I wanted to share with everyone how I plan out our theme each week. I do not have a fancy planner, although I do dream of a super cute Emily Ley one from time to time, but I did need some way of keeping track of our activities because this mom brain thing is no joke! I just picked a super cheap planner up at a local big box store for under $2 that had monthly calendars as well as weekly sections that was undated. This worked for us the best because we started Tot School the last week in February. Below is a sample of how I plan out each week. I’ve shown our first theme: The Color Red! You can read all about each activity listed below in the post Tot School / Week 1: The Color Red ❤️.

Supplies Needed for The Color Red Theme:

• Book of the Week: Llama Llama Red Pajama
• YouTube Videos: Pancake Manor’s Red & StoryBots’ Red
• Small Bin/Basket/Box with Red items (toys, cups, cloth, etc.)
• Red Paper with drawn/printed Pajamas
• Sponge/Regular Paint Brush
• Red Craft Foam cut into Apple shapes
• Dry Erase Markers
• Cookie Sheet/Container to hold water for Apples
• Gallon Size Ziplock Bag
• White Card Stock with drawn/printed Strawberry Outline
• Red Paint
• Crayola Bath Drops
• Red Water Safe Items (I just pulled stuff out of her Red sensory bin)

So this may seem like a pretty big list, however, some of these items I already had on hand, and besides the Crayola Bath Drops, everything in this list can be found at a dollar store and lots of those things can be used again. You can even make a paint brush by clipping a cotton ball to the end of a clothespin in a pinch! We just happened to have the book Llama Llama Red Pajama in our collection already, but I did get a library card that we have used for other weeks when we didn’t have a book to go along with our theme.

Do I follow this schedule to a “T” every week? Uh NO! Sometimes life happens, which is why I don’t plan an activity for every single day. Sometimes I don’t even go in the order I plan. And if I’m being totally honest here, there has been at least one week where two activities were done in the same day because, again, life happens! All these activities are pretty short lived too, especially with a toddler’s attention span. I do however make sure we start our color weeks with a color bin that stays out all week for Grace to play with, and we always read our book at least once a day. Grace never let’s me forget to read her book!

The most important thing to remember here is all of this should be fun, not just for your little one(s) but for you as well! One of the reasons I started this journey with Grace was to have just a few intentional moments with her throughout our week that wasn’t just part of our daily routines and things we had to do. These activities give us that time and help her learn too, and I look forward to our activities everyday! And since I still have Emily Ley on my mind, I’ll just leave these inspiring words right here…

I will hold myself to a standard of Grace, not perfection.

-Emily Ley 🍍

Subscribe to the Blog!

Subscribe today and recieve a free copy of our Everyday a Little Grace Week Planner, in addition to 10% off all items in our Etsy Shop!

If you’d like to see a sample of how I currently plan out themes for a week check out the Tot School Schedule 🍒 v2.0 page!

You can see a list of our 2020 Tot School Themes 🐝 here.

Interested in purchasing plans or printables for your at home Tot School / Preschool ? Visit our Etsy Shop 🛍 today!

You can also see a list of last year’s themes on the 2019 Tot School Themes ☂️ page.

You can find all our daily songs, their tunes and lyrics by visiting our Tot School Songs 🎵 page.

Want even more resources for Tot School? Check out our Tot School Resources Page 📚 for some of our favorites!

EVERYDAY a little Grace 🌷