Toddler Farm Theme Painting Activity If you have a toddler or two (or a classroom full) that isn’t quite interested in art, you simply must try this hands-on activity! You might recall our toddlers having fun driving Lego bricks through paint, and also fire trucks and cars. Well, this toddler farm painting activity is very similar, except we used big chunky farm animals and farm vehicles. Any time we do one of the above activities it’s a hit....

Inside: Here’s a fun toddler triangle shapes activity that is perfect for with playdough. The pressing motion is a great way to strengthen those hands and fingers, getting them ready for using writing tools. And it’s super easy to set up! I am often asked how I teach shapes to our toddlers. Truly, it’s all about exposure. And you can do this in many areas of your classroom or home....

Inside: These toddler winter activities fit right into your seasonal theme while also developing important finger strength. Winter is such a fun time for themed activities. From all the tinsel to the twinkly lights- the glitter sticks around on the furniture until just about Easter! So worth it. The only downside of winter is that we don’t get to spend as much time outdoors due to how cold it gets here....

Inside: Put together a variety of dry erase board activities that preschoolers love while also strengthening fine motor skills. Before preschoolers can start writing, the muscles in their hands and fingers must be strengthened. That can sound complicated, but really, it’s not. Developing pre-writing skills can be simple. It can be as simple as using a white board. Oh yes, it can! Each day we have numerous activities that help with developing pre-writing skills....

Inside: This collection of gross motor activities for indoors is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers, as they are simple and work the entire body. We recently had a morning where the preschoolers arrived with enough energy to run a 5K race. Okay, maybe a half-marathon. Those are mornings we open the doors to go outside as quickly as possible. However, because we share that area with 2 other classes, we cannot stay out there all morning....

Inside: This is one of the easiest ways to make snowflake art, and it builds fine motor skills, too. Preschoolers love painting the sticks and then adding small buttons and beads. Makes a fun window display, too! Making snowflakes is always a fun part of our snow and ice theme. I’ve shared how we’ve made them with seed beads, and also with tissue paper and watercolors. This year I decided to use some of the many craft sticks I have in my storage closet, and I wanted it to involve paint and then adding small pieces....

During our apple theme I put together an apple color sorting activity that also works fine motor skills. Preschoolers (and older toddlers!) love using bug tongs to pick up the apples and place them into the matching bowls! Watch the video: What to do? Create a color sorting activity! We’ve done this with real apples, later having taste tests. But for this particular activity I decided to use our fake apples that worked well with bug tongs....

Whatever they find, they want to dump. This is what young children do, but I admit it can be a challenge. Just after I set something up, it gets knocked down, carried away, dumped on the floor. And while it can be frustrating, I know better. Having taught this age group for so long, after reading so many different articles about why they insist on dumping, I know they are not doing this to make life harder on adults....

Inside: Grab your wooden hammers because today you are going to learn how to put together a pumpkin activity that strengthens fine motor skills! When was the last time you handed a hammer to a preschooler? Hmm? Now, I’m not talking about a real hammer, one that adults would use. I’m talking about wooden hammers that are the perfect size for small hands. You know those children who love to move, move, move?...

Inside: Put together a preschool Valentine theme light table with hearts and pom poms. Little hands will love transporting pieces, providing fine motor strengthening! The light table is a perfect place to explore color and texture, while also boosting fine motor skills. For the Valentine’s Day theme we’ve put together heart cups, heart trays, rattan hearts, pom poms, and more that toddlers and preschoolers love. So much hands-on exploration taking place in one space!...

Inside: This preschool Valentine’s Day craft is the perfect way to use recycled materials and loose parts. Let your children choose what they’d like to add to theirs! I love using recyclables, and decided to use corrugated cardboard for this simple heart craft for preschoolers. Corrugated cardboard can be found in a variety of product packaging. In fact, every time I grab a coffee and they surround the cup with a corrugated cardboard sleeve, I know it can be reused for an art activity!...

Inside: These mitten props are a fun addition to a winter circle time activity. Download the free printable and your toddlers and preschoolers can have their own stick puppets to hold! One of our January themes is winter clothing. After finding some mitten songs to add to my January Spotify playlist, I decided to create a simple mitten printable. Download your free copy and turn them into mitten stick puppets that your children can hold!...

Inside: Put together a week’s worth of shape recognition activities with these fun ideas for toddlers and preschoolers. Free printables included! Looking for ways to expose your toddlers and preschoolers to shapes? In this collection of shape recognition activities, we’ve put together a variety of activities that can provide a week’s worth of learning in the home or classroom. Each simple idea engages young learners while they identify and compare shapes....

I love those moments when you already have an activity planned, not realizing just how much you’d need it. Yesterday morning our toddlers were a combination of teary, tired and energetic. I’m sure anyone with toddlers knows how this combination plays out. It can make for a long 3 hours. But somehow I had foreseen this (okay, perhaps I just got lucky), because I had put together one of our favorite calming activities that just so happens to tap into the fine motor area....

Inside: This toddler leaf art works fine motor skills as the children use sponges to apply paint. Fun process art for fall! Sponges replace paint brushes for this hands-on toddler leaf art. I was thrilled when my co-teacher put together this art activity. You all know by now how I love anything that builds fine motor development. Well, this activity did just that. Plus, it tied in with our leaf science shelf....

Inside: Circle time songs can play a big role in preschool learning. They teach important concepts, build language and social skills, and can have a calming affect with energetic children. Music is a big part of our toddler and preschool day. We use music to help us through transitions, while walking to and from the gym and outdoors, and when say goodbye. Music is also an important part of our circle times, where we learn new concepts, build language skills, work on following directions, and simply have fun!...

Add some color to your window with this winter art activity! Roll out a big piece of sticky Con-Tact Paper and gather assorted blue and white pieces. Invite your toddlers to take the pieces and press them onto the sticky paper, creating a window collage. A fun addition to your winter theme! I love hanging displays in the window and we do it all year long. If you’ve been following Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds for awhile, these might look familiar:...

Fourth of July is such an exciting holiday for our little ones. They will talk for days afterwards about the big fireworks that they got to watch exploding in the night sky. There are so many great ways to add some red, white, and blue fun to your home and classroom– or your Fourth of July get-together! Red, White, and Blue Playdough – Make your own sparkly and fun patriotic playdough, adding in tools such as small flags....

October and Halloween mean adding pumpkins to our toddler and preschool classroom. There are so many fun and engaging activities that you can add to your pumpkin theme curriculum that also provide plenty of playful learning opportunities. Come see what we’ve put together for our toddlers and preschoolers! 👉 Scroll down towards the end of this post to find free printables you can use with your pumpkin theme! Creating a Classroom Pumpkin Theme Art Pumpkin Prints Our toddlers and preschoolers had so much fun mixing yellow and red paint on foil and then pressing the pumpkin printable on top to make a print!...

Inside: Grab some paper tubes for this fun and easy toddler shapes activity that focuses on circles! Your toddler is ready for some simple art, but where to start? Toddler circle painting, of course! This easy toddler shapes activity, using paper tubes, is a simple way to introduce toddlers to paint. In fact, this is one of the first art activities we do with our toddler class each September. The paper tube fits easily in their small hands and it adds some distance between the paint and the hands, important for some toddlers who are not yet used to the feeling of paint....