Designed for children ages 24-36 months, this easy-to-use, comprehensive curriculum is FREE for immediate family and in-home use. If you intend to use the curriculum in a preschool, church, or daycare setting, please refer to the Complete 2 Year Curriculum.
Each Online Lesson Plan includes:
To get started, choose objectives and activities that suit your child's needs and situation. Please know that the Week 1 Lesson Plan is significantly longer to help you begin. Incorporate them into your child's daily routines to create a seamless and enjoyable learning experience. This flexible approach allows you to customize the curriculum to fit your unique situation, ensuring a solid foundation for your child's growth and development.
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Objectives| The 2 Year Curriculum introduces the child to learning, and the objectives are the learning goals that you introduce to the child over one week. Don’t feel the need to cover all the focused objectives each day. Instead, spread them throughout the week. As much as possible, pull the learning from the play and activities that the child is doing. |
Bible Theme: God Made the World Around Me
Lesson: Day, Night, Water, Sky
Bible Story: Creation Days 1-2
Scripture: Genesis 1
Read & Share Toddler Bible
ABCJLM Interactive Bible Stories
Verse: Genesis 1:1 - In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Tune: Are You Sleeping
In the beginning, (2x)
God created (2x)
The heavens and the earth (2x)
Genesis 1:1 (2x)
Bible Song: This Little Light of Mine Traditional
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine (repeat 2x)
Let it shine, Let it shine, Let it shine.
Hide it under a bushel? No! I'm gonna let it shine (repeat 2x)
Let it shine, Let it shine, Let it shine.
Optional verse:
Don't let Satan blow it out…
Let it shine 'til Jesus comes…
Let it shine all over our (home, state, car church, etc)…
Poem: Pat-a-Cake Traditional
Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man
Bake me a cake as fast as you can
Roll it, pat it, and mark it with a B
Put it in the oven for baby and me
Change the "B" to the first letter of the child's name and the word "baby" to the child's name.
Color: Red
Shape: Circle
Letters: Aa
Number: 1
Information: First Name
Self-care and Manners: Sitting Quietly
Book of the Week: 
Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney
Fine Motor Skill: Color on Vertical Surface
Gross Motor Skill: Play "Put the Fire Out"
Suggested Activities| Because busy lives make it difficult to think of activities that pair well with learning objectives, I’ve provided suggestions to help you teach the week’s objectives. Choose activities that your child would enjoy and that fit into your schedule. As often as possible, achieve the learning from books, play time, craft time, and current activities. |
The goal of the 2-Year Curriculum is to introduce children to Bible stories. The "Objectives" section includes page numbers from the Read and Share Toddler Bible when available, but any age-appropriate children’s Bible can be used. For variety, you may read the same story from different Bibles. Be sure to read the Scripture yourself to understand the story's details. Another fun way to further Bible learning is to tell the story in an interactive way. The ABCJLM Interactive Bible Stories offer an age-appropriate script that is the perfect length for your active toddler. This supplemental product is available as a digital download, either included in the 2 Year Curriculum Bundle or purchased separately.
Read and Share Toddler Bible
As you read the story, have the child give a thumbs up every time God says, "It is good!"
Bible Story Activities: Creation Days 1-2
The child will learn about Creation for the first nine weeks of the Basic 2 Year Curriculum. Collect all Creation crafts to create a "My Creation Book." At the end of the Creation study (Week 9), use the cover worksheet and bind all the pages together. Find additional Creation activities and crafts on the ABCJesusLovesMe Creation Idea pages.
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Day 1 - Use a piece of black construction paper as the background. Cut a piece of white construction paper in half. Glue the white half-sheet vertically on the black sheet. Write "Day" on the white piece and "Night" on the black. Add the number "1" to the page.
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Day 2 - Use a piece of blue construction paper. Add cotton balls in the sky for clouds. Make waves with shaving cream and blue paint at the bottom. Add the number "2" to the page.
Creation Fingerplay
On Day 1 (On numbers - put corresponding fingers in the air)
God created light (close fists and then quickly open in the air and bring down to side creating arches)
On Day 2
God created the sky (wave arms in the air) and water (make waves with hands)
Tell the Story with Flannelgraph
Flannelgraph provides a beautiful visual and tactile addition to the Bible story. Discover how to use it in this video.
Memory Verse: Genesis 1:1
Each week includes a simple memory verse. Help the child memorize at least the key words. Discover helpful memory verse tips. Remember to say each short phrase very slowly with the child.
Bible Song: This Little Light of Mine
The carefully selected Bible songs are beloved classics sung in Sunday School throughout the generations. Learning these tunes helps the child memorize verses and Bible stories while connecting them to strong theological truths. If any of these songs are unfamiliar, I've created free videos of each one, complete with actions, to help you learn them easily.
Sing this song very slowly and incorporate the actions throughout the day. Create a tradition of singing it during bath time, while driving, or as part of your bedtime routine. As you sing this song to the child repeatedly, they will gradually start to join in.
Color: Red
This curriculum starts by introducing the child to nine colors individually and then gradually combines them, covering up to three colors per week. To optimize learning, focus solely on the designated color(s) during craft or drawing sessions. This method allows the child to fully engage with the specific color(s) over time. Since most toddlers' hands aren't developmentally ready to hold small writing utensils, it's recommended to use egg-shaped crayons, jumbo paintbrushes, and short, jumbo colored pencils whenever possible. Additionally, markers or pens are discouraged as they don't promote fine and gross motor skill development as effectively as crayons and pencils do. Grab your free copies of the ABCJesusLovesMe Color Flashcards and Shape Flashcards.
