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Then, I read some favorite apple books. We’ve had lots of fun with apples while painting and washing them, hanging them in our window, and creating 3-dimensional apple trees. So when I put together ideas for our apple theme, I created a simple rice apple sensory bin that both our toddlers and preschoolers would enjoy, plus build those fine motor skills! The sensory bin is a staple in our classroom and one of our centers during free-choice centers time....

Tips for the New Toddler Teacher From Those With Experience A schedule is a must, but don’t stress if you get off-track a bit. Always stay positive. If all else fails, jam out to great music. CLICK HERE to see our toddler schedule! It’s okay if they get messy. Remember that the kids will get really attached to you. Enjoy them and laugh it off and everyone will be happier!...

I probably embraced the splatters because I was more drawn to the children’s excitement as the spring whisks moved up and down. They loved it! We love process art, especially with the toddler class. You might recall when we painted with balls, pressed collage pieces onto foil, and even used our blocks for painting! The reason we love it? You don’t need to give lengthy directions and there is no specific desired outcome....

Toddler Shamrock Art {Simple Collage!} When we do glueing activities, I wait to hand them the collage pieces until they are finished brushing the glue onto the paper. Our toddlers love to paint, and painting with glue is no exception. They don’t really care what they are pressing into the glue, they just love the experience. This is why I love doing collages with them. Easy, fun, and a great way to use scraps....

Inside: This winter fine motor activity is so simple, yet is packed with fun. Toddlers and preschoolers love using droppers to squeeze and release vibrant watercolors into bins of ice cubes! Painting on ice is a big hit in our preschool classroom. It all started about six years ago when my assistant teacher invited our students to paint on top of blocks of ice. Huge hit! From there, we started finding different types of cake pans to freeze water in, such as a gingerbread man, a Christmas tree, and a Valentine’s Day heart....

I just love this time of year. I always have! There is such a wide variety of Christmas sensory play activities for toddlers and preschoolers! While my co-teacher and I were planning our December curriculum, I was thinking about how we could add some sensory in more areas than just the sensory bin. You caught a glimpse of this when I shared my collection of 5 senses activities. So, I went to my Pinterest page....

CLICK HERE for free summer printables! Summertime is full of fun activities, especially outdoors. But what happens when the thermometer is edging its way into the triple digits, or perhaps is already there? These summer activities are perfect for beating the heat with cool (pun intended) activities that will keep them busy and perhaps give you a bit of extra time to get something done. (Or to take a break and sip an iced coffee for a few moments!...

You know those art activities where there really is no right or wrong way to do them? That’s exactly what this fall activity is all about. You can put together this apple art for toddlers in minutes and they will have a blast rolling paint, patting paper on top, and making a print! 👉 Make sure to scroll down towards the bottom of this post to grab your free apple printable!...

Inside: Work on fine motor skills while hunting for gold coins with this St. Patricks’ Day sensory activity. There is also science involved as the children realize that the goop’s consistency changes as they dig their fingers into it! Our 2 and 3 year olds love gold coins. When we put them out in March for our St. Patrick’s Day activities, the children will collect them, store them in little treasure chests, hunt for them, and use them with cash registers in our dramatic play area....

Sometimes we have this great idea for the classroom, but end up exhausting ourselves as we rush around trying to gather materials. You have this idea in your head. You might have thought about it while drinking coffee from your to-go cup as you headed to work. You might have thought about it days before, but forgot to gather everything together beforehand. Or maybe the idea you had in your head simply wasn’t coming together as you had planned....

Inside: This toddler frog activity is super easy to set up using a tub of water. Add squeezers and strainers for some fine motor strengthening! Learning with water is always fun for toddlers. You might recall our simple toddler ocean sensory bin. To touch the water, to scoop it and pour it back into the bin. To have items to hold in the hands. Anytime I set up a water table, I think about this and make sure I meet those goals when planning a new one....

Canvas painting with kids is such a fun way to encourage creativity using different materials. You might recall when we made our purple canvas and when we explored abstract art on canvas. While these can be done individually using small canvas boards, we love to invite all of our preschoolers to work together on a large board. Group art activities build social and language skills as children decide together where the materials will be placed and deciding who will work where....

Inside: Working on color recognition with your toddlers and preschoolers? This printable mitten winter color matching activity is simple and can be used in a variety of ways! One of our themes for January is winter clothing. During this theme we read books such as Colors in the Cold and Will You Wear a Blue Hat? We also sing fun songs such as The Color Song. And, of course, we work on a variety of activities that build different skills....

Using watercolor for a preschool art activity is fun because there is such a variety of ways to apply it, such as when we made our colorful tissue paper leaves. Preschoolers love working with watercolors because the water allows the colors to bleed together, creating new colors. When purchasing watercolors, you can use a moist palette or those that are already in the liquid form. The moist palette watercolors are easy to set up quickly and you can have quite an assortment of colors available at once....

Inside: These 20 toddler learning activities are super fun, getting young children engaged with a hands-on approach. You are a teacher who is putting together a curriculum for your toddler classroom. Or you are a parent that wants to add some learning to your toddler’s day. But how? It’s really much easier than you probably think. You don’t need flashcards. You don’t need fancy materials. I’ve put together a collection of learning activities that your toddlers will love!...

Inside: Get ready for fun and learning with all our toddler lesson plans. These thematic units are packed with activities that are simple to prepare and fun! You’ve asked for toddler lesson plans, and they are here! I’m so excited that in addition to our preschool lesson plans, we can now offer toddler lesson plans, too. These activity plans are designed for toddlers ages 18 months to 35 months. Get the entire toddler bundle here!...

Inside: Looking for a fun preschool art activity that also strengthens fine motor development…with beautiful results? You will want to try this watercolor fall leaf art. We add this to our fall theme every year! Beautiful Watercolor Fall Leaf Art Activity for Preschoolers What you will need: tissue paper leaves liquid watercolors pipettes That’s it! Just 3 things. Now, for those of you who’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you know I have this thing for pipettes....

Fun Easter Ideas for Toddlers and Preschoolers Make sure to check out these collections, too: I love this time of year, with so many colorful Easter ideas for kids! I especially love the activities that don’t require a whole lot of materials. Even better when you can recycle. White paper lunch sacks. Plastic Easter eggs. Bunny rabbits. Fun ideas that young children love! Scroll down to find free Easter Printables! 10+ Easter Ideas Using Plastic Eggs 15 Easter Egg Decorating Ideas...

You know when you find that favorite activity, year after year? It’s the song Five Little Ducks for my two and three year olds! I love including it in our circle times during back-to-school, during our farm theme, and also during our spring themes. It’s loved so much that we often even sing it for our mamas during our Mother’s Day celebration! And there is some playful learning taking place as we count to five and back down to zero....

Inside: One of our February art activities is this easy Valentine’s craft with foil. Seriously, you just need tin foil and my easy homemade paint (scroll down to get the recipe). That’s it! Our toddler and preschoolers have had so much fun creating Valentine’s over the years. You might recall: Hearts made with a salad spinnerHearts made with felt and buttonsHearts made with cardboard We are excited to add these foil Valentine’s hearts to the collection!...