Updated 2026
September is a great month for settling into new routines, getting to know one another, and beginning to explore early fall themes with preschoolers.
Whether you’re planning for a preschool classroom, home daycare, or homeschool, September themes can make lesson planning easier by giving you a simple focus for books, sensory play, art, science, math, dramatic play, and other hands-on activities.
Some of my favorite September preschool themes include All About Me, Five Senses, apples, friendship, and fall. Several of these also pair perfectly with the preschool activity packs in the Where Imagination Grows shop if you want ready-to-use activities to add to your lesson plans.
September Preschool Theme Ideas
You don’t need to use a different theme every week. Some themes can easily last two weeks, while others may only take a few days depending on your group and their interests.
Here are some simple September themes that work well for preschoolers.
All About Me
An All About Me preschool theme is one of my favorite ways to begin the year.
It gives children opportunities to talk about themselves, learn about their classmates, and begin building a sense of community.
You can explore topics such as:
- Names and name recognition
- Families
- Favorite things
- Feelings and emotions
- Body parts
- Self-portraits
- Similarities and differences
- Things children are good at
- Things they want to learn
Try adding mirrors to your art area for self-portraits, making name activities, reading books about families, or creating a class display featuring each child’s favorite things.
An All About Me theme also pairs naturally with friendship activities during the first few weeks of preschool.
All About Me Preschool Activity Pack
If you want some ready-to-use activities for this theme, my All About Me Preschool Activity Pack is an easy way to add more learning activities to your week without having to create everything from scratch.
You can use the printable activities alongside your regular books, sensory play, art, and group activities.
[See the All About Me Preschool Activity Pack]
Friendship and Classroom Community
September is also a great time to focus on friendship. Preschoolers are learning how to be part of a group, take turns, share materials, communicate with others, and work through disagreements.
Simple friendship activities might include:
- Cooperative art projects
- Partner building activities
- Friendship songs
- Books about being a good friend
- Turn-taking games
- Feelings activities
- Creating a classroom friendship mural
- Dramatic play activities
You don’t need a complicated lesson for this theme. Everyday play provides plenty of opportunities to practice these social skills.
Five Senses
A Five Senses preschool theme is another great choice for September because it encourages children to explore their environment through hands-on learning.
You can build activities around each of the five senses.
Sight
Try color hunts, mirror activities, light-table play, color mixing, or simple observation activities.
Sound
Explore musical instruments, sound matching, listening walks, or containers filled with materials that make different sounds.
Smell
Use herbs, spices, flowers, or scented playdough for simple smell investigations.
Touch
Sensory bins, texture boards, mystery bags, and different art materials are all easy ways to explore touch.
Taste
Try a simple apple taste test or compare sweet, salty, sour, and other familiar foods.
A Five Senses theme works especially well because you can combine science, sensory play, language development, and observation skills throughout the week.
Five Senses Preschool Activity Pack
My Five Senses Preschool Activity Pack is designed to give you additional themed activities that you can easily work into your lesson plans.
Use the printable activities alongside sensory bins, science explorations, books, and hands-on experiences for a full week of Five Senses learning.
[See the Five Senses Preschool Activity Pack]
Apples
Apples are one of the easiest September preschool themes because you can use them across nearly every learning area.
Try activities such as:
- Apple taste testing
- Comparing different apple varieties
- Apple counting
- Apple stamping
- Exploring the inside of an apple
- Apple sensory play
- Learning about how apples grow
- Apple science experiments
- Apple songs and fingerplays
For circle time, try some of our Apple Songs and Fingerplays for Preschoolers and Toddlers.
You can also make Apple Pie Playdough and let preschoolers create pretend pies, apples, and other fall foods.
For a simple science activity, try an Apple Volcano Experiment and let preschoolers observe what happens as the ingredients react.
Apples can easily fill an entire preschool week without every activity feeling the same.
Fall
By the second half of September, I usually start adding more fall activities to our preschool plans.
Children are beginning to notice changes outside, which makes this a perfect time for hands-on nature activities.
A fall preschool theme might include:
- Leaves
- Trees
- Fall colors
- Acorns
- Apples
- Pumpkins
- Weather changes
- Seasonal nature
- Harvest
Try going on a nature walk and collecting leaves, sticks, pinecones, or acorns to use in your learning areas.
Preschoolers can sort natural materials, count them, compare sizes, use them for art, or add them to sensory bins and loose-parts play.
Fall Preschool Activity Pack
If you’re planning a full fall-themed week, my Fall Preschool Activity Pack gives you additional activities to use throughout the theme.
