Ready-made thematic units to teach in May

Use these lesson plans for May to take your learning outdoors and enjoy the spring.

What to teach in May

The Play Academy‘s units for May include nature-based units to get your children outdoors and making the most of spring.

All our thematic units are based on hands-on activities which makes them super fun and engaging for your children, and routed in best-practice teaching methods so the learning sticks.

Every unit is all planned for you, and comes with accompanying printables to make your teaching even easier.

Think of me as your teaching fairy godmother and take your pick from our grab-and-go teaching solutions this spring.

Here’s our collection of grab-and-go thematic units to teach in May.

Play Dough thematic unit

Bring more sensory learning to your classroom this month, using play to explore a range of activities that build skills through play.

In these playdough focussed activities your children can:

:: take the New Flavour Challenge and make their own play dough

:: try a play dough role play

:: make a play dough small world

:: make art with play dough

:: take the play dough construction challenge

Play Academy members can download this Playdough unit with all the accompanying printables here.

Not a Play Academy member yet? Find out more and pick your first unit here.

Weather thematic unit

There tends to be lots of weather in May! Whether you have spring showers or the beginning of summer sunshine, this is a great hands-on science unit.

In this Weather thematic unit your children can:

:: make weather spinners

:: learn how to identify clouds

:: create weather art

:: set up their own weather monitoring station

:: make (and broadcast) their own weather report

Play Academy members can download this Weather unit with all the accompanying printables here.

Not a Play Academy member yet? Find out more and pick your first unit here.

Sunflowers thematic unit

This is the first of two Sunflower Units in the Play Academy’s Nature curriculum pathway. Through the units in spring and summer your children can explore science, math, art, literacy and sustainability, all based on growing sunflowers.

In this Sunflower growing unit your children can:

:: plant sunflower seeds

:: start a sunflower journal

:: create sunflower art inspired by Van Gogh and O’Keeffe

:: make a sunflower height chart

:: write sunflower poems

Play Academy members can download this Sunflowers unit with all the accompanying printables here.

Not a Play Academy member yet? Find out more and pick your first unit here.

Caterpillars & Butterflies thematic unit

Our third nature-based unit of the month focusses on butterflies and caterpillars.

In this Caterpillar and Butterflies thematic unit your children can:

:: learn about caterpillars and make a caterpillar craft

:: learn about butterflies and make a butterfly book

:: make a butterfly craft

:: investigate butterfly symmetry

:: enjoy butterfly literacy activities

Play Academy members can download this Caterpillars unit with all the accompanying printables here.

Not a Play Academy member yet? Find out more and pick your first unit here.

Circles thematic unit

Using art, math, and physics this unit works across the curriculum to explore the theme of Circles.

In this Circle thematic unit your children can:

:: go on a shape hunt or make a circle book

:: create circle art like Kandinsky

:: explore physics and make spinning tops

:: make a mandala

:: turn circles into spheres

Play Academy members can download this Circles unit with all the accompanying printables here.

Not a Play Academy member yet? Find out more and pick your first unit here.

Choose from over 50 ready-made thematic units

The Play Academy gives you over 50 grab-and-go thematic units which integrate perfectly with your curriculum. They’re carefully planned to introduce each topic and give children a range of hands-on lesson plans that really engage them in learning and developing cross-curricular skills and ideas.

Each unit is clearly laid out, showing you how to introduce and lead each lesson, so you can pick up your chosen unit and be ready to teach.

You can use individual units and also group units together to build a year-round pathway of cross-curricular leaning based around extended themes including Festivals, Science and Math, Art, and Nature.

Your teaching is about to get a whole lot better and easier!

Take a tour of the Play Academy and choose your first thematic unit here.