Celebrating Preschool Dads This Father’s Day
Father’s Day is just around the corner, and I can’t let it pass without giving a big shoutout to all the amazing preschool dads out there!
As a preschool teacher, I get to witness something really special—just how much our little learners adore their dads! Whether it's a wide-eyed story about a weekend adventure, a proud announcement that “my daddy can lift me up SO high,” or a sweet crayon drawing of Dad with superhero muscles, the love these kids have for their fathers is so pure and heartwarming.
Why Dads Matter So Much in Early Childhood
In these early years, kids are building the foundation for how they see the world—and the people in it. When a child has a caring, supportive father (or father figure), it shows. Dads bring laughter, comfort, and a sense of security. They cheer on first bike rides, carry tired kiddos from the car, and read the same bedtime story three nights in a row (with voices!).
And while we celebrate all kinds of family structures in our classroom, Father’s Day is a great opportunity to honor those special grown-ups—dads, grandpas, stepdads, uncles—who show up with love every day.
Celebrating in the Classroom
This year, I created a printable Father’s Day card that’s just right for preschoolers. It’s colorful, kid-friendly, and easy for little hands to decorate with drawings, names, or sweet scribbles. Whether you're a teacher looking for a no-fuss Father’s Day activity or a parent wanting to help your child make something thoughtful, this card is ready to go!
🎉 Grab the card here:
👉 https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Greeting-Cards-from-Kids-Fathers-Day-Cactus-Card-13699094
In years past, I’ve used the black and white version with some scrape art. It’s so fun and quick. Simply blob some paint at the top of the page and scrape it down (we use old store cards, but squeegees work great too). In my latest versions of the car, I have space for a cute kid handprint. And the part the kids loved the most? Painting rocks for their dads! I gave them different green paints and let them create. They loved adding googly eyes on once they were dry. I heard lots of variations of, “My dad is going to LOVE this!”
A big part of why I started designing my own cards? I wanted to give kids a fun, fill-in-the-blank way to say adorable and heartfelt things to their dads—while still keeping it manageable in a preschool classroom. A lot of the cards out there either skip that personal touch or include 10+ questions, which can take forever with some of my littlest learners. So I created a poem-style card with just four customizable spots. I pull each child one-on-one, explain the idea, and help them complete each sentence. Some kids get it right away, and others take a little longer—either to understand the prompt or to find just the right thing to say to their dad. I LOVE hearing what they come up with, and the parents do too! After I’ve written down what they’ve dictated, I have them sign their names at the bottom, and voila! A heartfelt message that captures the cuteness of this age—all within a single guided reading block. Win-win!
A Simple Moment, A Lasting Memory
I always remind myself—and my students—that it doesn’t take something fancy to make someone feel loved. A handmade card. A rock. A dad-joke-style cactus card with a cute customized poem. It’s really your heart that matters.
So here’s to the men who drive to preschool drop-off, rock bedtime stories, and show up with open arms and big hearts. You are seen, you are appreciated, and you are so loved!
Happy Father’s Day!
With love,
Hillary
Discovery Adventures Preschool
PS In my classroom, I followed this cactus rock tutorial, sans little pots. (They’re cute, I just didn’t get around to buying them, and the rocks still looked great without them.) I bought a bag of smooth rocks from the dollar store, had the kids paint them green and then helped them to add pricks with a paint marker. The kids thought adding the googly eyes was hilarious! https://www.thebestideasforkids.com/pet-cactus-rocks/
Starting My TPT Store + Website Store
Hello, friends!
I'm so excited to share what I’ve been working on this summer—a TPT store and a website shop! After years of creating classroom materials for my own preschool students, I’m thrilled to finally offer them to other teachers and parents.
I’ve always loved using teacher-made, classroom-tested materials since I started teaching over 15 years ago. But I’m also pretty picky—especially when it comes to supporting beginning readers and writers. That’s led me to create a lot of my own resources… and I found that I absolutely love doing it! Even more, I love using them with my sweet preschoolers.
So when I considered getting a summer job, I decided to be brave and grow my preschool business into the online space. I’m now offering the resources I’ve created, tested, and loved. To be real—the dream is to have this become a source of income for my family. But honestly, if even one teacher or child benefits from something I’ve made, it’ll all be worth it. 💗
Thank you so much for being here and supporting me in this new adventure to provide preschool teachers and parents with easy-to-use, high-quality learning resources. Let the next chapter begin!
Where You Can Find My Products
You’ll find all of my resources in two places—choose whatever’s easiest for you!
TPT Store: Discovery Adventures Preschool on TPT
Website Store: You’re already here! Just click “Store” in the top menu to browse.
