7 Activities to Teach the Days of the Week and Months of the Year
Learning the days of the week and months of the year are often taught to preschoolers and kindergarteners. It's simple memorization, and it's a great way for teachers and parents alike to start their day.
I promise that teaching your kids the days and months doesn't have to be hard. There are dozens of activities and things that you can do with your kids to help make the memorization easier.
Ready to get started?
7 Activities to Teach the Days of the Week and Months of the Year
1. Sing and Review Each Day
Before your child can learn the chronological order, he has to memorize the name of each day as well as the name of the months. Singing a song that names the days and is repetitive helps to reinforce this.
I like to show my kids the day each day on an educational wall poster that we have in the kitchen. Another idea is to try the merka educational placemats, so you can talk about what each day is when your child has breakfast.
We prefer to sing the days of the week to the tune of "The Addams Family." Not only is it catchy and involve snapping fingers, but it's interactive and educational.
Listen to this song. It'll be stuck in your head!
2. Make a Days of the Week Train
Here is a fun activity that you could use for either the days of the week or months of the year. Draw or print out a train that has seven cars attached. Then, on each wagon, your child should write the days of the week. They need to be written in chronological order.
Another way to do this is to print out the days of the week and cut them out. Then, you can read them to your child and he can glue the names in each of the train cars.
This activity is quite simple, but it does reinforce that the days of the week and months of the year come in chronological order and one comes before the other repeatedly.
3. Build The Week or Year with Legos
To try this activity, you need either 7 or 19 long Legos, depending on if you want to do the days of the week or both months and days. With a permanent marker, write the days of the week on 7 of the Legos. Then, using the marker again, write the months of the year on the side of the Legos.
Now, your child can build a tower with these Legos, but he has to do so in the correct order. Typically, the first day of the week or the first month of the year needs to be on top and everything else comes below. You can show your child how to do this.
4. Sort into Seasons
Here is a simple activity to learn the months of the year. Print out pictures that indicate the four seasons of the year and glue them to a piece of paper.
Then, print out the 12 months of the year and cut them into strips. Let your child sort each month into its associated season and glue the names of the month under the picture.
5. Hopscotch Months of the Year
Kids love to play hopscotch! It's a classic playground game that kids enjoy, plus it helps them develop gross motor skills.
This is a simple activity that helps kids learn the order of the days or months. Here's what you need to do.
Print out the days or months in big, bold letters, and they need to be on full sheets of paper. Then, laminate each sheet and use tape to stick the sheets to the concrete.
Now, have your child play Hopscotch, and he has to say the names of the days or the months as he hops over each one.
6. Make a Days of the Week Rainbow
Who doesn't love rainbows? This is an easy task for you to set up for your child.
Before you start the activity, make sure you have each arch of the rainbow cut out as well as clouds. If your child is capable of writing, then leave the arches blank, but if he cannot write, it's best to label the arches yourself.
Give your child a large, white sheet of paper and some glue. Have him glue the arches of the rainbow down correctly in the right chronological order of days and color. Add on the clouds! It's an easy activity but all kids love the opportunity to glue things.
7. Make a Days or Months Caterpillar
This activity can be adapted to learn both the days of the week or months of the year. Kids love this activity because it involves gluing, and all kids love to use glue.
Ahead of time, create a caterpillar head and glue it to a long sheet of paper. Then, cut out either 7 or 12 large circles in different colors. Write the days or months in marker on these large circles.
Now it's time to give the activity to your child.
Your child needs to glue the large circles behind the caterpillar head in chronological order. If your child cannot read, read them to him. He has to glue them down and let him do so alone. It helps with gross motor skills!