Football Activities for Preschool and Football Theme

We are huge football fans in this family. I thought it would be fun to tie some of our learning activities to the sport this Fall since watching the games together is such a big deal for us. Kids love to see their favorite topics show up in their learning materials. My list of football activities for preschool will delight your child and help them learn important skills at the same time.

Whenever you have a favorite theme you can build all learning activities around, it’s a good idea to stretch that theme for as long as it works to inspire learning. Use the ideas in this post to build a football theme week or two for your preschool kiddos and your entire homeschooling family. Not only can you plan activities for the entire week during the day, but you can also plan fun learning activities during the big game and during halftime.

Why Preschoolers Love Football

Playing the game as a family is a little rough and tumble but as long as the big kids are mindful of the little kids it can be a lot of fun for preschoolers who love being physically active. If your family plays football together as a family, adding these football theme activities to your week is a no-brainer. 

Watching the big game together is a lot of fun for families as well. Mom and Dad are passionate about their teams and passionate about the game and that translates to the kids learning all about the game from a very young age. It’s super interesting and just a bit challenging to follow the action of this sport. It won’t be long at all before your toddler will be making the touchdown sign or doing a happy dance right along with you. Football is fun.

Football Theme Basics

In order to spend a week focused on the sport in your homeschool, you’ll need a little tiny bit of prep work. The easiest way to build a preschool theme is to find a picture book for each day, add a craft or game or song for each day, and then work in some seatwork or activities for skill-building in areas such as counting and handwriting. Our Football Gnomes Counting Book is the perfect seatwork for your preschool football activities. Add a thematic snack or too, and you have yourself a football theme week. For older siblings, you can add our Football Gnome Writing Prompts and more advanced activities.

What Is Football? 

If you don’t live in the United States, you might be thinking this post is about soccer. It’s not. We are talking about the American game for this theme. Quarterbacks, Wide Receivers, field goals, tackles, and most importantly, touchdowns. All of the elements of the game can be celebrated and memorialized with books, crafts, art, games, LEGO® builds, and snacks. 

Fun Football Activities Preschoolers Will Love

Use this list to build your preschool football theme. Many of these activities will also work for your older kids with a little tweaking. 

Football Crafts and Artwork

Sometimes parents think that crafts or art for preschoolers are just a pointless exercise in making a mess. The truth is that these activities help little ones build fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination, practice the creative process, take pride in their work, and follow directions. These are all very important skills. 

Make this woven football paper craft from JDaniel4sMom together. 

Get out the paint and enjoy this Football fingerprint craft from Fun Handprint Art.

This Sponge-painting football from The Resourceful Mama is another great option.

Making this Lacing Craft from Preschool Powol Packets will help build fine motor skills. 

Finally, try this Rumble and Tumble Craft from Raising Little Superheroes.

Football Activities for Preschoolers to Play

Besides actually playing the actual game, which can be a little rough for preschool kids, you can have loads of fun trying some of these activities. At the same time, you’ll be building gross motor skills, communication skills, critical thinking, and more. 

The LEGO® Field Goal Build and Game from Little Bins for Little Hands. I love how sneakily LEGO bricks help your child learn spatial awareness, counting, critical thinking and so much more! Any time you can slip a few brick activities into your homeschool day and call it preschool is a win-win. You know your child is building important skills, and they think it’s just playing.

Relay Game from Pink Oatmeal. Get everyone up and moving. This is a great physical activity to build gross motor skills,  coordination, and teamwork.

Football Counting Game from Sunny Day Family. This is an adorable printable game to help your child work on counting skills.

Try these game-day Math Activities from Three Different Directions for a fun twist on math in your homeschool. Get the whole family involved!

Make this thematic sensory bin from Fantastic Fun and Learning, it’s a great way for your kids to unwind after a long day of learning and physical activity.

Favorite Football Picture Books

Sitting down to read picture books with your children is a challenge, but it’s also foundational for learning. Reading just one book together each day will set up your children for educational success in a way nothing else can do. When that book is tied to a fun theme like the big game, it’s even better! 

• Goodnight Football by Dahl.
• My Football Book by Gail Gibbons.
• Football with Dad by Frank Berrios.
• Let’s Play Football Chunky Flap Book by Ginger Swift.
• The Berenstain Bears Play Football by Jan and Stan Berenstain.

Family-Friendly Football Movies

A mid-week movie or two is a way to make your theme a lot less school-like and more like a family fun event. Don’t be surprised if your kids point out a thing or two they’ve been learning as they watch. 

• Charlie Brown and Snoopy: All-Star Football. Watch this on YouTube and watch it for Free!
• Little Giants.
• The Blind Side. This one is PG-13.
• Facing the Giants.

Football Snacks

The number of snacks for this sport found on the internet is staggering! Just search for “Superbowl party” and you will find a ton. Of course, as a mother of preschoolers, we need easy and fast, so I’ve listed a few of the best in those categories. One or two thematic snacks scattered throughout your week will bring a smile to everyone’s face.

Print and assemble these adorable snack cups from Artsy-Fartsy Mama and you can make any treat a football-themed snack! 

Make a Themed Fruit Tray with this idea from Desert Chica. This one comes together as fast as you can wash and cut the fruit!

Use store-bought brownie bites and store-bought decorator frosting in a bag to make these adorable game snacks so fast! This post from Fab Every Day has lots of other ideas too. 

Don’t forget to grab our Football themed Gnomes Counting Book to add to your football activities for preschool or football theme!

Our counting book features adorable football themed gnomes and all things counting and numbers, to commemorate this football season. Your child will learn to count to twenty, recognize numbers and number words to twenty, practice one-to-one correspondence, complete ten-square activities, and more!

To download the Football Gnomes Counting Book, simply add it to your cart and then checkout. **Upon checkout, you will be added to my Weekly Newsletter list.**

*Please NOTE: This is a digital download only. No physical products will be sent.