What You’ll Find in My Store
All of my products are:
Classroom-tested
Teacher-created
Designed for preschool learners and their grown-ups
Right now, I’m focusing on my Name Practice & Self-Portrait pages—a classroom favorite! These have been a big hit with my students, and I’m so happy to make them available to others. I’ll write a blog post soon that dives into the “why” and “how” behind this product line.
What’s Coming Soon
I’ve got big plans this summer! I’ll be adding lots of new products—including my student-created ABC Keepsake Books. Stay tuned for updates!
Join Me!
If you’re a fellow preschool teacher looking for engaging, play-based learning tools, I’d love for you to join me on this adventure!
Follow me on Instagram: discovery.adventures.preschool
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DiscoveryAdventuresPreschool
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/DiscoveryAdventuresPreschool/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@discoveryadventurespreschoolLet me know if there’s something specific you’d like me to create
Check out my store and stay in touch
I’ll be starting an email list soon—with some fun freebies!—so we can stay connected more easily.
Happy teaching!
💛 Love,
Hillary
Antelope Island
I love hiking with the kids! It feels great to be outside, enjoying nature together! Happy Earth Day!
Happy Valentine's Day!
These kids warm my heart! We celebrated Valentine’s Day with a trip to an assisted living center, Beehive Homes. We visited with the residents and handed out Valentine’s cards they made. Then we sang “Skidamarink”, “I Love You, You Love Me”, and “You Are My Sunshine”. They were wonderful!
SeaQuest Aquarium
Our preschoolers had a great field trip! As their website says: Immerse yourself in a world of discovery as SeaQuest takes you on an adventure through rainforests, deserts and the depths of the seas. With exciting exhibits and activities for families and children of all ages, you’ll be able to get wet with the stingrays, feed the toucans, encounter the caimans, marvel at the sharks, take selfies with the snakes and more.
Field Trip
I loved getting to see so many of you on our first field trip! At Black Island Farms, we had fun on the farm playing in the courtyard after a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch. We have been working hard and learning a lot in class and it feels great to get outside and learn something different for a change!
Beginings
We are off to a great start! We have great classes with wonderful students! We’ve been learning a lot these first two weeks! The focus has been on rules and practicing how we do each center and our schedule so things go smoothly all year long. This past week we have also learned letter Bb with fun lessons about a bugs, bears, beaches, and more! I’m excited for another fantastic year!
Service Project for Back to School Night
I love to look for ways to help our students serve. Back to School Night provides a wonderful opportunity to come together as a school to help children in need. Bountiful Food Pantry send Pantry Packs home with kids in our county who would be in danger of going to bed hungry on the weekend. We will focus on collecting microwavable meals (ones that children can make themselves like Easy Mac). You are invited to bring one or more to Back to School Night (they'll be assembled into the full Pantry Packs at an upcoming community service night). They also are asking for child friendly notes/cards with an uplifting message or game. What a great opportunity to help our students think of another child and reach out to them in love! Please help them write a message and decorate a card to bring to Back to School Night. This is a great time to help them practice writing their name, though only include the first name and no other personal information. I'll have supplies there if you'd like to make more that night, but since it will be a busy night, I recommend making a card or two ahead of time.
For more information on the Pantry Packs program, check out their website:
https://www.bountifulfoodpantry.org/services/item/30-pantry-packs
School Art Project
I believe a beautiful space can make you feel better and improve learning! I believe in the space reflecting all of my students, not just myself. I work toward these goals in two main ways each year. First, we have a wall devoted to student work. Second, at back-to-school night we create a school art piece that will have a permanent home in the preschool. There is something special about a piece of art that is made from each person creating a small something beautiful to have it come together in synergy. This year, each student (and parents are encouraged to participate too, as you are also an important part of our school!) will paint rocks and/or bottle caps that will come together to form a little rock path of art and awesomeness! I'll have the supplies ready at back to school night, but you are welcome to bring rocks to add to the path.
STEAM Camp
STEAM Camp was a great success! Our camp was filled with art and science and engineering and challenges and math and technology and snacks and friends and fun! We played with lots of science like refraction, chromatography, evaporation, density, chemical reactions and more! The students were excellent and I loved seeing them work together to explore and solve problems!
Pioneer Camp
The kids were so cute and fun at our Pioneer Camp! We celebrated our Pioneer heritage with a STEM challenge, making yarn dolls, science-ing it up with homemade ice cream, square dance, instruments, games, and more!
There are a few spots left in our upcoming STEAM Camp!
