Before teaching your kid how to write, it is important that he learns to trace lines. The worksheets in this post help him achieve that end. They contain dotted linear and curved lines in various patterns. While some of the printable pages only have different kinds of dotted lines that need to be connected, there […]
Blog about Easy and Fun Kid Art and Crafts Activities
The Inuit are fascinating people, particularly for their resilience and adaptability to the harsh, cold winters of the North American Arctic. For
Learning about Shadows and Reflections We talked a lot about how shadows move with the sun and how the location of the sun determines which way your shadow falls. This was a fun craft to help the kids to visually understand how the sun casts shadows. We used the projector to see the 'shadows' different objects make. We played a game too, I sent each kid to hunt for something in the classroom that was small enough to fit in their hand. I called them up one by one and they placed their object on the projector, the other kids had to guess what the object was! It was fun and some of the items were tricky!!! We have these cool bugs in our classroom, we brought them over to the projector to see what kinds of 'shadows' they would make, because they are clear the kids observed how you could see color....more like a reflection then a shadow! Exploring with different objects. Shadow puppets!! Each kid had a chance to make a shadow puppet on the wall. This is actually my hubby and my son at LACMA in Los Angeles but it was fitting since we were talking about shadows! I made these shadow games by taking objects and photocopying them onto a sheet of paper, then I glued the paper onto a file folder and laminated it. I taped a envelope on the inside to store the pieces. The kids take out the objects and match them to the correct 'shadow'! These are my favorite! Have you ever tried to trace the silhouette of 24... 3 and 4 year olds?!?! It's NOT easy!!! But this is!!! I simply set up the projector and put a chair in front of a white sheet of paper on the wall. I took my CAMERA and turned the flash off, then simply snapped the picture....TA-DA instant silhouettes minus the tracing and cutting!!!! We spent lots of time looking into mirrors and seeing our reflections! Talking about the differences between our shadows and our reflections! Questions to ask when talking about shadows and reflections! Can we see our shadow at night or in the shade? Why not? Do our shadows have colors? Do our reflections have colors? Why do our shadows get bigger and smaller? Why do our shadows move? We also took the kid outside and traced their shadows with chalk then we went out later and had them stand in the same spot.....their shadows moved!!!! We of course also played shadow tag! We also read the book Moon Bears Shadow. It was a GREAT week learning about Shadows and Reflections!!!
Pack your classroom with hands-on activities all about what animals do in the winter. I have rounded up my favorite hibernation centers and activities.
Introducing land, air, and water is a basic, Montessori preschool geography lesson that helps kids understand the world around them.
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Looking for a great Stonehenge lesson to teach your kids? You'll find ideas for all ages to teach about Stonehenge right here.
These STEM cards activity task cards are a great way to incorporate STEM into the classroom. Students will love the challenge of building all sorts of shapes.
Draw your dream and write about it. Great Martin Luther King Jr. holiday activity.
How to play "I spy with my little eye" as well as lots of ideas and examples for using this game to build many of your preschooler's skills.
This free opposites game is great for teaching opposites to kids in preschool or kindergarten. It's a great tool for teaching opposites to ESL learners too! #kindergarten #esl
Teach preschool prepositions with this easy literacy indoor game! Use counting bears and a simple design for over, under, above, and below.
Make a snowstorm in a jar! This winter science experiment for kids is SO fun, and easy to do with simple supplies.
Anya, the founder of Montessori From The Heart, is an educational coach, a blogger, an author, a digital creator, and an influencer.
If you have learners who struggle to isolate beginning sounds, these free phonemic awareness games are the perfect fit! Use them in preschool or kindergarten. Use them in literacy centers or small groups. #phonemicawareness #preschool #kindergarten
It is so encouraging to see so many SLPs, educators, families, and others support the acquisition of core vocabulary. In this post, we’re thrilled to be sharing a resource by Alison Wade, an SLP fr…
This Jonah and the whale craft teaches a lesson on obedience. I believe in teaching our kids about the importance of obedience. Here is why! Obedience is one of the 52 words in my character development series. Although I want my kids to fully understand God’s grace and mercy first and foremost, I want them...Read More
My kids love science projects that involve something that looks just a bit like magic. We've had a lot of fun making glow-in-the-dark projects, flying projects, and anything that has a "wow" factor. This winter, we resolved to try and make instant ice. We knew the project could be a bit tricky, but we didn't
Explore gravity with these 7 fun preschool science experiments! Activities that include pushing, throwing, and falling - all hands-on and fun!
Color mixing with light is a fun activity for kids to learn about what happens when you mix different colors. The thing is, light does not always react the same way as mixing colored paints.
