A circus theme is perfect for summer, and festive for back to school, too. While this theme is most obviously suited to preschool and early elementary classrooms, older classes could look at Picasso’s circus paintings, learn some circus skills, or do research on the history of the circus.
It’s easy to give your classroom circus flair. Blow up balloons and hang them from the ceiling. Bring in stuffed animals for a menagerie. Use a ready-made bulletin board set like the one below (click through to see more), or collect old circus posters.
A banner from Dr. Seuss’s If I Ran the Circus is another quick way to set the theme.
Let your classroom motto be “Under the Big Top” or “Three Ring Learning” (got your Venn diagram?) or “It’s a Circus in Here!”
Lay a stripe of Mavalus Tape down the middle of the floor to practice tightrope walking, bring popcorn to class, or paint clown faces with face paints.
If you have access to a tent or a parachute with a circus look, you can rig it up to be a Big Top, for an extra level of excitement.
Gather circus themed books in your reading corner. Some of my favorites:
- If I Ran the Circus, by Dr. Seuss
- The Circus Anti-Coloring Book by Susan Striker
- See the Circus lift the flap book, by H. A. Rey
- Miss Bindergarten Plans a Circus With Kindergarten,by Ashley Wolff
- Circus by Lois Ehlert
- Peter Spier’s Circus ,by Peter Spier
- The Circus is Coming, by Hilary Knight (available again!)
- Emeline at the Circus, by Marjorie Priceman
- Make a little circus book with printouts from The Toymaker.
Use popcorn box cutouts for student names, or choose a carnival theme.
Circus signs are a great addition.
The Mailbox Circus Theme Book contains lots of good ideas and reproducibles for preschool.
A few printables for a circus lesson:
- An assortment of circus-themed printables
- Basic addition worksheet with a circus theme.
- Number flashcards with a circus theme
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