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CLICK HERE for outdoor learning activities! Not everyone has a lot of outdoor space for play. When our children were young, we had a couple of very small backyards, but I always found a way to provide fun activities for them to do on our patio. The same can be said for my preschool. Compared to many preschools, our outdoor area is small, with brick as its only surface. I envy those play areas with lots of lawn as well as pavement, but we work with what we have....

Setting Up the Toddler and Preschool Classroom for the Bug Theme Last week we it was all about gardening, and this week we are adding bugs to our learning environment. We’ve got displays for bees, caterpillars, and ladybugs. We’re sorting different bugs, matching them to the pictures on cards. We have small bugs and bug catchers at the block table. Our shelves are filled with bug books and bug puzzles. And the outdoors is calling our name for more exploration!...

Inside: The toddler preschool hibernation theme is a perfect time to talk about temperature and where animals go when it’s cold outside. Invite your children to climb into a pretend bear’s den, make a cave out of paper bowls, and read some fun bear books! During January not only do we explore snow/ice, and penguins, but also hibernation. Even though bears don’t truly hibernate like other animals, we include them in this theme because they sleep a lot, often for long periods of time....

Toddlers love water, so we love to use our water table for all types of learning activities. Water is calming, it works fine motor skills, and it’s super easy to set up and add materials to. This alphabet sensory play activity is probably one of my simplest water tables yet, with foam letters, bowls, and utensils. Our toddlers loved pretending to make alphabet soup for each other! Toddler Learning with Alphabet Sensory Play This alphabet sensory play activity is very similar to our ABC sensory table, except we added water and spoons....

Right around the age of 2 and 3, parents wonder if their children are ready to use scissors. They ask for easy cutting activities that don’t require a lot of materials. That can be done at home at the kitchen table, or at a small child’s desk. So I went searching for a variety of scissor skills activities that go beyond worksheets. Activities that young children will enjoy and want to do over and over again....

CLICK HERE for 10 more water play activities! Fun Fine Motor Water Bin Using squeezing tools is perfect for a fine motor water bin! Color Sorting Water Bin Match cubes and cup with this easy and fun color sorting water bin. Alphabet Soup Sensory Bin Expose young children to the alphabet while making alphabet soup. Fun Color Sorting Fish Sensory Bin Go fishing with real fish nets and colorful plastic fish with this fun color sorting fish water activity....

Inside: Looking for preschool five senses activities? This collection includes fun ideas that encourage young children to explore in a variety of ways! When you are putting together activities for your preschoolers, how can you make them a multi-sensory experience? How can you add five senses activities to your everyday life, at home and at school? Using our five senses strengthens our everyday experiences. It helps us understand the world around us....

Disclosure: This post reviews products provided free of charge from Discount School Supply. We have been purchasing many of our supplies from Discount School Supply since 1999. . We love birthdays in preschool! I devote a bulletin board for the 3 year old class and a bulletin board for the 2 year old class just for birthdays. . Some of my favorite resource books: . More ideas for teachers: Here is my Privacy Policy

Inside: Looking for a colorful preschool butterfly art activity? The wings on these butterflies are painted with marbles – a fun technique that involves lots of moving and balancing! Marble painting is a favorite with our preschoolers. Perhaps that’s why this technique has been used in some of our favorite activities, such as black and white art and Valentine’s hearts. The process is appealing to children because there’s lots of action going on....

CLICK HERE for more Easter ideas! Finding Easter ideas that are toddler friendly can be a challenge. Am I right? If you’ve been cruising Pinterest searching for ideas, you are most likely nodding your head. Well, these Easter bags are definitely designed for the toddler group, and I’ve even tossed in some free bunny labels ! You might recall our watercolor Easter bags. We had so much fun making those bags and I actually used the same technique for several years....

Inside: Build fine motor skills while making these tissue paper snowflakes. Squeeze sparkling watercolors from pipettes for beautiful results! It’s a tradition to make some sort of snowflakes each winter to adorn our classroom walls. We might tweak the way we make them, but they are always done on either coffee filters or tissue paper. Both are delicate and allow the colors to mix. Using pipettes and other types of droppers not only strengthen fine motor development, but they are also fun to use!...

Gather some brayers, bubble wrap and paint, and you are ready for some easy toddler art for fall. One of my favorite tools for painting with toddlers is the brayer. It allows toddlers to use their entire arm (and shoulder) as they roll the brayer back and forth. This is a wonderful way to strengthen fine motor development! Having them roll paint on bubble wrap adds a sensory experience, as the brayer has to move over the bumps....

Inside: Our preschoolers had fun learning about winter after reading “The Thing About Yetis”. We then made our own yetis out of coffee filters! When I received a copy of the new book “The Thing About Yetis” by Vin Vogel, I knew I wanted to save it for our snow and ice theme. I also knew I wanted to do a yeti winter craft for preschoolers after we read the book....

Full Disclosure: I was provided a copy of Garden Safari Vegetable Soup. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. When I was asked to review Garden Safari Vegetable Soup by the Kitchen Club Kids, I couldn’t wait to try the recipe with our preschoolers. You might recall when we made our own fruit salad when reading “End of the Rainbow Fruit Salad, by the same publishers....

Dramatic Play Printable Packets These dramatic play packets were designed by my daughter, Rachel, for use in our classroom and yours! Let’s hear it for play! These dramatic play ideas for toddlers and preschoolers are open ended and fun! Pretend play is an important part of children’s development. They learn by imagining and doing. If you stand back and observe children involved in pretend play, they are often mimicking what they’ve seen adults do....

Inside: This St. Patrick’s Day toddler craft is not only fun, but also introduces simple color mixing using blue and yellow tinted glue. We just finished the easiest and very fun St. Patrick’s Day toddler craft. I had some cardboard sitting in the storage closet so I decided to cut them into shamrock shapes, using a cookie cutter. I wanted this to also be a color mixing activity, so I tinted batches of glue yellow and also blue....

Inside: Create a colorful leaf craft … in a baggie! This no-mess activity explores the sense of touch as the fingers press on top of the baggie, mixing the colors around the leaf. Put together a colorful leaf craft in a baggie! This sensory experience is all about the process as the hands press on the plastic, moving and mixing the colors on top of the provided leaf printable. You can also move a roller across the baggie for extra fine motor fun....

More to read: 15+ Butterfly Activities As we enter our 7th month with our 2 year olds, they are much more engaged in any activity that we provide. Especially when it comes to painting. They love to paint and often want to create several pieces! I kept that in mind when I came up with this toddler butterfly art activity. I wanted butterflies that we could attach to our classroom tree, so I created a butterfly printable that can easily be attached to a clothespin and then clipped to the tree....

We love to welcome spring with butterfly activities! First, we learn about the lifecycle of the butterfly with our live caterpillars, watching them go through the process of turning into butterflies. Then, we fill our classroom with creative butterfly art! Toddlers love all the action that takes place while rolling different colors of paint on a mirror to make butterfly prints. And, it’s easy to put together! Colorful Butterflies Using Q-Tips Butterflies Painted with Marbles Big Butterfly Art...

Inside: Put together an Elmer the Elephant activity with playdough – a fun way to explore colors based on the favorite picture book! I love creating activities based on favorite picture books! When I purchased the book Elmer the Elephant by David McKee, I couldn’t wait to add it to our colors unit. As I was planning ideas for our various centers, I found a variety of playdough colors in our preschool’s storage closet and wondered what would happen if I combined playdough and elephants?...