"Super Duper Me!" Thematic Unit: 4 Weeks of Preschool Activities on Self-Esteem, Senses & Emotions

Explore a complete 4-week lesson plan for preschoolers based on the book 'Super Duper Me!' Perfect for homeschool parents and educators of 4-year-olds, this thematic unit uses play-based activities to build self-esteem, explore the five senses, identify emotions, and encourage kindness. Each week includes detailed, hands-on lessons like creating a 'Super Me' portrait, 'Super Senses Spy Training,' and making 'Emotion Potions' to foster personal, social, and emotional development.

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"Super Duper Me!" Four-Week Thematic Unit

Subject: Personal, Social, and Emotional Development, Language & Literacy, Creative Arts

Age Group: 4-Year-Old Homeschool Student

Core Text: "Super Duper Me!" by Caryl Hart

Overall Goal: To help the child recognize and celebrate their own unique qualities, understand their senses and emotions, and appreciate the special qualities in others, all through creative, play-based activities inspired by the book.

Week 1: I Am Super!

Learning Objective: The child will identify and express at least two personal qualities or abilities that make them unique and "super."

Lesson: My "Super Me" Portrait

Materials Needed:

  • The book "Super Duper Me!"
  • A large piece of paper or cardboard (big enough for the child to lie on)
  • Pencil or marker for tracing
  • A variety of craft supplies: crayons, markers, paint, stickers, fabric scraps, yarn, glitter, glue

Lesson Activities:

  1. Read and Discuss (10 mins): Snuggle up and read "Super Duper Me!" aloud with enthusiasm. As you read, point to the different things the character can do. Afterwards, ask prompting questions like, "The child in the book is a super dreamer! What are you super at?" or "What is your favorite thing to do?"
  2. Brainstorm Superpowers (5 mins): Talk about what makes your child super. These aren't just fantasy powers, but real ones! Examples: super-fast running, super-strong hugging, super-kind sharing, super-creative building, super-silly joke-telling.
  3. Create a "Super Me" Body Map (20 mins):
    • Have your child lie down on the large paper. Trace the outline of their body.
    • Let them stand up and look at their shape. Now, it's time to decorate it!
    • Encourage them to fill the outline with colors, symbols, and textures that represent their "superpowers."
    • They could paint their legs with zig-zags for running fast, glue a big red felt heart on their chest for being loving, put sparkles on their hands for being a great artist, or draw pictures of their favorite things inside their tummy. This is about their unique identity!
  4. Show and Tell (5 mins): When they are finished, hang the portrait on the wall. Ask them to tell you all about their "Super Me" portrait and the different powers they included. Celebrate their wonderful, unique self!

Observation and Celebration: Notice how the child describes themself. Do they focus on physical abilities, personality traits, or both? Celebrate every idea they share about what makes them special.

Week 2: My Super Senses!

Learning Objective: The child will participate in activities that engage all five senses and use descriptive words to explain what they are experiencing.

Lesson: Super Senses Spy Training

Materials Needed:

  • The book "Super Duper Me!"
  • A blindfold (a soft scarf works well)
  • A "Mystery Touch Bag" (a cloth bag or pillowcase) filled with items with different textures (e.g., a fluffy cotton ball, a bumpy pinecone, a smooth stone, a crinkly leaf, a soft feather)
  • "Mystery Sound Makers" (e.g., a bell, a set of keys, a shaker egg, two wooden blocks to clap together)
  • "Mystery Tastes & Smells" (small, safe food items like a slice of orange, a pretzel, a piece of chocolate, a mint leaf)

Lesson Activities:

  1. Read and Connect (5 mins): Re-read "Super Duper Me!", paying special attention to pages that show the character seeing, hearing, or interacting with the world. Say, "Superheroes have to be great spies, and spies use their super senses to figure things out!"
  2. Introduce the Super Senses (5 mins): Briefly talk about the five senses as superpowers: "We have Super-Vision in our eyes, Super-Hearing in our ears, Super-Smell in our nose, Super-Taste on our tongue, and Super-Touch in our fingers!"
  3. Super Senses Spy Training (20 mins):
    • Super Touch: Have the child wear the blindfold. Present the "Mystery Touch Bag" and let them reach in, feel one object at a time, and describe it (is it soft, hard, bumpy, smooth?) before guessing what it is.
    • Super Hearing: While still blindfolded, make different sounds from around the room. Can the spy guess what is making the sound?
    • Super Smell & Taste: For the final mission, present the scent and taste items one at a time. Have them smell it first, guess, and then taste it to confirm.
  4. Go on a Senses Walk (10 mins): Take a short walk outside or around the house. Ask: "What can your Super-Vision see? What can your Super-Hearing hear? What can your Super-Smell smell?"

