Inside: There are so many fun activities that can go with the preschool pet theme! We had small kennels and stuffed animal pets, along with medical kits and notepaper on clipboards. But the highlight was when we had real dogs visit our veterinarian center! Setting Up The Toddler and Preschool Pet Theme Dramatic Play Our dramatic play area was set up as a veterinarian office. We had a (very old-school) phone and a keyboard, along with clipboards and pencils....

The Secrets to a Successful Toddler Circle Time Recently one of my readers asked me about circle time with 2 year olds: It occurred to me that I’ve written several circle time posts for preschoolers, but none on circle time activities for 2 year olds. If you have anything to add to this, tips that have worked for you, will you please share them in the comments section? Related post: Brilliant Circle Time Strategies When Kids Can’t Sit Still...

Add some process art to your hibernation theme this winter! We love painting on ice, especially when it’s shaped for a specific season or theme. In the past we have enjoyed: Heart Ice Painting Gingerbread Ice Painting Christmas Tree Ice Painting Just freeze water in the pan and brush paint on top! Often it is related to the theme, although not always. If you’ve been watching my YouTube classroom set up videos, you know I’m not a stickler for making every activity theme related....

It can be a challenge to find easy Valentine’s art for toddlers. When you go on Pinterest, you see all kinds of cute Valentine’s crafts, but can toddlers really do those all by themselves? Without help? I’m going to say no. One of our very favorite process art activities involves a salad spinner. Say what???? Yep. Now, if you’ve been following my blog for awhile, you know I get that kitchen gadget out year round....

In September, while enjoying our farm theme, we like to put together a farmers market, complete with fruits, vegetables, baskets, bags, and cash registers. The children learn about produce while helping each other make their selections, placing them in the baskets while taking them to the register, then putting them into bags to take “home”. While having fun in this area, we also provide these activities: Farm Animals and Playdough Washing Fruit and Vegetables Put the Animals in the Barn Painting Farm Animals Washing Farm Animals But the farmers market gets the most attention during this theme, and for good reason!...

Then add the eyes. One of our first spring activities is baby animals. We had bunnies and carrots in the dramatic play area, mother and baby animal matching in the science area, a bunny house in the dramatic play area, and these fun chicks at the art table. You can see how we set up our classroom for this spring animal theme here! When I was planning this activity, I wanted it to include using pipettes, since our 2 and 3 year olds have loved using them lately, and it’s a great pre-writing activity....

Fun Independence Day Art with Painted Stars Pick up the glove and remove it from the container. If you haven’t tried the splatter paint technique yet, you are in for a real treat! It can be done year-round, changing out the colors of the paint and shapes of paper. For this particular activity, we were going with a 4th of July theme, so we used white stars with red and blue paint....

Inside: Invite your preschoolers to have fun with a color sorting bear activity on your light table! A hands-on way to teach color recognition while also strengthening fine motor skills. I will never forget the first time I saw a light table in a classroom. I was blown away! I knew I just had to have one, but it took a few years until we had enough fundraising money to purchase one for our classroom....

We just finished our first week of school, and can I shout hooray for playdough? Seriously, this stuff is like magic for busy toddlers and preschoolers, children who are having separation anxiety, and for those that simply love the feeling of it. So we put together a fine motor squeezing activity using playdough. It was a hit. Every chair was taken during centers time. And it’s super, super easy to set up....

Inside: When introducing opposites to young preschoolers, we keep it very simple. This art activity includes sorting 2 different colors and then creating a collage that we hung in our classroom. Hot or cold? Inside or outside? Under or over? We recently spent some time focusing on opposites with our young preschoolers. One of our art activities included sorting black and white pieces and then having them come together in a collage....

Inside: Put together a fun St. Patrick’s Day counting activity with these free printable props! Perfect for circle time, but can also be used as a table activity. It’s so easy to add math to your St. Patrick’s Day themed circle time activities with this shamrock counting printable prop! Print all ten numbered shamrocks, or start with just a few and add more as desired. This St. Patrick’s Day counting activity is not only fun for circle time, but can also be used as an independent counting and number recognition idea....

CLICK HERE to find summer fine motor play ideas! Ah, summer. During our last couple of weeks of school, we all have summer on our mind. After all, we are having fun with our ocean theme, complete with a beach day. This year we actually had summer weather, too! Bonus! So, when I put together our fun summer sensory bin, I wanted bright, happy, sparkly fun. They loved it. Because it contained shiny stuff....

We also have activities for the circle shape! As the school year progresses, we have moved on from teaching our toddlers circles to teaching them squares. This is where we begin to incorporate counting with our shapes, because we count 4 sides to make sure it’s a square. Like the circle, squares are everywhere in their everyday lives, so it becomes exciting for them to be able to recognize them....

👉 Scroll down to find FREE Christmas fine motor printables! My regular readers know how much I love any fine motor activities, all year long! But for a good reason, of course. So many parents want to know when their children can write. My answer is always once their arms, hands, and fingers are strong enough. There is so much that happens before a child has the strength to hold a pencil correctly....

Inside: You can easily put together a week’s worth of pumpkin learning activities with these fun ideas for toddlers and preschoolers. Free printables included! I recently shared how we like to kick off the fall season with the apple theme. We had so much fun comparing and exploring different types of apples! From there, we move on to our pumpkin theme. I’ve put together a variety of ideas that you can add to your home activities or the classroom that build important skills....

Inside: This huge collection will give you lots of ideas for your preschool apple theme. There’s something for every center in your classroom! I’m quite certain I’ve mentioned before how much I love fall. It seems to awaken all 5 senses and allows so much nature exploration! And so, since I love it so much, I put together this big collection of fun preschool apple theme activities. And I just might keep adding on to it....

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See Activities Bill Martin Jr.’s Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? is a classic book that is also a favorite with young children. It’s also loved because of its colorful illustrations and simple repetitive text and is a staple in many homes and classrooms. The activities in this collection are a great way to extend the book, working on a variety of different skills....

We spent some time simply rearranging the flowers, working on our fine motor skills. Simple ways to add counting to your preschooler’s day are the best, aren’t they? If you agree, you’ll love this flower counting activity. If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you will recognize a similar counting activity we did during small groups. And yes, those are the very same silk flowers. I had leftovers in our spring theme storage box that were just waiting to be used!...

Inside: These Father’s Day gifts are easy for toddlers and preschoolers to make! They would make sweet keepsakes to save as sweet memories for years to come. Homemade Father’s Day gifts made by kids are the best. Well, ALL gifts made by kids are the best. There is something about those handprints, those scribbles, those photos that capture your sweet little one at the age they are right now. Trust me on this....

I love process art. For those of you who’ve been following me for awhile, this is no surprise. However, I will toss a craft in there now and then, but I still want part of it to be process art. I think it works nicely, the children have fun with it, and it does create something fun to hang in our classroom. During our penguin theme I came up with an idea that involved a sealable plastic bag, marbles, and black paint....