When I first started homeschooling with my oldest, I had so much fun planning themed lessons. I would pride myself on finding free printables that I would laminate and cut out. We would play new games every week! I soon realized after having a 2nd child, I had less time to do this prep work. So, naturally, when I had my 3rd I had to face reality that time for prep work had gone down considerably and I had to prioritize spending time with kids instead of prepping as much. Therefore, I knew I … [Read more...]
5 Ways to Teach the Alphabet
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Amazon. See my disclosure for details. Teaching the alphabet is foundational for reading and writing. Around the age of 2, children begin showing interest in learning alphabet letters. While some kids learn letters very quickly, others need more repetition and time to learn letters. Today I'm going to share with you some of my favorite ways to teach the alphabet to little ones. This post contains affiliate links. See my disclosure for … [Read more...]
Fingerprint Valentine’s Day Craft
Every holiday has decorations, because who doesn’t love them?! I finally got around to putting away the Christmas bins and realized that Valentine’s Day was coming soon and with last year’s purge we got rid of most our old decorations. That left me with candles and some kids craft packets for Valentine’s Day. With the kids getting older I thought what a great way for the kids to get involved; we were going to do DIY Valentine’s Décor! Sure, paint or beads might have ended up on the floor, and … [Read more...]
Candy Heart Math Printables
Valentine's Day is just around the corner, so today I'm sharing candy heart math printables to use with preschoolers. Here's a peek at what's inside this math packet: First, there's practice with counting and number sense. Just have the child place the candy hearts in the ten-frames. The purpose of this activity is for kids to visualize quantities and develop number sense. By grouping them by tens,it helps the child understand what ten of something looks like. Math Skill: Number … [Read more...]
Winter Sensory Bin
Winter is in full swing! Brrr! The temperatures here are absolutely freezing this week. I realized we've never made a winter sensory bin, so I decided it was time! I love how it turned out. We used a few different items from the kitchen and the colors are beautiful and icy blue. Winter Sensory Bin Supplies: large plastic bin (this one works well!) blue and silver paint (we used acrylic and washable paint) rice star-shaped pasta (found at Target) short cylinder pasta (found … [Read more...]
Celery Heart Stamps
Have you ever used fruits or vegetables for art? You can make some pretty cool things with them! We used leftover celery to make heart stamps. It's so easy, too! Materials for Celery Heart Stamps: celery stalks washable paint jars or bowls paper For this craft, find a celery stalk that looks like the shape of a heart. Not all celery stalks look like this, so you may have to check over your stalks. Then just dip the end into paint and stamp it onto paper. You don't want a … [Read more...]
Life Cycle of Snowflakes Booklet
It's snowing like crazy today! In fact, the boys didn't have school today because of the snow. Watching the snow fall had got me thinking about the life cycle of snowflakes. I put together a booklet to teach little ones how a snowflake is formed. It's really quite cool! First, let me recommend the book we love to read. It has so many great facts about snowflakes! It's called The Story of Snow by Mark Cassino. The facts in this book inspired me to write this printable booklet for … [Read more...]
Arctic Animals Alphabet Puzzle
Winter is the perfect time to learn about arctic animals! I know my boys are always interested to learn about animals and these animals are quite interesting! I've put together an arctic animals alphabet puzzle. This is a great way for kids to work on recognizing alphabet letter and putting them in order. Here's what you need: Arctic Animals Puzzle card stock paper wide craft sticks glue scissors Print the puzzle on card stock paper. Then cut each alphabet letter apart. … [Read more...]
You Make My Heart Flutter Valentine Craft
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...]
Melting Snowman Craft
We're having unseasonably warm temperatures this winter, which inspired me to create this melting snowman craft. I mean, if we did have any snow right now, this is what would a snowman would look like! This craft is so cute and easy to make! We used our homemade puffy paint recipe, which dries puffy and makes this craft look unique! Here's what you need: 1.5 cups of shaving cream (The best kind is Barbasol - off brands make the puffy paint not work as well) 1/2 cup Elmer's white … [Read more...]