Homeschooling Your Toddler | Free Spring Themed Lesson Plan

Want to get started homeschooling your toddler? Or just looking for fun toddler activities for spring? Check out this free, play-based lesson plan perfect for active, curious toddlers. As per usual, no worksheets, flashcards, or stress required – just simple & fun learning activities you can do at home with your little one.

Keep reading to learn how to get started and check out the free lesson plan!

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Homeschooling Your Toddler: Everything You Need To Know (For Now)

How To Get Started | Homeschooling Your Toddler

Homeschooling your toddler might sound complicated and intimidating – especially if you’ve never done it before. But don’t freak out. It’s much simpler and less stressful than you think! Here’s all you need to know to get started (or skip ahead to the lesson plan if you’re already a homeschooling pro):

1 | Let Them Play!

The first thing to remember is that toddlers learn through play. So, you don’t need to worry about tracking down developmentally-inappropriate toddler worksheets (what the heck), forcing your wiggly 2 year old to sit still and do flashcards (again, what?), or even teaching yourself how to teach your little one.

Toddlers already know how to learn! They use their senses to explore the world around them, conduct experiments to find out how things work, and ask people who know more than them (that’s you) a million questions every day to gather even more information.

In other words, your little one will learn pretty much on their own IF you give them the right environment and support to let the magic happen. That brings us to your next task as a new homeschooling mom –

2 | Set Up Your Learning Environment

Dude, I’m such a learning environment nerd, I could go on and on about this topic. BUT all you really need to know to get started is this: The learning environment is your child’s other teacher. That means that setting up the learning environment – your home – to support your little one’s learning is a big deal. So, how do you do make that happen?

A | Reduce Clutter & Noise

Have you ever watched your toddler wade through a huge toybox of stuff and come out empty-handed and (somehow) bored? That’s because having too many options – too much stuff – reduces your toddler’s ability to focus and engage on any one activity.

The cure? Cut the clutter. KonMari it or use whatever toy tidying method you prefer, as long as you end up with a small-ish collection of meaningful, mostly open-ended toys your little one actually loves.

Here are some of my favorite toddler toys if you’re wondering which types of toys to keep around!

B | Create a “Yes!” Environment

“Climb down!”

“No!”

“Stop touching that!”

Hey, sometimes we have to say no – staying safe and learning how to follow rules is important for toddlers too. But nope-ing everything your little one does, all day every day is (1) draining and (2) not super conducive to learning. That’s where creating a “yes!” environment comes in.

Don’t want your child to climb the furniture? Look into investing in an indoor climber to let your little one get their climb on safely. Instead of telling your toddler, “No, don’t climb on the counter!” you can start saying, “Hey, let’s get down and climb on your climber instead!”

Start by taking a look at your own home. Try to find ways to reduce the number of “no” spaces in your home and increase opportunities to say yes throughout each day. By the way, it’s totally okay if this process is an ongoing thing – “yes” environments aren’t made overnight. Just make little changes when you can to help create an amazing learning environment for your little one to explore.

C | Offer Meaningful Learning Activities

This is where the actual learning activities come in. (Finally, right?) Let’s be real: Toddlers can learn a lot just sitting in a cardboard box. But to create a rich and engaging early learning experience, we can also offer lil ones intentionally designed activity choices throughout the day.

You can always find toddler activity ideas on Pinterest – where else? (I share my favorites here btw!)

If you hate spending your little one’s precious naptime – aka your only free time – looking up activities on Pinterest, I got you. Right now I’m working on creating an evidence-based tot school curriculum that won’t eat up your whole day. Soo definitely sign up for updates if that sounds like something you’d be interested in trying out! 

In the meantime, give this week-long lesson plan a try with your little one and see how things go.

The best part about homeschooling your toddler is the flexibility. Feel free to follow your child’s lead, adapt as needed, and – of course – have fun!

How To Use This Lesson Plan

1 | Feel free to skip activities, move stuff around, or – just in general – do whatever you want.

Go with the flow or follow the lesson plan word for word. It’s all about what works for you and your child! Some toddlers won’t want to do this many activities per day, and that’s totally fine. I always think it’s better to have too many options than not enough when you’re in a pinch.

As long as you follow your little one’s lead and focus on having fun, you’ll be just fine!

