Cute Theme Ideas for a Toddler Classroom

All of the classrooms in my daycare center use themes in their classrooms. As the toddler group supervisor at my center, I had to think through a couple different theme ideas before I found the one I wanted to go with. We aren't allowed to use any copyrighted materials, such as Sesame Street or Disney, as the theme. Here are some unique ideas that I thought of.

Crayons & Colors
Although I could not use Crayola for the theme, Holcomb's had a lot of nice cut outs and borders with cute crayons. You can find cutouts with the names of colors, which are helpful for toddlers, since this is the age at which they are learning their colors. You could also incorporate the rainbow into this theme.

Under the Sea
When I took over the toddler classroom, this was the theme throughout the room. The previous teacher bought cute cutouts of dolphins, jellyfish, starfish and whales, and had them hanging up all over the room. She had a wave border around the entire room, and she used the theme for artwork - "A Sea of Art"

Jungle Animals
Same theme idea as Under the Sea. You could find cutouts of tigers, monkeys, etc and hang them up. If you really wanted to, you could also coordinate with jungle animal curtains, which I also considered.

American Colors
Although this may not be the most "toddler-friendly" theme, it could definitely look nice if used in a classroom. Use red, white and blue stars and stripes, making your entire classroom feel like you are full of American spirit.

Transportation
Use cut outs of cars, trains, trucks, planes and boats. Kids are really interested in transportation, my kids like to play with toy trucks, and read books about cars.

Clouds
The infant room in my center is currently using this theme, but I think it would be cute for a toddler room as well. You could hang up clouds from the ceiling, and even paint your ceiling blue to resemble the sky.

Bears
This is one of the more popular themes used in childrens' classrooms. You could either use teddy bears, or cartoon bears. Either one is cute. There are many cutouts and designs that go with the Bears theme.

Circus
Another very popular option for kids' classrooms, make your room look like a circus tent. Use lots of reds and yellows, along with cutouts of elephants, monkeys and lions. If you can find it, use cutouts of circus entertainers and lion tamers.

Farm Animals
Find cutouts of pigs, cows, horses and roosters. Any cutout that has to do with the farm. You could try to make your room look like a barn as well.

Frogs
This was my theme of choice, that is currently used in my classroom. I chose this because it's not as common as the others that I found, and it's also easy to do. I bought a lot of cutouts of frogs, as well as green border and frog border. I picked out cute frog stickers to put on my kids' daily papers, and each of the kids cubbies has a frog cutout with their names on it. I get a lot of compliments on my theme.

Have fun with your classrooms, as this can really reflect your personality as a teacher. Any of these themes can also be used at home, in your child's bedroom.