Service Camp
One of my favorite days of the year, Service Camp was a great success! I loved spending time with these sweet kids doing service! We painted cards for hospitalized kids, beaded cd spinners to sneak onto trees, colored bookmarks to leave in books at the library, made bath bombs as gifts, read and talked about service, and more!
I discovered two great resources for service-lovin' people. Here is a link to a great Kindness Bingo: https://www.themanylittlejoys.com/random-acts-of-kindness-bingo/
And here is a link to Cards for Hospitalized Kids, who send out cards to brighten the day of a child in the hospital. There are guidelines to making the cards and everything you need to know to participate on the site: http://www.cardsforhospitalizedkids.com/
Preparing for Preschool
Preschool is such an exciting step for you and your child! Here are a few things you can do to prepare for a successful start:
- Talk about it! Let them voice any concerns but keep the tone positive and excited when possible.
- Get them involved in the process of preparing and give them choices when possible. Let them choose what to wear the first day, pick out a small backpack or sack they can use to bring papers homes in (and help them put a picture of your family inside), etc.
- Practice. Play preschool with them. Going to storytime at the library is a great way to practice listening skills. If they aren't used to other kids their age, arrange some playdates to help develop important social skills. Practice independent skills like going to the bathroom and putting on their backpack.
- If your child is not used to being away from you, start leaving them with a friend or family member for short periods of time. This can help to ease an seperation anxiety on the 1st day of school.
- Saying goodbye on the first day is best if kept short. You can even practice a special goodbye handshake or hug ahead of time.
- Here's a fun list of books about getting ready for the first day of preschool: http://elemenopkids.com/getting-ready-for-the-first-day-of-preschool-books/
- Take them to our Meet the Teacher Night! See the calendar for exact dates and times for your class.
Bravo, Acting Camp!
I'm so proud of our actors! We put on a short play based on the picture book "Leonardo, The Terrible Monster" by one of our favorite authors, Mo Willems. The students help decided who the characters should be and what role they had. Every day we worked on the play and I was so impressed with how quickly they memorized their lines and the blocking! We split up rehearsing with acting games, art to create scenery, puppets, and more! We focused on developing our tools as actors: voice, body, focus, cooperation, and imagination. The students grew in those areas and put on an amazing little play! Bravo!
Last Day of School!
I can't believe it! School is at a close already! The kids have grown so much over the school year, and I'm so proud of them! I'll miss them but the kids who are moving on to Kindergarten will love it and I'm happy that I'll get to teach several of my little friends again next year.
We did a field day for our last day to celebrate all our hard work and learning. We played outside, made music, enjoyed parachute games, signed each others preschool shirts, cleaned the classroom a little, practiced our graduation ceremony, used sidewalk chalk and bubbles! It was a great way to end a great year!
Field Trip to the Dinosaur Park
It was perfect weather for our adventure among the dinosaurs! We enjoyed searching for the dinosaurs in our field guides and "writing" about them. We had a fun rumpus around the dinosaur playground. I loved seeing the kids playing outside, looking at and digging for fossils, nervously watching the dinosaurs that moved, exploring the indoor and outdoor museum, and more. A special thanks to our hosts Ogden's George and S. Eccles Dinosaur Park and especially ourPark Educator who lead the kids in a fun educational activity!
Field Trip to Hill Aerospace Museum
The Hill Aerospace Museum graciously hosted a free field trip for our preschoolers. We had a short class making paper "helicopters" and flying them off the balcony. Then we explored the museum's aviation treasures! It was the perfect way to close out Jj week!
When I Grow Up...
For Gg week, I asked the kids: What do you want to be when you grow up? See if you can guess which answer your child gave!
2 Day Class
- A poke doctor, so I can help people be brave with their pokes!
- A horse rider
- A mom and my mom is going to be a grandma
- Four, five, and six
- A dad
- Real big, right here (holding hands up high)
- A famous soccer player
- An ice cream boy
- A teenage mutant ninja turtle
- Spiderman
- A mom
- A cowgirl
Morning Class
- A unicorn
- Everything in the world: a police officer, builder, space rocketer, tow truck guy...
- A train museum person
- A semi truck driver
- A father and builder
- Maybe my mom. Well, maybe a little different.
- A ballerina
- A dolphin trainer on Tuesdays
- A maker that I can make food with
- A doctor, just like my mommy!
- A mom
- A police officer
- A dentist that gives toys out at the end
Afternoon Class
- An engineer for trains
- Like my brother, Wyatt
- A jet driver
- Cinderella
- A princess
- A horse
- A gorilla dad
- A dad
- A chef
- Gorilla baby
- A police officer
- Aurora
Dd Week Disguises
Our detectives donned disguises to see if we could dupe our parents. See if you can deduce who your darling is!
