A Simple Labor Day Lesson for Preschoolers (+ Free Community Helpers Matching Game!)
Labor Day is a great opportunity to help your preschooler learn about the people who work hard to make our communities safe, welcoming, and running smoothly! Teaching community helpers was always one of my favorite units back when I was in the classroom, so this year I brought it home to my own preschooler, just scaled way down. We kept it simple by choosing only a few community helpers, doing some fun read alouds, a matching game, and a little writing practice! You can grab the same free printable matching game and writing template too! Here’s how we broke it all down:
A Preschool-Friendly Explanation of Labor Day:
This is how I explained what Labor Day is to my preschooler, and how you can too:
Labor day is a wonderful opportunity to highlight some amazing community helpers! A community helper is anyone who keeps our community safe, welcoming, and running. Labor Day is a way to say “Thank you” for that labor, or hard work.
5 Community Helpers to Teach Preschoolers About (+ Matching Read Alouds!)
The 5 community helpers I chose to highlight with my son were ones that are fairly present in most communities. As you read through each book, pause to ask your little one questions about what that helper does and where they’ve seen one. It’s a simple way to turn story time into a real conversation (I break it all down in my post on how to turn any picture book into a reading comprehension lesson). Feel free to highlight even more helpers as you tackle this lesson!
Construction Workers:
The people that keep our community running! Building, repairing, and maintaining safety standards throughout your environment.
Read Let’s Meet A Construction Worker for a peek into the day-to-day life of a construction worker, told through the lens of a field trip.
Librarians:
A pillar of literacy in our communities. Ensuring everyone has access to free books & resources!
Read Library Lion for a charming tale of library adventure and the rules we follow in this special place!
Police Officers:
Upholding laws for safety within communities. You can discuss all sorts of jobs that they take on during their watch!
Read Let’s Meet a Police Officer for an informational look into the many tools and responsibilities police officers have, using kid-friendly language.
Doctors/Nurses:
A foundation for safety and personal care within families and communities.
Read What Do Doctors Do? for an in-depth look at the many jobs going on in a hospital/doctors office at any given time!
Postal Workers:
They are the people who keep our words, news, and important information flowing!
Read The Jolly Postman for a whimsical reminder of the beauty in physical communication, and how postal workers keep us all connected.
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Community Helpers Matching Game for Preschoolers
After all that reading, I broke out my iPad and got to work creating a community helpers matching game to keep the learning going! Each card pairs a helper with where you can find them in your community, so he had to remember who works where to make a match.
All I did was print it, let my son color it, cut it out, and play! I showed him all the matches first, then flipped them over for him to match himself. It kept us talking about community helpers long after the lesson was over. If you want to do the same I’ve made it available to download below!
Write a Thank You Letter to a Community Helper
Writing a thank you card is a great way to take what you’ve learned and put it into practice! It helps build confidence, gratitude, and formal writing skills. Now, I’m not expecting every preschooler to be able to write a full thank you card, so I made an easy fill-in-the-blank style writing template for you to do with your little ones. You can download it using the link above!
There are a few ways to use this template depending on your child’s ability level. The easiest way is to be a scribe, meaning you write in what they say for each blank. Or, you can write in their answers using tracing letters and allow them to trace over it.
My son chose doctors, which was surprising considering he immediately said “Doctors give shots!” 😅 We discussed even more things that doctors and nurses do to help out members of our communities and he chose checking on our hearts! 🫀🩷
Looking for something catered to a younger audience?
Last year, when my son was a mere toddler, we celebrated Labor Day with a week of learning about 3 very near and dear community helpers. We said thank you using our baking skills and got a few field trips in along the way!
Final Thoughts
I love when a holiday can turn into a simple learning opportunity, and Labor Day is no exception! Your little learner can learn about the people around them, practice important early literacy skills, and most importantly, learn how to show appreciation for the people who help our communities every day.
❤️ Until Next Time,