2 | Check the materials list to make sure you have what you need before getting started.

It sucks when you get your toddler all excited about starting an activity, and then you find out that you actually don’t have oranges in the fridge (or whatever). That being said, I tried to compile activities that mostly use stuff you already have at home, give or take a few items. Worst case scenario? You can always adapt or skip activities if you’re missing something!

3 | Find more ideas in the Bonus Activities section of this post!

If your toddler is loving this theme and you want additional activity ideas – or if you want to swap out some of these activities for different ones – make sure to check out the Bonus Activities section at the bottom of this post!

PS. What about books?

Unpopular opinion time: I’m not a huge fan of using themed book lists. Just because a certain book is “on theme” doesn’t mean it’s high-quality or engaging for toddlers. So what should you do instead? I would recommend hitting up the library with your little one and picking out a few books about the natural world that catch your eye – along with any other books that look good, regardless of theme.

The important thing is to read high-quality and engaging children’s books with your little one as often as possible. (But yeah, don’t stress about the theme, okay?)

And that’s it – you’re ready to get started! Just scroll down to check out that lesson plan!

Spring Lesson Plan For Toddlers | Flowers & Nature

Supplies & Materials

Note: Affiliate links used below for your convenience!

• Natural objects:
  • Flowers (wildflowers are great, or you can pick out a cheap bouquet at the store)
  • Rocks
  • Other natural items like grass, leaves, twigs, & pinecones
• Kitchen supplies:
  • Collander
  • Butter knife
  • Bowls (2)
  • Cups & scoops
  • Citrus juicer (this kind and/or this one)
• Toys:
  • Bubbles
  • Building blocks
  • Water beads
  • Science tools (like magnifying glasses & tweezers)
  • Clear sensory bin
• Art: 
  • Paper
  • Watercolor paints
  • Washable paint & paintbrush
  • Playdough (store-bought or homemade)
• Gardening:
  • Mini pot
  • Potting soil
  • Seeds (your child’s choice!)
  • Small spray bottle
• Grocery: 
  • Citrus fruits – oranges, lemons, limes, or even cuties!

Monday

Activity Directions | Monday:

• Outdoor Play: Take a nature walk or explore your backyard, collecting natural objects you and your little one find interesting. You may want to store these items in a small “discovery basket” for your toddler to explore independently throughout the week.
  • Note: You’ll be using these natural items during various activities throughout the week. Feel free to supplement with store-bought flowers (real or fake), rocks, pinecones, etc. if needed.
• Art: Use natural objects like flowers and grass to paint. Let your little one get creative with the process – that’s what art for toddlers is all about!
• Sensory: Fill a clear sensory bin with water and flowers and let your toddler explore. Encourage them to use their senses to learn more about the flowers – What do they smell like? How do they feel to the touch?
• Fine Motor: Show your toddler how to stick flower stems (real or fake) through the holes in a collander, then let them go crazy. This activity helps little ones strengthen their fingers and hands and develop hand-eye coordination.

Tuesday

Activity Directions | Tuesday:

• Art/Outdoor Play: Mix up some mud, grab some paper, and encourage your child to paint. Your little one can try fingerpainting for a sensory experience or they can use a paintbrush if they prefer to keep their hands a little cleaner.
• Sensory: Add scoops and cups to your “flower soup” sensory bin to extend your little one’s play.
  • Don’t want to repeat this activity? If you feel like your child is pretty much over flower soup, you can fill the sensory bin with soapy water, cups, and scoops instead. Soapy water is a fun basic sensory filler that will help get your child’s hands clean after all that mud painting!
• Science: Part of science for kids is learning how to use tools to accomplish a goal. Today your child’s goal is to learn more about some of the natural objects you’ve collected! Demonstrate how they can use different scientific tools like magnifying glasses and tweezers to gather information about flowers, grass, leaves, pinecones, and rocks.
  • Ask your little one questions like, What colors do you see? How does it feel – rough or smooth? to guide their exploration.
• Movement: Introduce a few simple, nature-inspired yoga poses to your little one today: Mountain, Tree, and Rock are a good starting place for beginning yogis, but feel free to adapt or add on if you have more ideas!
  • Don’t know how to start doing yoga with your toddler? I love to use visual yoga cards with toddlers to (1) get them excited about yoga and (2) to help them understand the pose we’re about to practice. 
  • Embrace stories and pretend play during your yoga practice to keep it fun – Let’s be tall mountains – brr, it’s cold up here! Can you feel the snow?

