12 of the Best Gardening Books that Preschoolers Love Spring is here, and that means gardening with our preschoolers! I’ve made sure to stock our library with favorite gardening picture books. I also love to display them in our science area and on top of our shelves. Do you have these books in your preschool collection? I’ve included a free printable list that you can download and use as a handy reference....
Inside: These preschool play date ideas are a great way to help your child build social and language skills while having fun with friends! One of the many areas I discuss during our parent night is the benefits of having fun play date activities with classmates. The biggest benefit is that they build social and language skills. Many of our parents have found that once they scheduled a few play dates, they saw their child’s confidence strengthen....
Inside: This collection of preschool hibernation activities is a fun addition to the winter theme. Packed with an assortment of ideas for your homeschool or classroom! After we explore snow and ice, we start finding hibernation activities for preschoolers. We learn what animals do during the winter, that bears sleep a lot in caves. We also tie this in with our day and night theme, having a pajama day. I’ve put together this collection of hibernation activities, crafts, snacks, songs and books that you can use in your preschool classroom or homeschool....
Toddlers love to work together, so I make sure to add group art activities to our agenda often. This colorful fish art activity is a winner because it uses recycled pieces (cardboard), paint, contact paper, and tissue paper squares. It’s simple and yet builds important skills and it looks beautiful in the window during your beach and ocean theme! You might recall these from the blog: Spring Garden Suncatchers Sticky Flower Light Table Apple Suncatchers Colorful Window Art...
Awhile back, while killing time going through Instagram, I stopped scrolling when I came to a photo of wooden eggs in a salad spinner, with paint. I’ve always loved plastic eggs hanging in the trees of our neighborhoods during the Easter season. Every year I say I will do the same, but never have. So this year I thought about hanging some in the tree outside our classroom window. We could decorate our own hanging eggs!...
Inside: Add some nature-inspired fun to your home or classroom with these pinecone activities for toddlers and preschoolers. Free printable count and clip cards included! A great way to incorporate nature into your classroom during the fall is to take your children outside and have them help you collect materials. We’re fortunate to have a lot of large pine trees near our classroom, so there is an unlimited supply of pinecones!...
Inside: These forest animals puppets are so easy to make, and we’ve even given you free printables. Simply add a craft stick and invite your preschoolers to use them as a prop during circle time! Using props during circle time is the secret to keeping them engaged. In fact, I’ve discussed this in my most popular video on YouTube, The Secrets to a Successful Circle Time. But it’s even more special when the children can put together their own props, such as these forest animals stick puppets....
You know all those shape sorters, nesting blocks, and puzzles that are sitting in your storage closet? Consider using some of them at the art table! You all know by now that I am a huge fan of process art. In fact, I recently shared how we painted with our jumbo nuts and bolts. I’ve observed what types of art activities light my students up, and there is no question that process art wins....
Have the children then add a shell and small plastic sea animal. I have this thing about sturdy water bottles. There, I’ve said it! You might recall our Jingle Bell Music Bottles. Same bottles as the ones used in this ocean activity! And making these bottles takes fine motor control and concentration as the sand and water is carefully added. But what our children loved most was the fun involved....
Inside: This tweezing corn activity is a fun way to build preschool fine motor skills. Perfect with your farm or fall theme! Using tweezers is one of our favorite ways to strengthen the fingers and hands, getting them ready for writing. We’ve used them in the sensory bin, while exploring nature, and with our table activities that involve transferring small objects. Today I’m going to show you how to put together a fine motor activity that involves tweezing corn....
Inside: These printable airplane circle time props are a fun way to get toddlers and preschoolers engaged. Perfect for the transportation theme! If you are planning a transportation theme with your toddlers and preschoolers, check out these printable airplane circle time props! I’ve created them for teachers and students to hold while reading transportation books and singing transportation songs. Simply cut the airplanes from the printable page and tape them to popsicle sticks!...
Inside: This toddler and preschool ocean theme circle time activity works on color and number recognition and simple counting. Download the free printable and make your own props! If you’re looking for ways to get your toddlers and preschoolers engaged during your ocean theme circle time, you will love this free printable! The fish printable can be turned into stick puppets that the children can hold while listening to related books and songs....
Inside: What to do with those pumpkin seeds after making your jack-o-lanterns? Try this simple pumpkin seed art activity! During our pumpkin theme we love exploring what’s inside a pumpkin. Once the pumpkins are cleaned, we hammer golf tees into them for a fun fine motor activity. But what do to with all those seeds? This is what I was wondering as I looked at the large mound of seeds sitting in the tub....
There are a lot of fun transportation books for toddlers and preschoolers. In fact, it can be downright hard to choose which ones to include! But during the many years I’ve been a teacher, I’ve come up with a list of favorites that I love to bring out year after year for our preschool transportation theme. In fact, some are out throughout the year regardless of our theme because they are favorites with our children....
Inside: This frozen Valentine heart art is super easy and fun for toddlers and preschoolers! Simply freeze water using a heart mold, add paint, and press paper on top. A nice change from all the crafty holiday stuff! The ice is back! You recall our recent tree ice painting, right? Well, this is the same process, except now we are adding an additional step that allows the children to actually take something home....
Let’s hear it for creative math ideas! I chose each of these winter math activities because they invite preschoolers to use their simple counting skills. Easy and fun. They can be added to your learning centers or be part of a small group. Each is a perfect addition to your winter theme and will compliment the other activities going on in your home or classroom. Scroll down towards bottom of page to find a FREE winter puzzle printable you can download and use today!...
Now we wait for our real caterpillars to turn into butterflies. Such a fun activity! Right around the time we return from spring break, our caterpillars arrive. We will spend days watching them grow before they enter the chrysalis stage. During this time, we like to make our own caterpillars using recycled egg cartons, wiggly eyes, paint, and pipe cleaners for a fun spring craft. And then, we will wait some more until they emerge as butterflies!...
Awhile ago we put a call out to our preschool families for empty egg cartons. We ended up with bags of them in a matter of days! We were planning a spider unit at our science table, so I wanted to do something with spiders at the art table as well. The light bulb went off when I realized I could use a few of those bazillion recycled egg cartons....
Inside: Add some fall fun to your preschool dramatic play area with these fall dramatic play ideas, from pumpkin patches to apple pie baking! Dramatic play can be one of the most fun activities to set up in the classroom. I get so excited incorporating fun details into the area, and watching children’s eyes light up when they see them. Dramatic play allows children to act out roles that they see in their daily lives, such as cashiers and parents....
Inside: Here’s a fun fall painting activity for energetic toddlers that can be done standing up, shaking a jar back and forth. Perfect for getting those wiggles out! The past few days our 2 year olds have had a huge case of the wiggles. They simply don’t want to stop moving! Now, if you’ve been following my blog for awhile, you know I write about this topic often. Toddlers equal high energy....
