Creative Curriculum Lesson Plan Template

A free, printable creative curriculum lesson plan template for preschool and daycare classrooms — organize the week around interest areas, targeted objectives, and your current study, instead of a plain activity grid.

Not an official Teaching Strategies product. The Creative Curriculum® for Preschool is a specific, copyrighted curriculum published by Teaching Strategies, LLC. This is a free, generic planning template that any early-years program can use to organize a week the way Creative-Curriculum-style classrooms typically do — around interest areas, developmental objectives, and an ongoing study. It does not reproduce Teaching Strategies’ copyrighted Objectives language, Studies materials, or GOLD® assessment content, and BeeNet is not affiliated with Teaching Strategies, LLC.

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How to use this template

• Fill in one copy per classroom or group, per week.
• Start with your current Study / Investigation and its guiding question — this is the thread the whole week hangs off, not just a theme.
• Pick 2–4 Objectives for Development and Learning to target this week (or your program’s equivalent framework) rather than trying to cover everything at once.
• Go through the Interest Area Plan and note what materials or provocations go out in each area this week. Not every classroom uses all 11 areas listed, or uses exactly this list — delete or relabel any row that doesn’t match your room, and leave a row blank if an area isn’t refreshed that week.
• In the daily plan, connect the small-group activity to one of this week’s objectives, and the study activity back to the guiding question — that link is what keeps the week coherent.
• Fill in the reflection line after the week runs, so next week’s plan can build on what actually happened.

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Section 1: Class & Study Overview

Classroom / Room Name: [CLASSROOM OR ROOM NAME] E.g. “Sunflower Room” or “Toddlers B.”

Age Group: [AGE GROUP] E.g. “3–4 years.”

Week Starting: [WEEK START DATE] The Monday (or first day) of the week this plan covers.

Lead Teacher / Educator: [LEAD TEACHER NAME]

Current Study / Investigation Topic: [CURRENT STUDY TOPIC] The long-term topic children are investigating — e.g. “Balls,” “Trees,” “Buildings.” Studies typically run several weeks, organized into weekly investigations; treat the exact length as flexible to your group’s pace, not a fixed number of days.

Guiding Question for This Study: [STUDY GUIDING QUESTION] The open-ended question driving the investigation, e.g. “What makes some buildings stay standing?”

Week # Within the Study (optional): [WEEK NUMBER WITHIN STUDY] E.g. “Week 2 of the study.”

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Section 2: Weekly Objectives Focus

Targeted Objectives / Skills This Week: [WEEKLY TARGETED OBJECTIVES] List 2–4 objectives, grouped by domain if your program uses one (e.g. social-emotional, physical, language, cognitive, literacy, math, science, social studies, the arts). Keep this short — a focused week beats a checklist nobody can actually track.

Individualization Notes: [INDIVIDUALIZATION NOTES] Specific children or small groups getting targeted support this week, and on what — optional.

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Section 3: Interest Area Plan for the Week

Note what materials or provocations are set out in each area this week. Delete any area your classroom doesn’t have, and leave a row blank if it isn’t refreshed this week — not every program uses all 11.

Blocks: [BLOCKS AREA MATERIALS]

Dramatic Play: [DRAMATIC PLAY AREA MATERIALS]

Toys & Games: [TOYS AND GAMES AREA MATERIALS]

Art: [ART AREA MATERIALS]

Library: [LIBRARY AREA MATERIALS]

Discovery: [DISCOVERY AREA MATERIALS]

Sand & Water: [SAND AND WATER AREA MATERIALS]

Music & Movement: [MUSIC AND MOVEMENT AREA MATERIALS]

Cooking: [COOKING AREA MATERIALS]

Computers / Technology: [COMPUTERS AREA MATERIALS]

Outdoors: [OUTDOORS AREA MATERIALS]

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Section 4: Daily Plan (Monday–Friday)

Monday

Large Group / Circle Time Focus: [MONDAY CIRCLE TIME FOCUS]

Small Group Activity (linked to a targeted objective): [MONDAY SMALL GROUP ACTIVITY]

Study / Investigation Activity (linked to the guiding question): [MONDAY STUDY ACTIVITY]

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Tuesday

Large Group / Circle Time Focus: [TUESDAY CIRCLE TIME FOCUS]

Small Group Activity (linked to a targeted objective): [TUESDAY SMALL GROUP ACTIVITY]

Study / Investigation Activity (linked to the guiding question): [TUESDAY STUDY ACTIVITY]

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Wednesday

Large Group / Circle Time Focus: [WEDNESDAY CIRCLE TIME FOCUS]

Small Group Activity (linked to a targeted objective): [WEDNESDAY SMALL GROUP ACTIVITY]

Study / Investigation Activity (linked to the guiding question): [WEDNESDAY STUDY ACTIVITY]

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Thursday

Large Group / Circle Time Focus: [THURSDAY CIRCLE TIME FOCUS]

Small Group Activity (linked to a targeted objective): [THURSDAY SMALL GROUP ACTIVITY]

Study / Investigation Activity (linked to the guiding question): [THURSDAY STUDY ACTIVITY]

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Friday

Large Group / Circle Time Focus: [FRIDAY CIRCLE TIME FOCUS]

Small Group Activity (linked to a targeted objective): [FRIDAY SMALL GROUP ACTIVITY]

Study / Investigation Activity (linked to the guiding question): [FRIDAY STUDY ACTIVITY]

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Section 5: Additional Notes (Optional)

Assistant / Co-Teacher / Volunteer (if applicable): [ASSISTANT OR CO-TEACHER NAME]

Family Communication Note for the Week: [FAMILY COMMUNICATION NOTE] What to tell families this week — the study topic, a material to send in, a photo moment to expect.

End-of-Week Reflection: [END OF WEEK REFLECTION] Complete after the week: what worked, what didn’t, what to carry into next week’s plan.

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Section 6: For Program Use Only (Optional)

Reviewed By (Director / Supervisor): [REVIEWED BY NAME]

Review Date: [REVIEW DATE]

Approval Status: [APPROVAL STATUS] Approved, or Needs Revision.