Preschool Calendar Activities

Normally preschool calendar activities take place during morning circle time. This is a great start to the day. Circle time is a good way to promote a sense of community. The children can take the time to bond with one another right in the beginning of the day. 

Circle time is a time to gather together and learn what will be going on for the rest of the day. Doing the calendar activity at this time fits nicely. Learning the days, dates, and months of the year is essential. 

But calendar does not need to be limited to just the days of the week. Introducing calendar concepts will bring about several mathematical components. One-to-one correspondence, counting, matching numbers spoken to numbers written are just a few concepts being established. 

For calendar time, singing songs are very common. There are plenty of songs to sing for the days of the week and the months of the year. Children learn very quickly what month comes after January with the singing of songs. 

Daily exploring with the names of months also introduces letters and letter sounds. I like to discuss what day (and date) of the week it is today, and then we talk about what day it was yesterday and what day it will be tomorrow. The children will constantly be exposed to counting and saying the days of the week in order this way. 

The days, dates and month of the year are not the only things limited to calendar time. It would also be a good idea to mark special days for that month. These special days include: 

• birthdays  
• holidays  
• days the school is closed 
• field trip days 
• special visitor’s day  
• seasonal change 

If there are any other days that are pertinent to your classroom, feel free to also add them to your calendar!

At the preschool age, children are still in the egocentric stage. Introducing them to others’ birthdays and special days will help the children to begin to think outside of their own little world. They can begin to understand the world on a different level.


When children begin learning about different holidays and special milestones, they start slowly learning about history (Veteran’s Day, Fourth of July, President's Day, Martin Luther King Day) and geography (seasonal changes). The younger the children can discover these special days, the sooner they can begin the process of higher learning.

Discussing the theme for the week can also be done as a calendar activity. The children are ready for group discussions when calendar time is done, so conversing about the theme will be a great connection. You can have them chat about what they know about the theme and what you will be doing for that day in reference to the theme.

If you do a weekly theme, you can find out what they learned by every Friday and then proceed to tell them when they come back on Monday, they will have a new theme to learn. The children will begin to expect what will come next. That is just another great advantage to preschool calendar time!


You may also want to add weather activities to your calendar time. Weather correlates wonderfully with the time of year it is, especially if you live in an area that has all four seasons. You will have many things to discuss in this aspect. It would be unusual for the snow to come down in August, for instance. You can have the children talk about what kind of weather they will see at Christmas time or for Independence Day. Taking the time to show this connection to children will be highly favorable.

With the introduction of preschool calendar activities comes about math and social concepts. Creating an environment for the children to establish the calendar time routine will allow for daily counting, one-to-one correspondence, matching, data collecting, and weather observations. All of this will stem from your preschool calendar time interactions and this learning can be expanded and adapted to fit your curriculum!