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Teach kids their phone number with my FREE download! I drew up this iPhone graphic a few years ago to help my kids memorize and practice dialing my cell phone number. I also wanted to teach them how to dial 911. With passwords and emergency buttons located in different places on each cell phone, I just made sure they could locate and recognize the word "EMERGENCY" since they don't have to go all the way to the keypad to dial 911.

Keep in mind, it's also important that kids know their address, because when you call 911 from a cell phone that is the first thing the dispatcher will ask them. I would assume they might be able to figure out where you are via GPS or something, but kids should know their address anyway so why not prep them in case they have to be a hero and make the call!

Teaching Kids Their Address

Throughout the years I've added to phone graphic and ultimately created the Phone Number and Address Printable Pack! You can receive the iPhone graphic FREE at the end of this post or you can head over to my Etsy Shop to purchase the entire printable pack. The printable pack includes a few different ways for kids to practice their address as well!

Free Phone Printable

The free iPhone download (pictured above) includes a single page with numbers and the Printable Pack includes the page with blank buttons for additional writing practice-the free download is available at the end of this post!

I ended up laminating both pages so we could practice "pushing the buttons" and writing on the blank one with a dry erase marker. It's really important to keep repeating your phone number out loud so that your kids are able to memorize it and repeat it to someone if they ever get lost.

I made sure my son knew my phone number by heart long before he could recognize and write numbers. This printable reinforced my phone number for him, gave him an idea of what it would be like to dial it, and gave him some extra number writing/recognition practice!

Since my youngest daughter isn't quite there with her writing skills, I simply used the prefilled number graphic and had her practice dialing the numbers over, and over, and over, hence helping her with recognition.

Teaching kids Thier Phone Number

Here are a few different ways you can use my FREE printable iPhone download to help your kids memorize their phone number!

Have your child fill in all the numbers and write their phone (if already memorized)

Fill in your phone number and cut the worksheet into several pieces creating a puzzle

Cut out all of the numbers and have your child glue down the numbers in your phone number (you will have to print and cut out several since most phone numbers use repeated numbers)

Dial the numbers that spell out your child's name!

Laminate the worksheet for repeated practice with a dry erase marker

Try singing your phone number to the tune of Frere Jacques as your child touches each number on the keypad. End with the phrase, "that's my number, that's my number"

Have kids repeat the numbers in this awesome auditory feedback phone!

If you're moving or have recently changed your phone number, this would be a fun way to present your kids with their new number!

Here are the other pages that are included in my 9-page printable pack available on Etsy!
Available for purchase on Esty
Another important skill is learning how to address an envelope! My Phone Number and Address Printable Pack includes a "My First Mail" page where kids can write addresses in the appropriate locations and place a sticker on the box where a stamp should go. You could even cut out this envelope and create lots of mail pretend mail!
Download the Phone Number and Address Printable Pack Now!
The Phone Number and Address Printable Pack

Simply print the entire Phone Number and Address Printable Pack and add it to a special folder or staple the top left corner. Present this pack to your child with a fresh box of crayons and a sharp new pencil, making sure they know that the information they are about to learn can be very important to their safety!

If your child is very young, you may want to fill in their information for them as they watch. Allow them to illustrate the pictures as you talk through important topics like your emergency plan and fun information about your neighborhood. We were able to draw our school, library and the park across the street from our house in the layout of a map!

The Phone Number and Address Printable Pack includes:

My Info Handwriting Page

My Home Drawing Page

My Neighborhood Drawing Page

My Emergency Plan Drawing Page

My Phone Number Keypad (fill-in-the-blank numbers)

My Phone Number Keypad

My First Mail

Keep your child's completed work on display or easily accessible so you remember to revisit their information on a regular basis. Feel free to print out numerous copies for your child to practice again and again.

I hope you enjoy the time you and your child spend together learning and having fun!

Print the iPhone graphic for FREE HERE!
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Teaching Kids Their Phone Number: Free Printable | One Mom and a Blog

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Wife, mother of 4, wellness advocate, and writer. This blog is a journal of my days, a collection of my thoughts, and hopefully a platform for moms to share their ideas, encouragement, inspiration, and advice! I also love my local Dayton, OH community and proudly support local small business and community efforts here on the blog.

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Morning calendar time with my kiddos {2nd grade and 1st grade} has already been interesting this school year, as my preschooler {age 4.5} likes to "crash" the party. Knowing that she likes an extra challenge, I created some interactive preschool calendar pages for her.

Today, I want to show you how we are using these preschooler calendar pages and share them all for free.

PLEASE NOTE -> I am NOT implying that your preschooler has to use these pages or that your preschooler is even ready for them. Follow your child's lead. She'll quickly let you know if she's interested or not.

*This post contains affiliate links.
**The free download link can be found towards the end of this post. Just click on the teal download button.

Interactive Preschool Calendar Pages

My goal in creating these was to have something that could be used over and over again during the month so I'm not changing it out every day.

That's why I have mine slipped into these dry erase pockets, which I prefer over plastic sleeve protectors sometimes. I just bought some new dry erase markers for the school year, so of course, she has to try them all out!

During our calendar time, we talk about the month. She either tries to trace the letters of the month or she colors them in {her choice}.

We also sing about the days of the week and talk about which day it is. She colors in the day of the week.

We talk about the "number of the day", which is the numerical date for that month. While my other kids are writing the full date, I write the number in the left box. We read the number together, and then she tries it on the other side. {It took her several times to get that tricky number 3, but she was determined.}

At the bottom of the page, we count to the number of the day. She chose to place our little "jewels" on each number to 30. Pennies or dried beans will also fit. Transparent counters, small pom-poms, snap cubes, or those tiny, seasonal erasers will work.

This part gets her using those fine motor muscles for writing and makes the calendar pages more interactive. But if your child just wants to point to or dot each number as she counts, go for it! Follow her lead.

This is my preschooler's completed page for August 30th. She loves to "clean up" by taking off the manipulatives and erasing. We stick it in our calendar time box and it's ready for the next calendar time!

And did I mention there are preschool calendar pages for both the Northern Hemisphere AND the Southern Hemisphere? {Hence the hot sunshine image on the December page.}

You May Also Like:

Enjoy!

~Becky

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Preschool Calendar Pages {FREE} - This Reading Mama

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Morning calendar time with my kiddos {2nd grade and 1st grade} has already been interesting this school year, as my preschooler {age 4.5} likes to "crash" the party. Knowing that she likes an extra challenge, I created some interactive preschool calendar pages for her.

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Spring or Summer is the perfect time to get outside and make a flower petal suncatcher. Toddlers and preschoolers will love collecting nature and using it to make their own patterns or pictures. The paper plate in this craft makes a simple and effective frame for the artwork.

We are a participant in the Amazon Service LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliates sites.

These suncatchers are so easy to make and they look beautiful hanging in the window. If you enjoyed this you might like to try some of our easy outdoor art activities or take a look at some more nature art.

You might be interested in these links:

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Spring or Summer is the perfect time to get outside and make a flower petal suncatcher. Toddlers and preschoolers will love collecting nature and using it to make their own patterns or pictures. The paper plate in this craft makes a simple and effective frame for the artwork.

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>> Drawing
>> Create a "track" for kids to follow
>> Hopscotch
>> Write your name
>> Draw shapes and then do a scavenger hunt for those shapes in nature

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Laminate or place in a sheet protector and use a dry erase marker.

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Do you have preschoolers that love to sit and cut things up?

My daughter LOVES to cut things up and do "school". I have been teaching her how to use scissors and gave her some scissor cutting practice sheets one day for fun. I could not believe how long it kept her occupied! She had so much fun with it, that she even went and found a little bucket to keep next to her. As she would cut, she would put her little tiny scraps in the bucket. It was the sweetest thing! She still asks me for papers to cut up!
I love these Cut It Out Packs from This Reading Mama:

Apple Cut it Out! Pack Falling Leaves Cut it Out! Pack Pumpkin Cut it Out! Pack Thanksgiving Cut it Out! Pack Christmas Tree Cut it Out! Pack Winter Cut it Out! Pack Valentine's Cut it Out! Pack
Dr. Seuss Cut it Out! Pack Spring Cut it Out! Pack Easter Egg Cut it Out! Pack Summer Cut it Out! Pack
More Holidays and Seasons: The 4 Seasons Cutting Sheets
Hearts and Flowers Valentine's Day Scissor Skills St. Patty's Day Scissor Cutting Practice
Easter Scissor Cutting Practice
4th of July Scissor Skills
Back to School Scissor Practice Fall Scissor Practice Thanksgiving Cut it Out Pack Christmas Cutting Practice Sheets
Winter Scissor Cutting Practice Sheets

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50+ Scissor Practice Cutting Sheets to keep your little ones busy! - Homeschool Giveaways

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Facebook Twitter Pinterest Do you have preschoolers that love to sit and cut things up?My daughter LOVES to cut things up and do "school". I have been teaching her how to use scissors and gave her some scissor cutting practice sheets one day for fun.

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All you need is a base plate and a handful of basic bricks. Make it as easy or complicated as your imagination wants. It is so fun to build a LEGO marble run and it is a perfect example of a STEM activity using basic bricks. Combine design and engineering for a STEM idea that will provide hours of fun and laughs! We love simple LEGO building ideas!

Make A Kids Marble Run

You don't need a giant collection of bricks to build a marble run or marble maze, but you do need a marble or two. Build it simple or build it extreme, but don't lose your marbles over it!

This Lego marble run is so easy to build and super fun to play with for quite a few ages, at least 5 to 70 to be exact!

Of course you can also make a marble run or marble maze with cardboard tubes, pool noodles, or a paper plate! A magnet maze is a fun alternative to try!

What Is STEM For Kids?

STEM sounds complicated, but it isn't! Once you get how science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) mingle, you can see how it applies to so many of the science and STEM activities you already love.

The best STEM activities encourage your kids to use at least 3 of the 4 pillars of the STEM acronym (science, technology, engineering, and math) to tackle their projects head-on, challenge what they know, and build character. The lessons STEM can teach our kids are priceless!

Have you played around with science with your kiddos? If you haven't, you are in for a real treat. And if you have, you already know how much fun STEM activities are...