The printable activities work well alongside fall sensory bins, art projects, nature walks, books, and simple science explorations.
[See the Fall Preschool Activity Pack]
Leaves and Trees
Leaves can also become a preschool theme of their own.
Take a walk outside and collect a variety of leaves. Bring them back to your classroom or daycare and encourage children to look closely at what they found.
Preschoolers can sort leaves by:
- Color
- Size
- Shape
- Texture
You can also use leaves for rubbings, collages, painting, counting activities, sensory play, and science investigations.
This is an easy way to combine math, science, art, and outdoor learning.
Community Helpers
A community helpers theme is another good choice for September.
Young children are often already familiar with many of the people who help in their community, which gives them plenty of background knowledge to build on.
You might explore:
- Firefighters
- Mail carriers
- Doctors and nurses
- Veterinarians
- Teachers
- Librarians
- Construction workers
- Grocery store workers
Add simple props and dress-up materials to your dramatic play area and let the children take the lead. My kids LOVE this community helpers small world activity and this recycling truck sensory bin.
You can also talk about the people who help in your own preschool, daycare, neighborhood, or community.
Farm
A farm preschool theme works well in September as you begin transitioning into harvest and fall activities.
Children can learn about:
- Farm animals
- Crops
- Tractors
- Barns
- Fruits and vegetables
- Where food comes from
- Harvest time
Farm themes are especially fun for small-world and dramatic play activities. My kids love this farm small world activity!
Add toy animals, blocks, small tractors, pretend food, or sensory materials and let preschoolers create their own farms.
Back to School
Back to school is a natural September theme, especially if your program follows a traditional school-year schedule.
For preschoolers, I like to focus less on worksheets and more on helping children become comfortable with routines and their environment.
Back-to-school activities can include:
- School bus crafts
- Name recognition activities
- Classroom scavenger hunts
- Learning where toys and materials belong
- Simple sorting games
- Songs about school
- Dramatic play
- Practicing routines such as handwashing and cleanup
Our School Bus Small World is an easy hands-on activity to add to a back-to-school or transportation theme.
Pirates
If you want a September theme that is a little different from the usual fall topics, try pirates.
Pirate themes are especially fun for imaginative play.
Preschoolers can:
- Create treasure maps
- Hunt for hidden treasure
- Build pirate ships with blocks
- Make pretend telescopes
- Count gold coins
- Explore pirate sensory bins
- Read pirate books
Our Pirate Slime and favorite pirate books are fun additions to a pirate-themed preschool week.
A Simple September Preschool Theme Schedule
You don’t need to fit every theme into one month. Choose the themes that work best for your group and your program.
Here’s one simple way to plan four weeks of September preschool themes:
Week 1: All About Me + Friendship
Focus on names, families, emotions, classroom routines, and getting to know one another.
Use the All About Me Preschool Activity Pack to add ready-to-use learning activities throughout the week.
Week 2: Apples
Add apple science, sensory play, counting activities, art, taste testing, songs, and pretend play.
Week 3: Five Senses
Explore sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste with hands-on activities.
Add activities from the Five Senses Preschool Activity Pack to help round out your lesson plans.
Week 4: Fall + Leaves
Head outside, collect natural materials, observe seasonal changes, and begin introducing fall learning activities.
The Fall Preschool Activity Pack can be used alongside your nature activities, sensory play, books, and art projects.
You can also swap in Community Helpers, Farm, Back to School, or another theme that better fits your group.
Make September Preschool Planning Easier
Preschool themes are supposed to make planning easier, not give you more work.
You don’t need an elaborate craft, printable, teacher-led activity, and academic lesson for every subject every day.
Instead, choose a theme and build around it with a few good books, songs, sensory experiences, art activities, dramatic play ideas, and plenty of open-ended play.
If you’re planning All About Me, Five Senses, or Fall this September, you can also use my preschool activity packs to help fill in your lesson plans.
Preschool Activity Packs for September
- All About Me Preschool Activity Pack
- Five Senses Preschool Activity Pack
- Fall Preschool Activity Pack
Each pack can be used alongside your regular hands-on activities rather than replacing them.
Browse Our Preschool Activity Packs
More September Preschool Activities
Once you’ve chosen your September themes, pick a few activities that fit naturally into each week.
Some easy options include:
- Apple activities
- Fall sensory bins
- School bus activities
- Name recognition activities
- Five Senses activities
- Fall crafts
- Preschool songs and fingerplays
- Simple science experiments
- Nature activities
You don’t need to do them all. A few meaningful hands-on activities, some good books, and plenty of time for play are more than enough to build a fun month of preschool learning.
