Ducks

Duck preschool lesson plans, including arts and crafts, games, math, science, group time activities, songs, and snack ideas.

Arts and Crafts

Eggshell collage

Use food coloring to color crushed eggshells. Use a few different colors. (You can use eggshells from eggs you have used. There is no need to hard boil these eggshells.) Let your child glue the eggshells to a piece of paper after the dye has dried.

Egg People

Give the children a piece of white paper, and a pastel egg shape. Have the children glue the egg shape onto the paper, and then draw a body as if the egg was a head.

Cotton Ball Eggs

Let your child glue different colored cotton balls onto a piece of egg-shaped paper.

Traced Duckies

Trace a duck shape on a piece of paper and have children glue on different colored feathers onto the duck.

Sponge Print Ducks

You can find already shaped sponges at most art and craft stores or you can make your own. Obtain sponges shaped like ducks. Have your child dip the sponges into paint and press on a piece of paper to create a lake or farm scene.

Duck Shapes

Cut out duck shapes for the children and have them glue feathers onto the duck.

Wonderful Eggs

Inflate a small balloon for each child. Have the child glue tissue paper to the outside of the balloon. There should be at least two complete layers with no gaps. Allow to dry by hanging the balloons up by the tied knot. When dry, cut a slit in the balloon and remove the balloon, leaving a beautiful tissue paper egg. You may fill the balloon with a special gift for mom and dad (be sure it isn’t too heavy) or use them for decoration.

Egg Necklaces

Have the children cut out egg shapes from construction paper. Then, have them use a hole punch to make a hole, so they can thread them onto a piece of yarn.

Egg Rubbings

Cut egg shapes from paper doilies or sandpaper. Tape these eggs to the table. Have the children place a piece of thin white paper over the eggs and rub a crayon over the egg.

Cookie Cutter Painting

Put a small amount of tempera paint in a large shallow container. (A pie tin works well) Show your child how to dip the duck-shaped cookie cutter in the paint and press onto a piece of paper to create a print.

Sticker Art

For a very simple art project, supply the children with a piece of paper and duck stickers. For younger children this provides an excellent fine motor activity.

Egg-Shaped Balloon Prints

In a pie tin, place three to five teaspoon-sized portions of different colored pastel tempera paint evenly spaced about the area. Inflate a small balloon to a size that will easily fit in the palm of your child’s hand. Show your child how to “dip” the balloon in the paint and press it firmly onto a piece of paper. Let your child mix the colors, or use one color at a time. This is messy, but the results are wonderful.

Games, Math, and Science

Vinegar and Eggs

Place a hard-boiled egg in a cup of vinegar, and watch it bubble. After one day, take out the egg, wipe it off with a paper towel and feel the egg. Ask your child questions about what you see and feel.

Duck Pond

Obtain ten plastic ducks that will float in water. Depending on the skill you would like to work on laminate five numbers, colors or letters to the bottom of ten ducks, so there are two matching ducks. Place the ducks in the water table or a dishpan with water. Have the children pick a duck and ask them what color, letter or number they got.

Duck Pond Concentration Game

Use the ducks from the above activity. Place the ducks in the water table or a dishpan with water. Have the children pick a duck. The child will keep the first duck and try to find its match. Played like concentration.

Lacing Cards

Cut colored poster board into a duck shape and punch holes around the edges. Then let your child lace yarn or a shoestring into the cards.

Stamping Patterns

Use duck Theme rubber stamps to create a simple pattern on the top half of a piece of paper. Ask your child to help you recreate the pattern on the bottom half of the paper.
Tip: Start with one stamp, and have your child pick which stamp you used. Start slowly and work your way up to more complicated patterns.

Duckling Sequence Cards

Make simple sequence cards for your child. Draw the different stages of a duckling hatching from an egg. Draw an egg in its nest, an egg cracking, a duckling partly out of the egg, and a duckling that is completely hatched.

Duck Match Up

There are many ways to set this up depending on the skill level or the particular skill you wish to work on. Try these different setups:

Cut out duck shapes from different colors of paper. Give each child one duck. Ask the children to find one person with the same color duck.

Cut out duck shapes from different colors of paper. Cut the Duck in half using a puzzle-type cut, like zig zag or interlocking pieces. Give each child one half of a duck, and ask them to find the person with the other half. Or, give the children two pieces and have the children make a circle, with one child that has one match on one side and the other match on the other side. You may end up with two or more circles depending on how the duck pieces are distributed.

Cut duck shapes from one color of paper. Label one set of shapes with numbers, i.e. if you have 20 children, label the shapes with the numbers one to ten. The other half, draw one dot on one, two on another, and so on until ten. Give each child one shape and have them find the child with their match.

Cut the shapes from one color of paper. Place matching stickers on two shapes. Give each child one shape and have them find the child with their match.

Place matching duck stickers on separate index cards. Give each child a card and ask them to find the child with their match.

Try all the above, but in a file folder format. Glue one part of the Duck to the file folder and laminate its match.

Duck Fishing Game

Tie 3 feet of string to a wooden spoon. Attach a magnet to the end of the string. Cut and laminate many different colors, and Ducks from construction paper (not too big though). Attach a paper clip to each shape. Spread the shapes on the floor and let your child try to catch the shapes. Have them try to catch the red shape or the biggest shape. For a twist, label the shapes with letters or numbers. Ask the children to catch a specific shape, or ask them which shape they caught.

