Language Activities:
Puppets: Each morning during the Purim theme, have children color one of the characters from the Purim story (Esther, Ahashverosh, Haman, and Mordechai).  If they are too young developmentally for shapes cutting, you can cut the figures out as your own "teacher homework" that evening.  By the end of the week (Friday?), they should have all the 4 main characters colored that they can then glue to the top of craft sticks for puppets.
I colored and made my own set, laminated them, and use them each day during Group Time.  (Any coloring sheets of a King, Queen, friendly looking guy, and mean-looking guy will do in capturing the concepts.)   
Extension: Creative Drama: King's Castle: I make a class castle from a cardboard box(es), then ask the children to make the windows, etc.  I place velcro in various places on the castle then leave my velcro-backed puppets there for Free Play so they can play-act the Purim story themselves.
Children's Costumes: Children can collage (glue, color, glitter, etc) white sheets brought from home.  (Cut a hole in the center of the sheets so they will fit over the children's heads, and trim the bottoms so children won't trip while walking.)    

Art Activities:
Persian Rugs: We make a two-sided Persian rug from a long strip of butcher paper.  Half the children color one side and the other half color the other side.  We laminate it and add fringes (children fringe the edges of colored paper strips).  We then place it at the door for the duration of our Purim unit.
Crowns: We decorate simple oaktag crowns for King Ahashverosh and Queen Esther.
Hamantaschen: For each child, make a circle in the center of a paper plate.  The children then glue a tart filling into the center of the circle (which is really scrunched tissue paper in the color, or "flavor," of their choice).  Then staple three sides of the plate up toward the center forming a "three-cornered hat" shaped tart.
Variation: These can also be made into hats for wearing with the costumes above if you punch two holes in the sides and add a string or yarn.

Fine Motor Activities:
Graggers: We place beans and plastic bottles with lids in the water table for experimenting with the sound of beans in a bottle.  Finally, children choose a bottle of their own (which could be brought from home).  They decorate the outside of it with tissue paper scraps, two googly-eyes, and a frown.  After the glue has dried, children fill their bottles with beans.  At Circle Time, children are instructed to "shake their graggers" when they hear the name of bad guy Haman during the Purim story.  (The bottles with the frowns represent Haman.)

(By the way, the graphic at the top of this page is a gragger.)

Jewelry: Talk about the fact that a king and castle might have many precious jewels.  Then have the children make colored Cheerio necklaces.  They can also place sticker-jewels on the walls of the cardboard castle mentioned above.  

Mishloach Manot Baskets:
(Mishloach Manot Baskets are filled with goodies for friends during Purim (cheese and crackers, nuts, raisins, bagels and cream cheeses, or even peanut butter and jelly, and so on):
Children can weave colored paper strips or ribbon through plastic mesh fruit baskets.  If they are too young developmentally, they can string 3-4 beads onto a pipecleaner, then use them as handles for the baskets.  (It can actually be quite pretty.)  Later in the week, we place foods on the table and let the kids pack their baskets with them and take them home.  To keep the "concept" going a whole week, children can deliver their baskets to a classroom friend during Group Time, or they can be delivered to friends in other classes.  They can also sing the "A Tisket, a Tasket" song below.

Purim Party Day:
*For Make-up: We have a long mirror in the classroom that we lay sideways on a table so that children can sit there and put on make-up using lipstick and blush.  This can be so cute! 
*The children can wear their costumes and hats/crowns they've made.
*We read the Megillah (a scroll which tells the Purim story), and the children wave their graggers each time they hear the name Haman.
*We sing songs.
*We deliver a mishloach manot basket to the school principal.
*We also give Tzedakah (gifts for the poor) and eat lunch.

Now here are some songs:

From Stormie:

My Favorite Easy Hamantaschen Recipes For Preschool    One simple way is to allow children to take turns rolling out a refrigerator biscuit from a can and then spoon jam into the center of the biscuit.  They can then roll up three edges toward the center of the biscuit, forming a "3-cornered hat" shaped tart.  (Accept the biscuits as they are.  After all, they are the children's work -- not yours).  Bake according to package directions.   Or go with any basic filled cookie recipe from a box and allow the children to help roll out the dough and cut it into circles using cookie cutters.  They can then place a teaspoon (or so) of jam in the center of each cookie then fold three edges up to the center like a "3-cornered hat" shaped tart.  Bake.

 
Suggested Books:
*Esther's Story, by Diane Wolkstein, illustrated by Juan Wijngaard
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Reminder from Stormie: If you would like to begin collecting ALL my current classroom ideas (each on a 4 x 6" index card), as well as new ones that I create, you can do so by ordering my "Activity Cards."  Click here to check them out.