- Berkes, Marianne (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 32 Pages – 06/21/2021 (Publication Date) – Dawn Publications (Publisher)
- Hardcover Book
- Schaefer, Lola M (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- Hardcover Book
- DK (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
Forest Activities for Preschool Math and Science
Forest Animal Pattern Blocks – Grab these free printable forest animal pattern blocks and practice shape recognition, counting, and spatial awareness!
Forest Animal Graphing Activity – This forest animal graphing activity is a fun way to practice counting and graphing while learning about different forest animals!
Popsicle Stick Bird Feeder – Make a bird feeder for your own backyard with popsicle sticks, glue, and bird seed. Invite your preschooler to color the popsicle sticks, glue them together, and hang them outside with string! Add some birdseed and you will have friendly forest animals visiting all season long!
Nature Preschool Theme Activities
Photo Scavenger Hunt – This fun hands-on activity encourages kids to search through nature and capture fun memories on their cameras. Search for woodland animals, animal tracks, plus bring magnifying glasses for careful inspection!
Scavenger Hunt Imprints – While on your scavenger hunt look for different items (flowers, sticks, pebbles, stones, leaves, etc.) to press into play dough and try to make an impression.
Nature Bracelet Walk – Wrap a strip of masking tape (sticky side out) around each child’s wrist like a bracelet. As you explore, have them gently stick small nature finds like leaves, flower petals, feathers, or bits of grass to their bracelet. By the end of the walk, they’ll have a wearable piece of nature art!
Read this: Easy and Fun Preschool Lesson Plan Ideas
Social-Emotional Activities for a Forest Preschool Theme
Learning to Face Your Fears Like Little Owl – Go to YouTube and listen to the story, Brave Little Owl by Penny Little. Little Owl wants to learn to fly and is very distraught that her flying attempts aren’t working out and she is becoming more and more scared of flying. Her friends remind her that lots of things might seem scary at first but after a little practice and some positive thinking, it turns out to be not so scary after all. Invite your preschooler to draw a picture of what bravery might look like for them. Perhaps sitting with a new friend or going down the big slide!
Forest Friends Learn About Friendship – Go to YouTube and listen to the story, Bear’s New Friend by Karma Wilson. Bear and his friends try to meet a shy new animal in the forest. After some searching, they find Owl and welcome him into their group, showing the joy of making new friends and including others.
Play Who’s Behind the Tree? Game. Hide a stuffed animal behind a cardboard “tree” and give clues about which forest friend it is from the book. Kids guess who the new friend might be!
Woodland Animal Preschool Activities
Painting Forest Animals/Puppets – Grab some watercolor paints and start painting forest animals! Cut out the eyes and turn them into forest animal puppets! Perfect for dramatic play and circle time. Add in some forest stuffed animals for even more puppet fun
Forest Tree Snack for Kids – Playing with food can be fun and tasty! Create a tree snack using grapes and pretzels of various sizes!
Woodland Paper Plate Animals – This cute and fun forest animal paper plate craft comes with everything you need to cut and glue to make your own paper plate animal! This craft helps develop scissor skills and perseverance and is a craft that can be turned into a process art project over a few days!
Book Activities for Forest Preschool Theme
Online Story – Go to YouTube and listen to the story, We Walk Through the Forest by Lisa Ferland. Then, ask your preschooler: Can you remember some of the animals that she saw in the forest? What sounds did the animals make? What animals might we see where we live?
Walking in the Forest Song and Video – This preschool-friendly song is a fun and catchy way to engage in gross motor movement and pretend to be different forest animals!
Forest Animals Science Songs – This catchy science forest animal song shares facts and information about lots of forest animals
-
Product on sale* Learn At Home Preschool Lesson Plans BundleOriginal price was: $60.00.$24.00Current price is: $24.00.
Forest Themed Toys for Preschool
Sometimes (not always), what turns a great preschool theme into an exceptional one is having some extra special materials specific to that theme. These are some of the forest toys and activity kits I like to use with my preschoolers.
- ✔ FOREST ANIMALS BIG PARTY – TOYMANY 12PCS North American Animal Playset includes 1 Moose, 1…
- ✔ REALISTIC EMULATIONAL DETAILS – This Forest animal figures set was made by hand painted with…
- ✔ AWESOME BIRTHDAY GIFT – Such cute & different varieties of animal figures are worth to be…
- Package Contents: 3 x deer, 1 x bear, 1 x squirrel, 6 x model cyan pine trees, 9 x model birches, 5…
- Material: These model trees and flowers are made of plastic material, well workmanship, flexible for…
- DIY: These model trees are very helpful props for building. They can be used to decorate your model…
- 【18 PCS Forest Animals Baby Figures】- Forest animal figurines set includes Bear Cub, Newborn…
- 【Realistic Details】- Each forest toy animals is unique and features carefully crafted details…
- 【Variety of Uses】- These toy animals are great for education purposes, woodland baby shower…
Forest Preschool Lesson Plan Ideas
Need more ideas for a forest or woodland themed week at preschool? Try these other sets of preschool lesson plans that pair nicely.
- Nature Preschool Lesson Plans
- Fairy Tales Preschool Lesson Plans
- Birds and Nests Preschool Lesson Plans
- Mice Preschool Lesson Plans
- Friendship Preschool Lesson Plans
Get Your Free Forest Lesson Plans Here
Want to include these forest activities in your lesson plans? Ready to grab your free printable lesson plans with all these forest theme activities for preschoolers?!
No problem. I’ve made a printable for you. Just fill out the form below and it will be sent to your inbox.
FAQ About a Forest Preschool Theme
You may have a few questions about teaching this preschool theme! Check out these frequently asked questions for how to teach your preschoolers about teaching a forest theme in preschool.
Getting kids involved in nature is a big part of learning to appreciate and respect plants and animals. If heading out into nature is not possible in preschool, bring nature inside! Use real images and photos, and make art projects with things you find in nature such as leaves, flowers, twigs, or pebbles. Learn about animals and insects and emphasize the important role of each living thing in nature.
It’s important for preschoolers to learn that trees are essential because they produce oxygen for all living things, provide shade and homes to many animals, and are a valuable part of our Earth. Learning about different habitats and landforms is a great way to learn about Earth’s amazing landscape, even in preschool!
This theme ties in perfectly with Earth Day in the spring, learning about different habitats and the animals that call them home, such as zoo animals or nocturnal animals. A fairy tale theme even fits in since many fairy tales are set in the forest!
I’m Sarah, an educator turned stay-at-home-mama of five! I’m the owner and creator of Stay At Home Educator, a website about intentional teaching and purposeful learning in the early childhood years. I’ve taught a range of levels, from preschool to college and a little bit of everything in between. Right now my focus is teaching my children and running a preschool from my home. Credentials include: Bachelors in Art, Masters in Curriculum and Instruction.
