I love handprint crafts. They are always so cute and they capture the size of my children's hands, which are growing so quickly! Today I'm sharing with you a fun Valentine's craft with the "You Make My Heart Flutter" phrase on it. Here's what you need for the craft: paint construction paper googly eyes pipe cleaners glue marker Before doing the activity, cut two large hearts and one small heart out of construction paper. Also cut out a long oval for the butterfly's … [Read more...]
Hibernation Activities for Preschoolers
The winter season is the perfect time for children to learn about hibernation. Kids are naturally curious and they like to know what animals do during the winter months. Since my kids ask a lot of questions, we've done several activities to teach them about hibernation. The kids had fun and we learned a lot! First off, we talked about what hibernation means and which animals hibernate. I created a small emergent reader book for them to read. I made two versions. One is very simple and … [Read more...]
Winter Songs for Preschoolers
I love to teach songs and chants to my little ones. They enjoy music, especially ones that go along with the season! Today, I'm sharing with you some songs and chants about winter. They are great for toddlers and preschoolers! You can use them in a classroom or in your homeschool. At the end of the post you'll find a link to download the PDF copy of the songs. Snowball -- This is a fun song that you can incorporate actions into! You could even have kids wad up paper into "snowballs" if … [Read more...]
Winter Clothes Dress Up Busy Bag
It is absolutely freeeeezing where we live! During this time of the year, it takes so much longer to get out the door because we have so many more items of clothing to put on. Can you relate to this, too?! One skill that is important for preschoolers to know, is how to dress appropriately for the weather. Today's activity is a Winter Clothes Dress Up Busy Bag and it is a great way to talk about the appropriate clothes worn during winter. Plus it's a fun and easy busy bag to put … [Read more...]
The Importance of Play in Early Childhood
The early years are a time filled with play and non-stop learning. While we all know that children learn during play, it is fascinating to understand just how much brain development occurs during play and how it is really the medium through which young children learn everything. Here is a reminder of just some of the benefits, so that next time you start a fun activity with your children or watch them as they play in the garden, you can be reassured that what they are doing has amazing … [Read more...]
The Very Busy Spider Activities
What little child doesn’t love an Eric Carle book?! The Very Busy Spider is a super fun book that can be used to learn about spiders. I am going to show you how to use it and cover geography, literacy, theatre arts, math, science, art & crafts, fine motor skills, and hand & eye coordination activities. You can also discuss the importance of being a hard worker and finishing your work before you go play as seen demonstrated in the book by the very busy spider. The Arts A fun way … [Read more...]
Fire Safety Activities for Kids
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Amazon. Fire Safety Week is October 7th-13th this year. I have to be totally honest we’ve never done fire safety week at our house before. Before now I would have not known what to do in an emergency situation. I feel like we should’ve addressed this sooner, especially since the house behind us had a bad fire recently. Since this was a new topic for me I approached it like all themes. I listed out what I wanted the kids to learn and then put … [Read more...]
Community Helpers Clip Cards
Yesterday I shared with you printable posters for community helpers. Today I'm sharing an activity for child to practice knowing what tools community helpers use. This is a fun way to practice identifying community helpers and what their jobs are! Here's what you need for this activity: clothespins printable (download at the bottom of this post) paper laminator (optional) scissors Begin by printing out the printable. Cut apart each row so you have strips. I used a … [Read more...]
Community Helpers Printable Posters
Learning about community helpers is important for little ones. They need to know the types of jobs people do to help the community keep running. I created a set of community helpers printable posters to help teach this. Before teaching about community helpers, make sure you explain what a community is. It can be small with only a few buildings and homes or the opposite, with a large population. The community helpers are people that help each other by offering goods and services. There … [Read more...]
The Best Songs for Preschoolers
I love music! If you've been following for awhile, you know that I love to create songs and use music and movement for learning. So much research backs up the importance of music. And you know what? Kids love songs! They don't care if they are good at singing, they just do it! Today I'm sharing my favorite music ideas for preschool classrooms. Of course you could use these with younger or older children, too! Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. See my disclosure for … [Read more...]