Preschool Sub Plans, Emergency Substitute Binder, 9 No Prep Activities for Pre-K, No Reading

Woke up sick? Your little ones already have a whole day planned. These no prep preschool sub plans are emergency sub plans and a substitute binder in one: a full Pre-K day where every student page is pictures, so nobody has to read or write. The sub reads one short line aloud and the children point, count, circle, color, trace and move, with 9 activities on one theme, Things That Go with Finn the Fox: circle time, literacy, math, fine motor and art, science, social and emotional learning, group movement, quiet time and an optional game. No prep and no tech for you: print and go. Keep it in your sub tub for a sick day, or teach it yourself on a day you need a break from planning.

Perfect For

• A sudden sick day: emergency sub plans that are ready before you need them
• A sub who has never taught Pre-K: every activity is a short numbered script
• No sub at all: teach it yourself on a day you need a break from planning, with no prep and no tech
• A Things That Go theme day, or one activity at a time
• Your preschool sub tub or emergency sub folder

How It Works

1. Print the binder and leave it out. Today’s plan on page 4 is already filled in with every activity, its page, its minutes and what the sub needs.
2. 9 short activities of 10 to 20 minutes, all on one theme, Things That Go, with Finn the Fox on every page. Snack, outdoor play, lunch, rest and pick-up follow your own posted routine.
3. The sub reads the read-aloud strip on each student page. The children never read or write: every student page is pictures, big numbers 1 to 10, and one big letter shown with a picture.
4. Every activity stands alone, so skip one or change the order. Each one has an optional “More time?” idea if your day has room, and the game is optional, a fun way to end the day.
5. Answers are in the key with pictures, so the sub needs no early childhood training.

What’s Inside: 26 Pages

• 7 front pages: a binder cover, important information, a note to the substitute with a half-day tip, today’s plan already filled in, a blank schedule of the day, class list and pick-up, and a “how it went” sheet
• Circle Time, 10 min: Hello, Finn the Fox. A greeting chant with every child’s name, Finn the Fox as the puppet friend, a What Goes? sound game, and a weather and calendar talk.
• Literacy, 15 min: Finn’s Big Trip. An original read-aloud story about Finn’s trip by bus, train, boat and airplane, an F sound clap game, then circle the pictures that start like Finn.
• Math, 15 min: Count and Match. A people train to count to 5, then count each group of cars, airplanes, boats, buses and trains and draw a line to its number.
• Fine Motor and Art, 20 min: Trace the Roads. Warm up the hands, then trace four roads with a finger and a crayon (straight, wavy, zigzag and bumpy) and color the vehicles.
• Science, 15 min: Land, Water or Air. Land, water and air moves, a tiny demo (wheels roll, air pushes), then circle where each car, boat, airplane, bus and helicopter goes.
• Social and Emotional, 15 min: Stop, Breathe, Go. A traffic light for big feelings: red stop, yellow breathe, green go. Practice it together, then color the light by number.
• Group Movement, 15 min: Move and Park It. Six moves from six picture cards (car, airplane, boat, train, rocket, bicycle), then the Park It freeze game and a slow train home.
• Quiet Time, 15 min: Busy Town Look and Find. A calm look and find: find every car, bus, boat and airplane in Finn’s busy town, circle each kind in its color, and whisper-count.
• Game (optional), 15 min: Things That Go Bingo. Picture bingo with twelve things that go: four different boards, a clue for every call, and a whole-class Bingo at the end.
• An answer key with pictures for every activity that has an answer (1 page)

Here is a quick look at the binder: