Super Easy 4th of July Playdough Activity CLICK HERE for our favorite 4th of July craft ideas! During our Red, White, and Blue Camp we put together a fun playdough activity for the 4th of July. This is one of our favorite annual camps, so we have been able to add to our stars and stripes collection each year. My daughter, Rachel, is one of the camp teachers and she came up with this festive sparkly red and blue play dough that the preschoolers loved....

Toddler spin art is a favorite around here, and we welcome it even more at Christmas when so many projects tend to get crafty. You saw how we made spin art Christmas trees. Each year we wonder if these children will love spin art as much as last year’s class did. The answer is always YES. They love it because it’s sort of magical. You place this piece of paper into a container....

Inside: We love our train table, but there are times when we would rather use it for construction in our block area. We’ve found the easiest solution that converted our table into a fun Duplo building area! I was ecstatic when I was able to rescue a train table that was about to be hauled to Goodwill. I mean, who wouldn’t want a train table in their classroom? This is our 2nd school year with a train table in our block area, and while I love it, I realized I would like to be able to use it for more than just trains....

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Click on the photo below for the pdf download: Where can you find preschool activities for summer break? This is what some of my preschool parents have asked towards the end of each school year. Also, I’ve had messages on my Facebook page asking the same question. So, I spent some time this week searching for activities that would not only keep little hands and brains busy, but also are fun and easy to set up....

Inside: Looking for a colorful turkey craft kids can make for Thanksgiving? This art activity is fun and strengthens fine motor skills, too! You’ve searched for a craft your preschoolers can do for Thanksgiving. However, most of what you see looks more like an adult-made craft. Or, it’s a piece of art that doesn’t allow for much creativity. This tends to happen during the holidays, when there is so much cookie cutter art taking place....

I got everything set up before the classroom door opened. We read our first gingerbread book before opening centers time. Boxes with lids, shaped like gingerbread people. Without hesitation, I put them in my cart and clicked ORDER. My mind starting spinning with the possibilities. What about painting them and using them as gift boxes? Or, using them as a 1:1 correspondence activity? They’d be a great color sorting activity if I painted each one a different color....

There was a time I really struggled with the energetic preschoolers. I mean, I know little kids have lots of energy, but I didn’t realize how hard it would be to handle that energy in the classroom. I felt like there were constant struggles. Centers time involved grabbing, pushing, sometimes running from activity to activity. Circle time felt impossible as they wiggled and talked really loud when pointing out something in a book I was trying to read....

Inside: Creating preschool fall science activities can be easy when thinking about nature and what’s living around us outdoors. Here are some fun hands-on ideas that young children love! We love exploring science in the fall! Well, we love exploring science all year…but there is something special about fall. At least where I live! And so, putting together preschool science ideas for fall is pretty easy. We take a look at what’s going on in nature and plan around it....

Inside: This pinecone activity is super simple to set up, and strengthens toddler fine motor skills by squeezing the paint. Squirting paint using basters and pipettes is always a good way to strengthen fine motor skills. Our preschoolers loved making colorful waterfalls! But how about younger children? This pinecone fine motor activity for toddlers is the answer, especially in the fall. When someone donated a huge bag of pinecones, I just knew they’d be perfect for this....

Inside: Favorite fine motor toys for preschoolers that are fun! We love using these in our classroom, but they are also perfect for home, too. Each of these toys strengthens the hands and fingers, getting them ready for writing! I love classic toys. Toys that don’t have all the bells and whistles. Toys that help build skills while also allowing preschoolers to play. That’s exactly why this collection of fine motor toys for preschoolers is one of my favorites....

More to Read » Favorite Water Table Activities Rain. It’s something we see a lot of in the Pacific Northwest. So when we were preparing our weather theme activities, I just knew I had to include something that involved rain. Truly, it was so simple. Our toddlers and preschoolers love water in our sensory bin, they to squeeze and pour. We love noticing the clouds and wondering if the sun is hiding behind them....

Our toddlers and preschoolers love painting in a bag. Because of this, we’ve done different versions. You might recall our marble painting in freezer bags. And recently we had fun making muddy pigs in bags. This mitten art activity is just as fun and a perfect addition to your snow and ice theme! Marble Painted Winter Mitten Craft Blue washable tempera paint Bug tongs Marbles * Gallon-size plastic resealable bags Mitten printable (scroll down to bottom of post for free link)...

Our Favorite Preschool Classroom Schedule It’s taken me awhile to tweak our schedule so that we can have an hour of free choice, but also enough time for large motor, circle time, snack, music & movement, and small groups. This schedule has really worked well for us. I believe firmly in balancing out active and quiet times and to be very mindful that they are not required to sit for lengthy amounts of time....

Our Favorite Preschool Garden Activity with Sunflowers Before starting, share a book about how seeds grow. We displayed these on our science table along with a model that showed the sequence of a seed’s growth. When I was a new teacher I had no idea where to start when it came to gardening activities. I gardened with my own children, but that seemed easy because it was usually one-on-one. But with 16?...

If playdough is a staple in your classroom like it is in ours, you love finding new ways to use it! And if you use playdough and have more than one color, you will notice the pleasure children get in mixing those colors. It might even drive you crazy! But what if it could be turned into a hands-on lesson? Playdough color mixing fun! Watch the video: And for good reason!...

Inside: This toddler shamrock craft turns a piece of cardboard into a fun St. Patrick’s Day activity and it is simple to make with just a few materials! In March we love to add St. Patrick’s Day activities to our rainbow theme. We’ve had fun with shamrocks in the past, such as our shamrock collage, spin art shamrocks, and color-mixing shamrocks. This year our toddlers have had a lot of fun with pom poms, so I thought I’d use a technique similar to our pom pom hearts craft, using sturdy pieces of cardboard, paint and glue....

Note: Scroll down to get your FREE post office printable signs and labels! Our toddlers and preschoolers love it when we include post office dramatic play in our lesson plans! There’s something about pushing the envelopes through the slots, packing bags with letters, and stacking boxes to send in the mail. If they’ve had any real life experience going to the post office with their family, it’s even more meaningful!...

Another holiday is upon us, and that means perhaps getting a bit crafty. But how can we keep it as open-ended as possible? I try to make most of the activity be as child-directed as I can, such as the preschool Easter bunny art I’m about to show you. I wanted this to be hands-on, full of exploration. And FUN! I also wanted it to be a sensory activity. Some of our preschoolers love to get their hands into the materials, while others are still a bit timid....

Inside: During our community helpers theme, we focused on the post office and firefighters, since those can be most meaningful for this age group. Come see how we set up our toddler and preschool classroom with fun activities. Free printables included! What do you want to be when you grow up? The community helpers theme is a fun way to explore different careers grown ups have. We focus on firefighters and the post office during this theme because it’s usually most meaningful to young children....