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Choose one of the ABCJesusLovesMe Red Worksheets to color with a red egg-shaped crayon.
- Eat red food: Apple, strawberry, raspberry, red licorice, lollipop, cranberry juice, watermelon, radish, beets, red popsicle, strawberry or raspberry Jello
- Color Walk: Walk around your home or neighborhood looking for the color red. Take a red flashcard or crayon with you to remind the child of the color.
Shape: Circle
Seven shapes are introduced in this curriculum, beginning with the circle.
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Color, paint, or draw on the Circle worksheet with the color red.
- Circle Song
While singing walk around make big circles in the air.
Tune: Up on the Housetop
Circle, circle big and round
Where it ends can not be found
Tires, balls, the earth, and sun
Making circles is so much fun.
- Shape Walk: Walk around your house or neighborhood looking for circles. Bring a circle flashcard or poster to remind the child of the shape. Gently holding the child's hand, trace the circle on the flashcard or poster, and then trace the circle on the objects you find.
Letters: Aa
The 2 Year Curriculum does not heavily focus on letters as they have no meaning to most toddlers. Instead of memorization, the objective is for the child to begin recognizing letters in the world around them. This week point out the letter Aa and help the child say the letter, phonetic sound, and a word that begins with the letter (i.e. A /a/ apple). I would encourage you to use either bath or refrigerator letters for each week’s introduction and then allow the child to play with the letter. This activity is strictly for introduction and limited amount of time should be spent on this objective.
Number: 1
To introduce the child to numbers, several art media, and counting (1:1 ratio), the child will be creating Apple Tree Number Posters. After decorating using the suggested medium, add the appropriate number of apple stickers or stamps. You can also make apples by stamping a fingerprint on the tree and drawing a leaf and stem.
Create an Apple Tree Number Book to introduce the child to several art mediums and counting. First, decorating using the suggested medium, add then add the appropriate number of apple stickers. This week, use a red egg-shaped crayon to color the Apple Tree #1 worksheet and then add one apple to the tree. Idea shared by Teresa
Information: Child's First Name
Throughout the curriculum, there is a focus on various "Information" ideas. For the first four weeks, the focus is on the child's first name. Teach the child to pronouncing her first name. Teach the child to look the other person in the eyes when introducing herself.
Self-Care and Manners: Sitting Quietly
While toddlers have a very short attention span, all children need to learn self-control and how to sit attentively for short periods of time. Teach the child to sit with “criss-cross” legs and hands in her lap. Discuss how there are times when a child listens while the adult talks. Start with very short time intervals and increase until the child is able to sit by herself through an entire Bible lesson.
Begin each listening time with a saying, such as:
My legs are crossed,
Together my hands go,
My mouth is quiet,
I'm ready to learn and grow!
Poem: Pat-a-Cake
Traditional poems and nursery rhymes help children develop rhyme, fine motor skills, and rhythm, as well as beginning reading. At first, quote the poems very slowly to help the children correctly learn the words. Also, assist the child in performing actions with the poems. Quote them throughout the day (e.g. while driving, in the bathtub, while washing hands).
Book of the Week: Llama Llama Red Pajama
Children should be read to for at least 15 minutes a day. Each week, the child will be introduced to a quality picture book to complement other learning and provide pre-reading exposure. Read the book multiple times throughout the week, discussing the illustrations and focusing on concepts related to this week's objectives (e.g. red, circles, Aa).
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Color the Red Shirt worksheet with a red egg-shaped crayon.
- Have a Pajama Day by staying in your pajamas all day.
- Find circles in the book, especially look for the red circles (e.g. eyes, Mama's necklace, bed accents, corner circles).
Fine motor skills are activities that improve one’s ability to write and manipulate small objects. Gross motor skills involve large muscle movement (e.g. running, jumping, hopping etc.). These skills are important for pencil control, balance, and coordination. Each Lesson Plan includes an activity to improve the child’s fine and gross-motor skills. Also, refrain from using markers or pens in activities as they do not strengthen fine and gross motor skills as much as crayons and pencils.
Fine Motor Skill: Vertical Painting
Children develop fine-motor skills best when working on a vertical surface. When holding a writing utensil or brush against a vertical surface, extra muscles in the wrist and hand are strengthened. These same muscles are not used when writing on a horizontal surface. For this reason, place craft, writing, and drawing projects on a vertical surface as much as is feasible. This week, color or paint with red on a pieces of paper attached to a vertical surface.
Gross Motor Skill: Put the Fire Out
Gross motor skills are big motor skills that require balance and coordination (e.g. running, jumping, hopping etc.). Each lesson plan includes an activity to help improve the child's gross motor skills. This week, play "Put the Fire Out," a fun outside activity that involves sidewalk chalk, water, and a sponge. Begin by drawing a ladder on cement with sidewalk chalk. Draw a fire at the top of the ladder. Place a bucket and a sponge at the bottom of the ladder. Have the child wet the sponge and jump between the rungs of the ladder to get to the fire. Once at the fire, squeeze the sponge over the fire to put it out! (Idea from YourTherapySource.com)
Use the First Day of Preschool poster to create a precious photo op for remembering today. Be sure to tag #ABCJesusLovesMe or @ABCJesusLovesMe when you post the image on social media!
Warning: All information on the ABCJesusLovesMe website, on Facebook Groups under the ABCJesusLovesMe name, and on the Parenting to Impress blog is for general information purposes only. All the activities and ideas shared require adult supervision and children under the age of three should not participate in activities in which small pieces are involved. Also, what works with one child may not work with all children. ABCJesusLovesMe, as well as Parenting to Impress, contain suggestions and all should be taken simply as suggestions. Please seek the advice of a professional when questions arise.
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