February often means hearts and love to preschoolers. It’s a great time to explore concepts like friendship and kindness as well.
Here you’ll find tons of February preschool activities. Some are related to preschool Valentine’s Day activites and other are related to other themes when you need a bit of a break from all the holiday fun.
There’s an idea for each weekday during the month, and a few bonus ideas along the way! This free printable kids’ activity calendar is full of fun things to do with kids at home or in the classroom. Use it yourself, or send a copy to parents so they have a little inspiration for hands-on fun and learning.
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Read over the brief descriptions of the February activities below. Then get your own free printable February activity calendar, and you’ll have a full month of activity ideas at your fingertips. The free resource includes links to each post so you can click through online for more information, and you can also print it out to use as a quick reference.
We’re also always creating new activity ideas, and I know you want to stay up to date on those was well. In addition to an introduction to the activities originally included in the free printable calendar, I also add new activities we create related to each theme so you’ll have more options to choose from. Those are listed below each week’s original activity suggestions but are not reflected in the free printable calendar.
For some themes we have full theme planning guides and printable lesson plans. If those are available for a particular theme, there are also links to those resources included with the related weekly theme.
February Preschool Activity Themes
For our February preschool activities we’re exploring the following topics:
Week 1: Hearts
Week 2: Valentine’s Day
Week 3: Five Senses
Week 4: The Alphabet
Note: The free printable does not include dates. Simply pick and choose which theme you want to do for each week in February.
Week 1: Hearts
LOW-PREP IDEAS…
1) LOOK FOR HEARTS IN NATURE: As you are out and about this week take time to look for hearts in nature. You’ll be surprised how many you find if you slow down to look. We always find many leaves, rocks, and even flower petals when we go on a HEART SCAVENGER HUNT.
2) CUT & DECORATE PAPER HEARTS: Gather some scrap paper or cut some colored paper into smaller rectangles. Show kids how to fold the paper in half and draw half a heart shape (help younger kids by drawing for them and then letting them do the cutting only). Then have kids cut along the line and open their paper to show a full heart. This is SO simple but kids LOVE it! It’s a bit like magic every time they unfold their paper to see the new heart they made. We like to decorate our hearts with basic art supplies. Then you can add them to Valentine’s cards, string them on a banner, or glue them to a large poster board to make a pretty display.
3) TALK ABOUT HOW THE HUMAN HEART WORKS: Take some time to learn about the human heart. Read a book, watch a YouTube video, or just have a conversation about the heart. Teach kids how to feel their own heartbeat. Then monitor their heartbeat at rest and after physical activity.
Heart Theme Activities from the Free Printable February Activity Calendar
Candy Heart Water Play -Water play is such a fun sensory experience for kids AND it keeps them engaged for SO long…win win! Put some of your candy hearts to good use and use them in this easy water play activity.
Heart Number Cards -Seasonal number cards and manipulatives help add in a bit of extra fun to math activities. These free printable heart number cards include number cards, ten-frame cards, and word cards for the numbers zero to ten. There are so many different ways to use them.
DIY Heart Stamp Art for Kids -Years back we discovered that clothespins make a great tool for painting projects. They are the perfect size for toddlers and preschooler to grasp. So I thought why not use them to make stamps?
When we first tried this I was amazed at how well they worked, and we’ve tried many variations since then. With these DIY heart stamps, kids can create Valentine’s art, cards for others, murals…tons of possibilities!
Candy Heart Sight Word Play Dough -We do a lot of open-ended play dough invitations, but sometimes I like to combine our sensory play with a specific learning goal. This candy heart play dough invitation can be modified so kids can work on:
- The alphabet
- Sight words
- Spelling lists
If your little ones are learning sight words, use the free printable sight word cards provided
Candy Heart Rainbow Science -Grab some candy hearts and get kids counting, comparing, and investigating in this easy candy science experiment.
Additional Resources
Candy Heart Sensory Squish Bag
Heart Theme Preschool Lesson Plans
Get a full week of heart theme lesson plans and activity ideas.
Heart theme lesson plans also available for home preschool.
Week 2: Valentine’s Day
LOW-PREP IDEAS…
1) BAKE A SPECIAL VALENTINE’S TREAT: You don’t have to go all Betty Crocker to make this special for your kids. And yes, the roll of pre-made cookie dough at the store counts too! But if you’re up for it find a recipe you want to try together, and get in the kitchen to do some baking.
2) MAKE HOMEMADE VALENTINES: Grab some paper, coloring tools, and maybe some Valentine’s Day stickers and spend some time drawing and writing valentines together. Along the way kids are working on writing skills, and they’ll have fun passing out their valentines to friends and family.
3) VALENTINE SCAVENGER HUNT: Make (or buy a pack of) some individual valentines. Grab a recycled box and help your child make a Valentine box. Hide the valentines around the house, and then let the scavenger hunt begin. My kids LOVE this! And they’ll do it over and over again…so grab your coffee, sit back, and watch them play! Be sure to have kids count them at the end of each hunt to make sure they found them all…shhh, you just build in some math to this “play” activity. (Bonus: If you have two or more children, they can take turns hiding the valentines for each other…this is great teamwork!)
4) HAVE A CHOCOLATE TASTE TEST: Okay, this is more for you than for the kids, but they’ll like it too. Grab a box of chocolates. Throughout the week do a taste test to see which ones you like best. If you want, cut each chocolate into equal parts to share so you aren’t eating as much sugar. Extend the learning by making a chart to record observations about the inside of each one and how it tasted.
