Community Helpers Theme Unit and Activities for Kindergarten and Preschool

The Community Helpers theme unit contains 4 printable emergent readers, 26 colored photographs of different community helpers, 26 black and white cartoon characters of community helpers, detailed center ideas and required materials, sample time table schedule, 4 related theme songs, 36 rhyming cards and other suggestions for phonemic awareness activities and much more! Below you will find a sample of the photographs and cartoon characters used in the emergent readers and theme activities. These pictures are to be used for discussion purposes and crafts:

Colored Photograph Sample

Cartoon Sample

Note: Smaller versions of these pictures are also found to be used for crafts and educational card games.

Preschool and Kindergarten Literature Activities - Community Helpers That Use Their Hands

Introduce the concept of how some community helpers use their hands by reading the book Hands by Lois Ehlert. This book is ideal for introducing this concept. The activities below are a great follow-up to reading the book. You can view a page from the reader below:

Sample Page from the Reader to Accompany the Literature Selection

Interactive Component - The children must find, cut and paste the tools each helper uses. This is a great activity to use to help improve fine-motor skills.

Preschool and Kindergarten Literature Activities - Community Helpers That Use Their Creative Talents

Introduce the concept of how some community helpers use their creative talents. The book Hands: Growing Up to Be An Artist by Lois Ehlert is a perfect book to use to introduce this concept.

Sample Page from the Reader to Accompany the Literature Selection

Interactive Component - The children must find, cut and paste the correct community helper on the blank page.

Preschool and Kindergarten Literature Activities - Community Helpers That Enjoy Helping Others

Introduce the concept of how some people enjoy helping others and they become a community helper that makes use of this interest.

The book Jobs People Do by Christopher Maynard is a great book that could be used to introduce many different jobs and the responsibilites of each. The children would enjoy this book because it is written directly to inform them. Even the pictures are with children dressed-up as the different community helpers.

Sample Page From the Reader

Interactive Component - requires the children to find, cut and paste the correct vehicle that matches the worker. A great activity for helping improve fine-motor skills.

Preschool and Kindergarten Literature Activities - Community Helpers That Enjoy Serving Other

Introduce the concept of how some people enjoy serving others and they become a community helper that makes use of this interest.

Sample Page From the Reader

Interactive Component - requires the children to find, cut and paste the correct service worker described.

Printable Kindergarten Activities

Printable Preschool Activities

A sample page is shown to the right of one of the emergent readers. The text follows a similar pattern throughout, making it easy for young children to read it on their own (pretend read). The children were required to find, cut and color the correct vehicle that matches the community helper featured on the page. This interactive component is great for developing reading comprehension and incorporating fine-motor skills. These interactive emergent readers work wonderfully in literacy center activities.

These printable emergent readers are excellent for a preschool or kindergarten take home activity. Parents are thrilled to have a resource that can assist in giving their child an early start to reading.

Preschool and Kindergarten Activity One

Community Helpers and Their Vehicles

The emergent reader Workers That Help Us relates to vehicles that these helpers use to perform their job. Children color or paint with watercolors the vehicles found on pages 72 - 74 in the file Center Activities Weeks 1 and 2 in the Community Helpers Theme Unit.
The children cut the vehicles out using their cutting skills
The correct workers found on page 71 can be pasted into the window of the vehicle

Templates found in the theme unit or member's area.

Preschool and Kindergarten Activity Two

Community Helpers - Hand Picture Frame Craft

Children trace the hand found on page 66 in the file Center Activities Weeks 1 and 2 in the Community Helpers Theme Unit.
Add a picture of one of the community helpers that are the focus for the week.

Preschool and Kindergarten Activity Three

Community Helpers and Special Hats

This craft could be completed after reading the emergent reader Using My Hands or Serving Others. Some community helpers have special hats. Children will have fun placing the hats on their own faces. On pages 89 - 91 in the file Center Activities Weeks 3 and 4 in the Community Helpers Theme Unit there are circles for faces and appropriate hats to make a baker, police officer and firefighter.

Children color and cut out the hat
Cut out the circle
Glue the hat onto the circle
Complete the craft by adding facial features that represent themselves

Note: The hat should be placed on the circle prior to to drawing the facial features. This allows proper placement.

Templates found in the theme unit or member's area.

Preschool and Kindergarten Activity Four

Community Helpers Come Alive

On pages 92-96 in the Center Activities Weeks 3 and 4 in the Community Helpers Theme Unit are lower body outlines of different community helpers. The class can now turn into one of the community helpers.

1.. children color the body .

2. they can draw on their own head or a 4X6 photo can be taken, cut out and glued on top as shown in the photograph. This makes a wonderful bulletin board display. Note: This will require cropping the head to be about 4 X6 (150 zoom).

Preschool and Kindergarten Activity Five

Community Helpers Final Craft Project

Children color the picture frame found in the link below and cut it out
They decide what community helper interested them the most. Children can draw or use an existing picture to glue into the frame and print the word of the helper.

Community Helper Picture Frame

Literacy and Writing Centers

Activity 1

The children dictate what community helper they wish to be. A sentence is typed with the words in mixed-up order. The children organize them in correct order using a model to follow. This indirectly teaches the children what a sentence is and that there are spaces between words. See a sample of the activity below.

Activity 2

In the theme book under "Readers Week 3 and 4" on pages 54-56 there are rhyming picture cards. The children can match the pictures that rhyme.

Activity 3

In the theme book there are pictures of the beginning sounds of the letters introduced throughout the unit. the children will be sorting these accordingly.

Activity 4

In the theme unit there are photographs of different community helpers with the name labeled on each. The children will be matching the words to the correct community helper. This is a great visual discrimination activity.

Preschool and Kindergarten Number Activities

On pages 85-87 there are number cards. These can be used for a number of math activities.

a) These can be placed in the correct order.

b) Children can match the same amount of pennies to each card.

c) These can be used for statistics and probability activities. The children place the cards in a bag and choose one. Graph the number chosen (graph in the unit) Place the card back in the bag. See which number card was chosen the most.

Preschool and Kindergarten Money Unit

Since many of the community helpers work with money this would be a good time to introduce this unit. If you have a store or restaurant in the dramatic play center attach pictures of different coins to the objects purchased. The children must purchase these using the correct coins. The children could also be sorting and counting coins.

Community Helpers - Songs

In the link below you will find songs related to the theme Community Helpers:

Community Helpers - Songs

Information on How to Gain Access to This Theme Plus