Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds

15+ Spider Activities Your Preschoolers Will Love Spiders! We love learning about them all year, but especially in the fall, as it gets close to Halloween. Each year I change things up a bit, so my spider collection keeps growing. This is my favorite collection of spider activities because there’s a little bit of everything – sensory, snacks, songs, fine motor, gross motor … and, of course, spider art! So check these out and let me know which ones you’ve tried!...

When you need to put an activity together quickly, you search for simple art ideas. We see a lot of fun activities on Pinterest and have good intentions of getting them done, but there’s this thing called time. You might be looking for a Christmas activity that can be done for Sunday School, or a play group, or an event that is only 30 minutes or so. You might be looking for something your child can put together at the kitchen table that does not require a lot of materials....

We’ve all had busy kids in our classroom. They want to move, move, move! So we created a collection of art ideas that have larger motions, perfect for those with lots of energy. Paper Tube Painting – Use the arm to move paper tubes up and down in paint. Sensory Art in a Bag – Use hands to pat, pat, pat the bag and move around the paint mixture. Spin Art – Work the upper body while making the salad spinner move paint on paper....

Using natural materials and warm, earth colors are some of my favorite classroom decoration ideas. The longer I teach, the less I desire having traditional preschool primary colors in our environment. Each year I have substituted wood for plastic so that we have few plastic pieces left. I’ve shared this in my classroom tour. I bring plants indoors, as well as different textures. It creates a homey environment that makes our toddlers and preschoolers feel welcomed....

Inside: Creating watercolor leaf art is a fun way to work on fine motor skills. Press onto sticky paper and you have a beautiful window display! Fall is the perfect time to add leaf art to your day! After observing the many colors of leaves in your neighborhood, invite your toddlers and preschoolers to create their own leaves with vibrant watercolors. Using droppers strengthens the hands and fingers, getting them stronger for writing....

Inside: Add this cute free printable snowman prop to your circle time. Fun for the winter theme! Looking for ideas to get toddlers and preschoolers engaged during your winter circle time? We’ve created this free snowman printable prop that can be used while reading books, reciting rhymes, and singing songs! You can make enough so that each child gets their own prop to hold. Scroll towards the bottom of this page to find the link to the free download!...

Preschoolers love to help in the kitchen. Have you noticed that? They want to do what we do! So, we love to add cooking activities with our little friends. I look for recipes that are easy and tasty, and that is why I chose this easy chocolate chip banana muffins recipe. I’ve found that with a bit of preparation ahead of time, cooking with kids can be quite fun! Yes, even with a class of 16....

Toddlers love to stamp objects. You might recall our toddler ocean art painting, and our color mixing with paper tubes. This is the same concept. Instead this time we used empty sewing spools. It turned out to be such an easy snowman art activity for toddlers! They got to do what they love most: moving objects up and down. Having fun at the art table! Over the years we’ve found that our toddlers prefer process art as well....

Hanging Jellyfish Craft for Preschoolers Then press the tissue paper squares on top of the glue. One of our last themes for our school year is the ocean theme. Most of our preschoolers have visited the beach, so this theme is very meaningful to them. This year we added the most beautiful watercolor jellyfish craft to our art table. BUT, if you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you know I am not really keen on crafts....

Inside: These easy apple muffins are a fun way to introduce toddlers to baking. I’ve included free printable sequence cards and a booklet to make this cooking activity even more fun! Cooking with toddlers can be a bit stressful. Especially when you have as many as I do. Ten! But I’ve learned how to take some steps ahead of time that make cooking with little ones so much easier. And I used these steps when we recently made delicious and easy apple muffins....

Disclosure: I was given a free copy of Art Parts: A Child’s Introduction to the Elements of Art for review. This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. I have written quite a few posts on the value of art in the preschool classroom. Art is just as important in our curriculum as reading, writing, science, and all the other areas of learning. Teaching preschoolers the elements of art allows them to explore creativity while strengthening fine motor skills and hand-eye development....

Our preschoolers have loved to learn the alphabet with our ABC box! A few years into my teaching career, I found this hardware storage cabinet. You know, the ones that you store assorted nails and screws and such. I decided to turn it into an ABC box. So many years later, it’s still a favorite with our literacy activities! Learn the Alphabet With Our ABC Box I found our storage drawer cabinet at Goodwill (and I have seen many more there, so head on over to your local Goodwill or other thrift store!...

Light table activities don’t need to be complicated. I like to gather what we already have on hand, sometimes related to our current theme, and display it on top of the surface of the table. This preschool bee theme light table came about while I was planning our bugs and butterflies theme. I wanted a designated spot where the children could explore bees and I loved how the colors popped!...

Inside: Preschool Sunflower Science We love learning about sunflowers, and explore them twice a year. In the spring we plant sunflower seeds and let them sit on our science shelf, enjoying the sun from the window. Our preschoolers then take them home to plant in their gardens. I love the photos our parents send us during the summer, showing how tall they are growing! (We plant mammoth sunflowers.) In the fall, our families cut down their sunflowers and bring them to class so we can explore their seeds....

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Watch: Our Favorite Gingerbread Circle Time Activities It’s obvious by the amount of activities I have on this website that I am quite fond of the gingerbread man theme. My students always love it, too! Once I read The Gingerbread Man book, the children are hooked! We have gingerbread men all over the classroom, in the sensory bin, as a bakery in the dramatic play area… But our favorite place to explore the gingerbread man is at the art table....

They then stuck them back into the playdough. They continued doing this until they had quite a few of what they called “towers”. When planning activities, we love to find those that can be adapted depending on the child’s level. If you have a mixed-aged classroom, or if you are a parent with children of different ages, you are probably nodding your head. So, when we came up with our STEM play dough activity, we wanted it to work with both our toddlers and our preschoolers....

Sometimes, the best art supplies for kids are the simplest. A plain pack of paper plates opens the door to numerous craft possibilities! You could create just about every animal and tons of different objects with just a plate as your base. This compilation of paper plate crafts will help get your creative juices flowing for planning your upcoming preschool art projects. These ideas are not only fun for school, but would be easy at-home activities, too!...

30+ of the Best Transportation Theme Ideas Free Transportation Theme Printables Click on the photos to download the pdf file: Toddler and preschoolers love things that move, so it’s no wonder that the transportation theme is so popular! I found over 16 fun transportation theme activities that are perfect for this age group. Young children will be able to explore things that move in a variety of fun, hands-on ways! 👉 Scroll down to find free transportation theme printables!...

Cardboard isn’t just for packaging! It’s wonderful at the art table. We’ve enjoyed making: Cardboard Christmas Trees Cardboard Gingerbread Men Cardboard Snowmen Cardboard Hearts Cardboard Easter Eggs I’ve also shared many of the cardboard creations our 3 year olds teacher has made throughout the years in my Instagram stories. Cardboard is so versatile and costs nothing if you save your boxes! This fall tree craft is just one of the many cardboard creations our three year olds teacher has made throughout the years....