Watching and playing football is a passion for many in the US. Parents dress their infants in their favorite team’s jerseys and by the time children reach preschool age, they know what the sport is. Capitalize on students’ knowledge and their family’s interest in football by having a football theme unit in your preschool classroom. Let the 11 ideas below get you started.
Football Theme Activities for Preschoolers
Football Counting to 10 – Cut out football shapes and place a different number in each of 10 containers. Have students count how many footballs are in each container and order them from smallest to greatest. (Math)
How many yards? – Practice simple number recognition, addition, subtraction, and counting by 10s by turning your bulletin board into a football field. Use white strips of paper to mark every 10 yards and create word problems that you can ask during circle time or when working with a small group. (Math)
Estimate how much different pieces of football gear weighs. (Math)
How many footballs can fill a (pick different objects)? – Use mini-footballs to fill a bucket, trashcan, toy tub, plastic basket, or other container and have students estimate how many footballs it will take to fill the container. (Math)
Where are they from? Mark the locations of different football teams on a map of the United States. Students can volunteer their favorite teams and you can add some of your own if you need more variety.  (Social Studies)
Discuss and study compound words: Football, basketball, baseball, etc. (Language Arts)
Study the letter “F” for “football” or the letter “B” for “ball” (Language Arts)
Create a Class Football Poem – Pass a football around the circle and ask each child to think of an adjective that describes the sport or the object. Combine the ideas to create a fun, free form poem. (Language Arts)
Use cut-out t-shirts to make football jersey’s with student’s last names on back. (Arts/Crafts)
How far can you throw it? Have students practice throwing a football outside on the playground to see how far they can throw it. Record their answers on a graph once back inside the classroom. (Math, PE)
Warm-up Exercises – Practice warm-up exercises like professional football players do by having students do jumping jacks, run in place, and stretch to touch their toes. (PE)
What are some of your favorite football theme activities for your preschool class? Â Share them with us below!