Beg, Borrow, Steal! by Melissa Mifflin

Mystery Doug videos

2022-09-15 21:04:15 UTC

Kids LOVE these and they spark curiosity and conversations about things in nature! It can lead to nature exploration.

2022-09-15 21:04:40 UTC

We learn a version of code alphabet and teach the older children, then they write notes to friends or families.

Outdoor Nap-mats

2022-09-15 21:04:41 UTC

Have your teachers take their class outside with their nap mats to watch the clouds and think through what shapes or figures they see

I introduce the materials to children and allow time for exploration.

2022-09-15 21:04:48 UTC

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Encourage students to talk to each other during STEM activities- team work at its finest!

Take your sensory bin outside!

2022-09-15 21:05:00 UTC

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Use of Magnatiles for different units (i.e. build a farm, build houses, etc.)
Nature Walks for about 10 minutes to do your morning meeting and discuss the weather.

2022-09-15 21:05:22 UTC

As children are engaged in play I’ll ask them what else they might need for their structure or they’re pretend play.

2022-09-15 21:05:51 UTC

Our kids love creating and experimenting with different items to put in our wind tunnel!

Getting Loose Parts Supplies

2022-09-15 21:06:01 UTC

I send a list home with recyclable items and odds-and-ends for parents to collect and send to me throughout the year. I often have so much I can share with others.

2022-09-15 21:06:04 UTC

Nature bracelet use wide clear tape go on a walk and kids can stick things on it. Place another pice of tape on top

Nature letter walk

2022-09-15 21:06:16 UTC

find nature objects that may look like a letter in the alphabet

2022-09-15 21:06:40 UTC

Allowing messy play …. And exploration outdoors in the small nature area we have.
Ex: Mud day,

2022-09-15 21:08:09 UTC

Get sand from the beach. Take the kids outside and build sand castles, or they can simply write letters in the sand.

Laugh more. Worry less.

2022-09-16 19:12:48 UTC

Reading

2022-09-16 19:13:19 UTC

Use props to bring a story to life. Be animated and make the characters come to life.

2022-09-16 19:13:29 UTC

Sometimes I’m Bombaloo - great book for Social Emotional Learning

We have a shoe monster....that steal the kids shoes at naptime every so often. They are often found in really odd places...hanging from a tree, in the freezer, on the fence posts, etc.

2022-09-16 19:13:37 UTC

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We have a loam pit instead of sand pit. It feels so much better than sand and gets everywhere, but loam is good for the grass so it’s all good.

2022-09-16 19:13:59 UTC

The pigeon books by mo willems is great for over exaggerating, child participation, and it is very funny for kids. Has topics like going to school, going to sleep, taking a bath etc

Books

2022-09-16 19:14:00 UTC

What was I scared of?

Puppets, that go along with the stories. A class puppet too.

2022-09-16 19:14:14 UTC

Reading more rhymes and allegation with my toddler children.

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2022-09-16 19:18:01 UTC

We have a school mascot (dog) named Mr. Weenie who comes to school and pops in and out of the classes for the teachers and children to make sure everyone is having a good day and feel good.

😄

2023-02-11 18:22:21 UTC

Creating art with students

Nature Journaling

2023-02-11 18:22:29 UTC

I want to bring nature journaling into my classroom and make sure my children get outside and enter act with nature around them!

2023-02-11 18:22:40 UTC

If a kid asks to be called a silly name, I call them that name the entire day. (Ex. Naked Mole Rat)

2023-02-11 18:23:02 UTC

Incorporate more movement into lessons with students of all ages

2023-02-11 18:23:04 UTC

incorporate art and/or music

Check ins

2023-02-11 18:23:07 UTC

Sunshine’s and clouds

English

2023-02-11 18:23:07 UTC

Kids act out their favorite character and have other people guess who it is

Movement!

2023-02-11 18:23:12 UTC

Freeze dance is a lot of fun for children of all ages. There are premade videos or the teacher can pause and play the music!

2023-02-11 18:23:17 UTC

I play with puppets with students and have seen puppets used to teach social skills interactions

Vocab match ups to get the students up and active with vocabulary and hands up pair up about the essential questions!

2023-02-11 18:23:18 UTC

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Having students share their ideas, but pass something around to be able to share. Whatever it may be can be related to the subject material. Ex. In science you can have the, talking fossil, and the students are able to share their ideas when they have possession of the fossil.

Fraction friends

2023-02-11 18:23:39 UTC

Fraction game where you have fractions eqivilent to each other on popsicle sticks and the students have to find each other

2023-02-11 18:23:47 UTC

Reading buddies! Stuffed animals or characters that children can hold on to while reading to a group or class, to give them more confidence and help them not feel alone while doing the activity.

Mnemonics

2023-02-11 18:23:54 UTC

Mnemonics are a fun way to play with words which rhyme in order to help with memorization for tests!

2023-02-11 18:24:54 UTC

nature walks, everybody has to collect a “piece of nature” and bring it to the classroom. we then make nature collages.

