Animals are just so much fun to learn about! Learning about zoo animals is a great spring theme for preschoolers. Today I’m sharing our zoo animals dramatic play activity for preschoolers. Before doing the dramatic play activity, we created zoo animal cages. I used the following materials: To make the cages, I took the flaps off the…
I can’t believe it’s already May! Every month, I share ideas for listening center books and this month, I’m sharing lots of great books for the month of May! In the printable below, you’ll find a QR code that students can scan to listen to the story being read aloud. How QR Code Cards Work…
The end of the school year is the perfect time to celebrate all your students’ hard work! I love using this End of the Year Alphabet Countdown Calendar as a fun way to finish the year! Wrap up the last 26 days of school with a fun activity for each day! About the Calendar The…
The holidays are great, but after a few days off of school, the kids can go stir crazy and the days can get long! If you live where it’s cold and with less sun during the day, you know this to be especially true! This winter break, don’t worry about how to keep the kids…
Holiday shopping is in full swing! If you’re like me, you’re always looking for the BEST toys for your child. Today I’m here to help you find the best toys for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. Since I’ve had three boys, we’ve had a fair amount of toys in our house. Some would say we have…
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Amazon. Not too long ago, I bought a portable document camera to try out. I have to say…it’s so great! I didn’t have anything like this when I was teaching, but I know that it’s very common for classrooms to have something similar. A lot of document cameras…
Summer is almost here! We can’t wait for a more relaxed schedule and for all the adventures we’ll have. During the summer, it’s so important for kids to keep reading! We’re planning to read at least 30 minutes a day. This will help my kids stay on track with learning. Sometimes kids need a little…
Boom Cards are great for home learning or independent practice in a classroom. I love them because they are self-checking, which helps the student know if they are getting the answers correct and gives teachers insight into what a student knows. If you are new to Boom Learning, I’m here to help! Here are a…
The 2020/2021 School Year is approaching fast! Guidelines are now starting to roll out in many states, and the question on many parents’ minds…what do we do? Do we send our kids to school in masks? Do we split time between home and school? Do we homeschool? If you are asking yourself the last question,…
One thing I always try to incorporate in my lesson plans is children’s books. Books are so powerful and are very useful with connecting with children. I’ve found that using books for teaching the alphabet is so helpful for little ones. There are so many great books out there, but today I want to share…
Disclosure: I am a blog ambassador for Lakeshore Learning and am compensated for my work. I received product free of charge. As always, my thoughts and opinions are 100% mine. Every October, we get sent toy catalogs that my kids love looking through. They circle toys they want for Christmas and have the best time doing it. I…
Disclosure: I am a blog ambassador for Lakeshore Learning and am compensated for my work. I received product free of charge, but all thoughts and opinions are 100% mine. Dramatic play is important to a child’s development. Children need time to play make-believe and do open-ended play activities. The great part about dramatic play is that there are no…
The preschool age is such an exciting time! They are like sponges, soaking up so much information and changing by the day. I love teaching this age because there is a lot you can do! So much learning goes on during play activities and the children are eager to learn about so many topics. A preschool…
Do you have a train lover in your family? My two younger boys (ages 5 and 2) are big fans of trains. When my middle son was younger, there were days were all we did was play trains. I really wondered if there would be a day where he wouldn’t like trains?! It’s safe to say…
I love talking about teaching literacy. In fact, I love it so much that I minored in literacy in college. I talk to lots of moms teaching preschool at home and a lot of them want to know what children need to know before they head off to Kindergarten. This Preschool Literacy 101 post will go into…
It is important for beginning readers to practice sight words. Sight words are word that are most frequently used and they appear on almost every page of text. These are also words that can’t necessarily be sounded out, so they need to be memorized. For example, if you sound out the word ‘the’ it would sound…
It’s no secret that I love the preschool age! I mean, this blog is all about preschool! 🙂 Through the years we’ve had many toys and today I’m sharing the toys we love for the preschool age! I hope this list will help you as you buy gifts this Christmas season! In no particular order,…
It’s that time of year where we have a lot of rain in our forecast. Sometimes it’s hard to come up with new ideas to keep little ones busy, so today I am sharing 15 ways to keep kids busy on rainy days. Or you really could use these ideas any time you need something different to keep kids busy!…
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting my site. A few months ago, I wrote a post on using quiet time boxes when a child stops taking naps. I like to call these quiet time boxes a sanity saver! It is so nice to have peace and quiet for at least an hour each afternoon….
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. See my disclosure for more information. Busy bags are an awesome way to keep toddlers and preschooler quietly occupied. Today I’m sharing all about busy bags, as well as some examples of how to put them together. What is a Busy Bag? Busy bags are simple activities stored in…
Zoo Booklet              Preschool Planning Sheet      Weather Board         Star Number Cards        Counting Bugs Worksheet    Â