Unlock your kids' curiosity, and spark their inner inventor! The world of science and STEM is AMAZING with these hands-on science experiments and STEM activities!

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to share STEM with your kids. We have everything you need: simple-to-follow activities, low-prep ideas, easy-to-digest science information, and inexpensive supplies.

Helpful STEM Resources To Get You Started

Here are a few resources to help you introduce STEM more effectively to your kiddos or students and feel confident when presenting materials. You'll find helpful free printables throughout.

Extension: Turn It Into A STEM Project

If you want to extend the activity as part of a STEM lesson for older kids, you can have them research design ideas and draw a preliminary design before they start building. Is their marble run design possible? Does it need some tweaking?

You can also set out additional mini-challenges for kids who have built marble runs already and need a greater challenge when it comes to designing a marble run.

Also, if you have several base plates handy, can the kids build a mega LEGO marble run?

Fun Marble Run Variations

Here are some additional marble run challenges to try or elements to add:

Include a set amount of turns the marble must make before it reaches the finish line.

Create a tunnel or other feature the marble must travel through.

Build a ramp for the marble to go up and back down again.

Add in a door for the marble to roll through.

Create obstacles the marble must avoid.

DIY Marble Run

Instructions:

Now grab your pieces and let's get started! The key to success is to make sure the marble can fit everywhere you want it to fit!

The best way to start your LEGO marble run is to build a frame around the outside of the baseplate leaving two holes, one for the start and one for the finish. Use your marble to measure as you go!

Add a piece, remove a piece, you might find a corner too tight for the marble to roll through, so you will need to rethink the design and change it around!

It can become a really cool problem-solving activity. You could make just one path that will work to get to the finish, or you can make several!

Simple LEGO building ideas are my favorite, there are so many creative ways to play, explore and learn with LEGO!

More Fun LEGO Building Ideas To Try

Make sure to also check out our free printable LEGO building challenges! There are tons of cool themes and topics to choose from!

Printable Brick Building Pack

Don't want to bother checking out every link 👆, grab the huge brick bundle instead. Make it easy on yourself.
Visit the SHOP for the huge LEGO and brick building pack!

10O+ Brick theme learning activities in an e-book guide using the bricks you have on hand! Activities include literacy, math, science, art, STEM, and more!

A complete year of Brick themed seasonal and holiday challenges and task cards

100+ page of The Unofficial Guide to Learning with LEGO ebook and materials

Brick Building Early learning pack filled with letters, numbers, and shapes!

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All you need are a few bricks to make your own LEGO marble run. Hours of fun with a DIY marble run for kids.

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How making a rice bin is the best (and easiest) toddler activity ever.

Oh dear sweet rice bin. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

Friends, this is the best toddler activity! I cannot begin to explain how much you need a rice bin in your life. I'm going to try to write it out for you but we all know how deep, true love sometimes has a hard time coming across in print. I'm channeling my inner Shakespeare to write this sonnet.

The first rice bin I had for my toddler was when he was 21 months old. It was magic for a young toddler! It was one of his first real sensory activities so I'll always have a nostalgic love for "Rice Bin". Now that he's 2.5, the magic of the rice bin still exists.
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My toddler, Sam, just loves the rice bin. He loved it at 21 months old and he loves it still - almost a year later! Dump a bag (about 16 oz) into a large tub. Add scoops, cups, spoons, and even some funnels for your toddler to work with. Sam always adds in his construction trucks too.

The amount of play that I can buy with a simple rice bin is astounding. And I know it's not just my toddler because all his little toddler friends love this bin just as much. MOM TRUTH: In the beginning, my son would try to sneak rice out the bin and make a mess. I wasn't having any of that. A few "rice bin time outs" and he got the message. He's an old pro at rice bin behavior now.

There's something magical about this bin that I can't put my finger on. It's intoxicating for toddlers - they're drawn into it. Each time I put together a rice bin, my toddler plays for at least 30 minutes independently (which feels like an eternity!!).

Sometimes I just leave the rice in the tub and store it all under the couch or in the laundry room. Other times I just pour the rice back into a Tupperware and store it for later. We don't eat this rice, but I do keep it for more sensory play. We've been reusing the same rice for 8 months now. How's that for cost effective!

Rice Bin is in it's own category of toddler activities for us because it's just that good. It's best for rainy days, mom sick days, or days when you just need a few minutes of toddler independent play. I hope you'll give it a try! It lasts forever so you may be out a few bags of rice, but you'll make it back in quiet time happiness.

Will you try a rice bin at your house?

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Rice Bin Sensory Play Activity - Busy Toddler

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Oh dear sweet rice bin. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways... Friends, this is the best toddler activity! I cannot begin to explain how much you need a rice bin in your life.

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Use sand castle toys, funnels, or just different size bottles and jugs in a container or kiddie pool.

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Looking for a cool new Kids Activity to try today?? This one is great for working on small motor development with the smaller ones and plain 'ole creativity with just about any age!!

We used a Pampered Chef pan to hold our paint and it worked out quite well. It was not a cheap pan but we use it all the time(At least once or twice a week). I found a cheaper Nonstick Square Treat Cake Pan on Amazon that would work perfectly. We love making brownies in it, it makes chewy crispy edges on every piece. Individual Lasagna servings and Chicken Pot Pies are my families favorite recipe that we make in the pan. Ok........ enough about the pan.

With summer in full swing and the kids bored out of their mind already we have got plenty of kids activities in the making to share with you. Last weekend we had a cotton ball painting activity that Charlee Ann just loved! I'm a few days late getting it up on the blog for you but we have had a really rough couple weeks with allergies! EEEK! Hopefully, you will already have the supplies sitting around the house so you can have your own painting festival this weekend!

You may also like to try.....

Now, remember when you budding little artist is hard at work try not to fly in and be super mommy and "teach" them how to do it! Get everything set up and let THEM figure out what they want to do. A lot of times we are more worried about them doing their art the way it "should" be done than how they want to do it. Artist don't always stay inside the box......as a matter of fact, a great artist ALWAYS works outside the box!!

The cotton ball painting kids activity was very messy and fun. Which is the best part right? Charlee Ann had a great deal of fun painting her own hand with the cotton balls (she said they tickled). So we spent a great deal of time painting our own hands, each other's hands, and making hand prints on the paper. Giggles were abundant and the whole activity kept her busy for over an hour. We enjoyed ourselves and had a pretty good giggly time!

Don't forget to display your child's artwork proudly and by all means...... Get in there and get to painting yourself! Bonding with the kiddos is the best feeling in the world and they will remember it for the rest of their lives!! Happy painting all!!

Cotton Ball Painting Kids Activity

What you will need:

Paper

Muffin or brownie pan (little bowls would work also)

Kids washable paint

Cotton Balls

Wooden clothes pins (this is not necessary but the kids liked it and it helped keep the mess down)

Directions:

1. Grab your paint and set it up in your muffin or brownie pan.

2. Attach wooden clothes pins to your cotton balls.

3. Set your kids down and let them go at it!!

Did you kids like the activity "Cotton Ball Painting"?? There are plenty of ways to paint without a paintbrush!

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Kids Activity: Cotton Ball Painting - Domestic Mommyhood

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Looking for a cool new Kids Activity to try today?? This one is great for working on small motor development with the smaller ones and plain 'ole creativity with just about any age!! We used a Pampered Chef pan to hold our paint and it worked out quite well.

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Miss O is a big fan of crafting. She enjoys just about any medium. Today we decided to break out the paint. This doesn't happen very often mostly because I just don't like the mess potential. Sometimes we just paint on a picture from one of her giant colouring books because this is an easy way to paint and just pull out some basic paintbrushes. I want to harbour a little more creativity so I decided to create some simple paintbrushes using various items from around the house.

Changing up the routine is a great way to get creative. Miss O also got introduced to different textures. These paint brushes took me about 15 minutes to assemble and most of that time was spent compiling items to make them with.

What You'll Need

Clothespins

Various household & crafty items *list of ideas below

Tape

Paint

Canvas (we used an easel)

Brush Ideas Pictured

1. Tin foil

2. Plastic wrap

3. Koosh ball

4. Felt

5. Velcro (soft side)

6. Plastic lacing

7. Velcro (scratchy side)

8. Pipe cleaner (sparkly)

9. Feather

10. Pom pom (big & fluffy)

11. Pom pom (small with sparkly pieces)

12. Pipe cleaner (fluffy)

Other Brush Ideas

How-To

Use a clothespin to pinch your new paintbrush heads. Some of them may need a piece of tape wrapped around to ensure the end stays firmly grasped in the pin.

Put out some paint and get creative!

Miss O really enjoyed using the plastic wrap. I think the sheer size of it compared to the others and the amount of paint it would spread around was the big attraction. Daddy enjoyed using the different pipe cleaners. I found the scratchy Velcro to make some really need textured designs on the page. Try it out and let me know what your kids loved to paint with!

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DIY Paintbrushes for Kids * The Inspired Home

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Miss O is a big fan of crafting. She enjoys just about any medium. Today we decided to break out the paint. This doesn't happen very often mostly because I just don't like the mess potential.

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I have seen some foil arts and crafts online (Picklebums has a fun one here) and decided to try it out with the kids. Why not add a little extra fun to a rainy day. This day was a light raining day with a few minutes here and there where the rain stopped. What a great day to paint in the rain. And why not go all out and make it a, sensory painting on foil in the rain kind of day. It just all went together this day. I could not wait to see what the kids thought about this sensory activity.

Foil Painting: Sensory Art

When it is not storming over here my boys love to go out and play in the rain. Since the birth of baby brother our rain days have been limited but this day it worked out great to get out while he was napping. I wished I had photos of last year me 8 months pregnant, belly poking out of my too little rain jacket, splashing in puddles with the kids. Memories I will cherish forever! Ok back to the present. This was such a simple activity to prepare and set up. I love simple. Being a mom of three high energy kids, as I call them, you do not have much time to prepare or clean up. So simple and fun always work for us.

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Supplies we used:
* One picnic table (similar to this one) Little Tikes Easy Store Jr. Picnic Table with Umbrella - Blue / Green

*Line the table with foil (similar to this) Reynolds Wrap Aluminum Foil (200 Square Foot Roll)

* Homemade sensory paints (click link for recipe)

*Add in a few paint brushes (simialr to these) Artlicious - All Purpose Kids' Paint Brush Set (25 Brushes) and let the kids start painting!

Both my 2 yr and 4.5 yr had a lot of fun with this activity. My oldest probably would have put both hands in the paint and started smearing it everywhere but little brother had to come in and wash his hands when the paint got on him. He was okay as long as the paint stayed on the brush,lol. All kids are different Either way, they both had fun with this activity. After he came in once I set a bowl of water out for them to wash off their hands when needed.

It wasn't long before big brother turned the slide into his canvas I love when the kids take over an activity to make it their own. Since it was raining on and off it made clean up easy because the rain did the work outside for me. I just had to clean the kids and the muffin tin.

Sensory painting in the rain was a first for us and I would say it was a success. A great way to let the kids explore and create on their own. Getting to explore so many senses in one activity was a lot of fun for the kids.
Items we like to keep on hand for sensory art:
Chenille Kraft 5168 Plastic Handle Colossal Round Brushes, Assorted Colors. 30 Brushes/Canister
Crayola 5ct Art and Craft Brush Set
Reynolds Consumer Produ Aluminum Foil 30 Sf Roll 08031
Martha Stewart Crafts Iridescent Glitter, 12-Pack
Elmer's Washable No-Run School Glue, 5 oz Bottle, Clear (E305)

More sensory posts to check out:

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I hope you can enjoy this with your family too!

Follow along with us and be inspired to play on

Written by Jaime

Hi! I am Jaime, mama to three high energy boys. With three boys, life never slows down, but I wouldn't have it any other way! We love creating, learning, and crafting together and we can turn anything into an adventure.

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I have seen some foil arts and crafts online (Picklebums has a fun one here) and decided to try it out with the kids. Why not add a little extra fun to a rainy day. This day was a light raining day with a few minutes here and there where the rain stopped.

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Learning about 2D shapes is a must for every early childhood classroom. I'm here to share with you my favorite, go-to 2D shapes activities! Some teachers may do a shapes theme or unit (like me), some may do a shape of the week, and some sprinkle in shape activities all year long. These activities will work for all types of classrooms and teaching styles! Grab your lesson plan binder, and let's get started! Want all shape printables now? You can find them in my Shapes Unit on TPT HERE.
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Shape Manipulatives

When setting up a shape activity, the first thing I do is go into my supply closet and pull out all my shape games, manipulatives, and puzzles. Pattern blocks, shape cookies, and shape magnet blocks are distributed into various classroom centers. Students need to be playing, manipulating and creating with shapes all over the classroom, not just in the math center!

I love this 2D & 3D shape building set! It's a ton of fun and comes with shape cards.

Toothpick Shapes

Toothpick Shapes are a fun and interactive way to learn shapes! Students can make shapes with toothpicks and play dough or marshmallows. When teaching your little learners about shapes, it's important to teach about the sides and vertices too. Use those big vocabulary words! Feel, touch and count the number of sides and vertices a shape has. Don't forget that a circle doesn't have any sides or vertices!

In the Discovery Center: Learning about math and science

In the discovery center, I set up a shapes exploration table. The wall has shape posters with real photographs, the back of the table is lined with shape building cards and manipulatives and translucent shapes. There is a sorting board with shape flashcards on top. It's just a poster board I made with tape. Super simple! The basket is filled with real objects and shape cards students can sort. This exploration table gives students the opportunity to talk about, touch, feel, build, and manipulate shapes with a peer or independently.

Shape Building Blocks Cards! This is a close up of the building block shape cards. Students use the blocks to create the shape on the card. After the shape theme is over, put the shape building cards in with your manipulatives or STEM drawers!

Geoboard shape cards! I put these shape geoboard cards in my geoboard basket. Students can make the shapes with loom bands on the geoboard. To introduce this activity, I put it out for table time as an arrival activity. It's also great to build those little fine motor muscles too!

Shape cover up! Cover up is a fun game to practice matching shape! Students spin the spinner and cover the matching shape. I love these translucent spinners for my math games. This game is in my Shapes pack. It comes in four different levels.

Shapes graph it! This is another fun shapes game that my students love. It's also a great opportunity to talk about more, less and equal to. Try using magnet bingo chips to cover the graph then using a magnet wand at the end to make the game even more exciting.

In the Sensory Table

This shape sensory table is filled with shaped manipulatives and a few cupcake pans for sorting. It has foam shape beads, shape chains and translucent shapes. Perfect for sorting, lacing, and linking together. And you guessed it, it's great for their fine motor, too!

Transition Activity

Shape sort! Transition activities are the perfect time to do a quick assessment or learning check. We have snack after music and movement time. I always plan a transition activity for that time for several reasons. The first is so the whole class isn't lined up at the same time to wash their hands, which is just asking for crazy behaviors to occur. The second is because it's another time I can squeeze in more learning! What I do is call on a student and give them a card to sort. It's a quick and easy way for me to check and see if they know or don't know a shape.

In the Library Center

Sand writing trays with shape flashcards! Students can write and draw shapes in the sand. This tray is from a lacing set but you can use any small tray you have. I know some teachers use foil pie plates or kid plastic divided dinner plates for writing trays.

Shape mini books! After we make a shape mini books together during small group or table time, I put them in the center. They LOVE making them! Staplers scare me a bit with my little learners so I put in this stapleless stapler! It's amazing!

Shapes emergent reader! For a small group activity, students create their own shape emergent reader. After they are complete and we have read them a few times together, they are put in the library center for students to read.

In the Art Center

My students LOVE play dough trays so I try to make one for each theme we do. In this activity, they create play dough shape monsters. Students use the shape cookie cutters to create the body. Then add arms, legs, eyes and hair using cut up pipe cleaners, small popsicle sticks, toothpicks, and googly eyes. The tray is from the Dollar Tree.

Play dough shape mats! Students can create play dough shapes on these shape mats. They can make the shape by rolling play dough snakes or by molding the dough.

Shape Prints! It's great fine motor and makes beautiful pieces of art for your classroom. We cut up paper towel tubes for this circle printing project.

We printed with wooden shape blocks too!

Shape collages! It's important to provide activities for students to create new items using shapes. In fact, it's a learning objective/standard in many states. Students need to be able to manipulate shapes to create new shapes, objects or pictures. Shape collages are the perfect activity to address this learning objective.

Single shape collages! You can also have students create shape collages using just one kind of shape. One year my students were struggling with triangles so we created triangle shape collages. Students were finding triangle shapes, talking about triangles (how they are alike and different), and making pictures with triangles!

Make learning about shapes FUN by providing your students with hands-on learning experiences and play! Want all the 2D Shape printables in this post? Click HERE to grab my Let's Learn About Shapes pack from my TPT store. It's packed with over 200 pages of shape building cards (legos, geoboards, popsicle stick, toothpick, play dough), posters, sorting mats, worksheets, games & MORE.

Learning about shapes is a fun theme and concept to do with little learners and you can check more fun shape activities by clicking on the image below!

Love these shape activities? Pin this image!

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2D Shape Activities for Preschool, Pre-K, and Kindergarten - Pocket of Preschool

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Learning about 2D shapes is a must for every early childhood classroom. I'm here to share with you my favorite, go-to 2D shapes activities! Some teachers may do a shapes theme or unit (like me), some may do a shape of the week, and some sprinkle in shape activities all year long.

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There are so many great tools your kids can use for creative art projects. Here's a list of twenty five tools that will create some fantastic works of art!
Creative Art Projects for Kids

This roundup is part of our Summer Learning Series for creating art projects with tools. If you are new to that term summer learning series, let me explain what that means. I have a background in education and I've created a group of posts with topics that are meant to encourage learning while having fun and playing to get you through the summer. But really they are fun to do any time of the year.

Your kids probably have used paintbrushes, markers, stamps or stencils and we all know those are great! Sometimes it's fun to mix it up and use materials you wouldn't ever think of for an art project.

This is just a small sampling of the not-so-typical tools to use. I'm sure you can find something fun right in your own home. Be creative and have fun!

25 Tools for Creative Art Projects

Bubble Art from Broogly.

Art is fun, but it's also messy. Don't forget the smock!

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*Posts may contain affiliate links. If you purchase a product through an affiliate link your cost will be the same, but My Mommy Style will receive a small commission. Your support is greatly appreciated!

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Seasons are exciting and fun to explore with kids. Here are our favorite fifty seasons activities and books having to do with the four seasons.

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There are so many tools your kids can use for creative art projects. Here's twenty five tools that will create some fantastic works of art!

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Fingerprint Art Glass Magnets Craft for Kids (VIDEO)

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Fingerprint art magnets are a fun handmade gift that kids can make for Christmas, Mother's Day, Father's Day, or a Birthday! Invite children to use their fingertips and thumbs to make these quick and easy fingerprint art magnets at home or in the classroom.

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This is the best and easiest way to dye rice for sensory play, taking just minutes to prepare and using no vinegar or alcohol hand gel! This method creates the most vibrant and amazingly coloured rice that will last for years when stored correctly. Let's make it!
Materials needed:
dry rice

ready-mix paints

zip loc bags

[Amazon affiliate links added to help you find products easily!]

Divide the rice into the zip loc bags, using one bag per colour that you want to make. We added orange and hot pink later on after making these too.

Squeeze in a large dollop of paint, press the air out of the bag then zip the lock tight.

The next step is the most fun and the kids love to do this themselves! Simply squish and shake the rice all around inside the bag using your hands to make sure the paint is evenly dispersed.

Once it is fully coated, simply tip each colour out onto a tray or shallow dish and leave to dry. Depending on how well spread out it is, it can be dry in as quickly as half an hour!

Tip: you can add a few drops of essential oil at this point to make the rice smell wonderful too!

We've made wonderfully calming lavender rice and delicious apple cinnamon too in the past!

The colours are intense and vibrant, the paint doesn't come off on your fingers and it dries really effectively without the need for any vinegar or alcohol hand gel to fix it. What's even better is that, if kept dry, it will last for ever!

Wowsers, just look how beautiful and vibrant those colours are! I really enjoyed taking photos of this rainbow rice as you can probably tell 🙂

Once the rice was all dry and ready to play with, the kids couldn't wait to mix it up. I think this rainbow rice looks particularly gorgeous when all mixed together, so they tipped them all into a large sensory play tub and started to stir it with spoons!

We added some trays, muffin tins and clear plastic bottles (empty sprinkles bottles) and they played their favourite imaginative play game of sweet shops and bakeries, serving up rainbow treats and baking them for customers!

My eldest fetched the scales too and wanted to find out how much one large jar of the rainbow rice would weigh. She then filled lots of the smaller sprinkles jars until she'd managed to get each one to weigh the same amount, then told me how many of those she would need to fill the large jar full. It took quite a few attempts and lots of problem solving to get it right. Proof that you can get great maths learning in action through self-initiated play, even at year 3 (age 8) level! Hooray for play and all it's possibilities.

When the play is over, simply store the rice in a jam jar or large zip loc bag and keep it in a dry place. As long as it is stored like this it will last for ever and can be reused many times over the years!

This method really is the easiest ever way to dye rice for sensory play and SO quick to make. It's a great idea for giving as a DIY gift to a child and is a best seller at school fair fundraisers too!

If you enjoyed our super simple, easiest ever way to dye rice post then please do consider sharing it!

You will most probably LOVE to browse our other SENSORY RICE ideas too.

And our full SENSORY PLAY ARCHIVES are full to bursting with a wide range of engaging ideas!

[This post contains Amazon affiliate links. Thank you!]

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Easiest Way to Dye Rice for Sensory Play - The Imagination Tree

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This is the best and easiest way to dye rice for sensory play, taking just minutes to prepare and using no vinegar or alcohol hand gel! This method creates the most vibrant and amazingly coloured rice that will last for years when stored correctly. Let's make it!

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Feed the Farm Animals Sensory Bin Counting

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Feed the Farm Animals Sensory Bin Counting

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Pretend like you are a farmer and feed the animals with these counting cards for the sensory bin! Cut out the animal heads and tape onto tin cans or plastic wipe containers. Set up in a sensory bin full of popcorn kernels. Add these Farm Feeding Counting cards to see how many scoops to feed to each animal. Great way to add math to a sensory bin, especially for a farm theme! Don't forget to check out the rest of the activities in my farm bundle!

Includes:

4 animal heads (cow, sheep, horse, and chicken) in 2 sizes (for tin cans or plastic wipe containers)

20 Farm Feeding cards (numbers 1-5)

20 Farm Feeding cards (numbers 6-10)

20 Farm Feeding cards (numbers 11-15)

20 Farm Feeding cards (numbers 16-20)

Materials needed for this activity:

tin cans, plastic wipe containers, or plastic food containers

sensory bin filled with popcorn kernels

scoops

Check out more THEMED BUNDLES!
Click the ★ green star ★ at the top of my store to follow me to receive 20% off all new products for the first 24 hours a new product is posted! Visit my store Turner Tots!

Let's connect! To see this activity plus more in action, check out:

→ Turner Tots Website

→ Pinterest

If there is anything you need to make this resource work for your classroom, please e-mail me at turnertots23@gmail.com. I would be happy to help!

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Farm Feeding Counting Cards for Sensory Bin

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Pretend like you are a farmer and feed the animals with these counting cards for the sensory bin! Cut out the animal heads and tape onto tin cans or plastic wipe containers. Set up in a sensory bin full of popcorn kernels. Add these Farm Feeding Counting cards to see how many scoops to feed to each ...

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Easter Egg Birdseed Ornaments - Redeem Your Ground | RYGblog.com

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Looking for a creative way to celebrate Easter with your kids? Try this very easy and very fun activity - Easter Egg Birdseed Ornaments! You, your kids...and the birds in your yard will love it!

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I love using sensory bins with preschoolers because it's such a motivating way to develop fine motor skills through play! This construction truck themed sensory bin was a big hit with our preschool co-op this past week. The kids used little trucks to lift and load up beans, and we used cardboard to create some fun toys for scooping and pouring.
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We used our PVC pipe sand and water table for this sensory bin. It works so much better, in my opinion, to keep the bin off the floor. Of course there will be beans to pick up when the kids are done, but I think that having the tub elevated reduces the mess.

I used black beans for the bin filler, but you could also use gravel.

The little yellow trucks came from this set of Caterpillar mini trucks.

The larger dump truck is a Playmobil 123 truck - that is their toddler/preschool line of toys. Very sturdy!

I used a cardboard box to make a ramp. The kids could pour beans down the ramp to load them into a dump truck. So much fun! They also enjoyed driving the trucks up and down the ramp.

Here's a photo of the ramp so that you can see the design. I chose a wide, flat cardboard box and cut off one side with a utility knife. I used hot glue to attach more cardboard as legs, and the whole thing was surprisingly sturdy! It withstood a morning of 10 preschoolers playing with it, and now my kids are still using it at home.

My husband built this toy out of a child's size shoe box and a couple of paper towel rolls. You can pour beans into the top, and they come out the tube at the bottom.

I wish I had gotten some photos while it was in progress! The design is simple, so hopefully you can figure it out. My husband cut round holes on two sides of the box using a utility knife. The holes should be the same size as your cardboard tube. Then, he taped two tubes together at an angle inside the box. Once the tubes were secure in the box (more tape) he covered the outside with duct tape just to make it look better.

I chose black beans for the tub filler to look like rocks or gravel. You could also just use gravel.

I love it when they are "hard at play!"
Have fun playing! Need more ideas with construction trucks?

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Construction Truck Sensory Bin - Frugal Fun For Boys and Girls

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I love using sensory bins with preschoolers because it's such a motivating way to develop fine motor skills through play! This construction truck themed sensory bin was a big hit with our preschool co-op this past week. The kids used little trucks to lift and load up beans, and we used cardboard to create some ...

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Oh, how my girls love sensory bins! And, oh, how I love how long they keep my girls occupied! This insect sensory bin for our Bugs, Bees, And Butterflies Preschool Theme Week has been lots of fun, and the girls have requested to play with it several times. I pulled several components from other bins, as well as a few extra goodies.

This post may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. If you use these links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

Materials For An Insect Sensory Bin

In addition to the base of black beans, it includes:

I also had our standard sensory bin tools nearby.

I love watching the girls play to see what they'll come up with.

Maggie was trying SO hard to get these chopsticks to hold the marbles. Her little fingers were working on their super fine motor skills.

The girls worked together to use the tweezers to fill up the bug box. We talked about the different kinds of insects as they worked.

Another fun game we played was to bury all the bugs in the beans and then search for them with the tongs, and then retrieve them. The black bugs were especially tricky!

So Maggie just had to dive in to find them!

And the fun just went on and on and on!

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Insect Sensory Bin | What Can We Do With Paper And Glue

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Oh, how my girls love sensory bins ! And, oh, how I love how long they keep my girls occupied! This insect sensory bin for our Bugs, Bees, And Butterflies Preschool Theme Week has been lots of fun, and the girls have requested to play with it several times.

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Sensory play is one of the themes in the new book from Asia Citro, 150 Screen-Free Activities for Kids - 238 pages of play! This book is great for preschoolers, so many ideas and recipes for open-ended play. Our three year olds loved browsing the different activities.

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By · This content may contain affiliate links.

Welcoming spring also means welcoming all of our bug friends back, and the girls have been having fun playing with some of their long lost pals outside. Whether we're going on a bug hunt or creating bug art, the girls are fascinated by insects, and I know many of your kids are too. This bug play dough invitation was inspired by their love of all things creepy crawly, but don't worry your little one doesn't have to like bugs to have fun with this bug play dough invitation.

Materials

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Playdough made from a recipe in The Homemade Play Dough Recipe Book and Wilton Icing Colors

Safari Ltd Insect TOOB

Rocks and pebbles in assorted sizes

Small pieces of driftwood

Blue glass gems

Plastic leaves from fake plants to look like grass

As Lovey gets older I wonder how long she'll enjoy play dough invitations, she was the first to dive into this one so it gave me a little insight and confirmed some of my original thoughts. Although she's been playing with play dough for years now, she experiences it differently as she gets older. At 6, her creations are more about story telling and creating small worlds than they were when she first begin exploring with play dough to experience the sensory elements.

With this bug invitation she immediately began creating a small world. She started with a small blue river. Then she added some rocks, grass, and benches. Later she added additional structures as she experimented with balance and gravity.

Then she added final touches like this person and her purse.

One by one the bugs joined in the story until she had created a full bug small world.

Get a Full Week of Insect Theme Learning and Play

Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes over 30 playful learning activities related to the theme, and we've provided different versions for home preschool families and classroom teachers so all activities are geared directly toward your needs.

This set includes active hands-on learning ideas and the following printables:
1) Editable Name Bug Activity
2) Counting Insect Parts Diagram and Math Activity
3) Here is the Insect Emergent Reader (3 Variations)
4) Uppercase and Lowercase Alphabet and Hand Lens Letter Cards
5) Insect Life Cycle Recording Sheet
6) Insect Counting Puzzles (3 Variations)
7) Insect Patterning Cards
8) Insect Roll and Graph Games (2 Versions)
9) Insect Build A Word Mats
10) Lightning Bug Numbers Counting Activity
11) Insect Size Sorting Activity
12) Insect or Not an Insect Sorting Activity
Home Preschool Insect Theme Lesson Plans Preschool Classroom Insect Theme Lesson Plans
Get Your Lesson Plans

Play Dough Ideas for Every Month of the Year

You can find all of our play dough invitations here.

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Bug Play Dough Invitation - Fantastic Fun & Learning

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By · This content may contain affiliate links. Welcoming spring also means welcoming all of our bug friends back, and the girls have been having fun playing with some of their long lost pals outside. Whether we're going on a bug hunt or creating bug art, the girls are fascinated by insects, and I know many of your kids are too.

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I have dreamed of setting up a build a bird nest sensory activity for Little Bee since last year. Over the year, I saved fun items for our Montessori Inspired Bird Unit and building a nest activity. Little Bee loves sensory play and this activity was a wonderful tactile experience for him.

Before we built our own nest, Little Bee examined a "real" nest that I found on the ground after a storm. He used his magnifying glass to look closely at how the bird wove the dried grass in and out to form the circular shape. I lined the nest with soft feathers and seed pod fluff to make a cozy spot for several wooden eggs to lay. Little Bee placed a sweet singing bird on top of the eggs to keep them warm. As Little Bee played and explored the nest, I told him about the life-cycle of the birds. We also read the book called, "Nest" to learn more about the life of a bird. Little Bee and I have played an "I Spy" game on our daily spring walks around the neighborhood. While the trees are still bare of their leaves, we have been able to spot abandoned bird nests from last year. Little Bee has a sharp eye and can easily spot the bird's nests or squirrel nests. I took a few pictures of our favorite ones.
I set up this beautiful "build a bird nest" sensory tray of materials for Little Bee to build his own nest.

Materials for "Build a Bird Nest" Sensory Tray

We took the sensory tray outside and Little Bee used the wooden bowl as a base to build his nest. He smushed the "calming" play dough along the sides of the bowl and then stuck various pieces of bird building material to the sticky sides. The little "craft" bird helped carry the materials to the nest as Little Bee built it.

Next we went back inside the house because Little Bee wanted to build a second nest and I needed to find another wooden bowl.

I also got in on the fun! Instead of using a wooden bowl, I created my own nest structure from bendable bead wire. I enjoyed using the creative side of my brain to form this circular structure. If you have an older child, they may enjoy thinking up ways to build a structure to support a DIY birds nest. After I had completed building the wire structure, I smushed the play dough into all the spaces. Then I added the other bird building materials by weaving them along the structure or sticking the pieces into the play dough. After I was done, I left the completed nest out on the counter for several days to dry. It dried into a beautiful hardened nest for future sensory play activities.

Please also visit our ~ Montessori Inspired Bird Unit

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I have dreamed of setting up a build a bird nest sensory activity for Little Bee since last year. Over the year, I saved fun items for our Montessori Inspired Bird Unit and building a nest activity. Little Bee loves sensory play and this activity was a wonderful tactile experience for him.

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No matter what the season is our feathered friends could normally do with a bit of a hand so easy bird feeders that kids can make are a great idea as it both keeps the kids busy for a while and attracts more birds to your yard which is a win-win situation as far as I'm concerned!

There are so many different ways to create a DIY bird feeder with kids and they really are child friendly.

With step by step instructions for crafts including pine cones, cookie cutters and toilet paper rolls you might find that you have most of the materials you already need to get creative. Just make sure you have some birdseed too!
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DIY Bird Feeder Ideas

These fun bird feeder ideas are the perfect way to help encourage more wildlife into your yard and you don't need to spend tons of money to make them all.

Lots of these bird feeders are made from materials like milk jugs, twine, ribbon and even fruits like the apple and the orange bird feeder so you can help out wildlife with just a rummage around your kitchen and a bit of creativity.

How do you make a bird feeder kid friendly?

Most activities can be kid friendly as long as you think about your child's abilities.

Look for easy bird feeder crafts than include things like sprinkling bird seed, mixing up the ingredients or threading cheerios.

Older kids will be able to help with bird feeder crafts that include cutting while you will need to assist younger children.

How do you make bird feeders without peanut butter?

Obviously if someone in your family or group has a peanut allergy then you won't be wanting to use peanut butter as one of the ingredients for your bird feeder.

A discussion on Peanut Allergy suggest products such as Sun Butter and suet is another option but several of the bird feeders I'm sharing today don't use peanut butter (or similar alternative) at all so might be a better choice, look for the juice carton bird feeder, milk carton bird feeder and ones made with Cheerios (and blueberries - yum!)

What food is safe for birds?

Obviously you want to use food that you know is safe for your birds to eat, this article from the RSPB is really helpful and also has details on what household scraps you can feed birds.

If you want to make sure you're using the right stuff you can also buy packets of bird seed and there's loads of different varieties available including packs aimed at feeding birds from different regions, feed for songbirds and even bird food that's specifically aimed for feeders for your porch or patio.

Bird feeders kids can make

Making a bird feeder is a great way for kids to find out what birds live in their neighbourhood, will you just get sparrows or what about more unusual birds?

It's a great idea to keep a simple book of birds near you when you're watching which birds feed from it afterwards so you can look up together what kind of birds live near you.

If you'd like to do more educational activities after making your bird feeders then you could try charting how many birds or different kind of birds you see using it over a fixed period.

Want to make sure you don't forget any of these awesome bird feeders? Be sure to bookmark this page or pin an image for later so that you've got all this inspiration to hand when you need it the most.

Want more ideas? Check out the links at the end of this post for more ideas for nature inspired crafts and activities for kids or why not check out our free bird template?

Make a simple egg carton bird feeder like this one I made with my daughter, perfect for hanging in your backyard like we did.

These citrus cup bird feeders from Mama Papa Bubba that have been made using an orange look amazing and you'd get the added bonus of the lovely scent while you made them.

Kids will love to decorate these wooden frame bird feeders from Buggy and Buddy

Homemade bird feeders can be a great way to use up food that you already have and these apple bird feeders from Natural Beach Living are a great way to do that.

These winter birdfeeders are really pretty, make sure you hang them somewhere close enough to your house that you can keep inside and warm while you watch the birds enjoy them!

This cup bird feeder made from an old coffee or teacup and saucer looks surprisingly easy to make and would make a great DIY gift too.

This simple bird feeder from Messy Little Monster is really pretty and would make a great gift too.

Fans of crafting with recyclables will love the simple diy for this milk carton bird feeder.

Pinecone bird feeders look fantastic and have the added bonus that looking for the pinecones themselves can be an activity for your kids.

Red Ted Art's juice carton bird feeders look amazing, I love the owl design!

This paper bowl bird feeder from Non-Toy Gifts looks insanely pretty!

Add some fruit to your bird feeders with this tutorial from Happy Hooligans that uses blueberries too.

Toilet rolls are always going to be one of those craft materials that everyone can get hold of and this toilet paper roll bird feeder is a great way to use them up.

See nature up close with this DIY window bird feeder.

Cheerios are great for helping kids with their fine motor skills and this tutorial from Kids Craft Room shows how to make your bird feeder look super pretty too.

Bird Books for Kids:

Enjoying seeing the nature in your own neighbourhood? Why not encourage your child's interest with these great books about birds.

More Nature Inspired Activities for Kids:

This frozen flower activity is perfect for outdoor play and looks really pretty too.

Or how about trying out these story stones inspired by the sea.

Or finally if your kids love outdoor activities how about these fun camping crafts for kids!

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No matter what the season is our feathered friends could normally do with a bit of a hand so easy bird feeders that kids can make are a great idea as it both keeps the kids busy for a while and attracts more birds to your yard which is a win-win situation as far as I'm concerned!

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By · This content may contain affiliate links.

While we were playing with our gold play dough Lovey told me she thought it looked "magical, like a magic fairy land." That gave me this idea for fairy garden play dough. I knew both of the girls would love it, they definitely do!

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I used the same gold play dough we used in the other activity. To make it I used the no cook play dough recipe from The Homemade Play Dough Recipe Book. I substituted gold glitter for 1/2 of the salt called for in the recipe.

The wooden storage box from our Melissa & Doug Shape, Model and Mold Set worked so well for our flower garden play dough invitation that I decided to use it again for this activity.

To create the invitation to play I set the play dough out with:

Fairies from the Safari Ltd. Fairies Toob

Large green glass gems

Small blue glass gems

Assorted beads

Assorted buttons

Driftwood pieces

The kids have also been finding these small new plants that are growing around one of our shrubs. I decided to use them for our fairy "forest." You could go on a nature walk to find your own version or use some miniature fake plants from your local craft store. If you use real plants just be sure to wash the roots or trim them off so unless you want the dirt mixed in with your play dough. I wanted to save this gold dough a bit longer so we washed them (and then ended up cutting them off at the girls' request).

Lovey was the first to create a fairy garden. She started by making a river and adding the river banks.

It wasn't long before the fairies came along to enjoy their small world. Then Lovey's imagination took over and it began raining candy (buttons). The fairies were delighted and had a candy party.

Later while I was preparing lunch, Tinker wanted to create her own fairy garden, but she also wanted to be near me. Because the wooden box and tray were mobile, we moved the materials to the kitchen and she began making her creation.

She continued making her fairy small world even after we had eaten lunch.

Do your kids enjoy play dough as much as mine do? We seem to be making a new play dough invitation weekly, and there's no sign of the kids' interest waning anytime soon.

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Fairy Garden Play Dough - Fantastic Fun & Learning

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By · This content may contain affiliate links. While we were playing with our gold play dough Lovey told me she thought it looked "magical, like a magic fairy land." That gave me this idea for fairy garden play dough. I knew both of the girls would love it, they definitely do!

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Puzzles
Build a fort
Bake something together
Hide and seek
Balloon volleyball

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This build a nest STEM challenge for kids gets kids thinking creatively and applying imagination to science! A nest making activity for any age!
This STEM Challenge for kids is an extension activity to the book, Owl Babies

. The illustrations in this book are beautiful. In reading the page that discussed the owl babies' home, it was made of 'twigs and leaves and owl feathers'. Building a nest is one of our favorite owl STEM activities to do.

My kids immediately started asking how birds could build a nest. This bird nest STEM challenge made for the perfect activity for us to do in conjunction with this book!

Build a Nest STEM Challenge for Owl Babies

Pretending we were little owls we went out on a nature walk, and collected items that we thought a bird might like to use to build a nest. Twigs, feathers, leaves, dried grass, pine needles and evergreen branches all came home with us.

We used a round piece of tree trunk to as a base for our nest, just to give it a bit of stability.

The kids started with the dried grass and twigs to make a circular shape. Weaving in some feathers and leaves they made a comfortable, padded space for the birds and their eggs.

We really learned quite a lot about the intricacies of how to build a nest! Additionally, we are quite amazed at what these creatures are capable of, it was not the easiest of tasks, making is quite the bird nest challenge!

This bird nest STEM challenge discusses where different birds live, which items of the nest are heavier or lighter, and teach quite a bit about making a sound structure! There was also a lot of fine motor practice going on for those little fingers.

You can build your own bird's nest for the Owl Babies in the book entirely out of items that you find on your walk. Or, you can purchase some of them like the feathers or fake moss for your build a bird nest STEM activity.

Glue the items together to build a nest that will last. We chose to do this challenge over and over, taking the nests apart and trying new ways to make them. The kids wanted to find a nice place nestled inside of a tree to keep the nest, just in case any baby owls needed a new home 🙂

Fun Spring Activities for Kids

See More Owl STEM Activities and Learning Activities:

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This build a nest STEM challenge for kids gets kids thinking creatively and applying imagination to science! A nest making activity for any age! This STEM Challenge for kids is an extension activity to the book, Owl Babies . The illustrations in this book are beautiful.

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Does your child still take a nap? If so, that is awesome! I hope you are blessed with many more days like that. My oldest used to take great naps, but lately he started cutting them out. He just lays in bed and is very restless or goes to the bathroom 15 times. Nap time wasn't working, so I decided to try something new with him - Quiet Time Boxes.

Since I believe rest time for little ones is so important, I still make him lay in his bed for about an hour. If he falls asleep, that is great! It means he really needed a nap! If not, then I let him play independently with his quiet time box of the day. I've seen quiet time boxes on Pinterest and other blogs, but had never made one for my kids. It turns out, they are really simple to make. I got 5 clear storage boxes from Target and put 4-6 items that my child can play with independently inside each box. These are items that are special and are only played with during quiet box time. I have one for every day of the week. After a while, I will switch out the items. For now, he is loving this time and does a great job doing the activities independently and not interrupting mommy. (This is great for me, since this is when I get my work done around the house and on the blog!) I put special items in each box, some are new and some are activities we already have. You do not have to go out and buy a ton of materials, you can use what you have! Or the Dollar Store always has items that are fun to put in these quiet time boxes.
Here is what I put in each box:
1. Foal to Horse book (I like to rotate different books for him to look at.)

2. Avengers Activity Coloring Book and washable markers (from Target)

3. Different Shaped Links to hook together or make patterns (from Dollar Tree)

4. Fun With Mazes Wipe-Off Book and dry erase marker

5. Melissa & Doug Joey Magnetic Dress-Up

1. Making Shapes with Monkey Book

2. Noah and the Ark

3. Do-a-Dot marker and coloring sheets

4. Sticker Activity Pad (from Hobby Lobby)

5. Melissa & Doug Magnetic Farm Hide and Seek

1. Connect the Dots Workbook (from Hobby Lobby)

2. Fat Cat on a Mat Book

3. Planes Activity Coloring Book (from Target)

4. Melissa & Doug Lace and Trace Pets

5. Melissa & Doug Magnetic Towing Game

6. Small containers of play dough (he plays with it on the lid of the box)

1. Discovery Toys Lacing Set (could not find it online anywhere-sorry!)

2. Crayola Dry Erase Activity Center Travel

3. Slime (from Target-he plays with this on the lid of the tub. And it is not sticky slime-just a fun sensory activity!)

4. Melissa & Doug Water Wow Coloring Book - Vehicles

5. Melissa & Doug Jigsaw Puzzle

1. Tangrams (from Dollar Tree)

2. Crayola Spiderman Color Wonder Book (also at Target)

3. Putty (from Dollar Tree)

4. Maze Activity Book

5. Lined Dry Erase Board and marker (from Target)

6. Stomp! (a fun dinosaur book)

And here is my preschooler enjoying his quiet time box...

Another thing we do is have our kids listen to stories during rest time. He loves these stories and they are great, classic stories for children. I just put them on my iPad and let them play. There are 25 stories making it 237 minutes! I got mine on iTunes, but you can also get it here -> Kids Bedtime Stories

Also, if you want the labels I used for our quiet boxes, you can download them here -> Quiet Box Labels

If you need more quiet box ideas, check out this post with 75 more ideas (and a lot of them are free!)!
What do you do for rest time at your house?

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Does your child still take a nap? If so, that is awesome! I hope you are blessed with many more days like that. My oldest used to take great naps, but lately he started cutting them out. He just lays in bed and is very restless or goes to the bathroom 15 times.

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Purposeful Play: A Teacher's Guide to Igniting Deep and Joyful Learning Across the Day

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Play is serious business. Whether it's reenacting a favorite book (comprehension and close reading), negotiating the rules for a game (speaking and listening), or collaborating over building blocks (college and career readiness and STEM), Kristi Mraz, Alison Porcelli, and Cheryl Tyler see every d...

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Little Learners are captivated by science! In this post, we're talking all about the Little Learner Science Curriculum, and hopefully answer the questions you may have about it. First things first, the curriculum has been designed specifically for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten using the NGSS standards, various state standards as well as ...

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Are you doing letter of the week at home with your 3-year-old? Follow along with us!

It's easy to find alphabet activities.

If you search Pinterest, you'll easily find a huge variety of alphabet activities to do with preschoolers. From printable packs to sensory bins, there is no shortage of ideas!

But how do you know what to try?

If the activity frustrates your child, how should you handle it?

Should 3-year-olds do handwriting pages? Lots of crafts? Worksheets?

Follow along with us!

I did Letter of the Week with my 3-year-old and shared our activities each week. By taking a peek at each week, you'll get a good feel for what Letter of the Week looks like with a 3-year-old.

Plus, you'll find lots of hands-on activities (including free printables!) along the way.

Just click on the image to take you to each letter.

Grab the full curriculum!
© 2015 - 2018, Anna G. All rights reserved.

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Letter of the Week with a 3-year-old - The Measured Mom

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This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Are you doing letter of the week at home with your 3-year-old? Follow along with us! If you search Pinterest, you'll easily find a huge variety of alphabet activities to do with preschoolers.

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How do you teach letter sounds?

Teaching letter sounds can be tricky, and takes a LOT of daily practice. I try to use as many different approaches as possible so that I am addressing the many different learning styles in my classroom. I use songs, videos, books, small group intervention, and whole group lessons.

Here are some ideas for you to try!

LETTER SOUNDS: VIDEOS

Below are some videos that my students enjoy.

Click on any picture to watch the video with your class!

SONGS AND CHANTS

We use lots of poems and songs that focus on letter sounds.

Here is one we use every day - this poster is also sent home for parents to practice with their child.

If you'd like to use the poster, you can download it for free at the bottom of this post!

If you'd like the same song in a printable 26-page booklet with one letter on each page, you can see it HERE.

INTERACTIVE LESSONS

I use paperless lessons in which I project activities onto my whiteboard. Students love to come up and fill in the answers with the help of their peers. These same pages are used later for assessment and intervention.

PRINTING LESSONS

Letter sounds learning is also part of our printing lessons! This is our printing book, in which we focus on words that begin with each letter. You can grab all 26 pages of this fun printing book at the bottom of one of my related posts - click HERE to see the post and download the printing book!

INTERVENTION

I made an Intervention Binder to use for quick one-on-one lessons on letter sounds and phonics. I also made assessment pages to use with the whole class - just to be sure that everyone is on track.

I put all of the pages into plastic page protectors so they could be used for quick intervention lessons using dry erase markers.

ASSESSMENT

I use my intervention binder pages for ongoing assessment. This practice allows me to see immediately where students are in their phonological awareness knowledge, and to recommend intervention if needed.

If you'd like to use the same pages shown in this post, click HERE. (650+ pages)

FREE DOWNLOAD

You can download this Alphabet Sounds Song Poster by clicking below! Please note that this free poster set does not include the mini-book version which you can see HERE

Pin this post for later!

Looking for more teaching ideas? You can see everything on one page by click any of the categories below.

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Tips for Teaching Letter Sounds - Whimsy Workshop Teaching

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Teach letter sounds and phonics using these letter sounds videos and lessons. Lots of ideas to teach letter sounds in kindergarten or first grade.

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Are you interested in teaching handwriting to your preschooler? Avoid these common mistakes!

( Disclosure: I received compensation and free product from Go Teach! Handwriting for this post. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.)

I receive many emails from parents asking me for help when teaching their young children to form letters. When should they start? What should they use? What letters should they teach first?

Let's take a look at five common mistakes to avoid when teaching handwriting ... and what to do instead.

Mistakes to avoid when teaching handwriting
Mistake #1: Rushing into it
Children need lots of time exploring with markers, crayons, and other tools before we begin handwriting lessons. There's no need to rush! My three-year-old is very busy with markers, crayons, scissors, and glue all day long. Mr. Sketch scented markers are a fun favorite!

Don't get me wrong - we talk about letters a lot, and my Three loved our letter of the week series. But I haven't attempted any formal handwriting practice with her just yet.
Mistake #2: Neglecting fine motor skills
It's common for parents to think that the first step is teaching their child to hold a pencil and form letters, but that should come after many playful fine motor activities. These don't have to be structured. Think simple!

spraying water from a spray bottle

stringing Cheerios on a piece of yarn

punching with a single hole punch

simple crafts with scissors and glue

Just today, my Ten helped my Three glue colored paper to some cardboard tubes for a pair of binoculars. (Yes, we go through a lot of glue sticks around here!)
Mistake #3: Jumping to worksheets before children are ready
Many early childhood educators feel strongly that no preschoolers should be doing handwriting worksheets. I wouldn't go quite that far, but I'd definitely agree that most three and four-year-olds should not be using traditional handwriting pages.

Instead, give them a variety of surfaces and materials to write on/in. Here are some of our favorites!

small dry erase boards with fine-tip, low odor Expo markers (these are our favorites)

writing in a sand, sugar, or salt tray

drawing with chalk on the driveway

using markers to draw on bed sheets during quiet time (I wasn't too happy when my Three tried this one!)

Mistake #4 Teaching the letters in order
I like to start with the letters of my child's name. (And yes, we do start in all capitals, because they're easier to write.) Then we move on to the letters in this order - from easiest to hardest.

E, F, H, I, L, T, V, W, X, K, M, N, Y, A, Z, C, O, G, Q, B, D, J, P, U, R, S

I have found that after my children know how to write uppercase letters, they are ready to learn to write lowercase letters in any order. But if you want to have a more structured approach, start with letters that include all straight lines (such as t, i, etc.), move on to letters with slanted lines (v, k, x, etc.) and then conclude with letters that have curved lines or a combination of straight and curved lines (a, b, r, s, etc.).
Mistake #5: Neglecting proper letter formation
I prefer the Zaner Bloser handwriting style. In fact, that style has been the inspiration for all of the handwriting pages you can find on my site. It's a simple block style that works well for young writers. I appreciate the emphasis of starting at the top when forming letters.

My Letters of All Sizes handwriting pages are great for young writers. Have your child start at the dot to form each letter inside the bubble. Your child can do just the large letters or - if (s)he is ready - all the letters on the page. I should note that my Three was happy to model this page for you, but I don't plan to focus on these until she's four or five years old.

A tip: Laminate the pages and store them in a 3-ring-binder for multiple use. We like the black Expo markers (they erase the best from laminate) so that we can use the pages again and again.

Is your child ready for handwriting worksheets? Get the bundle! We recommend these too!
© 2017 - 2018, Anna G. All rights reserved.

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5 Common mistakes to avoid when teaching handwriting - The Measured Mom

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Are you interested in teaching handwriting to your preschooler? Avoid these common mistakes! (Disclosure: I received compensation and free product from Go Teach! Handwriting for this post. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.) I receive many emails from parents asking me for help when teaching their young children to form letters.

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This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy here.

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.

Create a learning activities binder with these free printables that are perfect for practicing uppercase letters and shapes.

When I was teaching, it was always a bittersweet moment when the back-to-school aisles starting popping up at the stores. It meant summer was coming to an end, but an exciting, new school year was about to start!

It also meant buying school supplies. I'm almost embarrassed to admit how much I love new school supplies. Pens, Post-it® notes, markers. I loved finding new products to buy for my classroom.

With the little dude getting ready to start preschool, I wanted to make some fun learning activities for him. But those hands can get a little excited, so I knew I needed to make activities that would hold up for more than a day or two.

Enter the Scotch™ Laminator. A million ideas started running through my head of the learning activities I could make at home using the Scotch™ Laminating products.

Once nap time rolled around, I got to work planning some learning activities we could do together - letters and shapes.

After printing out the activities on regular printer paper, I plugged in the Scotch Laminator and waited for it to warm up.

It is so easy to use the Thermal Laminating Pouches! Just place the paper you want to laminate between the two layers and feed it into the Scotch™ Laminator when the blue light turns on.

I planned these activities to be used as matching games. You can print two copies of the letters and cut up the individual letters of one or you could use the small magnetic letters.

For the shapes, I created one sheet with the names of the shapes and the other sheet with just the figures. After laminating both sheets, I cut out each individual shape with the names on them. Then using some sticky backed velcro, I attached a little square to each shape piece plus the shapes on the full sheet of paper.

And now it's time to learn! I placed the alphabet sheet on a baking sheet so the magnetic letters would stick to it. And the little dude had so much fun pulling the shapes off of the velcro and matching them up again.

Since I wanted to make a binder full of learning activities, I used a 3 hole puncher on each activity to organize in a 3 ring binder.

I can't wait to design some more learning activities to add to the little dude's binder. And to get your own learning binder started, find these learning activities and more in the subscriber library!

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Learning Activities Binder & Free Printable - Typically Simple

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This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy here. This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. Create a learning activities binder with these free printables that are perfect for practicing uppercase letters and shapes.

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My kids love imagining and pretending to do grown-up jobs. We had fun with our vet clinic last week, so this week we did a post office dramatic play activity.

To set up, I placed writing utensils, envelopes, printable postcards, stickers, pretend mailbox, watercolors, and a white crayon on their desk.

Then I explained to the kids how to do the activity. I gave them postcards they could write on and pretend to send to friends, family members, or even their stuffed animals!

Then the kids had fun filling out postcards. (You can download your own postcards here -> Postcard for Play)

Troy (5 years old) can write some letters. Wesley (3) mostly just scribbled. That's okay though because scribbling is an important step to learning to write!

Then we wrote some secret messages on the other side of the postcard. We drew or wrote something in white crayon. Then we gave each other notes and painted it with watercolors to reveal the message.

We had a small mailbox (from Target dollar section) that we put some of the notes in. Then the boys would deliver it to whoever it was for. They were so proud of their work and excited to share the postcards with Dad, Mom, stuffed animals, and each other.

A note from little brother. 🙂

I had fun writing the boys some notes, too! They think it's pretty special when I write them words of encouragement.

We had fun with this post office/writing activity. I'll continue to have it out in our school room so the boys can practice their writing and print skills.

If you are looking for more post office dramatic play ideas, here are a few that I adore!

1. Postman Games from Here Comes the Girls

2. Pretend Play Post Office from Nurturestore

3. Mini Mailbox from Busy Bee Kids Crafts

4. Cardboard Mailbox from Ikat Bag

5. Post Office Pretend Play from Buggy & Buddy

6. Post Office Letter Sorting from No Time for Flash Cards

7. Preschool Post Office Play from Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds

8. How to Build a Mailbox from Not Just Cute

9. DIY Mailboxes from More Than ABC & 123

This was day 21 of the 31 Days of Play Series. To see all of the activities, visit here. Happy Playing!

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My kids love imagining and pretending to do grown-up jobs. We had fun with our vet clinic last week, so this week we did a post office dramatic play activity. To set up, I placed writing utensils, envelopes, printable postcards, stickers, pretend mailbox, watercolors, and a white crayon on their desk.

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Preschoolers can discover more about their world through hands-on experiences. They can learn about community helpers by exploring what those people do. February is a good time to learn about the post office and about letter carriers. Mailing activities easily be integrated with themes like Valentines Day and friendship, themes that are often explored at this time of year. These activities can help your preschoolers think about and explore concepts of print and written communication with mail.

Post Office Theme Activities

Here are some of my favorite hands-on ideas for teaching and learning about the post office in preschool:

Dramatic Play Post Office Kit (Pre-K Pages) - My post office kit is full of props and printables that you could use to set up your own dramatic play exploration for your preschoolers.

Post Office Play Printables (Pre-K Pages)- The Post Office theme is very popular at this time of the year because Valentine's Day provides a natural opportunity to discuss mail. I have created a free printable Valentine card for your students to use in the post office center!

Mailbox Syllables Game (Pre-K Pages) - This fun Valentine syllable game is always big hit with preschoolers and kindergarteners alike around Valentine's Day.

Books About the Post Office and Mail (Pre-K Pages) - This book list can be a great supplement to your mailing activities and encourage preschoolers to build on their knowledge of mail, postal workers, and the post office.

Mailing Delivery Game (Pre-K Pages) - This game uses names and builds name recognition among your preschoolers.

Get Well Card Center (Pre-K Pages) - Using great children's books is a springboard for learning about a topic or theme. Here is a fun farm book and a writing center to help learn about language and a form of writing.

Post Office Dramatic Play (Prekinders) - Students will enjoy playing post office in this dramatic play center!

Mailbox Math (Prekinders) - Your preschoolers will enjoy this mailbox activity and practice counting at the same time.

Pocket Post Office (Teach Preschool) - This activity may inspire you to create your mail box quilt!

Mailboxes and Magnetic Number Play (Teach Prechoolers) - Use magnetic numbers and cute little mailboxes from Target for this fun number recognition activity.

Heart Envelopes (Tinkerlab) - If you like to make your own Valentines but you're pressed for time (or have a small and impatient child like me), all-in-one Envelope Valentines could be the way to go. Turning a heart-shape into both a Valentine and an envelope is a delightful way to surprise the card's recipient.

Delivering the Mail (Growing Book by Book) - Work on writing skills with this post office play activity.

Mailing Activities for Preschoolers

Here are some of my favorite mailing activities for teaching and learning about the mail in preschool:

Beginning Sounds Mail Sort (Growing Book by Book) - This mail sort game builds phonological awareness by focusing on individual sounds at the beginning of words.

Mailing Letters Alphabet Activity (Mom Inspired Life) - This mailing letters alphabet activity is a fun pretend play activity that helps kids practice letter identification, letter matching and letter sounds!

Printable Letter Writing Kit (Picklebums) - This kit contains printable writing papers and envelopes so your students can write their own letters and mail them.

Post Office Letter Sorting (No Time for Flash Cards) - Get creative with simple materials to deliver the mail.

Homemade Mailbox (And Next Comes L) - Set up a post office to show how the mail is sorted before being delivered and recreate the post office storefront and invite your child to weigh parcels, stamp the packages with a time stamp, and charge customers.

Post Office Dramatic Play (Teaching Mama) - This activity includes a free printable postcard that kids will have fun filling out

Postcards for Seniors (Sunny Day Family) - Have them write and send postcards to seniors or other loved ones and brighten someone's day.

Writing Kind Notes with Alphabet Stamps (Mom Inspired Life) - Writing kind notes with alphabet stamps is a great pre-writing activity for young kids. Stamp out letters to form words and spread kindness to family and friends!

Surprise and Sort Mailbox Activity (Little Pinch of Perfect) - There is something irresistibly fun about opening a mailbox and finding something inside which is why this activity is one your kids won't want to stop. You can easily tailor it to match a wide variety of themes like Letters, Numbers, and Colors.

Simple Post Office Setup (How Wee Learn) - Reading and writing activities for Preschoolers are great. And making those reading and writing activities relate to their real life is awesome. Creating a Post Office is a wonderful way to bring Reading and Writing to Life!

Delivery Truck (Craftulate) - Modify this activity to make your own mail delivery truck.

More Community Helper Ideas

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Post Office and Mailing Activities for Preschool - Pre-K Pages

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Preschoolers can discover more about their world through hands-on experiences. They can learn about community helpers by exploring what those people do. February is a good time to learn about the post office and about letter carriers. Mailing activities easily be integrated with themes like Valentines Day and friendship, themes that are often explored at this time of year.

