Fun Preschool Rainbow Craft that Builds Fine Motor Skills I first invited the preschoolers to place one bead on the matching color on the printable. (1:1 correspondence is another important math skill for preschoolers!) I love building multiple skills with one activity. This fine motor rainbow craft for preschoolers does just that. We have not only fine motor building taking place, but also color recognition AND math! Recently I shared our rainbow color sorting sensory bin....

Assembling the Christmas Gift Bags While the bags are drying, make copies of the alphabet ornaments (scroll down to find the free download), using the first letter of the child’s name. Making our own Christmas gift bags is a tradition. You might recall the stamped gift bags we made a few years ago, where our preschoolers stamped JOY across their bags. This year I wanted to do something that connected to our jingle bells theme, so I was reminded of the marble painting technique that was used with our paper mittens....

Inside: This toddler friendship activity is easy and fun to make and is a simple reminder that we are all friends in our classroom. We kick off each of our school years with a friendship activity that we also revisit around Valentine’s Day. Working on friendships in the classroom is an important part of our year-round kindness theme. I came up with a super simple toddler friendship activity that involves watercolors, which my 2 year olds always enjoy....

There is something about having a classroom tree that can be so warm and inviting. In my 20 years of teaching toddlers and preschoolers, I’ve had several different trees adorn a wall in my classroom. And every time I share any photo with one of our classroom trees, teachers react positively and want to know how they, too, can make one. Today, I am going to share how my most recent classroom tree was made....

For the second copy, cut apart on the lines to create 5 strips. Work on simple counting skills during your butterfly theme with this super simple activity. Toddlers work on matching the butterflies while young preschoolers can work on counting and number recognition. A fun way to strengthen math skills! We order our caterpillars and watch them as they go into the chrysalis stage and then emerge as butterflies. It’s a favorite every year!...

Inside: Put together playdough learning activities with this fun collection. Over 15 different ways to build skills with toddlers and preschoolers. But did you know there are even more benefits when young children are engaged in playdough learning activities? In this collection I’ve found over 15 playdough learning activities that include fine motor, science, math, literacy, art, color, nature … and more! I’ve also included one of my most popular free playdough counting mats – scroll down to find the link to the pdf!...

Inside: Add these bee theme circle time props to your bug theme this spring. Toddlers and preschoolers can hold their bee sticks while singing bee songs! If you are adding bees to your bug theme, you will love these printable props. Make enough so that each child has a bee to hold during circle time. I’ve created these props for children to hold while listening to favorite bee books. They are also perfect to use with bee songs during music and movement!...

Setting up the Classroom for the Butterfly Theme Resources: Bugs and Butterflies Theme Ideas Once we return from spring break, we start focusing on our butterfly theme. We order caterpillars and observe them grow bigger and bigger, until they go into their chrysalis. When they emerge from their chrysalises as butterflies, it’s magical! We celebrate by taking them outside and releasing them, waving as they fly away. We add lots of related activities in the classroom with lots of play and exploration....

For our two year olds, I used large spiders. For the three year olds that share our classroom (they meet on alternate days), we had small spider rings. Do your toddlers and preschoolers love the fingerplay The Itsy Bitsy Spider? If so, they will love acting it out at the block center with a real drain spout and lots of pretend spiders! Add blocks and other building materials and it will become a popular area during your centers time....

1. Scooping and Pouring This can be as easy as putting something small in one bowl and having your child scooping and pouring it into another bowl. Any plastic storage container would work well. (Hint: one with a lid would allow youth store it in a closet for future use.) 2. Using Paint Brushes Small children love to brush anything on paper.Tempera paint, watercolors, even glue! When my children were small, I often provided them with tinted glue (glue mixed with food coloring or paint) and any objects that they could stick to glue....

Once the flower is finished, paint the craft stick green (stem of the flower). If you are looking for a toddler or preschool flower craft for your gardening theme, you are going to love this idea. It’s one of my favorite paper plate creations because the children love the process! Lots of painting, some gluing, and the most colorful flowers just like those in our school’s garden. A fun activity to embrace spring!...

Inside: Get the entire group of preschoolers busy with this rainbow collage art. This activity strengthens color recognition skills and makes a lovely piece for classroom display! As we enter spring, I like to add a variety of color activities to our rainbow theme. We’ve spun rainbows, we hung them, we’ve even driven cars through paint to make them. I also love to display them on our wall, such as when we made our giant color wheel....

Inside: Check out our favorite preschool name recognition ideas, and how we display our students’ names throughout our classroom! We love preschool name recognition ideas because names are often the first word a young child learns how to read. I’ve shared how we include literacy activities in all areas of the classroom, and our students’ names included. If you were to walk into our classroom, you’d see names on the wall, on furniture, on cards, on photos, even hanging from the ceiling....

“How can I get my toddlers and young preschoolers engaged at circle time?” I get this question often. And I get it! After years of dreading circle time, with children who just wanted to do anything but actually be there, I realized that they needed to actually be part of the activity. I started using props and that made all the difference. When we started our printables shop a few years ago, one of our first packets to be created included visuals to my favorite fingerplays....

CLICK HERE to find summer FINE MOTOR activities! “I’m looking for ways to keep my preschooler interested in the alphabet while he’s at home on summer break.” This was a recent email I got from a dear reader. While I have my own fun preschool literacy ideas, I wanted to expand the collection. And so, I asked my favorite early childhood bloggers. They didn’t disappoint. In fact, I got over 35 of the very best preschool literacy ideas....

Watch: Gingerbread Theme Classroom Tour This preschool gingerbread art activity is a perfect way to recycle cardboard and can be used as a Christmas ornament! The process involves painting and pressing pom poms on top, strengthening fine motor skills. They look so festive hanging in the tree! It’s a great way to recycle something you already have, plus it’s sturdier than paper. These previous cardboard art activities were my inspiration for today’s activity: Cardboard Christmas Tree Art Big Cardboard Snowmen Cardboard Hearts You will then want to mix equal parts of the glue and brown tempera paint in small containers....

Inside: This felt Christmas tree ornament is super easy to make, and it can be tailored to fit the ages of your children. Would be fun for a school or party craft! Those of you who’ve been following my blog awhile know how I try to make our activities as open-ended as possible. I prefer process art over crafts, but there are times, such as holidays, when we do get a little crafty....

Children are ready to learn language the day they are born. They learn their native language best during the “sensitive period”, the first five to six years of life. Building communication skills with preschoolers is an important process. Here’s the good news: There are many ways to add activities to your preschoolers’ everyday experiences. They are not limited to a classroom environment and can, really should, also be happening in the home with parents and caregivers....

Inside: This pumpkin art activity is all about mixing colors on foil – and then making a print! Pumpkin printable included. Fall means pumpkins, and our toddlers and preschoolers LOVE the pumpkin activities we do in the classroom. You might recall our spin painted pumpkins we did a couple of weeks ago. These pumpkin prints have lots of process art going on, just like those spin painted pumpkins. There’s lots of movement, noise, and yeah, some mess....

Inside: This toddler apple activity includes lots of action, so it’s the perfect fall idea for busy little kids! Stamping fresh apple halves in paint is an art activity that’s been around for a long time. One of those classics you probably did as a child, too. And it really is such a fun activity with lots of arm movement and loud tap, tap, taps as the apple is slapped onto the paper....