Observation and Celebration: Listen for the vocabulary the child uses to describe textures, sounds, and tastes. Praise their effort and curiosity as they explore with their senses.

Week 3: My Super Feelings!

Learning Objective: The child will identify several basic emotions (happy, sad, angry, surprised) and understand that all feelings are a normal part of being human.

Lesson: Feeling Faces and Emotion Potions

Materials Needed:

  • The book "Super Duper Me!"
  • A small, unbreakable mirror
  • Paper plates or circles cut from cardstock (4 per person)
  • Craft sticks or straws
  • Markers or crayons
  • Clear jars or plastic containers, water, food coloring (red, blue, yellow), and glitter

Lesson Activities:

  1. Read and Feel (10 mins): Read "Super Duper Me!" and pause to ask, "How do you think the character feels on this page? Proud? Happy? Excited?" Connect the story to feelings.
  2. Feeling Faces (15 mins):
    • Use the mirror to make different emotional faces together: a big happy smile, a sad frown, an angry scowl, a surprised "O!"
    • Talk about what each feeling looks and feels like in our bodies.
    • Use the paper plates and markers to draw these four faces. Attach a craft stick to the back of each one to create simple puppets or masks.
    • Use the puppets to act out simple scenarios: "Show me the face you'd make if you got a new puppy!" (Happy). "Show me the face you'd make if someone knocked over your tower." (Sad/Angry).
  3. Emotion Potions (15 mins):
    • Explain that our feelings are inside us, sometimes swirling around like a potion. Let's make some!
    • Fill a jar with water. Assign a color to a feeling (e.g., yellow for happy, blue for sad, red for angry).
    • Talk about a time you felt happy. Add a few drops of yellow food coloring and some glitter. Swirl it around to see the "happy feeling potion."
    • Do the same for another feeling, like sadness. Talk about how it’s okay to feel sad. Add blue food coloring. Notice how it moves differently if you stir it slowly.
    • You can even mix colors. "What if you feel a little sad and a little angry at the same time?" Mix blue and red.

Observation and Celebration: Acknowledge and validate every feeling the child expresses. The goal is not to "fix" sad or angry feelings, but to name them and accept them as a superpower that gives us important information.

Week 4: Super Friends, Super World!

Learning Objective: The child will identify a positive quality in a friend or family member and participate in a collaborative, creative activity focused on kindness and community.

Lesson: Our Super-Kindness Headquarters

Materials Needed:

  • The book "Super Duper Me!"
  • A large cardboard box (big enough to be a fort or "headquarters")
  • Recycled materials: smaller boxes, cardboard tubes, yogurt cups, etc.
  • Art and craft supplies: paint, markers, tape, glue, construction paper
  • Small toy figures or dolls

Lesson Activities:

  1. Read and Expand (10 mins): Read the book one last time. This week, focus on the idea that if *we* are super, then everyone else must be super in their own way, too! Ask, "What is something super that Grandma does?" or "What is your friend's superpower?"
  2. Design the Headquarters (5 mins): Announce that you are going to build a Super-Kindness Headquarters, a place where all super friends can work together. What does a headquarters need? A control panel? A place for messages? A slide?
  3. Build and Create (25 mins):
    • Work together to turn the large cardboard box into your headquarters. Cut a door and windows.
    • Use the smaller recycled materials to build gadgets for the headquarters. A cardboard tube could be a telescope for spotting friends who need help. A small box with buttons drawn on it could be a "Compliment Machine."
    • Decorate everything with paint and markers. The theme is kindness and friendship, so you can draw hearts, smiling faces, and pictures of friends and family.
  4. Imaginative Play (10 mins): Use the toy figures to play inside the headquarters. Create missions for your super friends. "Mission: Go give Daddy a super-strong hug!" or "Mission: Create a beautiful drawing for our neighbor!" This connects the imaginative play to real-world acts of kindness.

Observation and Celebration: Notice how the child talks about others. Encourage the idea that everyone has something valuable to contribute. Celebrate the act of creating and playing together, reinforcing the power of teamwork and friendship.

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