Preschool Lesson Plan Inspired by “Oh, the Places You’ll Go”

March is a fun time to explore books by Dr. Seuss, and one of our favorites to read with our homeschool co-op preschoolers is Oh, the Places You’ll Go!. This story is a great way to start conversations about the future, dreams, and all the different paths children can take as they grow.

For this activity set, we read the book first and then follow it with a few hands-on activities that help children think about places they want to go and what they might want to be when they grow up. These activities are simple, creative, and perfect for preschool or homeschool learning.

Read the Book

Start by reading Oh, the Places You’ll Go! together.

As you read, talk with children about the different adventures in the story and ask questions like:

Where would you like to go someday?
What do you want to do when you grow up?
What kinds of jobs help our community?

This helps children begin thinking about the theme before moving into the activities.

Hot Air Balloon Craft + “When I Grow Up” Writing Activity

This craft also doubles as a simple writing activity for preschoolers.

For the balloon, we used a paper plate and let children decorate it however they wanted. Some fun materials you can offer include:

Tissue paper – I ordered these tissue paper squares
Dot markers – I ordered these thinner dot markers
Sequins
Pom-poms – I ordered these Mini PomPoms
Stickers – I ordered these Dot Stickers
Markers

* Tip * If you are using a mix of glue and markers, offer the markers first so they don’t get covered in glue.

Encourage kids to get creative and design their own colorful balloon.

For the basket, use the printable page with writing lines. Children can write or dictate what they want to be or do when they grow up.

Once finished, attach the paper plate balloon to the printable basket with yarn, paper strips, or string to complete the hot air balloon craft.

This activity connects nicely to the book’s message about all the places children can go in the future.

Community Helpers I-Spy

To continue the “when I grow up” theme, we also used a Community Helpers I-Spy printable.

Children look at the pictures of different community helpers, then:

Find each helper in the picture
Count how many they see
Write the number next to each one

This activity helps build:

counting skills
observation skills
writing numbers skills
awareness of different community jobs

It also encourages conversations about the many ways people help in a community.

Build a Place You Want to Go

For a hands-on building activity, invite children to build a place they would like to visit.

We used Magna-Tiles, but any type of building blocks work well.

Children can build things like:

houses
cities
parks
schools
zoos
castles
or anywhere they dream of going

After building, ask children to share their creations and talk about the place they made.

This activity encourages creativity, imagination, and storytelling.

City Play Carpet Activity

To continue exploring places and communities, we also added a city play carpet to our activity time. This type of carpet has roads, buildings, and different places around a town printed on it.

Children can use:

toy cars
trucks
action figures
small dolls
community helper figures

Kids can drive around the city, visit different places, and create their own stories. They might stop at a school, go to the hospital, visit a store, or pretend to go to work just like the community helpers we talked about earlier.

This activity encourages:

imaginative play
storytelling
understanding how communities work
social interaction with other children

It also connects nicely with the Community Helpers I-Spy activity because children can pretend to be different helpers while they play in their city. I was really happy to see how many places the kids were so excited to point out and talk about.

Free Printables Included

The activities in this lesson include: