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Number Boxes

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I'm going to get a little lecture-y here and a little soap box-ey. Friends. We need to stop saying the phrase "my child knows their numbers".

Wait, what? Why?

Well, for starters that's like saying "my child knows their alphabet so we're good to go on alphabet knowledge and bring on a college level biology text book." Obviously, that's not gonna happen and it's the same with numbers: "knowing numbers" and understanding them are very different things.
Numbers are so much more than memorized counting!
And I've got an awesome preschool math activity to help.

Number are complex, just like letters. They're the building blocks, the basics, the tools.

Just like we teach letter sounds, we've got to teach number quantity - the value of each number. Without value, a number is one dimensional.

So even though my son "knows his numbers", he's got a long way to go as he learns the value of his numbers.

Here's a super easy activity to try

I love an easy activity, especially an easy math activity so number boxes was perfect for my 4 year old!
Materials:
(this list contains affiliate links)

The focus of this activity is quantity: what is the value of a number?

A simple way to demonstrate value

I quickly drew a grid on my beloved Kraft paper and labeled the boxes 1-12.

Even though my son can count beyond 12, I wanted to make sure this activity didn't cause fatigue. One to 12 is already a lot of dots to stick so I didn't want to push into frustration and have a preschool meltdown over math.

We started this preschool math activity together

"Let's look at the number 1. How many stickers go in that box?"

We began by working number boxes together and then gradually, I stepped back to turn this into an independent (but supervised) activity for my son.

I watched as he meticulously peeled the correct number of dot stickers for each box.

This was hard work!

My son noticed two things at the end of this: It's a lot of stickers AND each number got more stickers!

YES! This is the "knowing numbers" that I'm aiming for: a deeper understanding than just memorized counting. He's seeing value, he's understanding quantity, he's noticing that numbers represent a certain amount.
Like this activity? Check out TOUCH AND COUNT from Days with Grey.
WOW! All that from a sticker activity?

You betcha! Using stickers as a visual for number quantity gave my son the chance to really see a number as more than just a numeral.

Number boxes was an awesome way to work on number value/quantity with my four year old. It's an easy preschool math activity that moves beyond "knowing numbers" into understanding numbers. That's a big step and a big move to make.

When will you try this preschool math activity?

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Preschool Math Activity: Number Boxes - Busy Toddler

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I'm going to get a little lecture-y here and a little soap box-ey. Friends. We need to stop saying the phrase "my child knows their numbers". Wait, what? Why? Well, for starters that's like saying "my child knows their alphabet so we're good to go on alphabet knowledge and bring on a college level biology text book."

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Mrs. Miller reads The Pout Pout Fish

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Mrs. Miller reads, The Pout Pout Fish and the Bully Bully Shark

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Spring flowers

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Fingerprint Flowers And Flying Butterfly Playful Spring - Fingerprint Flowers And Flying Butterfly Makes A Colorful And Playful Spring Craft For Kids Fun Craft To Talk About Concepts Like Pollination With Preschool And Kindergarten Kids #butterflyartforki

What Are the Most effective Gift ideas to get Little ones That will Usually are Age Proper?
If you plan to attend a kid's house party, or maybe Christmas is definitely just about to happen, you may have to start considering locating the optimal gifts for kids which have been era appropriate. Down below we've got stated a brief overview of these two very best gift items for kids old involving one particular as well as ten years to take much of the work out of your collection process.

Very best Gifts with regard to 1 yr olds:
Both very best gifts for kids with this age are usually Deluxe Toys including a Pail plus Spade. Quite features to find within Plush Games are actual softness, shorter coat, sporting lighting, special appears, as well as ideally a big smile with engaging face around the toy. The actual conversing Elmo is truly the most popular from the plush games, however was at the actual higher in price end. When it comes to a new ocean and folding shovel, choose a modest arranged with this time having a short tackle for the folding shovel, just for them to burrow little pockets and make sandcastles. If mud can be hurtling in just about every way in the scoop, this set is going to most often have a little rake inside it too which you'll want to exchange for the spade. A suitable container in addition to scoop is definitely probably the greatest value gift ideas available for youngsters, normally costing within $10.

Finest Gift items for 2 calendar year olds:
The two most effective items pertaining to a couple year old are a Kid's Auto including a Bubble Machine. A smallish plastic child's automobile in which youngsters may open up the doorway, sit within and also drive around using ft . is a massive winner. Ideally there's even a horn for kids to help toot, some sort of critical for get started the auto including a petrol hat with regard to when they come to feel you're ready refuel. Young children are going to have your year or two involving exciting on this, as opposed to several playthings with this get older usually are messed around with for under hours. The next understanding of any Percolate Machine is actually an affordable current (

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Fingerprint Flowers And Flying Butterfly Playful Spring Craft For Kids

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Fingerprint Flowers And Flying Butterfly Playful Spring - Fingerprint Flowers And Flying Butterfly Makes A Colorful And Playful Spring Craft For Kids Fun Craft To Talk About Concepts Like Pollination With Preschool And Kindergarten Kids #butterflyartforki What Are the Most effective Gift ideas to get Little ones That will Usually are Age Proper?

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Fun ways to work on letters and letter sounds

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These little ones of mine love to learn on the move. They like to touch things, reach and stretch, run and jump, and use all of those great big muscles they are forming (well, itty bitty muscles right now - these boys of mine are tiny!)

But guess what? Learning with a whole body is a fabulous way to really retain that learning.

Here are some wonderful way to get those little ones moving as they learn the letters and sounds:

Here are a few fabulous ways to get little ones learning the alphabet with their whole bodies.

Flying into Letter Recognition - Little pilots will have such fun flying paper airplanes and learning the alphabet at the same time.

Alphabet Matching Game: On the Run - Mix a letter scavenger hunt with running around in the backyard.

An A-Maze-ing Learning Letters Game - Learn about letters while driving a bulldozer around a maze. Who wouldn't want to learn that way?

ABC Balloon Swat - This is so much fun and can be played inside or outside.

Move and Groove Gross Motor Alphabet Game from No Time for Flash Cards - The kids get to dance around as they learn about the alphabet.

Lowercase Scavenger Hunt from Hands On As We Grow - Set up a string scavenger hunt focused on matching lowercase letters to their uppercase counterparts. Lots of crawling and moving with this alphabet activity.

Swat the Fly from Gift of Curiosity - Put alphabet "flies" all around the walls, and then let the kids loose with a fly swatter. Make your own flies, or use the free printable in the post.

Letter Sounds Race from Inspiration Laboratories - So many ways to explore the alphabet with this racing game!

Musical Alphabet Game for Preschool from Mom to 2 Posh L'il Divas - Grab some index cards and well-loved music. This game is so easy to set up and play with the kids.

Grab and Pull a Letter from Growing Book by Book - This game can be set up inside or outside, with the children loading up a basket with a set of letters to deliver.

ABC Ice Cream Gross Motor Game from Coffee Cups and Crayons - Make letter "ice cream cones" and make a relay game of it.

Alphabet Hop from Simple Fun for Kids - You just need some chalk, busy kids, and a sidewalk for this activity. If the weather isn't great outside, grab some paper and use that.

Snowball Throw Alphabet Game from Mom Inspired Life - Get those arms moving as kids throw "snowballs" while learning more about letters.

Alphabetical Order Obstacle Course from The Educators Spin On It - Children run around this obstacle course, but they have to do it in alphabetical order!

Jump and Learn from Kids Play Smarter - Get the trampoline out for this fun alphabet game! If you don't have one, the kids can still jump and learn their letters.

Musical Letters from Reading Confetti - It's like a dance party, but while learning the alphabet.

Alphabet Leaf Activity from A Dab of Glue Will Do - Use real or fake leaves for this activity, and then let the kids get to raking up the letters.

Gross Motor Phonics Games from Learn~Play~Imagine - Hockey-loving kids will have such fun with this. They can work on letter recognition, letter sounds, and words.

Alphabet Flash Light Hunt from Parenting Chaos - Play a non-traditional game of hide and seek using letters and flashlights.

A Simple Bean Bag Game from Teach Preschool - Use alphabet bean bags for some easy and fun letter games. If you don't have the bean bags, you can make your own or use an alternative.

I've got to say - those activities seem a heck of a lot more engaging to me that any worksheet I have found. I now it takes more time to set up, but the learning is so much more meaningful.

If you have an active little one or two who seems hesitant about learning the ABCs perhaps one of these activities will be just the ticket.

The Mamas of active kids need to stick together! And drink a lot of coffee ...

Happy Tuesday friends. I hope you are having a fabulous week. Thank you so much for reading!

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These little ones of mine love to learn on the move. They like to touch things, reach and stretch, run and jump, and use all of those great big muscles they are forming (well, itty bitty muscles right now - these boys of mine are tiny!) But guess what?

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Mrs. Miller reads Cowboy Bunnies

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Make you own math board game

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Create Your Own Board Game | Crafts for Kids

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Promote your child to game designer with this one-of-a-kind board game.

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Planting fun

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Spring is the perfect time to teach little ones about plant life. This simple kids' science project is a hands-on way to show kids what really happens to seeds buried in the earth. Grow seeds with toddlers, preschoolers, kindergarteners - or any little learner!

Follow the simple step-by-step below and then grab 30 more easy-to-follow science experiments kids will beg to repeat (plus a no prep science journal to keep track of their results!) in our shop or on Teachers Pay Teachers!

Getting Ready

To grow seeds, I gathered together a few simple supplies:

Several tall, clear plastic containers I could find (make sure it has a lid if you have a toddler.)

Paper towels

Cotton balls

Glue

Spray bottle with water

Seeds

Growing Seeds

It took me a matter of minutes to prep for this activity. I grabbed a couple of old take-out containers with lids and several packets of leftover seeds and called my 1.5 and 4.5 year-olds over.

I asked each child to pick the 3 seeds they wanted to plant in their container and then helped lay them out so they could observe them. We talked about the different sizes, shapes, colors and even texture of the seeds. My 4 year-old, A, loved showing her little brother which seeds grow foods we eat (pumpkin, green beans, corn, and peas) and which seeds grow leaves or roots we eat (cilantro and carrots).

Of course my son, Q, instantly tried to eat the green bean seeds - thus the need for finding a container with a lid if you're doing this with toddlers!

Next, I folded a paper towel in half and placed 3 dots of glue (one for each type of seed) a couple inches from the bottom of the paper towel. The kids then glued a seed (or two) on each one of the glue dots to prevent the seeds from falling to the bottom of the container.

After allowing the glue to dry a little, I placed their paper towels in the plastic containers. The kids thoroughly misted the paper towel and added moistened cotton balls to help hold the paper towel in place.

Finally, we snapped on the lid and labeled the seeds and the planting date. It was time for growing seeds! I knew I wanted this to be toddler-friendly, so I chose a plastic containers instead of a crystal clear glass one. I also wanted to prevent Q's curious little hands from pulling out the seeds, so we put lids on them.

The kids ended up carrying around the containers to watch the seeds, so I'm glad I made the containers kid-safe.

A and Q were delighted when the first seeds sprouted a few days later. The green beans, peas and corn sprouted first. Followed a few days later by the pumpkin, cilantro and carrots. They were amazed that the beans, pea and corn seedlings grew so fast and we were all shocked to see corn had bright red roots.

After 2 weeks, the bean, pea and corn seedlings became too tall for the container and we removed the lids. A continued to check and mist the seedlings every morning. One day, she was commenting on the "tons of hairy roots" when she noticed some small black dots on the pea seed. She asked what they were and was saddened when I told her the pea seedling had begun to grow mold.

A few days later, A decided the plants needed soil. This wasn't part of my plan but since we used a plastic container it was easy to do. I simply poked several drainage holes in the bottom with a nail and we gently removed the paper towel and cotton balls before adding soil. Now we are just waiting until the weather is warm enough to plant the seedlings outside - although I'm not sure we'll be able to untangle all those roots!

More Science Kids Will Love

Grab 30 more easy-to-follow science experiments kids will beg to repeat (plus a no prep science journal to keep track of their results!) or on Teachers Pay Teachers!

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Growing Seeds with Toddlers - Playdough To Plato

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Spring is the perfect time to teach little ones about plant life. This simple kids' science project is a hands-on way to show kids what really happens to seeds buried in the earth. Grow seeds with toddlers, preschoolers, kindergarteners - or any little learner!

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Fun with bugs

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Discover 15 Cute and Crawly Insect Crafts for Kids

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Discover the best ideas for creepy, crawly, or cutesy insect crafts to make with your kids! From paper crafts to clay models, this list has it all.

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Mrs. Lennon Reads Frog & Toad Are Friends

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Mrs. Lennon Reads Frog & Toad Are Friends

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Mrs. Lennon reads Spring from Frog and Toad are Friends

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Draw the alphabet on the ground. Ride your bike over the letter your teammate says. Try numbers too!

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Here we are again, ready for another summer sight word game. And this is one that EVERYONE in our family enjoyed! If you missed the first easy sight word game suggestion for summer learning, click here.

*This post contains affiliate links.

Sidewalk Chalk Sight Words Game

This sidewalk chalk sight word game is super easy to play and is HIGHLY adaptable. You can spell phonics words, sight words, or work with numbers. We chose to use it for practicing sight words and had so much fun!
Materials

dry erase board/marker {optional}

sidewalk chalk

roadway/sidewalk

a list of sight words (we tend to stick with Fry's high frequency word lists)

bike, tricycle, scooter, or legs...anything to get kids moving!

Objectives

to spell words by riding or running over letters in the correct order

to burn some energy (and sneak in some learning in the process)

Getting Ready for Sidewalk Chalk Sight Words Game
I wrote letters all over our cul-de-sac with sidewalk chalk. If your neighborhood roadway has too much traffic for this game, try out a park nearby or your school/church parking lot. I didn't write all 26, but stuck with the most common ones. If your child is old enough or would like to help, have him write some of the letters, too.
Playing the Sidewalk Chalk Sight Words Game
{These are updated pictures, as we have played this game SO MANY TIMES.} My kids are now 9 years old, 6 years old, nearly 5 years old, and 3 years old and they ALL love to play this game, adapted for their development.

My 9 year old and 6 year old both spell words sight words {or sometimes phonics words} that I call out to them. I give each one a different word that's developmentally appropriate for them and so they don't run over each other. Occasionally, I'll bring out the dry erase marker and board and spell the words first, but I don't always do this.

Their job is to spell the sight word by riding over the letters in order of the word either by scooter

or by bike.

Of course, the younger two want to play along! MBug {nearly 5 years old} likes to spell her sight words from Reading the Alphabet and sometimes simple CVC words

while NSis {3 years old} likes for me to call a letter from Learning the Alphabet for her to jump on. FUN!
Stay connected to This Reading Mama so you don't miss a thing:
~Becky

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Here we are again, ready for another summer sight word game. And this is one that EVERYONE in our family enjoyed! If you missed the first easy sight word game suggestion for summer learning, click here. *This post contains affiliate links. Sidewalk Chalk Sight Words Game This sidewalk chalk sight word game is super ...

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free printable This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

As a family we have traveled to 46 states, 3 Canadian provinces, and 7 countries. We love traveling and exploring new places! Being an experienced traveler, I know first hand how important it is to have fun things for the kids to do when you are on a long journey.

This free printable travel I Spy for kids is a perfect way to keep the kids busy when you don't want to use electronics. In fact, three of my kids just survived a weekend trip with driving ten hours in each direction with no electronics. That's why printable travel games and other fun activities come in handy.

Materials needed for Travel I Spy for Kids:

Print the Travel I Spy cards found at the end of this post. Then laminate and cut out the cards.

Use the hole punch to put a hole in the upper left corner of the cards and thread them onto the book ring.
To prep:
There are four cards in total, so there will be plenty of I Spy fun to enjoy with the kids!

Each card specifies a certain number of the target object to be found, so this I Spy for Kids is also perfect for using to work on counting skills with a preschooler or kindergartner while traveling.

After they find the main picture on each card, you can extend the activity by asking your child how many of another object are on the cards. Or ask them to count all pictures of a specific color that they can find on each card!

To extend the activity, play I Spy with the scenery as you are driving. All of my kids love playing, even my tweens. They find it incredibly amusing to try to stump each other by picking obscure objects along the way.

And when you need to, you can always "spy" a rest stop!

By downloading this free product, you agree to the terms and conditions listed here. This free product is for single classroom/home use only, by one teacher/family. If you intend to use this for more than one classroom/home, please return to Living Well Mom and download an additional copy each time.

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free printable This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. As a family we have traveled to 46 states, 3 Canadian provinces, and 7 countries. We love traveling and exploring new places!

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Summer is a great time for kids and adults alike to get outdoors and enjoy the warmer weather! But along with warm weather comes the inevitable increase in traffic and construction. Kids who love to explore need to know how to be safe in all situations. Do your children know how to be safe outdoors? Do they know of potential dangers and what things to look out for? Here are 4 activities that you can do with your children to help them be more aware of their outdoor surroundings so they can have a happy and safe summer.

1. Traffic Signs Roadmap

Help your child design and create his own neighborhood using crayons, a roll of paper, and wooden vehicles and traffic signs. Try to incorporate situations and places to involve all of the traffic signs, in addition to creating buildings and parking lots to house all of the vehicles (a hospital for the ambulance, a police station for the police car, etc). With an entire roll of paper, you will not need to worry about running out of space - just keep unrolling to create an entire city! In this activity, having your child create his own city will not only encourage him to develop his artistic skills and imagination, but in terms of traffic safety it will help him become more aware of the traffic signs in his own neighborhood - an important part of being able to play outdoors safely in the coming summer months.

After playing this activity, test your child's knowledge of traffic signs using this printable worksheet.

2. Bicycle Safety: Draw a Bicycle Chalk Road & Create an Activity Cone Obstacle Course

Since May is Bicycle Safety Month, it is the perfect opportunity to teach your child to safely ride his bicycle. Teach him bicycle safety tips, such as, always wear a helmet, watch for parked cars, ride with a buddy, etc. Then get to work creating a sidewalk bicycle course on your own driveway! All you need is chalk to make this entertaining and educational activity. Draw a simple grid pattern (like a square with a + sign in the middle) and color in the lines to resemble roads. Include stop signs at each intersection. Have your child practice riding his bicycle in a straight line. When he reaches an intersection, have him use the appropriate bicycle hand signal to indicate which direction he is turning, or if he is going straight. Teach him the importance of using hand signals, especially around traffic - it helps drivers to know which way he is turning and can help avoid potential accidents.

Watch out for road hazards! Another important aspect of being able to ride a bicycle safely is to be able to maneuver around such things as bumps in the road or broken glass. Using Activity Cones, set up an obstacle course for your child to ride through on his bicycle. Bonus: the colorful and textured cones can be used to create a patterned course!

3. Stop & Go Game

Print out these Stop and Go signs onto card stock, tape them onto wooden rulers and you will have an amusing game to keep your children entertained and have them learning to listen to instructions. He will be practicing his gross motor skills, whether he realizes it or not. And this activity will be especially helpful when he is outside on walks and someone yells out "Stop!" to help him avoid danger - he will know exactly what to do, since he's done it so many times playing this game. To make this game even more enjoyable, use a Police Officer Role Play Costume to encourage role play and imagination, and also to reinforce the responsibilities of police officers who help keep our communities safe.

4. Different Places, Different Hazards

Summertime can take us many different places - to the beach, traveling on several types of transportation (airplanes, trains, etc), taking a walk outside to watch the machines at a construction site.... There are so many interesting places to go and so many things to learn. But each situation has its own set of hazards and thereby its own set of safety rules. Using the Vehicles Reusable Sticker Pad, we went through each scenario of each situation. What are the rules if you're going to be near or around a construction site? What are the rules for being safe on an airplane? If you're traveling by train, in what ways can we be safe there? What are standard safety practices when we are in or around water? What are the rules for walking safely across the street in your own neighborhood, or otherwise being around cars? While their are some universal rules, feel free to come up with your own family rules, too. This activity is especially useful if you are going to be traveling to some of these places this summer, and can help prepare your children for possible dangers.

Have a happy and safe summer!
Click here for the Traffic Sign Matching Game Printable Click here for the "Go" Sign Printable Click here for the "Stop" Sign Printable
* * *

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4 Activities to Teach Summer Safety to Kids | Melissa & Doug Blog

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Summer is a great time for kids and adults alike to get outdoors and enjoy the warmer weather! But along with warm weather comes the inevitable increase in traffic and construction. Kids who love to explore need to know how to be safe in all situations.

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Please note, every month, Bostik send us some craft items in order to create our monthly craft challenges. Some links in this post may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more information, see our Disclosure Policy

In honour of the Tour de France, this month's Bostik blogger theme is the bicycle. Running from Saturday July 7th to Sunday July 29th 2018, the 105th Tour de France will be made up of 21 stages and will cover a total distance of 3,351 kilometres. Bostik are official partners of the Tour de France this year and so they are celebrating all things cycling, and all things French, with the Bostik crafting bloggers. The children and I made these colourful bicycles, using only card, lolly sticks, paint and glue. They look effective enough to hang on the wall and Littlest's (pink of course) now has pride of place in her room. You can find out how to make our bicycle craft or paper bike craft below.

Lolly Stick Bicycle Craft - You will need

Lolly Stick Bicycle Craft - Method

The first thing you need to do for this bicycle craft is make the frame, seat and handlebars of the bike. Arrange them in the shape shown above and glue them in place. If you are using general craft glues you will need to leave them to set for a little while. I also used lolly sticks for the spokes and so I glued those into a spoke shape, using four lolly sticks. I then glued those to the inside of the wheel. If you are using paper plates, you will need to cute a circle in each one first, in order to create the wheel shape.

You could also use string for spokes. Simply make holes around the wheel and thread in through holes, weaving a spoke pattern. Tie off and stick down with tape at the back when complete.

You can either paint the wheels and frame separately and then glue together, or create the whole bicycle shape and then let the kids go wild, decorating their bicycle craft however they would like.

An Easy Craft for All

Above, you can see Littlest decorating her bike. She chose multicoloured lolly sticks for spokes and painted the rest of the bike pink and yellow. I also decorated a bicycle with her and I opted for Tour de France themed colours of blue, white and red. You could also make smaller versions of this bicycle craft, using smaller lolly sticks and cut up toilet rolls. This would make a great craft for the front of a greetings card.

I think you could also use the bike as a kind of notice board. It would be easy to pin smaller items to the wheels and spokes. And there you have our Bicycle Craft in celebration of the Tour de France. Make sure you tune in next month to see the cyclists in action.

For more of our craft posts, why not take a look at this Really Easy Unicorn Craft or this DIY Light up Model Solar System.
Please note, every month, Bostik send us some craft items in order to create our monthly craft challenges. Some links in this post may be affiliate links. For more information, see our Disclosure Policy

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Easy Bicycle Craft for Kids with just 4 items - Someone's Mum

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Please note, every month, Bostik send us some craft items in order to create our monthly craft challenges. Some links in this post may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more information, see our Disclosure Policy In honour of the Tour de France, this month's Bostik blogger theme is the bicycle.

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I think the idea for this art project arose one day when I had our liquid watercolors out to do another activity. Whenever I pull out liquid watercolors, I always bring out the paper towels as well to quickly mop up any spills.

Well, in soaking up a tiny spill I noticed how pretty the liquid watercolor paint looked on the paper towel. So I thought, why not try painting paper towels?
Note: For more art projects your kids will enjoy, see my Arts and Crafts for Kids page.

I started by placing a paper towel onto a tray.

I supplied six different colors of liquid watercolors to paint with, and a nice selection of paint brushes.

Then I let my kids get to work. They touched their brushes to the paper to allow the liquid paint to soak in.

They also used their fingers to flick and splatter paint onto the paper towels.

I encouraged them to keep going until the entire paper towel was colored with paint.

The end results were gorgeous!

More arts and crafts ideas

More arts and crafts posts from Gift of Curiosity:
For more fun art projects, see my Arts and Crafts for Kids page and my Arts and Crafts Pinterest board. Follow Katie @ Gift of Curiosity's board Arts & Crafts on Pinterest.

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I think the idea for this art project arose one day when I had our liquid watercolors out to do another activity. Whenever I pull out liquid watercolors, I always bring out the paper towels as well to quickly mop up any spills.

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Butterfly Fun

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This post may contain affiliate links, read our Disclosure Policy for more information. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, thank you!

Today my little cousins and I crafted some cardboard tube butterflies using toilet paper rolls! They turned out so adorable and we used a tissue paper technique for the wings.
Supplies Needed:
Start by folding a white piece of cardstock in half and draw half a butterfly wing. Unfold it and cut it out. Glue tissue paper pieces all over it and let dry.

Paint your cardboard tube with a sponge. After that's dry, hot glue the wings on the back as well as the antennas and eyes!

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This post may contain affiliate links, read our Disclosure Policy for more information. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, thank you! Today my little cousins and I crafted some cardboard tube butterflies using toilet paper rolls! They turned out so adorable and we used a tissue paper technique for the wings.

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You can either use the printable pictures or the real food to explore what parts of a plant are edible!

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Very Hungry Caterpillar fun

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Mrs. Miller reads The Very Hungry Caterpillar

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Mrs. Miller reads The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

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Spring Math Flowers

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Today seems like a fabulous day to bring Spring inside, since of course it is anything but Spring outside! We are going to full on pretend it is sunny and warm with these Spring Math Flowers. Such a simple idea with tons of space for getting creative. Here is my original post about this fun math craft. Hope you like this idea!

Since Madeline has been at home learning with us, my preschooler Sam has really taken to doing "work". He has always been my playful and wild child - but with his fourth birthday only a couple of months away, I have noticed a shift. While he is still certainly a boisterous and busy child, he has also developed a determination and concentration with activities he is interested in.

The other day Sam announced that he would like to learn to count to 13. I said no problem, asked him to count, and he sailed right on past 13. When I told him he already can count that high, he said he really wanted to know the numbers to 13 - and thought he should do some "work" on them. Besides this being adorable, it's actually true. Little ones can often count quite easily, but one-to-one correspondence (which I talk about over in our Playful Preschool Math Curriculum Post) can be tricky. This spring math flower activity is great for practicing one-to-one correspondence.

To prepare this activity, I simply cut out some circles (for flower centers) and some small oval-ish shapes (for petals).
First, I chose five numbers that Sam sometimes has trouble recognizing, and wrote the numeral on the circles and glued them to a piece of paper.
Then, Sam glued the flower petals around each center. He first identified the number and then used one to one correspondence to count and glue the correct number of petals around the centers.

As I mentioned yesterday on our How Wee Learn Facebook Page - this activity can be easily extended for kids of all ages! These spring flowers could be used for sight words, addition/subtraction facts, multiplication/division facts - even fractions! Here is how we did this activity with my daughter. We chose some multiplication numbers she was having trouble with as our centers. She then added, subtracted, multiplied, and divided to get the numeral in the center.

I find having very open ended activities like this, activities that can really be taken in any direction, are wonderful for homeschooling. I can shape the activity as we go, depending on who is interested.

And that truly depends on the day ... hour ... minute?

Happy spring friends! Thank you for reading.

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Today seems like a fabulous day to bring Spring inside, since of course it is anything but Spring outside! We are going to full on pretend it is sunny and warm with these Spring Math Flowers. Such a simple idea with tons of space for getting creative.

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Build a Bird Nest

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STEM Challenge for Spring: Design and Create a Bird's Nest

A nature-based STEM challenge that is fun to create on both a small and large scale: a bird's nest!

Support a Growth Mindset with STEM

Why try this challenge? In addition to creating something that seems simple (but is actually quite difficult), students have the opportunity to observe nests in nature, gather materials, and work on their growth mindset.

Gather Materials for Bird Nest STEM

First, gather all materials needed for the challenge:

This project can be done in two ways - with materials found in your recycle bin or objects found in nature. If you live in an urban area, students may observe that birds often use trash that has been discarded when making their nests. Use paper scraps or go to nature to find grass, twigs, etc. Ask:

What objects do you routinely discard that could be reused or repurposed?

Test the nest with hardboiled, wooden, or plastic eggs filled with pennies (for weight). Can it support the weight of the egg?

What skills do students work on? In addition to following the Engineering Design Process to complete this challenge, they will need to test stability and strength as well as work together with patience and perseverance.

Add more rigor into this activity with the STEM challenge resource (or get the pack of Spring STEM challenges) on Teachers pay Teachers:

Pin these ideas for later:

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A nature-based STEM challenge that is fun to create on both a small and large scale: a bird's nest! Why try this challenge? In addition to creating something that seems simple (but is actually quite difficult), students have the opportunity to observe nests in nature, gather materials, and work on their growth mindset.

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One of my favorite activities that we've done recently has been our Cupcake Factory. It was so much fun, and so easy to put together that I thought I should apply the same strategy to other creations! Here is another simple Invitation To Create. I hope you like it!

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.

Using construction paper in a variety of colors, cut your bug pieces. You'll need small holes (I used a hole punch) for eyes, spots, and antennae tops. You'll need circles (I ended up cutting them in 2 different sizes) and semi-circles for bug bodies and heads. And finally, you'll need skinny strips for legs, antennae, stripes, and mouths. It took me around 10 minutes to cut our pieces. If you had a circle punch, it would be even faster!

Throw in a glue stick and some half-sheets of construction paper to use as backgrounds. A divided tray helps with presentation, but certainly isn't necessary. I used a plastic plate from Targetthat is no longer available, but these would do the trick.

Invite your child to the table or workspace and let them get to creating! I gave Lena and Maggie some ideas, and modeled a few different bugs that they could make, but in general they were left to their own creative devices.

Once again, this simple and open-ended activity kept my girls busy for nearly an hour. They loved experimenting with different color combinations and types of bugs. We were left with a giant pile of bugs on our table!

Whew! What kind of bugs will YOUR kiddos make?

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Invitation To Create: Build A Bug | What Can We Do With Paper And Glue

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One of my favorite activities that we've done recently has been our Cupcake Factory . It was so much fun, and so easy to put together that I thought I should apply the same strategy to other creations! Here is another simple Invitation To Create . I hope you like it!

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Science and Butterfly Fun

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Looking for some spring themed science for kids? You'll definitely want to explore chromatography using coffee filters and markers. The results from this science experiment can even be used to create a colorful butterfly craft for kids!
This post was originally posted February 26, 2014 and has since been updated.
Most kids are used to mixing colors with paints or play dough, but have your children had the chance to try separating color mixtures? In this science experiment for kids we'll be exploring chromatography (separating mixtures). We'll use coffee filters to separate the various pigments in markers to see how each color was created! (This post contains affiliate links.)

Materials for Science Experiment & Butterfly Craft

Procedure to Chromatography Science Experiment

1. Choose one marker to experiment with first. (Hint~ black and brown are the most exciting!)
2. Take one coffee filter. Put it on a newspaper or some kind of material to protect your table. Draw a thick circle around the center of the coffee filter where the ridged part meets the flat center. Use a pencil to write the color of the marker being used right in the center. (You'll want to know what the original color was being used, and the pencil won't smear and will remain intact after the experiment.)

3. Fold the coffee filter in half and then in half again, resulting in a cone shape.
4. Get a short glass of water. Pull apart the cone shaped coffee filter so it balances right on the glass with the tip of the cone just touching the water. (Be sure NOT to let the marker circle go in the water, just the uncolored tip of the coffee filter cone.)

5. Let it sit and watch what happens as the water begins to flow up the paper.

6. Repeat with different colored markers. Here are ours starting out...

... and just about done!

7. After the water has reached the outer edge of the coffee filter, place it on a newspaper to dry. (Lucy and her friend enjoyed illustrating their predictions on paper while waiting for each color to finish separating.)

8. Once the coffee filters are dry you can observe the results.

Directions for Using Coffee Filters to Make the Butterfly Craft

1. Cut your black pipe cleaners in half.

2. Take one coffee filter and scrunch it up in the middle.

3. Wrap a black pipe cleaner around the center.

4. Shape the ends to form antennae.

5. Tie a string to the center and hang!

Question to Spark More Curiosity & Critical Thinking
What colors do you see? How many colors do you see? Which one do you find most interesting? Why?
Don't forget to follow your child's lead and let your him/her explore some more! Lucy and her friend wanted to try all the different colors to see if they'd separate. They wondered if the marker would separate on just regular paper and came up with a way to try it out.

After the experiment was complete, the thinking continued! Lucy's friend was determined to have the butterflies balance just right when tied on the string. We tried different placements of the string to see the different ways we could get the butterflies to hang.

Want to go even further?
Even more activities to inspire creativity and critical thinking for various ages.

Collect black markers from different brands. Complete the experiment with each. Compare the results.

Record your observations by creating a picture or chart showing what you discovered.

Make a list of more questions you came up with as you completed this experiment.

Some related books: White Rabbit's Color Book, Little Blue and Little Yellow, Mouse Paint

Be sure to check out our STEAM Kids book and ebook for even more creative STEM and STEAM ideas!

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Science for Kids: Chromatography Butterfly Craft

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Looking for some spring themed science for kids? You'll definitely want to explore chromatography using coffee filters and markers. The results from this science experiment can even be used to create a colorful butterfly craft for kids! This post was originally posted February 26, 2014 and has since been updated.

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Read by Mrs. Josche

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Learn Letter Sounds with Movement

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Have you ever done the wheelbarrow walk with your child where they have their hands on the floor, and you grab their feet and they walk across the floor? Try having your child say letters and letter sounds as they walk with their hands.

This activity was one of several that our occupational therapist recommended for our son. So it has great benefits besides just for having fun, including strengthening those core muscles and it's a weight bearing activity (heavy work) so it activates proprioceptors for organization too.

My son loves to do this wheelbarrow activity, and we do it every day. He especially loves to "walk" himself up the stairs. If you can do this with your child, use it as a way to learn vowel and consonant letters and sounds. Just be careful not to go to fast or let your child arch her back too much or get hurt.

Think of any relay in the world that you could come up with at all, and basically just incorporate the letter sounds every time one leg of the "relay" is complete. Just take any opportunity you can to integrate the sounds to make it fun and help your child remember and learn the alphabet.

Here are some ideas for relays:

Egg on the spoon

Orange under the neck

Three legged-race

Blow the balloon across the room

Tennis ball (or larger ball) between the knees

And there are so many other ways to relay. Just look around the house, and come up with creative ideas. Be sure to have your child speak out their letter sounds throughout the relay to incorporate learning.

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11 Ways to Teach Letter Sounds With Movement for Alphabet Learners!

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Grab this FREE list to be teaching letter sounds with movement & ACTION to your beginning readers. Need a list of kinesthetic activities for the alphabet, and phonics in motion type activities? Here are 11 actions for letter sounds to keep your kids motivated and ideas for multisensory spelling lessons.

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Addition Practice

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If you are looking for spring math activities, this flower roll and color activity is perfect for you! It is a fun way for kids to learn numbers this spring! Plus, it is super easy to prep and kids can do it independently, so it would be a great addition to your spring math centers or morning work tubs.

My kids really enjoy roll and color games, so I decided to step up my game and make some for numbers and then made this letter version too! Plus, I made cards that you can use in place of dice, if you prefer that.
Related: Flower Find and Color the Letter Printables
Flower Roll and Color

This flower roll and color activity comes with three pages - a page with numbers 1-6, a page with numbers 1-20 and one with blank flowers.

On the page with numbers 1-20, you can use a 20 sided dice or the cards that I made.

The one with blank flowers is so that children can roll and then color that many and repeat until all of the flowers have been colored. This means that if they roll a 3, they will color 3 flowers. Then they roll a 5 and color 5 flowers. This continues until all of the flowers are colored in.

Another fun way to use the blank sheet is to make it a game. The first person to color in all of the flowers wins. Or you can play the way my son wanted to and each person colors with a specific color and the person with the most flowers colored at the end, wins!

You can also use the blank page to write your own numbers in. Then just make as many copies as you need. Make a dice with those specific numbers by writing on a foam cube with permanent marker. Or slide the number cards I made into a dice with pockets.
You have kids that don't like to color?
No problem! Try slipping the pages into w rite and wipe pockets and letting them use dry-erase markers to color. Or skip the coloring and just let them cover the number with a manipulative - like buttons, pom poms or snap cubes.

As you can tell, there are so many ways to use this simple activity and differentiate it for the kids you are teaching!

Setting Up the Activity
Supplies Needed:

Printable Roll and Color Pages and Cards (button to download at the bottom of this post)

Scissors - to cut out the cards

Crayons

20 sided dice (optional)

This activity requires very little prep. Just print the pages and cut out the cards, if needed.

I hope this saves you lots of time!

Doing the Flower Roll and Color Activity

To start, kids will roll the dice. They will look at it and determine which number they need to locate on the coloring sheet.

Then they will find the number on the sheet and color it in (or cover it up).

This continues until all of the flowers are colored.

Because of the simple and easy to follow steps, many kids will be able to do this independently - which makes it perfect for your math centers or for independent morning work. Especially when you consider the fact that it can be differentiated for lots of different levels and abilities and can be modified for kids who don't like coloring.

I hope the kids enjoy it!

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If you are looking for spring math activities, this flower roll and color activity is perfect for you! It is a fun way for kids to learn numbers this spring! Plus, it is super easy to prep and kids can do it independently, so it would be a great addition to your spring math centers or morning work tubs.

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Addition Practice

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Your kids are really going to enjoy this flower find and color the letters activity! This printable alphabet activity is very low-prep and would be perfect for spring literacy centers or morning work tubs. So if you are looking for a fun flower activity that is both hands-on and fun, then look no further!

One awesome thing about these find and color the letter pages is that they can be differentiated for students at all different levels.
Related: Flower Roll and Color Math Activity
Flower Find and Color the Letters

This flower find and color activity comes with two pages - an uppercase letters page and a lowercase letters page. Then there are 3 types of cards - lowercase letters, uppercase letters and beginning sounds pics.

It is perfect for kids who are learning letter identification or letter sounds. You can use it to teach lowercase letters, uppercase letters or a combination of both. All you need to do is mix and match the color pages with the different cards I've created.
You have kids that don't like to color?
No problem! Try slipping the pages into write and wipe pockets and letting them use dry-erase markers to color. Or skip the coloring and just let them cover the letter with a manipulative - like buttons, pom poms or snap cubes.

As you can tell, there are lots of ways to use this simple activity and differentiate it for the kids you are teaching.

Setting Up the Activity
Supplies Needed:

Printable Find and Color the Letter Pages and Cards (button to download at the bottom of this post)

Scissors - to cut out the cards

Crayons

This activity requires very little prep. Just print the pages and cut out the cards. The cards can be laminated and used again and again for other versions of these find and color pages.

I hope this saves you lots of time!

Doing the Flower Find and Color Activity

To start, kids will draw a card from the pile. They will look at it and determine which letter they need to locate on the coloring sheet.

Then they will find the letter on the sheet and color it in (or cover it up).

This continues until all of the flowers are colored.

Because of the simple and easy to follow steps, many kids will be able to do this independently - which makes it perfect for your literacy centers or for independent morning work. Especially when you consider the fact that it can be differentiated for lots of different levels and abilities and can be modified for kids who don't like coloring.

I hope the kids enjoy it!

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Your kids are really going to enjoy this flower find and color the letter activity! This printable alphabet activity is very low prep and would be perfect for spring literacy centers or morning work tubs. So if you are looking for a fun flower activity that is both hands-on and fun, then look no further!

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Twiggle & Henrietta Talk About Sad and Worried

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Twiggle & Henrietta Talk About Sad and Worried

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Raising Lifelong Learners - Inspiring families to create, discover, and grow together.

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STEM activities are a lot of fun and educational, but the best kind of STEM activities are open-ended, allowing children to think for themselves. In this paper plate maze STEM challenge, kids are challenged to make a marble maze using household materials. They must follow all elements of a real design process, including brainstorming, blueprints, prototypes, tweaking, and testing their designs.

Make a Paper Plate Maze STEM Challenge

Kids can learn a lot from a paper plate maze STEM challenge. The goal is to show kids how a product is made from start to finish, using all elements of science, technology, engineering, and math.

What you'll need to have on hand:

Paper plates

Various household supplies (cardboard, straws, cotton balls, string, etc)

Glue (we found tacky glue and hot glue worked best)

Scissors

Marbles

First, issue the challenge. The goal of this project is to get a maze made that fits a marble, contained inside a paper plate, that works completely, and doesn't break when playing with it. Kids will have to use quite a few skills to get this design to work.

Supply your kids with a variety of materials. You might challenge each kid to use a different material for greater creativity.

Wait until everyone's design is dry, then test them out.

What designs worked best? What designs were not as good? What were the best parts and worst parts of each design? How could the kids improve on them in the future?

Paper Plate Maze STEM Challenge Explained

Kids can learn a lot from designing their own maze. Kids learn elements of the design process, such as the selection of the right materials for the task, making sure the design is precise, trying out multiple designs, and testing to make sure it works properly. In our design, we wanted to be able to race two balls through the maze at the same time, similar to a pinball machine. The kids soon found out it can be pretty tricky to get two designs to work in the same place.

More fun science for kids:

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Make a Paper Plate Maze STEM Challenge - Raising Lifelong Learners

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STEM activities are a lot of fun and educational, but the best kind of STEM activities are open-ended, allowing children to think for themselves. In this paper plate maze STEM challenge, kids are challenged to make a marble maze using household materials.

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Totschooling - Toddler, Preschool, Kindergarten Educational Printables

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Learning about symmetry is a great way to help kids increase their observation skills and practice recognizing patterns, which are important skills needed in math and reading. Use these free printable symmetry drawing prompts for kids to practice drawing symmetrical pictures. A fun art and math activity in one!
Due to requests, we have added a left-handed version!

This free printable Symmetry drawing pack includes 6 sheets with the following objects for kids to complete:

Choose which pictures to give to your child/student depending on their age, skill level and understanding of symmetry. They can complete the drawing and color it if they wish!

For more drawing activities, see the following posts:

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Learning about symmetry is a great way to help kids increase their observation skills and practice recognizing patterns, which are important skills needed in math and reading. Use these free printable symmetry drawing prompts for kids to practice drawing symmetrical pictures. A fun art and math activity in one!

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Make turtles with recycled bottle caps. How high can you stack them?

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Meet the reptile that lives at Mrs. Josche's house!

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Yummy Earth Day Treat

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I have loved these dirt cups since I was a little kid. My mom used to make them and I always thought they were just the coolest thing! So, today, our Earth day recipe was Dirt Cups! Yum! The pudding serves as the "mud", the Oreo's as the dirt, and the gummy worms as, well, the worms!

We made a double batch because we brought the to Ben's work, but for a regular sized batch you will need:

Place 1/2 a package of Oreos in a Ziploc baggie. If your kids are helping you, you may want to put a few Oreos each in several bags so they can all participate! Crush them up with your hands or with a rolling pin. We leave the cream filling in, but you can scrape it out if you don't want the white in there. We crush ours until they are in small pieces or crumbs. Small chunks of the cookies are okay.

In a bowl, whisk together the pudding, milk, and about 2/3 - 1 whole tub of Cool Whip. Allow it to set for about 2 minutes to thicken a bit. Stir again.

Now, in your clear cups, have your little helpers aid you in layering pudding and Oreos until you run out. We typically are able to make 2 layers of each.

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I have loved these dirt cups since I was a little kid. My mom used to make them and I always thought they were just the coolest thing! So, today, our Earth day recipe was Dirt Cups! Yum!

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Easy to make Bird Feeders

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DIRECTIONS:
1. Spread bird seed onto a paper plate. Set aside.
2. Cut a piece of yarn about 18" long, for each bird feeder and set aside.
3. Use a knife to spread peanut butter on the outside of a toilet paper roll.

4. Roll the toilet paper roll onto the bird seed, pressing gently so the seed sticks to the peanut butter.

5. Tie a string through the roll and hang on a tree for birds to enjoy.

How to Use a Toilet Paper Roll Bird Feeder

First, tie your bird feeder in your back yard or around the camp if you are camping. Then, have your children take pictures and make note of some of the birds that come into your yard/camp. It will be fun and educational to see which birds are most attracted to your toilet paper roll bird feeder.
It would be fun for them to keep track of their observations in a nature journal like one of these:
And take along a field guide to help them identify the birds that they see. There are several wonderful books out there that not only tell them the type of birds, but also fun facts about them.
Here are some of the most popular field guides for birds in North America:
When you are done camping, take bird feeder down and throw it away so you aren't leaving any trash behind in your campsite. If you are at home, you could leave it hanging until the bird seed is mostly gone and then throw away and replace with another.

Easy Camping Guide

If you are using this craft while camping, make sure to grab our Camping Made Easy printable set! This set makes camping with kids so much easier by providing simple campfire meals, activities, packing lists, etc. Camping should be fun and relaxing and Camping Made Easy takes the stress out of camping with kids!

If you are looking for other camping crafts and activities, check out these 15 fun camping activities for kids:

Spending time in nature with my children has been one of my most rewarding things as a parent. I'll be honest, we talk a lot about "The Joys of Boys" on this site, and I absolutely love, love, love being a mom of boys, but....it is exhausting!! Exhausting! So getting out of the house, finding a place in nature where they can explore and get dirty and just have fun, is actually a bit of a break for all of us from the normal demands that parenthood and running 2 businesses brings.
So get outside with your kids. Even if you are just in the backyard making toilet paper roll bird houses. 🙂
Make plans this summer to spend as much time as possible in the great outdoors! There is an entire world out there waiting for us to explore it and in my opinion there isn't a better way to raise children than by letting them explore and learn to appreciate the beauty of nature around us!
Let me know if you try this toilet paper roll bird feeder! I'd love to hear your child's experience. Do you have a simple camping craft or activity you can share with our community? Leave a comment and let me know your favorite one!

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DIRECTIONS: 1. Spread bird seed onto a paper plate. Set aside. 2. Cut a piece of yarn about 18" long, for each bird feeder and set aside. 3. Use a knife to spread peanut butter on the outside of a toilet paper roll. 4.

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Literacy games for all levels of learning

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We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Does your child own a fidget spinner? Put it to good use with these paper plate and spinner literacy games! (Also see these NUMERACY games)

First, how to make this paper plate.

Print the letters, cut them out and stick all around the plate. You can use both upper and lower case or only one, depending on the age of child you will use this plate for.
Draw a circle in the middle of the plate where the spinner must go.

Now on to the games! The first few are oral games, the last written games.( I also mention which literacy skills are at work during each game.)
Letter Recognition Game
Spin the spinner and say the letter name and it's sound. Get a point for each correct one. Here the letter name will be 'Es' and the sound will be 's'. ( Letter and sound recognition/grapheme and phoneme correlation) Use this game to practice letter formation and assessing letter knowledge by writing down the letter the spinner stops at.)

Each player starts with 3 lives. One player spins the spinner and when it stops at a letter he/she must quickly say a word starting with that letter. Next player's turn. If it lands on a letter already played, you lose a life. Play until everyone lost 3 lives, last one to lose last life is the winner. ( Letter and sound recognition, initial sound recognition, phoneme segmentation, quick retrieval out of the working memory, subtracting skills when counting lives)
Fast Naming
Each player gets a turn to spin the spinner. When it lands on a letter, that player must name as many things/animals/food/ names(decide on this beforehand) he/she can in one minute. Count how many each player named, the player that named the most wins.(again letter and sound recognition, rapid naming speed, categorization skills, verbal fluency)
Object Hunt
Spin the spinner and when it stops, go find an object in the room that starts with that letter. For instance, of you play in a class and it lands on the letter 'c', you might want to go find a 'crayon'. First player back gets 3 points, the rest only one point for correct initial sound object brought back. Count up scores at the end of your game. ( Letter and sound recognition with initial sound, matching object to sound/vocabulary, addition skills when counting up scores)
Nouns Writing Game
Use a paper and draw 4 columns. Name the columns 'people', 'place', 'animal', 'thing'. Spin the spinner and the letter it lands on must be used(start with) to write a person's name, a name of a place, a name of an animal and a thing. You can give a time limit or whenever the first player is done, everyone must stop. You get a point for each correct answer, but it must not be the same as another player's otherwise you both lose those points. Play as many rounds as you wish, or have time for. Count up scores at the end. ( Letter and sound recognition, writing speed, working memory, categorization skills, noun knowledge, vocabulary, addition skills when counting up scores, social skills)
Guess the Drawing
A player gets a turn to spin the spinner. That player must now draw something that starts with that letter and the rest of the players must guess what he/she is drawing. The initial sound serves as a clue. This game can be played in pairs or groups. The pairs/groups earns points for each correct guess. ( Letter and sound recognition, drawing skills, social skills)

Just a few ideas on how to use this paper plate and spinner games to enhance a literacy lesson and make it fun too!

If your children love games, check out these BINGO games(click the image below):

or see this

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Does your child own a fidget spinner? Put it to good use with these paper plate and spinner literacy games! (Also see these NUMERACY games) First, how to make this paper plate. You will need: Paper Plate FREE printable letters or just write your own Scissors Glue Marker Fidget spinner Small arrow from paper or craft foam [...]

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Hands-on addition

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Let's practice adding!

Begin by rolling the dice.

Place the amount rolled in the first section of your plate.

Place the next amount on the other side.

Combine the two groups into the large section of your plate.

Count the objects.

Language to use:

You rolled a 6 here. Here are 6 noodles.

On this side, you rolled a 4. Let's count them out. 1,2,3,4.

Let's put all the noodles together to see what we have.

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10! I see that! A group of 6, plus a group of 4, makes 10 total!

The fun started when my four-year-old was able to see the total before his eyes!

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Preschool Math Dice Game - Days With Grey

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Begin by rolling the dice. Place the amount rolled in the first section of your plate. Place the next amount on the other side. Combine the two groups into the large section of your plate. Count the objects. You rolled a 6 here. Here are 6 noodles.

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Learn through Movement - Gross Motor Addition Game

For our math activity, I set up a simple addition game using sidewalk chalk. I wrote the numbers 1-12 in circles.

The directions were simple. My boys took turns rolling the dice. They added the sum of the two dice and hopped that many spaces.

J-Bug (3) loves hopping, jumping or skipping games. Any gross motor activity captivates his attention. (Don't you love you he has his stuffed penguin and blanket in his arm?)

We changed it up each time we rolled. Sometimes I had them hop with two feet, sometimes they hopped on one foot, they stepped from number to number, and other times they hopped backwards.

This was a perfect addition game that both my preschooler and kindergartner could participate in.

JZ (5) made it into a race. He added the dice quickly and tried to hope as quickly as possible to land on the sum.

Learning through movement is a great way to help young children learn and remember what they have learned. The more healthy and fit a child is, the more efficiently his brain functions. Also, when movement is combined with learning the activity is more likely to be remembered. Have you ever tried memorizing a new song, poem or scripture verse? Can it be done while sitting still? Yes. Have you ever added hand motions to go along with the words? If you have tried adding motions while memorizing you probably know that you can memorize something much quicker with the added motions than when you are just sitting still.

For more educational gross motor games follow me on Pinterest.

Be sure and visit Mess for Less to see their Number Hunt and Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas to see their Addition Game, and stay tuned for more ideas for learning through movement !

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Learn through Movement - Gross Motor Addition Game For our math activity, I set up a simple addition game using sidewalk chalk. I wrote the numbers 1-12 in circles. The directions were simple. My boys took turns rolling the dice. They added the sum of the two dice and hopped that many spaces.

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What is it about kids and Post-it Notes? Moths to little sticky paper flames is what my kids are. I practically have to keep Post-its under lock and key. So I knew when I brought out this Post-it Number Line activity - it wasn't going to be a tough sell.

Curious how I teach my kids each day? Check out my Playing Preschool Program: 190 days of at-home learning.

What's the "why" here?

I love a good "why". I have to know the reason. I have to know the ins and outs to make something worth my time.

Here's the why for this Post-it Number Line game.

Number lines are a big deal - especially with little learners joining the math game. Number lines are (in a sense) the address to where a number lives. It helps children to visualize the relationship of one number to another (6 is between 5 and 7; 4 is two more than 2).

As children develop in mathematical thinking, using a number line will be a critical part. Number lines help give a visual representation to the abstract nature of addition and subtraction.
And it's easy to start introducing a number line now!
The low down on the set-up
Materials:
(this list contains affiliate links. Read more about these links in my disclosure policy.)

I started by rolling out the butcher paper along my wall and adding a big, giant line down the middle.

I measured the Post-it notes quickly to make sure my line could fit 20 numbers on it. Next, I took the Post-its and wrote numbers 1 - 20 on them, and mixed them up.

The goal of this Post-it Number Line

The end goal is for the kids to build their number line out of the mixed up Post-it Notes - to put the numbers back in order.

What's fascinating is watching how children work on this activity - my son (5) was able to remember the number he was on and then move seamlessly to the next number. My daughter (3) needed to recount the numbers each time in order to figure out what came next.
It was exciting for both of them!
A simple way to add a twist

One easy way to get kids moving is to put the Post-it notes around the room. Hide them in, out, and under everything for little hands to find and put in the right spot.

Get their minds active and their body's active too!

It's a fun way to play with math!

Math doesn't have to be rote counting or memorizing numbers from flash cards. Math can be interactive and fun!

It's amazing how much kids can learn from a hands-on activity, where they can really touch the learning.

Post-it number line activity

Making this simple number line activity was the perfect way to help my kids visualize the location / address of each number. They're having fun with this now and years down the road, having background knowledge with the a number line will help them so much.

When will you make this Post-it number line activity?

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Post-It Number Line Math Activity for Preschoolers - Busy Toddler

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What is it about kids and Post-it Notes? Moths to little sticky paper flames is what my kids are. I practically have to keep Post-its under lock and key. So I knew when I brought out this Post-it Number Line activity - it wasn't going to be a tough sell.

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Published: · This post may contain affiliate links

Earth Day is quickly approaching on Wednesday, April 22nd this year! I thought it would be fun to make Earth Day Cookies to help celebrate this holiday!

These Earth Day Cookies are seriously beyond easy to make! Trust me on this one! These are some of our favorite cookies to make each year! I can't believe we originally shared this recipe back in April of 2014!

How cute are these cookies! I was so excited when they came out of the oven! They taste amazing and they are super cute...what more can you ask for.

Oh wait and they are super crazy easy to make so that it pretty much a trifecta of goodness. 🙂

Earth Day Cookies

Are you ready to see how dang easy these cookies are......

I have to let you in on a secret first.....I cheated when I made these cookies.

Instead of making them from scratch I used a sugar cookie mix and food coloring. Yep, that is how crazy easy these cookies are.

I used the generic cookie mix from Costco that comes in a giant bag and blue and green food coloring.

All you have to do is mix up the cookies and add in a few drops of food coloring until you get the color you want. I made one batch of green dough and one batch of blue dough.

Ingredients needed to make Earth Day Cookies
Sugar cookie mix Blue Gel Food Coloring Green Gel Food Coloring
Disposable Gloves - If you are worried about having your hands possibly turn blue or green from the food coloring you may want to grab disposable gloves. This is an easy way to make sure the gel food coloring doesn't get on you.

Cookie Sheets - I like these cookie sheets that have sides on them. I always worry that the cookie dough is going to roll over the edge of a flat pan when I put them in the oven.

Pin this pic to make it easy to find this recipe when you need it!

I came up with this earth day cookie idea by mistake....lol! I have to admit that when I went to make these recipes I was honestly thinking about making Seattle Seahawks cookies.

The colors were perfect and I thought they would be so fun. When I pulled the cookies out of the oven my husband John told me they looked nothing like a football cookie but totally looked like the earth.

LOL, enter in these delicious easy to make Earth Day Cookies! So dang easy to make and so perfect for celebrating our earth!

How to make Earth Day Cookies

I stuck the dough next to each other in a bowl and pulled pieces of each dough out and rolled them together into a ball.

Once the dough was combined I baked the cookies according to the box directions.

They came out looking just how I hoped they would. You could easily adapt this method for school colors or someone's favorite colors and make a personalized treat.

These cookies would be a ton of fun for Earth Day parties or if you changed up the colors they are great for Halloween, Christmas and birthday parties.

Do you love recipes? Check out our copy cat recipes, dessert recipes, and our Crock Pot Recipes.

Great cookie recipes!
Lemon Sugar Cookies Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies Red Heart Cookies
Originally posted on April 10, 2014. Update April 22, 2020

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Published: · This post may contain affiliate links Earth Day is quickly approaching on Wednesday, April 22nd this year! I thought it would be fun to make Earth Day Cookies to help celebrate this holiday! These Earth Day Cookies are seriously beyond easy to make! Trust me on this one!

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Totschooling - Toddler, Preschool, Kindergarten Educational Printables

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Use this fun piggy bank matching activity to teach children about coins and their value!

My children are fascinated by coins and money. When I told them we'd be doing an activity using real coins, they were very excited!

This FREE Coin Recognition printable comes with 2 activities:

An easier level with images of each coin for the child to match. This is good for practicing the names of each coin and learning to recognize the coins.

The other activity is more difficult, showing the cent value of each coin. The child matches the real coin to its value. This is good for teaching how many cents each coin is worth.

If you enjoyed this activity you might also like the following posts:

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Use this fun piggy bank matching activity to teach children about coins and their value! My children are fascinated by coins and money. When I told them we'd be doing an activity using real coins, they were very excited! This FREE Coin Recognition printable comes with 2 activities: An easier level with images of each coin for the child to match.

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Balloon bug tennis is a fun twist for spring on the classic gross motor balloon tennis game. It is also one of the greatest way to get your kids active while indoors.

Balloons and kids. That is a mathematical equation that equals fun every single time. I created this fun activity for spring for my kids and they loved it! It makes a great way to keep kids active while indoors and its also great for working on hand eye coordination and gross motor skills.

Create your balloon bugs

Blow up your balloons.

Fold a piece of construction paper in half and cut out butterflies wings. Gingerly tape these to the top of your balloon. Remember if you try to remove the tape from the balloon it will mostly likely pop.

Cut the post it notes into 8 thin strips. Stick three on either side of the wings to make bug legs and two on the top in front for antenna.

Add goggley eyes just below the antenna using masking tape. Again if you try to remove the tape the balloon will most likely pop.

For the tennis racket tape a paper towel roll to a paper plate. Make two paper plate cardboard tube tennis racket.

How to play Bug Balloon Tennis

This is a game best played with two or more people. As soon as my daughter (5.5 years old) she immediately wanted to play! The goal is to keep the balloon bug up in the air. Its much hard than it seems but so much fun! My daughter absolutely loved this!

LOVE THIS? Check out this fun version for toddlers.

Supplies

(This post and list contains affiliate links for your convenience. If you make a purchase using one of these links, I may earn a commission. Please visit my disclosure policy for more information.)

Balloons

Construction Paper

Masking tape

Post it notes

Scissors

Paper Plate

Paper Towel Tubes

WILL YOU TRY BUG BALLOON TENNIS WITH YOUR KIDS THIS SPRING? Pin it for later!

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Balloon Bug Tennis - HAPPY TODDLER PLAYTIME

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Balloon bug tennis is a fun twist for spring on the classic gross motor balloon tennis game. It is also one of the greatest way to get your kids active while indoors. Balloons and kids. That is a mathematical equation that equals fun every single time.

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This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
It's the perfect time of year for a nature scavenger hunt! It's also a great activity to do alongside my Fall Theme Pack.

Have you been outside to enjoy the Fall weather? Where we live, the weather can turn cold (and stay cold) at any time. So when we had a rare 70 degree day in October, I thought we should make the most of it and pull out this nature scavenger hunt.

After we pick up the big kids from our church's parochial school at 3:15, we have a lot to do before supper. There are snacks, homework, after school cleaning jobs, and piano practice for my oldest. Before I know it my husband is coming home to play with the kids while I get supper ready. It's rare that I take the time to do this kind of activity with the kids.

We needed to take advantage of this beautiful weather, and I needed to haul my very pregnant self outside and get some fresh air.

So I cancelled after school cleaning and piano practice.

When the kids saw the nature hunts, all of them were excited to get started. (Okay, maybe they weren't all excited, but no one was complaining. Except me, because my Three took so long to get his sandals on.)

They got right to work finding the easy things... like the tree, sun, and clouds - all things we could see from our front walk.

While my toddler grabbed at my legs so I would carry her, the four older kids raced toward the backyard and found a few things they knew they had seen before.

We headed to the "forest" behind our house, which is really a collection of trees that separates our neighborhood from the one behind it. Don't you love how seriously the kids are taking the nature hunt?

My Eight and Five consulted about the plants they were finding. Despite our best efforts, there was no fern in sight! But we did discover some lovely lamb's ear, which my Eight decided to take to school to share with her class.

This kept us busy for a good half an hour, and it was a fun way to spend time together. If you don't live near a woods, you can find many of the objects on a walk around the neighborhood or just your own backyard.

We hope you get a chance to try our scavenger hunt! And if you're looking for more Fall-related learning activities, be sure to check out m y Fall Theme Pack!

© 2015 - 2018, Anna G. All rights reserved.

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Free nature scavenger hunt - The Measured Mom

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This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. It's the perfect time of year for a nature scavenger hunt! It's also a great activity to do alongside my Fall Theme Pack. Have you been outside to enjoy the Fall weather?

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This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Today I'm sharing a fun math game for kids ages 4-6 - Race to 20!
(This post contains affiliate links.)
Race to 20

We've been doing a lot of math with unifix cubes lately, and this seemed like a fun one to add to the mix. I think Race to 20 is a popular math game for three reasons. It's simple to set up, it's simple to play, and it provides a lot of skill practice. My goal with Race to 20 was to help my Four visualize groups of ten, give him practice counting small groups, teach him how to add on from 10, and give him practice comparing numbers.

First I printed this game board (get it in the download at the end of the post). Then I got out a die and unifix cubes, and we sat down at the table.

Our goal was to be the first to get to 20 blocks in two towers of ten. We took turns rolling the die so that we would know how many blocks to add to our towers.

We built towers beginning at the bottom and going up. When a tower reached ten, we had to start again with the second tower.

We paused often to count how many blocks were in our towers and to see who was ahead (great practice comparing sets!). When he had a full tower of ten, my Four would try to count all his blocks beginning at the number one. But he learned to count on from ten when I prompted him. "We don't have to start with 1. You know you already have a tower of ten blocks... now add on. Eleven, twelve, thirteen."

This was a simple game with very little prep - with a lot of basic skills practice!

Here's a simpler version of the game. I recommend labeling a blank die or wooden cube with the numbers 1,2,3,1,2 and 3.

And here's a slightly more challenging one.

This is a great partner game for learning centers or something for your child to play at home with a parent or sibling. Will you try it?

CHECK OUT OUR POPULAR NO-PREP GAMES FOR K-2!

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This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Today I'm sharing a fun math game for kids ages 4-6 - Race to 20! (This post contains affiliate links.) We've been doing a lot of math with unifix cubes lately, and this seemed like a fun one to add to the mix.

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Looking for a rhyming words game to help your child master this important skill? Today I'm sharing four of them!
(This post contains affiliate links.)
If you're a long-time reader, you know that I talk about rhyming a lot.

It's just one of those big-time important skills. (Learn more about other pre-reading skills in our free ecourse.)

It's been a while since I shared a new rhyming words game, so I thought it was time!

Free rhyming words game

Did you know there's a reason that most of my learning activities are games? It's because my kids aren't interested in a lot of worksheets or seatwork. If I'm going to take them away from their play for a mom-directed activity, they want it to be fun. And my current preschooler (our #4) is one of the very hardest to please.

I decided to make another Roll-a-game because we've had success with them in the past.

Sure enough, when I pulled out the game, this notoriously grumpy boy announced, "Yay! I love this kind!"

So if you appreciate these games, you have him to thank. 😉
Introducing... Roll-a-Rhyme! How to play

Grab playing pieces (we used our glass gems) and a die. Put playing pieces on Start.

Take turns rolling the die. After you roll the die, look at the key at the top of the page. Name the picture. Then move to the closest picture that rhymes.

Keep moving along the path until one of you reaches the last space.

I will admit - a tricky thing about making these games is making sure kids can identify the pictures right away. There are only so many easy-to-identify pictures. Since some of them are confusing, I included a picture key right on the game board.

I recommend you do what we did: go along the path and name all the pictures before you begin the game. You might need to remind your child of a few pictures later in the game, but this will cut way down on potential frustration.

After my son rolled the die the first time, we checked the picture key. Since he rolled a 2, the word was "bee." We went down the path, saying each picture name along with "bee."

"Tag, bee."

"Ring, bee."

"Knee, bee - that rhymes!"

He left his playing piece on "knee."

The more we played, the more he was able to find the rhyming word all by himself.

After we finished, he requested a second game. We grabbed a different game board and had some more fun rhyming practice.

I plan to pull out the other two board games on a different day.

We hope you enjoy these games!
Have you taken our free ecourse yet? You might like these too!

Other free resources
&

© 2017, Anna G. All rights reserved.

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New rhyming words game - The Measured Mom

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Looking for a rhyming words game to help your child master this important skill? Today I'm sharing four of them! (This post contains affiliate links.) If you're a long-time reader, you know that I talk about rhyming a lot. It's just one of those big-time important skills.

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This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Your young learners will love this set of simple board games that build phonemic awareness!
Phonemic awareness.
What does it mean, anyway?

It's a scary-sounding phrase, but it's really not that complicated. It has to do with hearing and manipulating sounds in words. While some phonemic awareness activities may be used alongside letters, most of them don't.

If you ask a child to tell you the beginning sound of sandwich, and s/he says sssss, that's great! Isolating beginning sounds is one key component of phonemic awareness - and it's exactly what we're going to focus on with this set of games.

We have six children, and our oldest four developed phonemic awareness without a lot of intentionality on my part. I read to them often, and we did a variety of early learning activities - but I didn't have to explicitly teach phonemic awareness. For all of them (now 10, 9, 7, and 5) phonemic awareness just cam e.

This hasn't been true of my Three (almost four). Thankfully, she's catching on with the playful activities and games that I've been sharing over the past few months.

Print and cut apart the dot cards at the end of the file.

Grab playing pieces.

Take turns moving along the board by drawing a dot card and moving that number of spaces.

When you land on a space, say the picture's name and its beginning sound.

How to play the games
When my Three landed on a picture, she often stretched that initial sound instead of isolating it. For example, "Milk. Mmmmmilk." Or "Sandwich. Ssssandwich." Fine by me! My goal was for her to hear and identify that beginning sound - and she was doing it!

Sometimes she was frustrated and didn't want to try. Tiger was hard for her. Can you guess why?

It's because /t/ is not a continuous sound. Mmmmmmm and Sssssss were the other two sounds featured in the first game and were much easier.

When she hit a roadblock, she told me to do it. So I did.

"Hmm... is it /m/? Mmm, mmm, miger! No? Is it /g/? /G/, /g/, geiger?" After I was a little silly she was ready to get back in the game.

I chose to use those dot cards because my Three isn't real quick at knowing the dots on a die yet. Another reason is that it's a short game board. If your learner rolls a six three times, the game is over!

The dot cards gave her just enough turns without a single game overwhelming her.

After we played one game, she was willing to play one more. Each game adds a new letter's sound and bumps one sound off. So for example, the first game featured the sounds of m, s, and t. The second game features the sounds of s, t, and a.

I would say that she isolated (or stretched) the beginning sound correctly about 75% of the time. By the time we were finishing (after about 5-10 minutes), she was tired and gave up quickly. Ax (pictured above) was too hard.

So what do you think? Will these work for your learners? I hope you enjoy the 25 free games you can get in the download. These games come in color, but feel free to print in grayscale if you'd like.

BUILD A STRONG READING FOUNDATION

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If you have learners who struggle to isolate beginning sounds, these free phonemic awareness games are the perfect fit! Use them in preschool or kindergarten. Use them in literacy centers or small groups. #phonemicawareness #preschool #kindergarten

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A Sick Day for Amos McGee

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Mr. Miller sings the Blues, The Montgomery Nursery School Blues!

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Zoo animals are a lot of fun to learn about in preschool and a great theme for any time of the year.

Here's a hands-on zoo animal activity that practices fine motor and counting skills.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links

In this activity, children are given a zoo animal card with a number and circle spaces on it. The child pretends to "feed" the zoo animal in its cage by placing gems on the circles. You could also use beans, pasta, or pieces of play dough.

Building Concepts and Skills

This zoo activity covers several learning concepts. Since tweezers are used in this activity, children are practicing fine motor skills.

Fine motor skills are the actions that are performed in the hands, fingers, and wrists. Squeezing the tweezers together builds hand strength, which helps prepare children to write.

This activity is also a math activity. Children practice identifying numerals, counting, and one-to-one correspondence. One-to-one correspondence means counting each object once. Using hands-on activities to develop one-to-one correspondence skills is very effective because kids enjoy touching and manipulating the objects.

Supplies and Set Up

Here's what you need for this activity:

gems (craft store or dollar store)

kid tweezers

zoo animal printable

To set up the activity, print the cards on card stock and cut them out. Set out a container of gems and tweezers. Present a zoo animal card to a child and have him or her identify the number or count the number of circle spaces. Then, invite the child to use the tweezers to place the correct number of gems onto the circles.

If tweezers are too difficult to use, children can use their fingers.

This set has ten cards. Since the cards show zoo animals, you can review the names of the animals as you go through the cards. My children liked to make the sounds of that animal as we went through each card too!

This activity can be done individually with a child, in a classroom setting, or in a center.

What I love most about this activity is that my children had so much fun, they didn't even realize they were learning!

BIO: Angela is the writer of Teaching Mama, where she shares hands-on learning activities for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. She is a former teacher, turned stay-at-home-mom to 3 wonderful boys. She is also the author of The Preschool Journey, a great resource for preparing your child for Kindergarten. You can connect with her on Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram.

You may like these posts, too.
Zoo Animals Roll and Move Game
Preschool Books About the Zoo

Follow myZoo Theme Pinterest Board for more great ideas!

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Zoo animals are a lot of fun to learn about in preschool and a great theme for any time of the year. Here's a hands-on zoo animal activity that practices fine motor and counting skills. Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links In this activity, children are given a zoo animal card with a number and circle spaces on it.

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Have your kids mail a hug to friends and family that they don't see often! It's a fun, easy way to brighten someone's day.
Hi friends!

Last Fall, we did this mail a hug activity as part of our 75 Acts of Kindness for Kids challenge and it was a huge hit! We mailed one to my parents and one to my sister, since they both live several states away. It's such a simple activity but it really can brighten someone's day.

More Easy Kid Ideas
Here are your directions:

1. Spread out a long sheet of butcher paper.

2. Trace the child's head, arms, and upper torso onto the paper.

3. You can either cut it out now or decorate first and then cut. We used paint but markers or crayons would work just fine!

4. Print or write out the message below to accompany the hug.

5. Fold it all up, put in an envelope and mail!

Here's the message we use:

"I miss you when you're far away.
I'd love to see you every day.
But since I can't come over to play,
I'm mailing you a hug today.

So although it might be quite a sight,
wrap my arms around you tight.
Repeat daily to keep your smile bright,
until we get to reunite!"

We mailed a few more hugs this weekend to friends and family both near and far since we're all stuck at home right now!

I'd love to see pictures of your hugs if you mail some!

Enjoy!
-Lindsay-

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Mail A Hug: An Easy Way To Brighten Someone's Day

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Have your kids mail a hug to friends and family that they don't see often! It's a fun, easy way to brighten someone's day. Hi friends! Last Fall, we did this mail a hug activity as part of our 75 Acts of Kindness for Kids challenge and it was a huge hit!

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Spring flower fun

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Learning ten frames

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DIY Easter Ten-Frame Game - HAPPY TODDLER PLAYTIME

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A ten-frame is a simple tool that allows young children to visualize numbers graphically. Ten-frames allow kindergartners to be able to visualize that 7 is one more than 6 and one less than 8. Grab five Easter eggs, open them up and place them in the egg carton.

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Build a cardboard Zoo

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TheLearningStation - Kids Songs and Nursery Rhymes

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Five Little Ducks - Spring Songs for Children with Lyrics - Kids Songs by The Learning Station

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Use 2 dice to turn it into an addition game!

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It seems like every holiday is an excuse for kids to have candy. I've always found it amusing that we try to avoid candy any other time, but when a holiday rolls around the sweets are overflowing. Instead of eating ALL of the candy, I like to use it for math games. Of course, the kids will eat the candy while they are working, but at least all that extra energy is going to good use...lol! This free printable candy jar roll and count dice game for preschoolers is a great way to work on counting and number recognition while using up some of that leftover candy. And it works for any holiday!

Materials Needed for the Free Printable Candy Jar Roll and Count Math Activity:
Paper | Laminating Pouch or Dry Erase Pocket | Dice | Candy | Dry Eraser Marker
To prep: Print and laminate the candy jar roll and count mat (download below). You can also use a dry erase pocket to hold the mat if you can't laminate it.

To use: Roll your die, write the corresponding number or number word with the dry erase marker and show the correct number of candy pieces. Super easy!

We love this fun set of foam dice from Lakeshore and Learning Resources has a similar set that would work great as well. I prefer these dice sets over a regular 6-sided die because you can practice more numbers by using a 10 or 20-sided die.
More Great Activities: Free Printable Candy Corn Counting Cards for Preschoolers
If your child needs more of a challenge, use two dice, add them together and show the answer.
Pair the candy jar roll and count printable up with some fun books for a math and literacy activity!

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It seems like every holiday is an excuse for kids to have candy. I've always found it amusing that we try to avoid candy any other time, but when a holiday rolls around the sweets are overflowing. Instead of eating ALL of the candy, I like to use it for math games.

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My preschool students were back this morning after having a week off for spring break. They were all excited to see each other and were a little more energetic than usual. 🙂

Today we started the our study of the letter "Z" by doing some zebra themed activities. I can't believe we are at the end of the alphabet.

We began our morning by reading the book Milia's Big Day

by Thea Feldman. My aunt and uncle got my son this book and a zebra stuffed animal at Christmas, and they were just perfect for today. This book has beautiful pictures of real zebras from the African plains. The story kept the children's interest and I liked that there were facts on each page.

After the story we made letter "Z" zebras. I told the children that each zebra has a unique striping pattern. If you notice each of their zebras has a unique striping pattern as well. 🙂

To make the zebras each child cut out a letter "Z" that I had printed from Itty Bitty Bookworms. Next, they glued their "Z's" to a piece of construction paper. They added black stripes I had pre-cut from construction paper, a wiggly eye, an ear, a nose, and a mane (pieces of yarn). I think they turned out really cute.

Later, I taught the children this cute zebra song from Preschool Jungle. It was fun for the children to sing and they caught on quickly.

I'm a little zebra white and black,
With a bushy mane running down my back.
I like to gallop and run and play,
Out on the African plains all day.

I made up two zebra center activities today. The first was a set of zebra color cards. The children were to match each zebra with the correct clothespin. I color coded each word to ensure success.
Zebra Color Cards
Zebra Size Sorting Cards

If you wish to download and print the zebra color cards I created simply click on the link above.

We had a fun morning and I am looking forward to doing some zoo themed activities on Wednesday. Check back tomorrow when I will share how I made the Easter baskets the children decorated today.

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My preschool students were back this morning after having a week off for spring break. They were all excited to see each other and were a little more energetic than usual. 🙂 Today we started the our study of the letter "Z" by doing some zebra themed activities.

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Free printable to make the game

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Keep reading for some fun Dear Zoo activities for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten. These activities are sure to be a hit with your littles!

We are a participant in the amazon services llc associates program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliated sites. This post contains affiliate links. Click HERE to read our full disclosure.

Our June story of the month is Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell. This is such a fun lift-the-flap book that preschoolers absolutely love!

The author starts this story by saying, "I wrote to the zoo to send me a pet." Each page shows the animal that the zoo sent...you lift the flaps to discover the animal! Then the author says why he sent each animal back to the zoo. This same pattern repeats over and over until finally, the zoo sends the perfect pet! Can you guess what it is?!
Click on the picture to learn more about this fun book!

Check out these fun Dear Zoo activities that can help bring this story to life for your preschoolers or kindergartners. Activities include a snack, two craft ideas, and a FREE animal movement game that gets your little ones up and moving!

MONKEY COOKIES

How cute are these monkey cookies? Any little one would LOVE having these after reading Dear Zoo. ( You could also make these Giraffe Cookies, too!)

Ingredients:

Directions:

First, cover the Ritz cracker with peanut butter. Then put a Nilla wafer in the middle of the cracker toward the bottom. Make sure to leave room at the top for the eyes!

Next, take a Nilla wafer and break it in half. Each half will become an ear. Put the ears on the side of the monkey's head.

Add googly eyes in between the ears on the Ritz cracker (above the Nilla wafer).

Add the nose and mouth on the Nilla wafer with your edible marker and voila! You're done! They're almost too cute to eat!

PAPER CHAIN SNAKE

Have a trip to the zoo coming up? What about something else fun you're doing this summer?! Making a paper chain countdown is a great visual for our little ones to know how many days they have left before something fun happens. And if you turn it into a snake as one of your Dear Zoo activities, that's even better!

Supplies: Directions:

First, decide on the pattern you'd like to make for your snake. We chose three colors, but you could choose however many you'd like! This is a great opportunity to practice making patterns.

Fold each color paper in half, then in half again, then in half again! You should end up with 8 columns.

Cut the columns apart, then start making the snake. Use a stapler to connect the chains. If you're going to write on them or decorate them, make sure to do that first!

Add a head by cutting out a triangle and gluing it to the first chain. You can also add a tail!

Glue googly eyes on the head and add a red tongue, then you're done!

LION MASK

I normally only include one craft for each Story of the Month post, but I couldn't help but include two this month! These lion masks are so easy to make, and they give your little ones the chance to practice cutting and gluing (two skills that are great for fine motor development!)

Supplies: Directions:

Cut out the inside of a paper plate, leaving only the outside circle.

Have your little ones cut out strips of yellow and orange construction paper.

Have them glue the yellow and orange paper to the paper plate circle, creating a lion's mane. Make sure they give a loud ROAR!

MOVE LIKE AN ANIMAL GAME

Ready to get your little one up and moving?! It's time to Move Like an Animal! This is such a fun game that helps your little one work on their gross motor skills. Plus you can add in literacy practice, too!

First, download the FREE printable from our FREE Activity Library. Then, make the playing cube by gluing or taping one card to each side of a square tissue box. You can also cover the tissue box with wrapping paper first if you'd like...that's what we did! There are both color and black/white pictures, and there are enough for two different tissue boxes.

HOW TO PLAY

To play the game, take turns tossing the box and acting like the animal that's on the top. To add in some literacy practice, have your little ones spell their name or a sight word while acting like the animal. (They could stomp for each letter of their name when they're the elephant or flap their arms for each letter in a sight word when they're the parrot.)

Don't have a tissue box? No worries! You could also just flip these cards upside down, then take turns flipping them over and acting like the animals. Or tape them around the room and go on a safari! You could also print two sets and play Memory, acting out the animals once you get a match. There are so many possibilities!

And since this is one of our Dear Zoo activities, you could also use the animal cards to retell the story and talk about which animals are the same/different as the book.

This activity is free to download from our FREE Activity Library. The FREE Activity Library is password protected. If you'd like to get access, join our email community HERE and the password will be emailed to you as a thank you for joining! If you're already subscribed, you should already have the password. The password is updated every so often, so make sure you stay subscribed so you don't miss any of our freebies!

Have you read Dear Zoo? Do you have any fun zoo-themed activities that would be great for it? Comment below or find me on Instagram [@littleslovelearningblo g] and let me know! love these ideas? pin for later!

Did you miss any of our past Story of the Month posts? Click HERE to check them out!

Happy Learning!

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The BEST Dear Zoo Activities for Preschool & Kindergarten

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Keep reading for some fun Dear Zoo activities for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten. These activities are sure to be a hit with your littles! We are a participant in the amazon services llc associates program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliated sites.

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You can use paints or markers and crayons!

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Z is for a Preschool Paper Plate Zebra Art Project! The Olympics are starting soon, and we've been doing different activities to get to know different parts of the world that are participating in the games. Zebras are one of many animals that live wild in South Sudan, a county with athletes competing in the Olympics for the first time this year!

South Sudan has only been a country for a few years, since 2011. You can find it on a map in the middle of Africa. Inside of South Sudan you can find grasslands, savannas, wetlands, floodplains, woodlands, and high altitude plateaus! That's a lot of diversity in a small area! Some of the animals that live there include lions, elephants, giraffes, buffalo, bongo, hogs, chimpanzees, monkeys, and...zebra!

Fun Fact: The plural form of "zebra" is "zebra!"

For our preschool zebra craft, I wanted to do something with the kids that they could do all by themselves...and still have it look like a zebra! We do a lot of process art (which we all love), but the kids get a lot of satisfaction out of a project that actually resembles something they know about. We actually experimented with several zebra projects before we found one that was the perfect skill level for all our kiddos and, wouldn't you know, it ended up being a paper plate zebra!

STEP 1: Use black paint to draw stripes across the entire paper plate. This is wonderful fine motor exercise!

STEP 2: Paint a big black nose on the face!

STEP 3: Put some wiggly eyes on the face!

Step 4: Use white paint for a couple nostrils!

Step 5: Hang them up somewhere where they can be a great conversation starter! Everyone will want to know all about your preschool zebra craft because it's the most adorable zebra art project ever! :)

Would you like more Olympic-themed activities? I'm joining with other kid-bloggers to bring you more than 50 activities, projects, experiments, and more that all tie in to the 2016 Olympics! Check out all the other Olympic themed activities here!

There is also a challenge to complete 15 different types of activities to earn three medals! This printable challenge is also available here!

I may share at any of these parties!

Never miss another post again! Sign up for our weekly updates newsletter and get links to all our posts once a week in your inbox! Sign up here!!

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Z is for a Preschool Paper Plate Zebra Art Project! The Olympics are starting soon, and we've been doing different activities to get to know different parts of the world that are participating in the games. Zebras are one of many animals that live wild in South Sudan, a county with athletes competing in the Olympics for the first time this year!

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Animal Freeze Dance - THE KIBOOMERS Preschool Songs for Circle Time

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STEM activities are so popular these days and my girls love to create and build so I knew it was time to work on a STEM project! I made them a Zoo Themed STEM Challenge so that they could work on building and designing some of the buildings and places we've seen at the zoo. It was so easy to prep and used only things we already had on hand. That's a win right there! They had so much fun designing different habitats for their animals.

This post may contain affiliate links for your shopping convenience. View our full disclosure policy HERE.

Once I had the supplies all set up, I had my 5 year old pick a challenge card. She grabbed the "build a doorway tall enough for the giraffe" card. I showed her the building supplies and told her she could make it anyway that she wanted as long as it was tall enough to go over the giraffes' heads.

She pulled the giraffes out of the pile and got to work creating with toilet paper rolls and index cards.This one was easy for her!

Our next challenge was a little more, um, challenging. K picked out the "build a bridge" card. With this challenge the animals needed to be able to walk under the bridge while people walked on top.

She quickly set to work creating a bridge using toilet paper rolls and index cards. I went in search of "people" and found a few princesses.

We set the princesses on top of the bridge and the cards started to sag under the weight. I used it as a learning opportunity to push K to think of a way to improve her design. I showed her some of the other supplies and asked if there was anything that we could use that would be stronger than the index cards to hold up the princesses.

She quickly grabbed the popsicle sticks. She started laying them horizontally but then went back and made them vertical as well. She even made some weave in between the others.

She decided to go back and add the index cards to the top of the popsicle sticks to make a flat surface. The results were MUCH better this time. The bridge didn't sag under the weight of the people at all and the animals still had space to walk underneath. Mission accomplished!!

After that challenge, she quickly whipped up this one which was supposed to be a building where the workers could go. She made a building out of corks and index cards. This was easy compared to the bridge where she had to think and try out different solutions.

These are just a few of the 12 zoo challenge cards that I created. I love this activity because it is open ended. It challenges children to build and create but gives them some limitations and challenges to focus their creating. My girls LOVE creating and also loving playing with little characters and animals, so this was a perfect fit for them.

Do you want to try these zoo themed STEM challenges with your little learners? Just enter your information in the form below and the challenge cards will be emailed directly to you. Looking for some more STEM challenges? Try our Princess Themed STEM Challenge Freebie.

Need some more zoo inspiration? Check out some of these amazing ideas from some blogger friends!

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STEM activities are so popular these days and my girls love to create and build so I knew it was time to work on a STEM project! I made them a Zoo Themed STEM Challenge so that they could work on building and designing some of the buildings and places we've seen at the zoo.

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https://www.fun365.orientaltrading.com/recipe/zebra-striped-pretzel-wands

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Let's practice adding!

Begin by rolling the dice.

Place the amount rolled in the first section of your plate.

Place the next amount on the other side.

Combine the two groups into the large section of your plate.

Count the objects.

Language to use:

You rolled a 6 here. Here are 6 noodles.

On this side, you rolled a 4. Let's count them out. 1,2,3,4.

Let's put all the noodles together to see what we have.

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10! I see that! A group of 6, plus a group of 4, makes 10 total!

The fun started when my four-year-old was able to see the total before his eyes!

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Preschool Math Dice Game - Days With Grey

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Begin by rolling the dice. Place the amount rolled in the first section of your plate. Place the next amount on the other side. Combine the two groups into the large section of your plate. Count the objects. You rolled a 6 here. Here are 6 noodles.

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Learn about emotions with story stones!

My daughter has been struggling to put her emotions into words or express them in effective ways lately so to help her better understand and articulate her feelings, so we've been talking a lot about emotions and doing kids activities that center on learning emotions. Kids love to explore with simple hands-on activities so I put together this fun little variation on typical story stones.

Learn about Emotions with Build-a-Face Story Stones

Post contains affiliate links for your convenience, see my disclosure for more.

This kid's activity is a simple one. Round up some rocks and give each one a facial feature. I made eyes, noses, & mouths in different expressions and then set them out so my daughter and the daycare kids could create faces with them.
Emotion Story Stones Materials:
I'm sure you could easily create these with Sharpies but acrylic paints are all I had on hand so that's what I used. Thankfully my girls aren't put off by my lack of artistic skills and could figure out what each expression was.

The kids would create faces with the story stones and then take turns sharing them with the rest of us. We'd talk about the emotions they created, explaining how we feel and how we act when we are feeling that way. It's a great way to explore emotional intelligence in a way preschoolers can connect with.

Related Learning Activity: Emotion Charades Game for Preschoolers!

These opened a whole conversation about how they feel for each emotion created and how they can handle their bodies/feelings when experiencing said emotions.

"I cry when I'm sad. Waaaaahh."

"I run in my room by myself when I'm mad." *makes angry face*

"I scream like this *screams* when surprised/scared."

My daughter learned a lot from this. One big "aha" moment was the difference between being surprised and scared. She used the two terms interchangeably before this but as we were making the faces and talking about the situations that caused these feelings she realized being surprised didn't only mean in a scary way, she could be surprised and be happy.

How do you teach children about emotions?

Want more? Try this game:

Looking for more crafts and activities? Check out our index for 100+ plus kids activities! Find activities by theme, materials, skills, age and much more!

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Learn about emotions with story stones! My daughter has been struggling to put her emotions into words or express them in effective ways lately so to help her better understand and articulate her feelings, so we've been talking a lot about emotions and doing kids activities that center on learning emotions .

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Chapel Chat: The Easter Story & God's Goodness

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Today, we've got a special treat for you: an amazing guest post! Maia, from Kumarah Yoga, has been teaching yoga and mindfulness to children full-time for years and is sharing some of her knowledge with us today in the form of using yoga poses to help teach your children the alphabet. This is a fantastic opportunity for some full body, gross motor learning, which is absolutely perfect for those days that you're stuck indoors!
Yoga is an excellent and entertaining activity for kids. Yoga in schools is becoming increasingly popular with evidence to show that it helps kids with physical activity, mental stamina, and even empathy.

Doing yoga with kids at home or at school doesn't have to be complicated. Much of the reason that yoga is good for kids is based on the way they are moving their bodies and using their brains at the same time.

Most yoga poses require cross-body awareness, balance, mirroring, and weight-bearing actions. All of these movements help develop the vestibular and proprioceptive systems of the body, which help kids develop in a myriad of ways.

A great way to start doing yoga with little kids, especially, is to do poses that match the ABC's. Practicing and coming up with poses for each letter of the alphabet is an excellent physical and mental challenge that kids will enjoy from ages 2 and up!

When doing yoga poses with kids, it's most important to focus on having them copy the shape they see, either in the image or in your body if you are showing them. Don't worry about them getting it perfect right away, yoga is a practice. Plus, teaching them that trying is the most important part also helps them develop a growth mindset (bonus!).

Try these animal-themed kids yoga poses with your children or students. It's a great place to start learning yoga and incorporating it into your daily life. There are also several sets of kids yoga ABC cards on Amazon that are fun as well.

Many kids, when doing poses that are animal themed, will immediately start moving around acting and sound like the animal. That can be fun! If you'd rather have them just do the pose, remind them that yoga poses are like statues. We hold the pose still and breathe quietly. Go back and forth between moving and freezing if you need to practice.

Doing a whole set of animal-themed yoga poses also invites in a whole world of learning... teach your kids about where the animals come from, their habitat, their environment, and so much more!

Some of these poses are quite advanced for really little kids (and even adults!) so keep that in mind. There is always the option to modify and change the poses as necessary. Let them help you figure out a different shape for the animals or turn it into a movement game.

Here are the Animal ABC Yoga Poses for Kids!

**These poses are available in a printable PDF form if you'd prefer to use them away from your computer. You can find the printable download in Maia's Free Resource Library!**

Once you have tried these with your kids, let them help you come up with new poses for letters to further develop their imaginations. Add in nature poses, character poses from books or movies, seasonal poses and so much more.

Get out there and do some yoga with your kids!

Maia is a 5th year Movement Teacher at Hiawatha Leadership Academy in Minneapolis, MN. She has been teaching yoga, mindfulness, and movement full-time to kids for over 6 years. She has trained in Yoga Calm, Little Lotus, Super Stretch, Street Yoga, Baptiste, and Mindful Schools.

Maia is also the founder of Kumarah Yoga, an online resource for kids yoga teachers in studios and public schools around the world. She writes blog articles, kids yoga lesson plans, and mindfulness resources, with many available in her Free Resources Library. She is especially passionate about teaching yoga to kids with an equity mindset, making sure that yoga can be accessible to all kids of all backgrounds.

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Today, we've got a special treat for you: an amazing guest post! Maia, from Kumarah Yoga, has been teaching yoga and mindfulness to children full-time for years and is sharing some of her knowledge with us today in the form of using yoga poses to help teach your children the alphabet.

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This alphabet scavenger hunt was the perfect activity to do when we were stuck at home indoors. It actually occupied my 7 year old and 4 year old for over an hour with only minimal help from me! Win!

Materials Needed:

Sticky Notes

Marker

Objects from around the house

What to Do:

Ask participants to find objects around the house that begin with each letter of the alphabet. That's it! Because your kids will inevitably ask you for help, here is a list of words that begin with each letter that you may have lying around the house.

Words for Each Letter of the Alphabet

A: apple, applesauce, airplane, astronaut, alligator, ax, ant

B: ball, banana, boat, brick, box, bag, bed, bear, bat

C: car, cookie, cake, cat, cob, cow, candy

D: dog, dragon, drum, dime, doll, duck, dump truck

E: elephant, ear, eye, egg, elf

F: frog, feather, fish, flower, flamingo, fire, flashlight

G: giraffe, game, girl, goat, ghost, gift, goose, gorilla, guitar

H: helicopter, hammer, heart, hat, hand, horse, heart, house

I: ice cream, ice, inch, island, insect,

J: joker, jacket, jam, jewel, jet

K: ketchup, knife, knot, kazoo, kiwi, koala, kangaroo, key, kettle

L: lizard, lion, leopard, ladder, lamb, leaf, leg, lock, lips, lemon, light

M: mouse, mail, map, mat, match, mitten, man, money

N: nickel, nail, net, nest, nose, nut

O: Oreos, octopus, orange, onion

P: pan, pen, Pokemon, pig, pet, pink, pot, pizza, pumpkin, pear, pretzel

Q: quarter, queen, quilt, quartz, quail, question mark

R: reptile, rabbit, rake, rat, red, ring, rocket, rose, rainbow, rhino, robot

S: scissors, snake, strawberry, star, stop sign, sun, snail

T: teacup, ten, tomato, toad, tiger, table, tail, toy, telephone, tractor, tooth, turtle, tree

U: Uno, umbrella, utencils, underwear, uniform, unicorn, ukulele

V: vase, vine, vest, vegetable, van, volcano, violin

W: whistle, wand, walrus, whale, white, watermelon, wolf, worm

X: x-ray, xylophone

Y: yoyo, yellow, yam, yak, yolk

Z: zebra, zero, zig zag, zipper

More Educational Activities to do at Home

Here are some more simple and educational activities you can do at home:

And don't forget to check out our NEW book-100 Easy STEAM Activitiesis full of fun games and creative projects to learn early concepts in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math with materials you already have around the house!

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Alphabet Scavenger Hunt ⋆ Raising Dragons

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This alphabet scavenger hunt was the perfect activity to do when we were stuck at home indoors. It actually occupied my 7 year old and 4 year old for over an hour with only minimal help from me! Win!

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W is for WIGGLES! Use this quick video as a music and movement break during your day!

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TheLearningStation - Kids Songs and Nursery Rhymes

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Shake Your Sillies Out ♫ Brain Breaks Songs for Kids ♫ Kids Action Songs by The Learning Station

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Mrs. Miller reads Easter Eggs Everywhere

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I love Easter but I'm not a fan of the post-celebration sugar crash. These Easter egg action cards are the perfect solution - they're fun, energy burning and even educational! Whether you use them as a non-candy Easter egg stuffer on the big day or sneak them in as a playful counting activity, they're sure to make your kiddos smile.

Getting Ready

To prep, I simply printed the free action cards (below) and cut along the dashed lines to separate the strips.

(You could step up the fun factor by printing the sheet on neon cardstock too!)

I grabbed one card at a time, folded it in fourths, and placed it inside a plastic Easter egg.

When all of the eggs were stuffed, I scurried around the house hiding them just like the Easter Bunny.

Action Easter Egg Hunt

Middle Brother (age 4.5) couldn't wait to start! He eagerly ran from one room to the next hunting for eggs. Each time he found one, he opened it and pulled out the action card hiding inside.

He hopped like a bunny, kicked like a ninja, twirled and sideways stepped. He loved the challenge of finding his next egg and I loved that he was burning off some extra energy, counting AND reading! It was a major win-win.

Grab Your Action Cards

Ready to start stuffing your eggs?! Click the blue button below to download your set and then hop over and check out our 15 favorite non-candy Easter basket stuffers!

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Easter Egg Action Cards - Playdough To Plato

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I love Easter but I'm not a fan of the post-celebration sugar crash. These Easter egg action cards are the perfect solution - they're fun, energy burning and even educational! Whether you use them as a non-candy Easter egg stuffer on the big day or sneak them in as a playful counting activity, they're sure to ...

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Affiliate links may be sprinkled throughout the awesome, free content you see below. I'll receive a small commission if you purchase from my links (at no extra cost to you), which I'll totally blow on awesome things like adding more free content to this website. :)

Easter is coming.... so I am back today with another cute kid's Easter Craft. Today's template is a super cute Bunny Ears Headband. This cute headband is easy to make and it is perfect for kids of all ages. It will make the perfect addition to your child's easter morning outfit or just something fun to wear for the annual Easter Egg Hunt. Your kids will love it!

More Easter Craft and Activities for Kids

Before we get to the step by step Easter Bunny Ears Headband tutorial, here are some more fun Easter Ideas that you should check out on Party with Unicorns:

Easter Bunny Ears Headband Supplies

Supplies needed for this craft project are the following:

Printed Easter Bunny Ears Headband Template

Ruler

Scissors

Glue

And there you have it, a cute set of Easter Bunny Ears for your kids! Be sure to check out all of our Easter crafts here for more fun. You can also check our list of Sugar-Free Easter Recipes to find some super fun treats without the sugar meltdown. Have a fun Eastern season to all!

Carolyn is an Event Manager, Etsy Seller, Crafter and mum to three small kids. When she's not blogging, she can be found chasing after her kids or enjoying a large, strong cup of coffee.
Affiliate links may be sprinkled throughout the awesome, free content you see below. I'll receive a small commission if you purchase from my links (at no extra cost to you), which I'll totally blow on awesome things like adding more free content to this website. :)

Easter is coming.... so I am back today with another cute kid's Easter Craft. Today's template is a super cute Bunny Ears Headband. This cute headband is easy to make and it is perfect for kids of all ages. It will make the perfect addition to your child's easter morning outfit or just something fun to wear for the annual Easter Egg Hunt. Your kids will love it!

More Easter Craft and Activities for Kids

Before we get to the step by step Easter Bunny Ears Headband tutorial, here are some more fun Easter Ideas that you should check out on Party with Unicorns:

Easter Bunny Ears Headband Supplies

Supplies needed for this craft project are the following:

Printed Easter Bunny Ears Headband Template

Ruler

Scissors

Glue

And there you have it, a cute set of Easter Bunny Ears for your kids! Be sure to check out all of our Easter crafts here for more fun. You can also check our list of Sugar-Free Easter Recipes to find some super fun treats without the sugar meltdown. Have a fun Eastern season to all!

Carolyn is an Event Manager, Etsy Seller, Crafter and mum to three small kids. When she's not blogging, she can be found chasing after her kids or enjoying a large, strong cup of coffee.

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Easter Bunny Ears Headband - Craft for Kids

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Easter is coming.... so I am back today with another cute kid's Easter Craft. Today's template is a super cute Bunny Ears Headband. This cute headband is easy to make and it is perfect for kids of all ages.