2023-02-11 18:25:42 UTC

I’m an art teacher so I enjoy the practice of having students work together and a good way to make them work together is table buddies. This is where we have 2-4 people at a table and they are “table buddies” it is up to each table to clean and maintain their space and get points for the most clean table. And at the end of the 6 weeks or whatever, whichever buddies group gets the most points they get a surprise!! This make sure the children properly clean and maintain their space and will enjoy doing it!

Family Posters

2023-04-01 16:10:19 UTC

We post family posters in our classrooms from infants to preschool.

Read Alouds

2023-04-01 16:11:49 UTC

Bringing in things of the children’s interest or experiences they going through in a great way to help them understand emotions and problem solving skills.

2023-04-01 16:11:53 UTC

We have painted using skin color tones, allowing them to paint their hands and treat it like foundation. We have various books about diversity, dolls of different ethnicities, clothes and foods from our different cultures.

2023-04-01 16:12:01 UTC

Provide extra and back up materials to create their master piece 🫶🏽

I try to really get to know each student and their families so I can understand who each child is and where they come from

2023-04-01 16:12:31 UTC

Circle time

2023-04-01 16:12:58 UTC

Giving time to my students to express and talk about important topics, events, emotions as a whole classroom community.

2023-04-01 16:13:17 UTC

I have a variety of colors of crayons to reflect the different skin tones of my students in every center.

Spirit of play Outside

2024-02-17 17:06:23 UTC

Play duck-duck goose! We ‘race’ and play red light green light

Clouds/Art/Weather

2024-02-17 19:04:55 UTC

Lie down outside and look at the clouds!

Outdoor kitchen to incorporate our garden in our school environment.

2024-02-17 19:05:01 UTC

Nature walk

2024-02-17 19:05:51 UTC

We go for a nature walk around our school and find items that begin with the letter of the week.

2024-02-17 19:06:37 UTC

Collecting rocks, acorns and object found outside can create an amazing art project. We used these items to make musical rain sticks, nature collages or windchimes

Nature Walks

2024-02-17 20:33:51 UTC

Children are given a baggie to collect any items that they can grab items outside to bring into the classroom to make a nature tray!

2024-02-17 20:34:47 UTC

We play stop and go and whoever the winner is gets to be king of the mountain and we hold them high and and let the kids yell yay

garden days

2024-02-17 20:35:59 UTC

When it’s the week of garden days we go on a walk and give the kids an opportunity to plant some seeds as water the garden

2024-02-17 20:37:35 UTC

We have games outside that turn into more kids joining. Tag is a popular game and hide and seek as long as teachers are paying attention

On good weather days we love having picnics

2024-02-17 20:37:55 UTC

Students place hula hoops on the ground and create their own games such as color tag or their own version of hop scotch.

Movement cards

2024-02-17 20:38:41 UTC

Student picks a card and does the movement associated. Example yoga

Investigating bugs around the playground!

2025-04-05 14:51:06 UTC

(Also learning how to be respectful to the bugs)

2025-04-05 14:52:07 UTC

I allow students to explore and observe the bugs that we have outside.

Go outside and collect like things/items. Make a collection out of them and identify the items. You can collect according to color, object, or size.

2025-04-05 14:52:17 UTC

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Bringing in outdoor items to put in the discovery table in the classroom

2025-04-05 14:52:47 UTC

_{Children are given a baggie to collect any items that they can grab items outside to bring into the classroom to make a nature tray!l or a sensory bag.!}

2025-04-05 14:52:56 UTC

When we play with kinetic sand I let the kids kids roll it in there hands and let it fall through there fingers

2025-04-05 14:53:37 UTC

I usually let each of my student share what activities they do during the weekend, asked them the weather and what they ate and they all excited to share it.

Nature walks

2025-04-05 14:56:29 UTC

Children collect nature items they find. We use this things to make a nature collage, we create them into painting utensils, measuring of them, compare and contrast (size, weight, colors and shapes), etc.

2025-04-05 15:41:50 UTC

Barefoot Grounding activities for emotional regulation!

2025-04-05 15:42:14 UTC

We utilize loose parts and real items in every center. Promotes problem solving and individual development.

Outdoor play

2025-04-05 15:43:45 UTC

Our playground has live oaks on it. We have an abundance of natural items for children to choose from. We use them for fun activities. Lately we have been raking leaves (it's April).

Brunches

2025-04-05 15:44:32 UTC

Collect diferent types of small brunches and use them as brushes to paint.

Environmental Stewardship

2025-04-05 15:46:05 UTC

We have talked a lot about caring for the environment, how we can be heros as we help. We've excitedly counted how many pieces of trash we have found on our walks, and most recently weighed the amount we have found.

outside activity

2025-04-05 15:47:11 UTC

my class loves to take rocks and sticks and make a village

they love to use their senses and math

2025-04-05 15:47:16 UTC

For a fun and engaging STEM activity for preschoolers, try a sink or float experiment using everyday objects in a bowl of water, encouraging predictions and observations about which items float and which sink.

Planting Seeds: Let preschoolers plant seeds in small pots and observe their growth over time, teaching them about the life cycle of plants.