Grow Up Great
Designed for teachers to use flexibly with existing curricula, we collaborated with our grant partners to develop resources and lessons to enhance hands-on learning for young children.
Designed for teachers to use flexibly with existing curricula, we collaborated with our grant partners to develop resources and lessons to enhance hands-on learning for young children.
We also offer instructional techniques to enhance learning in the classroom.
Our resources are developed by highly regarded organizations and early childhood educators. Learn More
Experiment and create with all things fall, including leaves, apples and pumpkins.
Get a hands-on experience with the changes that occur during the winter season.
Actively investigate and experiment with changes that occur in nature in the spring.
Encourage celebration of the self by exploring similarities, differences and individual uniqueness.
Discover unique characteristics and behaviors of animals through a series of interactive activities.
Activities with a variety of materials show what it means to be a responsible member of the community.
Gain a new perspective on the insects that creep, crawl and fly around us.
Observe works of art and explore the materials and techniques used to create them.
Also, explore instruments and sound through observation and sort percussion instruments by how they produce sound.
Children will explore the food we eat, where it comes from and how it is made.
Learn about the human body and the importance of keeping it clean and healthy.
Children will investigate what is in the sky, such as the Sun, the stars, and the Moon.
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From flowers to wind and even planting a garden, children will learn about and interact with the outdoor world around them.
Introduce the concepts of recycling, repurposing and upcycling through hands-on learning activities.
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Investigate different modes of transportation through science and art activities.
Learn about different types of weather and use everyday materials to discover weather-related wonders.
Visit PBS LearningMedia to discover expanded lesson plans on the Changing Seasons and more.
Interested in linking to the Lesson Center? Contact us to arrange the details!
All About Me
Body Bubbles
Bones and Muscles
Close Up Me
Dancing Shapes
Fingerprints
Measuring Me
Mirror Mirror on the Wall
My Body and Me
My Shadow and Me
Part 1: Expressing Emotion
Part 2: Expressive Sculptures
Partner Shapes
Trace Your Face
Why do We Sweat?
Animal Friends
Animal Sculptures
Animal Tracks
Animals That Hatch
Chameleons in the Zoo
Cricket Habitat Box
Fast & Slow Animals
Feathered Friends
Fur Feathers & Scales
Hibernation Station
Pond Animals
Tall & Short Animals
Walk Swim or Fly
Community Helpers
Biters and Grinders
Bus Driver
Classroom Composting
Coin Curiosity
Dig It!
Let's Be Scientists
Under Pressure
Veterinarian
Weather Watchers
Curious Crawlers
Butterflies and Caterpillars
Chirping Crickets
Crustaceans
Fascinating Spiders
Firefly Fun
How Do Insects Eat?
Is It an Insect?
Ladybug Exploration
Living Under Leaves
Worms and Slugs
Elements of Art
Bubble Painting
Colorful Still Life
Exploring Color
Exploring Line
Lined Pottery
Music Explorers - Percussion
Observing Art
Fall
Colorful Leaves
Fall Landscapes
Family Trees
Fun With Leaves
Large Leafy Tree
Munchy Crunchy Apples
Nuts and Seeds
Pumpkin Pudding
Squirreling Away Food
The Pumpkin and Its Parts
Farm to Preschool
From Liquid to Solid
Fruit or Vegetable
Let's Make Butter
Plant Parts We Eat
Rainbow of Foods
Seeds in Our Foods
We Like Ice Cream
Where Do Fruits Grow
Habitats
Camouflage Fun
Giant Anthill
Kitchen Crafts Bird Feeder
Natural Nests
Ocean in a Bottle
Parrots of the Rainforest
Rainforest Rain Sticks
Wonderful Webs
Healthy Me
Balancing Me
Bean Bag Balance
Germs Can Travel
Healthy Eating
How My Stomach Works
Keep Away Tooth Decay
Keep It Clean
Lively Lungs
My Beating Heart
My Five Senses
Ceramic Cups
Color Collage
Do You Hear What I Hear?
Finding Patterns
Goofy Goggles
It Smells
Magnify It
Name That Sound
Sound Sticks
Taste Test
Touchable Textures
Our Sky
Catching Rainbows
Ceiling Constellations
Day and Night
Let's Go Fly a Kite
Moon Phases
Sun Prints
Sundials
What's In the Sky?
Outdoor Classroom
Life of a Tree
Mud Kitchen
Nature Bracelets
Nature in Backyard
Nature Journals
Nature's Beauty
Plant a Garden
What's Outside
Wondering About Wind
Recycling
Bird Feeders
Construction Site
From Trash to Treasure
Growing Green Grass
Let's Make Music
Let's Make Paper
Marvelous Mobiles
Rah! Rah! Recycling
Reuse It!
Spring
Bird Nesting Balls
How Plants Drink
Music for Growing
Parts of a Plant
Planting Seeds
Rooting for Plants!
Seed Mosaics
Seeds and Sun
Seeds and Water
We Like Worms!
Tinkering & Making
Building and Forces
Changing Landscapes
Marble Mazes
Measuring Tools
Movement Photography
Pegboard Water Factory
Tinkering in the Kitchen
Tinkering with Magnets
What's Inside
Transportation
Airplanes
All Aboard the Movement Train!
Bicycles
Blastoff Rocket Ships
Creating Pathways Through Movement
Going Places
Race Car Rally
Rolling with Ramps
Sink or Float: Explore a Boat
Travel by Train
Vehicles and Movement
Wheels
Weather
A Windy Day
Cloud Chasers
Fogged In
Let It Snow!
Make A Rain Gauge
Raindrop Reactions
Stormy Finger Painting
Sunny Days
Watch It Rain
Weather Clock
What's the Temperature?
Why Coats Keep Us Warm
Winter
Animals in Winter
Big Meltdown
Blubber Glove
Ice Globes
Ice Towers
Melting Ice
Mittens & Gloves
Seed Gathering
What Freezes
Winter Camouflage
PNC Grow Up Great acknowledges that high quality early childhood education is important for children's development. Our Lesson Center provides resources for teachers and parents that meet the highest possible standards. As the PNC endowed chair in early childhood education, Barbara A. Wasik, Ph.D. works closely with a variety of content providers to develop the Lesson Center resources. She is also a professor in the Department of Psychological Studies in Education at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA.
There are currently no Common Core Standards for pre-k, but these lessons are aligned as closely as possible to capture the requirements and meet the goals of Common Core Standards. However, these lessons were neither reviewed or approved by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices or the Council of Chief State School Officers, which together are the owners and developers of the Common Core State Standards.
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