Inside: Looking for a way to introduce shapes? This toddler circle activity involves moving around the room, finding hidden circles, and placing them on the felt board. Hands-on fun! It’s no secret that toddlers love to move. In fact, there are days where I feel like they could run a marathon and still have leftover energy to burn. That’s why I prefer putting together learning activities that get the entire body moving....
Inside: These free gingerbread man circle time printable props can be used while reading and singing related books and songs. Having visuals keeps toddlers and preschoolers engaged, too! If you enjoy the gingerbread theme as much as we do, you will want to grab these gingerbread man circle time props! This packet includes plain gingerbread men that can be turned into stick puppets, plus numbered gingerbread men for counting fun....
Hands-On Ideas for Your Preschool December Themes {Toddlers, too!} Circle Time Christmas Circle Time Activities You are planning your preschool December themes. You’ve searched Pinterest and there are so many ideas it’s making your head spin. You want activities that can be used at different centers. Activities that build skills and are hands-on. I’ve got you covered with this amazing collection of ideas that will work not only for preschoolers, but also toddlers....
Inside: These leaf circle time props and activities are a perfect addition to your toddler and preschool fall theme, keeping young children engaged! It’s fall and you are looking for some engaging activities for your toddlers and preschoolers. Particularly circle time, when it can feel like a struggle to keep their interest. I’ve put together some leaf props and activities that will be a great addition to your fall theme!...
In the above photo we took what we found on a nature walk and brought it to the science and nature table. I also added fall photos and we compared them to the tress we saw outside. The month of November here means lots of fall activities, including pinecone exploration. We have an over abundance of pinecones in our area, so it’s easy to find an assortment to study. Pinecones are at the science table, inside the sensory bin, part of our table activities, and even our art table!...
Inside: If you are looking for an easy preschool painting activity, try painting with balloons. We decided to try this at the easel for a fun vertical art experience! Have you ever tried painting with balloons? If not, you have been missing out. Seriously, this is so much fun. FUN! I’m not sure if it’s handing the balloons that makes it so much fun, or smooshing the paint around. (Smooshing might not be a word, but I’m going with it....
Inside: Add some simple hands-on math to your fall curriculum with these preschool apple counting activities. A fun collection for home or school! Are you looking for math ideas that will go with your apple theme? You will love these ideas for preschoolers! These activities are a great way for preschoolers to develop simple counting skills. They are spread throughout our day, with independent work during our centers time, as a large group during circle time, and in groups of 4 children during our small groups time....
Then, the small pieces can be pressed on top of the paint/glue. Here’s an easy winter art activity that young children love! Create bears out of two sheets of paper that have been cut into a bear shape, stuffed and stapled closed, and decorated by the children. Read some bear books, create a simple bear cave, and put the bears to sleep in the cave. A simple toddler and preschool bear craft that involves not only the art table, but circle time, too!...
Looking for a nice dramatic play activity for the end of the school year or during the summer? Set up an ice cream shop! Add your own ice cream props along with our English/Spanish ice cream shop printables and invite your toddlers and preschoolers to pick their favorite ice cream flavors and toppings! Here are some ideas to add to your ice cream shop along with the printables: Pretend ice cream set Bowls Spoons Toy cash register Small clipboards (for order forms) Pencils Aprons...
As each year comes to a close, I love looking back and seeing what worked. Every time I put a post together, I wonder how many will find it useful. I can never guess how well any of them will do. I hit the publish button and wait. And yes, it’s always the biggest thrill to watch a post just take off! I am excited to share with you our top 10 toddler and preschool posts for 2016....
25+ Easy Toddler Fine Motor Activities CLICK HERE to work on fine motor skills at home! Toddlers use fine motor skills for so many things in their daily lives. From zipping up their jackets to coloring with a marker, their little hands hold many important uses. This is why it can be very frustrating for them when they are unable to complete these tasks by themselves due to lack of hand strength and precision....
Inside: Put together a week’s worth of fun alphabet ideas! These activities expose young children to letters in a fun, hands-on way, getting them ready for reading. Teaching the alphabet to toddlers and young preschoolers is all about exposure. Today I’m sharing a collection of alphabet activities that are playful and hands-on. Pick and choose what you want to do for the week … you can even extend it to several weeks!...
First of all, this craft is not my idea. It’s been around for decades. You might have done this when you were a kid! But I love using classic ideas, what can I say? Especially when my students enjoy them year after year. After talking about how bears sleep a lot during the winter, and making our own large bear cave in the dramatic play area, we then make these simple but cute bear caves that include a bear family!...
Inside: Create an easy toddler winter art activity using scraps of leftover pieces. A fun process art idea that also strengthens fine motor skills! Our toddlers love to paint. We make sure to have some sort of painting activity available each day, sometimes multiple times. During our snow and ice theme I decided to mix up some 2-ingredient puffy paint (recipe below) and raid my scraps bin for anything that was blue, white, and silver....
So many dinosaur tracks! The toddlers in my classroom love dinosaurs. Every time a dinosaur song plays, the children stop what they are doing, pretending to stomp around to the music. When I put dinosaur books in our little circle time basket, they are often the first to be chosen. Actually, when dinosaurs are placed in any of our centers, that area becomes very popular. So when I was planning art activities for our dinosaur theme, I came up with a fun process art activity that involved toy dinosaurs, paint and paper....
One of our favorite color mixing books is Little Blue and Little Yellow. Every time we read it, I like to include some sort of hands on preschool color mixing activity. You might recall when we mixed blue and yellow paint using paper tubes. This time I wanted an independent activity that could be at our science table. I also added some other pieces complimented the activity nicely. And all hands-on, of course!...
Inside: This winter sensory bin is loaded with dyed rice, various sized snowflakes, small snowmen and scoops. But what makes it most fun are the flickering tea light candles! A great way to build fine motor skills during your winter theme. While working my way down the aisles in my local grocery store, flicker tea light candles caught my eye. I instantly remembered how much we loved them 5 or so years back, when I was given a huge stash of them from my mom for Christmas....
Inside: This preschool bat craft is not only fun to make, but also looks great hanging in the window. A fun addition to your fall theme! Do you hang your preschoolers’ artwork in the window? This bat craft is made with the window in mind, as it’s made with clear plastic plates and is a fun fall decoration. It’s also a great way to strengthen fine motor skills, as there’s lots of pressing materials into glue!...
Talking about the world around us happens throughout the school year. However, we have an actual earth day theme in April, right around the time of the actual Earth Day, which is on April 22nd. This collection of hands-on activities invite young children to think about earth and how we can take good care of it. There’s a little bit of everything in this collection, including sensory, art, fine motor, cooking, and outdoor exploration....
Inside: Valentine’s Heart Painting – Have you ever painted with marbles? That’s exactly what we did when each of our preschoolers made a Valentine’s heart. This is a classic method we use throughout the year, and it’s always loved! Even the busiest preschooler will love making these hearts for Valentine’s Day! The entire upper body is used to hold and then tip the box lid back and forth while the marbles make paint tracks all over the paper heart....
