Description

What our Shapes: Heart lesson plan includes

Lesson Objectives and Overview: Shapes: Heart teaches young learners about a very common shape. By the end of the lesson, students will be able to recognize a heart and that it has two arches and a point. This lesson is for students in preschool.

TIE-DYE SALT HEARTS ACTIVITY

For this lesson, students will create artworks involving heart shapes. Give each student a heart template, either drawn or printed. Have students trace the template with their finger. (Older or more advanced students may want to try drawing a heart without using a template.) Demonstrate how to squeeze the glue bottle to get the right amount and follow the heart shape to create a heart outline. Place the heart template in a tray or a box lid to contain mess. Pass out bottled glue and assist as needed as students use the glue to outline the heart shape. Pass out salt and have students sprinkle it on the wet glue. Let dry.

Teacher Tip: Use saltshakers to control the amount of salt students use. The glue should be fully covered by the salt but not caked in it.

Once salt has fully dried (overnight at least), carefully tap off any excess. Give students watercolors with a paintbrush or water dyed with food coloring and a food dropper. Demonstrate how to put a drop of watercolor on the salt crystals and watch it spread. Assist students as needed to paint the salt crystals.

After learning all 8 shapes (square, rectangle, circle, triangle, oval, diamond, star, and heart), this unit will conclude with a culminating story activity. See the Additional Resources for the story and shapes. You may also draw your own shapes for the activity.

Options and Extensions

There are several of additional options you could add to the lesson. Eat heart-shaped snacks such as crackers or cookies using a heart cookie cutter. Or drink juice
or milk out of a heart-shaped straw. Use sidewalk chalk to draw large hearts outside or use tape to tape hearts on the floor. Jump to each one and walk the perimeter. For a sensory experience, have students draw hearts in sand or shaving cream. Provide students with playdough and pipe cleaners and challenge them to create hearts from the materials.

Grab a bag of shape buttons and have students sort each shape. Use buttons to make heart bracelets using pipe cleaners. Sing the “Hokey Pokey” song. Give each child a shape to hold as they sing. Replace the body parts in the song with shapes (e.g., “You put the heart in, you take the heart out…”). For show and tell, ask children to find objects at home that are hearts to bring to class. Share and discuss the items as a group.

As an extension to the lesson, read Color Zoo by Lois Ehlert, The Shape of My Heart by Mark Sperring, and The Day it Rained Hearts by Felica Bond.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Our preschool lessons include additional resources that you can use throughout the lesson. They are provided to give you as much content as possible to complete the lesson without having to find sources on their own. For instance, if the lesson requires you to show students pictures, you can use the ones in the additional resources.

Preschool Philosophy

Our preschool curriculum is thoughtfully designed by professional teachers to nurture curiosity, build foundational skills, and prepare young learners for kindergarten and beyond. Each preschool lesson plan offers age-appropriate activities to promote early literacy, math readiness, creativity, and social-emotional growth.

At the preschool level, children are developing rapidly—socially, emotionally, physically, and academically. The goal of our lesson plans for preschool is to provide structured yet engaging learning experiences that spark imagination, encourage problem-solving, and foster a lifelong love of learning.

CURRICULUM FOCUS

Our curriculum focuses on key objectives such as:

• Building early literacy and language skills through stories, songs, and interactive activities.
• Developing number sense, shapes, colors, and patterns with hands-on lessons.
• Encouraging creativity and self-expression through art, play, and music.
• Supporting social-emotional development, cooperation, and confidence.
• Strengthening fine and gross motor skills through active learning.