Teaching Days of the Week to Preschoolers

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Do you ever find yourself losing track of what day it is when you go on vacation? It can be somewhat unsettling, even if the feeling is only temporary. Imagine how your preschooler feels when they ask, "When am I sleeping over at grandma's house?" and you respond, "Saturday." That's all well and good, but when is Saturday? Is it now? How long will it take to get here?

Overview

Once a preschooler hits age 3 or 4, they can start to understand and learn the days of the week. This can be tricky at first because many preschoolers still don't understand the concept of time. However, once they get the hang of it, it is really simple memorization practice. By using songs, activities, and even your family's schedule, your preschooler will learn the days of the week before you know it.

Incorporate Family Life

Simply by being part of a family, your preschooler probably understands that there is a routine in place and different days to do different things. For instance, there are some days when you go to work, days when they go to school, and the weekends may be less structured, but busy with other activities. You can use this to your advantage.

Make it a point each morning to announce what you are doing and what day it is. "Today is Wednesday so you have gymnastics. Tomorrow is Thursday so you'll go to preschool." Soon enough they'll start to remember on their own that different days have different activities assigned to them.

Use a Calendar

Even if your preschooler isn't reading, they can still begin to understand how a calendar functions. Eventually, they'll also recognize the names of the days when looking at the calendar.

Point out the days on your family's calendar and explain which activities they have on what days. Talk about how there are five weekday days and two weekend days. If you have regularly scheduled events on certain days (school, dance, swimming lessons, etc.), show where they fall during the week and how the days are related to each other.

Days of the Week Songs

While understanding the concept of the days of the week is important, so is memorizing the names of the days. Singing a song that names each day and repeats it is a great way to reinforce the lesson. Here are a few songs you can try.

This first song is sung to the tune of "The Addams Family" theme song, so it's both catchy and interactive fun.

Days of the Week! (snap, snap)
Days of the Week! (snap, snap)
Days of the Week! Days of the Week! Days of the Week! Days of the Week! (snap, snap)
There's Sunday and there's Monday,
There's Tuesday and there's Wednesday,
There's Thursday and there's Friday,
And then there's Saturday!
Days of the Week! (snap, snap)
Days of the Week! (snap, snap)
Days of the Week! Days of the Week! Days of the Week! Days of the Week! (snap, snap)

You might need to refresh your memory about this one, but a quick search online will help you remember "Oh My Darling, Clementine!" Use that tune for the following song.

There are seven days, there are seven days,
There are seven days in the week.
There are seven days, there are seven days,
There are seven days in the week.
Sunday, Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday, Saturday!
Sunday, Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday, Saturday!

A familiar one for any preschooler, this simple song goes to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday too.
Wednesday, Thursday just for you.
Friday, Saturday that's the end.
Now let's say those days again!
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday!

Sung to the tune of "Frère Jacques," the following song is perfect for quick memorization.

These are all the
days of the wee-eek,
Sing with me,
Sing with me.
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Saturday
A day to play.

Also sung to the tune of "Frère Jacques," your preschooler may enjoy learning from this song as well. It also poses a question at the end, which will help them put the days in context.

Every week
has seven days,
See how many
you can say!
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,
Saturday.
What's today?

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

As you are teaching your child about the days of the week, it's also a good idea to introduce the concept of today, yesterday, and tomorrow.

Putting Time in Context

Break out your family calendar and point out the current day, explaining that this is today. Then show your little one which day is yesterday and which is tomorrow. Explain that yesterday, today, and tomorrow change as the day does.

To reinforce this idea, you could say something like, "Yesterday you went to Jordan's house. Today we are going to the park. Tomorrow you will go to the doctor." Be sure to name activities that are singular in nature so your preschooler doesn't get confused. For instance, if they go to preschool five days a week, using that in this concept wouldn't necessarily work.

A Word From Verywell

It's rather easy to incorporate this lesson into your family's everyday life. Use simple experiences and activities that your preschooler can relate to and get excited about and he'll learn much faster than you expect.

1 Source
Verywell Family uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
  1. Zhang M, Hudson JA. The development of temporal concepts: Linguistic factors and cognitive processesFront Psychol. 2018;9:2451. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02451

By Amanda Rock
Amanda Rock, mom of three, has spent more than a decade of her professional career writing and editing for parents and children.