Duck Shape Games Note

The following games require you to cut out many different duck shapes from construction paper. You may choose to laminate these shapes so they last longer.

Duck Sizing

Cut out many different-sized duck shapes. Ask the children to line up the duck shapes from largest to smallest.

Duck Shape Numbers

Cut out ten duck shapes. Number them one to ten. Ask the children to line up the duck shapes from one to ten.

Duck Colors

Ask the children to sort the Duck shapes by color.

Duck Shapes Sort

Ask the children to sort the Duck shapes by size.

Group Time and Songs

What time is it, Mr. Duck?

This is a fun game to play outside. The children all line up against a wall or fence. One child or the teacher is Mr. Duck, and faces away from the children, a good distance away. The children yell, “What time is it, Mr. Duck?” Mr. Duck answers “One o’clock,” and the children all take one step toward Mr. Duck. The children yell again, “What time is it, Mr. Duck?” Mr. Duck answers (fill in the blank) o’clock, and the children all take the same number of steps toward Mr. Duck. This continues until all the children are very close to Mr. Duck. Then, Mr. Duck will answer “It’s midnight!” and chase the children back to the fence or wall that they started at. The first person Mr. Duck tags will be the new Mr. Duck.

Duckie Bowling

Obtain 10 half-gallon milk cartons or 2-liter bottles. Fill the bottles about 1/8 full with water and seal the lid. Then, decorate the bottles like ducks, adding construction paper nose, yellow feathers and use permanent markers for the eyes and nose. Set the bottles up like they were bowling pins and have the children roll a ball to try to knock them over. If they don’t knock over easily, remove some of the water.

Duck Waddle Race

Have the children grasp their ankles and have a duck waddle race.

Duckie, May I?

Played just like “Mother, May I?”, but with “Duckie, May I?” instead.

Duck Waddle Musical Chairs

Arrange the chairs in a circle. If you have younger children, it is best to have too many chairs. This can be a game where everyone wins. Have the children waddle like a duck around the chairs until the music stops. Then everyone finds a chair.

Duck Bean Bag Toss

Have the children toss duck-shaped bean bags into a laundry basket or onto blue paper (a lake).

Duck, Duck, Goose

Play this classic game to stick with the theme.

Musical Ducks

Cut out large duck shapes from colored paper. Laminate them and cut them out. Place them on the floor. It is best for younger children to have more ducks than children. Play music and have the children walk around the room. When the music stops, each child needs to find a duck to stand on.

Sand and Water Table Ideas

Add plastic ducks with water to the sand and water table.

For older children (over 3) place broken dried eggshells in the sand and water table.

Burry plastic eggs in sand for the children to find.

Provide the children with plastic ducks in the sand for dramatic play.

Duckie Says

Played just like “Simon Say” except the teacher says “Duckie Says.” With younger children, do not make children sit out, just say “Duckie didn’t say.”

Footprint Fun

Cut out large duck footprints shapes from colored paper. Laminate them and cut them out. Place them on the floor for the children to follow.

Five Ducklings in a Bed

Sung to “Five Bears in a Bed”
Five Ducklings in a Bed and the little one said
“I’m smushed, roll over”
So they all rolled over and one fell out
Four Ducklings in a Bed and the little one said
“I’m smushed, roll over”
So they all rolled over and one fell out
Three Ducklings in a Bed and the little one said
“I’m smushed, roll over”
So they all rolled over and one fell out
Two Ducklings in a Bed and the little one said
“I’m smushed, roll over”
So they all rolled over and one fell out
One Ducklings in a Bed and the little one said
“Good Night!”

Five Little Ducks

Five little ducks, went out to play (hold up five fingers)
over the hills, and far away, (hold hand to eyebrows)
When the mother duck went “Quack Quack Quack”
(motion “quack” with your hand)
Four little Ducks came waddling back.
(make wings with arms and move elbows up and down)
Continue to count down until there are no little ducks then sing:
No little ducks went out to play,
Over the hills and far away,
When the mother duck went “QUACK, QUACK, QUACK,”
Five little ducks came waddling back.

Six Little Ducks

Six little ducks
That I once knew
Big ones, little ones,
Nice ones, too
But the one little duck
With the feather on his back
He led the others
With a quack, quack, quack

Quack, quack, quack,
Quack, quack, quack
He led the others
With a quack, quack, quack

Down to the river
They would go
Wibble, wobble, wibble, wobble,
To and fro
But the one little duck
With the feather on his back
He led the others
With a quack, quack, quack

Quack, quack, quack,
Quack, quack, quack
He led the others
With a quack, quack, quack

Back from the river
They would come
Wibble, wobble, wibble, wobble,
Ho, hum, hum
But the one little duck
With the feather on his back
He led the others
With a quack, quack, quack

Quack, quack, quack,
Quack, quack, quack
He led the others
With a quack, quack, quack

Snacks

Duck Shape Jello

Make jello, use less water so the children can hold the jello better. Use a cookie cutter to cut out duck Shapes.