Wednesday

Activity Directions | Wednesday:

• Fine Motor: Show your toddler how to use a manual citrus juicer (like this one or this one), and then give them a few halved oranges, lemons, and/or limes so they can get their squeeze on! This activity is a fun, sensory way for toddlers to work on their fine motor skills.
  • Need an easier variation? Practice peeling and squeezing cuties. Even younger toddlers can do this with a little help!
• Sensory: This is a safe and easy way for young children to practice an important practical life skill: Using a knife. Give your child some playdough and a butter knife. Show them how to use the knife to cut the playdough and then let them get to work! As per usual, always supervise your toddler while they play.
• Art: Observational painting sounds fancy, but it’s actually a super simple art activity for toddlers. Simply put a bouquet of flowers (real or fake) on the table and encourage your little one to paint what they see. Obviously, the end result isn’t important here – just focus on the process. You can ask guiding questions as your toddler paints, like What colors do you see? and Do you see lines anywhere in the bouquet? What about curves? Circles?
• Math: Here’s a simple, independent activity for your toddler: Set out some building blocks for your child along with a basket of natural loose parts (that’s just your collection of flowers, rocks, pinecones, and whatever else). See how creative your little one can get as they build!

Thursday

Activity Directions | Thursday:

• Science: Now that you’ve spent a few days exploring flowers, grass, leaves, and even fruit, it’s the perfect time to introduce gardening to your little one. Have your toddler choose some seeds from the store to plant (here are some suggestions for kid-friendly plants to grow) and then get gardening!
• Sensory: Whip out the playdough again, this time adding natural loose parts for your toddler to explore.
• Art: Give your toddler a piece of paper, small cup of water, and a paintbrush, and encourage them to “paint” the paper. This is a fun, low-prep activity your little one can do independently. Just remember to grab a towel (or a few) and encourage your child to clean up after any spills!
  • Want to take it outdoors? Just head outside with some water and a paintbrush and let your little one “paint” the driveway. Lower mess, but just as fun!
• Outdoor Play: Hook up the bubble machine or blow some bubbles the old fashioned way and encourage your toddler to chase and pop the bubbles. If you’re up for it, you can also try teaching your little one how to blow bubbles. Blowing bubbles is an awesome way to work on your child’s oral motor skills!

Friday

Activity Directions | Friday:

• Sensory: Set up a soapy water sensory bin with rocks and cleaning tools (sponges, loofahs, scrubbing brushes, washcloths, etc.) and encourage your child to clean the rocks.
  • Pro Tip: Giving your toddler a goal (e.g. clean the rocks) will help reduce the mess when your toddler plays in sensory – at least a little. Since they’re focused on cleaning rocks, they’ll be less focused on, you know, dumping all the water on the floor.
  • Feel free to try this one outside if you’re worried about the mess, though – or at least provide plenty of towels.
• Art: This one’s pretty straightforward – set out a few rocks, some paint, and go wild. Larger rocks (about palm-sized) are safer and more manageable for toddlers, but definitely supervise your little one if you’re using rocks on the smaller side.
• Fine Motor: Give your toddler a spoon or scoop and two bowls. Next, fill one bowl with water beads. Encourage your child to practice scooping and transferring the water beads from bowl to bowl. As per usual, remind your little one that water beads aren’t food and supervise your child while they play. 
  • Don’t feel like buying water beads? Try using rice, dried beans, pasta, crushed ice, or anything else small and scoopable!
• Movement: Set up a fun and easy indoor obstacle course for your toddler with pillows, balance boards, couch cushions, furniture, balance beams, and anything else you can think of. Encourage your little one to walk, run, jump, climb, balance, and –  of course – have fun!

Bonus Activity Ideas! | Extending The Fun

Want to extend your little one’s learning? Try out a few of these bonus nature activities for spring!

Have fun, guys!

I’m so excited for you to get started learning at home with your lil one! Don’t forget to share how your adventure in homeschooling is going below – or drop me an email at meg@thetoddlerplaybook.com.

Until next time!

♥ Meg

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