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Change the dramatic play center into a Vet Animal Hospital and embed a ton of learning into their play! They won't even know they're learning. My students LOVED taking care of the pets and making all the pets at the pet hospital feel better. If you want all my Pet Hospital printables (plus much more) click HERE.
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Our class did a pet theme for four weeks. The photo above was taken after the four weeks. The first week we spent a few days creating the Pet Hospital. Students created the pet bedding by cutting strips of paper (fun fine motor work), creating the cages and making various props for the pet hospital.

For small group, students added words to the signs and labels for the center. I have a multi-age classroom with three-, four- and five-year-olds. Some students are scribbling, some are writing letters, and some are sound spelling. Making signs and labels provides students with a meaningful way to practice sounds, talk about and write letters.

Each week, I add one or two new props to keep the students excited and engaged in play. On the wall, I posted photos of pets. The photos are from a wall calendar. Wall calendars have fabulous photos you can use all over your classroom.

Each tool has its own tub and label. Labels show students where things belong. We turned the fridge into the medicine cabinet. We used a roll of toilet paper for bandages.

The pet hospital in action is so exciting for the students! The pet owners had to make appointments with the receptionist. With this activity, students were identifying numbers, talking about time, and writing!

When the pet owners arrived with their pets, they could to sit in the waiting room and fill out a pet patient form all about their pet.

What did the vet do? Give check ups and listen to the pet's heartbeat using a stethoscope.

If the pet is sick or hurt, the vet gave the pet medicine.

The vet measured the pets using a dog bone ruler. This is a fun way to practice measuring and counting during play.

The vet weighed pets on a scale. I didn't have a scale so we made one. We covered a piece of cardboard with foil and taped the edges. A pre-k friend wrote numbers and drew a button on the top.

The vet completed a vet report explaining how they took care of the pet after the exam.

Broken bone? The vet gave the pet an x-ray on the x-ray machine (aka the light table). Examine REAL pet x-rays to determine if the bone is broken. Don't have room for a light table? Try this table top light table.

The groomer stand was stocked with various tools and supplies to clean the pets.

The groomer brushed the animals' teeth, cut their hair, washed and dried them and wrote a groomer report.

Students can learn so much through pretend play when you intentionally embed learning opportunities into their play. Make their play purposeful and powerful! Play with them and have fun learning.

Grab my Vet Pet Hospital Dramatic P lay HERE. I did all the work for you. Just print, prep and teach. You don't have to create anything!

If you need pet themed ideas for all the centers in your classroom, I have a giant list of my go to Pet Themed Activities HERE. Don't forget to grab the Goldfish Graph FREEBIES while you are there too!

Like it? Pin it for later!

Need more inspiration for a pet theme? Follow my Pet Theme Pinterest board.

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Vet Animal Hospital Dramatic Play - Pocket of Preschool

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Change the dramatic play center into a Vet Animal Hospital and embed a ton of learning into their play! They won't even know they're learning. My students LOVED taking care of the pets and making all the pets at the pet hospital feel better.

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5, 4, 3, 2, 1...BLASTOFF! Create a Space Station in your dramatic play center! It's an easy way to embed math, literacy, science and STEM into their play! Your students won't even know they're learning AND they will have a blast. Kids are fascinated by space!
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Here's our SPACE STATION! It has got to be one of my favorite dramatic play themes to date! It looks so inviting that I want to go play there too.

Our space station has two parts: The Space Shuttle and the Moon!

For the Space Shuttle side, we used old car seats for the shuttle seats. I cut out all the seat belts. If you don't have car seats, just ask your families for a donation. Perhaps there are a few somewhere that are expired.

The end of the space shuttle is a cardboard tri fold presentation board (Dollar Tree) with colored tape at the bottom that we painted silver. One of the children painted the word NASA on the side!

The photo above is the space shuttle shelf with all the astronaut supplies and the control board! I covered the shelf with foil to make it silver like a real space shuttle. I added some s pace signs, a keyboard, headphones, gloves, a launch checklist, space food (pom poms) and a jet pack.

This is one of our control boards up close! We created a shuttle or mission control board using items from the hardware store and bottle lids. I also created a few printables for the board. I added letters and numbers to the board to sneak in some more literacy and math into their play!
Board
*Spray paint a thick foam poster board silver. I bought these foam boards from the Dollar Tree.
*Put tape around the edges to protect them from getting bent during play.
Buttons
*Save and wash bottle lids. Hot glue the lids to the board.
*Reflectors - Buy some reflectors from the hardware store and stick to the board.
Photos, Numbers, Letters, Gauges, & More
*Print, laminate, and hot glue the letters, numbers (backward like a countdown), space photos, letter board, buttons and gauges to the board.

To sneak in some fine motor, I created Flight Plans! The astronauts trace the flight plans (aka various types of lines) with a dry erase marker.

Look at these astronauts in action: flying the shuttle, eating space food, and reading the launch checklist! We even tried real space food at circle time one day.

I made a Mission Number board to embed some math too! Students flip the number cards and call out what mission number it is during play!

The other side of the Space Station is the MOON! I taped a yellow table cloth to the floor to divide the space.

On the shelf, I added tons of science tools, printables and books for my little astronauts to use!

When astronauts go to the moon, they used a moon lander and a rover. I thought it would be fun for students to build their own for their missions to the moon! I collected cans, dryer vents, foil food containers, silver lids and bottles for building materials!

Students are using science, math and engineering skills as they build and create their moon landers and moon rovers! To take it to the next level, this little astronaut is creating a blueprint of the moon lander she built!

This little astronaut is doing math by measuring and weighing the moon rocks. He is recording his findings on the Moon Rock Research page!

Check out this Moon Rock Exploration box! I created it by spray painting a box silver, cutting a few holes and sticking in some gloves. Now they can explore like real astronauts!

Make your own spacesuits! I found these white t-shirts at the Dollar Tree. Then I taped stripes on them with duck tape. It was super easy!

Every astronaut needs a jet pack! Empty and clean out two milk or soda jugs, tape them together and hot glue some ribbon on for straps! I suggest making a few of these because they are VERY popular.

Our space mural is always a popular part of space dramatic play! It's just two black plastic tablecloths taped together. Students helped me make the planets and the stars.

Grab my Space Station Dramatic Play pack and get all the printables, labels, signs, patterns, banners and more plus teacher direction pages (all filled with tons of real classroom photographs) to help you transform your center into a Space Station. I created everything for you. Just print, grab some props and set up the center! Trust me, it will save you a ton of time.

Take the space theme all over the room! Grab my Space Math and Literacy Centers. It's filled with space vocabulary cards, space writing paper, six space literacy centers, a space emergent readers and six space math centers. Just print, prep, and teach!

Grab theme from my TPT store HERE.

See them in action HERE.

Need amazing space books for circle time? Check out this list of my favorite space books!

Love it! Pin this image!

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Space Station Dramatic Play - Pocket of Preschool

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5, 4, 3, 2, 1...BLASTOFF! Create a Space Station in your dramatic play center! It's an easy way to embed math, literacy, science and STEM into their play! Your students won't even know they're learning AND they will have a blast. Kids are fascinated by space! This post contains affiliate links.

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Play to Learn is a preschool resource website dedicated to helping teachers create a fun and playful learning environment for their students!

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We've definitely been feeling a little frazzled here between the hot and humid weather, a sick toddler, and several days cooped up in the house. Luckily, kicking off our dinosaur week is proving to be a great distraction.

Dinosaur books are something I've been collecting for a while now, so we officially kicked off the week by reading several different dinosaur books. Later this week we'll be creating a dinosaur bone excavation, and while I had planned on creating the bones, I realized it would be much more fun to get Big Brother involved.

These homemade dinosaur bones were easy to make and are proving to have more than one way to use them.

First I made up a batch of basic salt dough.

Mix 2 cups flour, 1 cup salt, 1 cup water and stir until almost fully mixed. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth.

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We've definitely been feeling a little frazzled here between the hot and humid weather, a sick toddler, and several days cooped up in the house. Luckily, kicking off our dinosaur week is proving to be a great distraction. Dinosaur books are something I've been collecting for a while now, so we officially kicked off the week by reading several different dinosaur books.

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Teaching my kids how to write their letters has come more naturally for me as a reading specialist. Writing numbers? Not so much. It happens every year. We start working on counting on or some basic math facts and I realize my child has no idea how to write her numbers.

So this year, I finally did something about it! I created some Trace & Try Handwriting Pages for writing numbers for my Kindergartner. {To be honest, my 1st grader used a few, too!} The free printable pack is available towards the bottom of this post. Look for the oval button.

*This post contains affiliate links.

Practice Writing Numbers - Trace & Try Pages

I really enjoyed making these pages and my two little ones enjoyed working on them together. I only required that they work on the harder numbers like 2, 3, 5, and 8. They asked to do all of them, so they worked on the rest as an extra activity from our choice board.

The pages have a built in support system if kids trace the numbers in the left-hand column first. Once they've done that, kids can trace the number again in the next column, which provides a little less support. Finally, kids try writing the number by themselves with a little less support.

Altogether, the child gets to practice writing each number 15 times.

The reward {if your kids like to color like mine do} is that kids get to color in the pictures that represent the numbers when they are finished writing.

One of my favorite things about the coloring portion is that I worked hard to arrange almost each group of images in a different way. For example, with our 5 page, we talked about the eggs - that 3 on top plus 2 on bottom equals 5. We did the same thing with the gloves. 2 gloves plus 3 gloves equals 5, too.

Zero was a bit tricky, since I didn't need images. Instead I designed words that are synonyms for zero so kids can color in the words. My daughter loved it, so it was still a hit. 🙂

More Handwriting Resources:

Trace It, Try It Handwriting App - for letters AND numbers!

Follow This Reading Mama's board Handwriting on Pinterest.
Enjoy!

~Becky

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Writing Numbers with Trace and Try Handwriting Pages

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Teaching my kids how to write their letters has come more naturally for me as a reading specialist. Writing numbers? Not so much. It happens every year. We start working on counting on or some basic math facts and I realize my child has no idea how to write her numbers.