Valentine’s Day Activities from the Free Printable February Activity Calendar
Box of Chocolates Play Dough -Valentine’s Day is an excellent time to combine our love of chocolate 🍫and play dough.💕 This activity can be used for open-ended pretend play or you can intentionally incorporate a bit of math as well. Double duty for the win! 🙌🏽 Use the free printable Valentine play dough mats to work on number recognition, counting and making sets as kids create their own Valentine’s Day chocolates.
Valentine Roll and Color Math -Roll and color games are a fun way for kids to practice early math skills without it feeling like work. With this free printable kids can practice counting sets and coloring in the heart with the corresponding number.
Healthy Valentine’s Day Snack -While sugary treats are bound to be a part of your day, I also like to weave in some healthy options along the way. This super easy Valentine’s snack is quick to make and perfect for little ones who want to join in and make them with you.
Valentine Sensory Bin -This valentine sensory bin is made from materials you can pick up at the Dollar Tree.
There are so many different textures and items to explore in this sensory bin, and there are a ton of ways to naturally integrate early learning skills.
Love Bug Valentine Play Dough -Grab some heart dough cutters and some loose parts. Then let your little ones get creative as they make their own love bugs.
Additional Resources
Valentine Roll and Color Math Game
Valentine’s Day Theme Planning Guide
Healthy Valentine’s Day Snacks for Kids
Valentine’s Day Preschool Lesson Plans
Get a full week of Valentine’s Day lesson plans and activity ideas.
Week 3: Five Senses
LOW-PREP IDEAS…
1) HAVE A TASTE TEST: Discuss vocabulary like sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. Then take a look in your cabinet and grab a few things for a quick taste test. Stop discuss how each tastes and what your kids prefer. You could also do a bit of baking and taste some of the individual ingredients then compare to the taste of the final product.
2) GO ON A TEXTURE HUNT: Go through some of your closets and drawers to feel different fabrics on textures. Discuss vocabulary like smooth, rough, bumpy, silky. (Bonus: Do this while folding laundry this week and you might get a little help along the way!)
3) PLAY LISTENING HIDE AND SEEK: Have kids find an item that makes noise (instruments, pots and pans, even their hands will work). Now play hide and seek except have kids make noise while they are hiding so the person seeking has to use their sense of hearing to find everyone.
Five Senses Activities from the Free Printable February Activity Calendar
Listening Walk -A listening walk is a fun way to get kids using their sense of hearing 👂🏽while also getting some fresh air. 🍃Along the way kids will take time to notice things they might miss in a typical day playing outside.
👀
Scratch & Sniff Art -This one blew my kids’ minds! Grab some basic supplies and create your own delightfully scented scratch and sniff art!
Color Matching Nature Walk -We love this activity for so many reasons! Above all it’s a reason to get outside…not that we need a reason! It’s a great way for young children to learn colors, and it’s a terrific activity for helping older kids focus in closely on details like different shades of colors. And we always discover new things when we slow down and look closely during activities like this.
5 Senses Sound and Texture Activity -This invitation to play is one that catches you by surprise. It’s SO SIMPLE, that you’re sure kids will not be that excited about it, but they LOVE IT!
5 Senses Painting with Teabags -As we learned about our five senses we did a few activities with tea bags. Painting with them was by far the most fun!
Additional Resources
Five Senses Preschool Lesson Plans
Get a full week of five senses lesson plans and activity ideas.
Five Senses theme lesson plans also available for home preschool.
Week 4: The Alphabet
LOW-PREP IDEAS…
1) HAVE AN ABC SNACK: There are quite a few ways to learn letters during snacks and mealtimes. Add in some ABC crackers for snack. Eat alphabet soup. Use letter shaped cookie cutters to cut fruit, cheese…or cookies!
2) GO ON AN ABC HUNT: Find the alphabet on signs, food boxes, books and more in your home. For little ones just learning the alphabet start with the first letter in your child’s name and look for it throughout the day. Switch it up to other letters as your child is able. Older kids can have fun going on an A to Z scavenger hunt to find all the letters in the alphabet.
3) PLAY ABC HOP: Write the letters of the alphabet (only a handful if your child is just starting to learn them) with sidewalk chalk outside. Call out a letter and have kids hop, skip, leap etc to the letter. Later switch it up by having your child toss a small object (bean bag, pebble, etc) and call out the letter the object lands on or closest to.
Alphabet Activities from the Free Printable February Activity Calendar
Teach with ABC Books -I’m guessing you’ve already got at least a handful of alphabet books at home. Are you getting the most use out of them?
Build the Alphabet -One of the ways we like to teach the alphabet is to use letter mats. Of course you know I’m not a fan of tracing sheets, so we like to get a lot of practice building letters in other ways.
ABC Cookies Alphabet Activity -Preschoolers spend a lot of time engaging in pretend play, and they learn a lot while doing so. Baking is a common pretend play activity in our house, so we took this opportunity to weave in a little alphabet fun with an ABC cookie pretend play station.
Process Art Alphabet -Use fun process art ideas to make letter crafts. We even use our creations to make a memory book that kids love to read over and over again.
ABC Race Track -I love when a simple learning activity inspires an afternoon of play. That’s exactly what happened with this race track ABC game.
Additional Resources
Top 10 Ways to Teach the Alphabet
Our Top Selling Alphabet Resource
Get a the Alphabet Mats process art and letter building ideas set.
Get the Free Printable February Activity Calendar
Note: Updated version is slightly different from the one pictured here. It includes four weeks for February and does not have dates listed.
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