Is your child working on learning to read letter blends? Find out how you can make your own word sort games. This simple bottle cap activity makes learning diagraphs fun.
Have fun with our dot to dot pages (connect the dots). Below is a list of our free printable dot to dot pages for kids. Print out a page or two on a rainy day or if you are going out to dinner with your children - it will keep them stimulated and having fun. To print out your dot to dot page, just click on the image you want to view and print the larger image. Then just use your back button to get back to this page.
Teach your kids about the northern lights (and science) with this hands-on activity
Try some paper weaving and colouring to make an Elmer picture! Activity: Paper weaving & colouring Age: Yr 1 - Yr 6 (See tip at the bottom for how to adapt to use with older children) Resources: Black paper, Strips of coloured paper, glue scissors What to do: 1) Measure and draw a 2 cm border inside an A4 sheet of thick paper or card. 2) Measure 2cm lines across the inside of the border and cut slits following each one with a craft knife and ruler or fold the paper lengthways and use scissors to cut them from the middle, stopping at the border. 3) Cut 2 cm strips of coloured paper lengthways. 4) Weave your strips through your A4 paper lengthways, being sure to to start each strip the opposite of the last one e.g. 'over, under' 'under, over'. 5) Finish weaving and stick down the end of each strip on the front and the back of the paper. 6) Now you can either draw Elmer over the top of your weaving or draw and colour him in and then cut him out and glue him on top of your paper weaving background. (I will add an Elmer shape for you to use at the bottom of the post) Add a googly eye if you have one! TIP: Older children love to do paper weaving. Here is an example of year 5/6 work. This was achieved by folding the paper lengthways, after drawing the border, then drawing curvy lines, instead of straight ones, and cutting up to the border while still folded, then open out. The strips used to weave are different widths.
So this is called, "Five Favorite Pins of January" and I am so happy to participate. Thank you, Aileen Miracle from the amazing "Mrs. Miracle's Music Room" for the invite! If you haven't seen her blog, oh my...put that on your "things I need to take time to read and get inspired to do list." This is my very first "Linky Party," too - so if you simply click on this picture at the end of my blog post, it will take you to Aileen's 5 Favorite Pins of January post! Here are my 5 Favorite Pins this month: #1 Before You Tell the Teacher... Man, oh man! Since we have gotten back from winter break I felt as if I needed a tape recorder since I kept saying over and over, did you try to solve the problem? I saw this on pinterest and was SO happy to add it as a quick and easy reminder for my little guys. Now I simply point if there is a little wide-eyed friend tugging at me (as I'm in the middle of a song...ahem!) LOL. This pin is from "The Littlest Scholars" Blog - just click the picture and it takes you to the blog where you can download and print this great poster for your classroom! #2 Recorder Clip Art Talk about perfect timing! It's almost time for "Recorder Karate! at my school!" I was psyched to see that Denise at Dancing Crayon created this very kid-friendly set! I love them and can use them for soooo many activities. Click the pic to grab these goodies! #3 Unlock the Door - Syncopa Version So I am a big fan of Aileen Miracle's TpT products and let me tell you, last year, when I found her first version of "Unlock the Door" I was hooked! My kids worked SO hard to figure out which key had the correct rhythm. Such a fun way for your students to practice syncopated rhythms. Each page has a key with a notated rhythm pattern - the students listen to a sound clip and have to choose which "key" will unlock the door! It's adorable and engaging, and perfect to assess your student's skills. #4 Monster Invastion Composing What a find! I pinned immediately and did not regret it. David at Make Moments Matter, has a great blog with tons of ideas for your music room. After reading this post about his "Monster Invasion" game, I went bananas and ran out to the Dollar Tree to grab some "monsters" of my own. You see, well the only way to get rid of the monsters invading the music room is to compose your own 4 measure pattern! Check out the directions for this game and I guarantee you'll be inspired to make your own set and your students will have a great time COMPOSING (we all know we need more composing in our lessons!) and having time to be creative! I'm thinking about extending the activity to have the students add the solfege and turn them into "Melody Monsters" and sing and play their compositions on instruments. Exciting!!! Thank you for the GREAT post, David!!! #5 The Dum-Dum Song! So I stumbled upon this pin one night and after watching it, my first thought, "I am TOTALLY teaching this to my 4th grade chorus!!! ha!!!" I think I will teach them just a little bit at a time during warm-ups, and add onto it each time we meet. What a fun and engaging challenge. Just click the picture or the link below and get ready to giggle. http://www.pinterest.com/pin/315181673893691570/ And I just have to add.... an Extra Special Pin (and a freebie from a lovely and talented friend in Canada) This is something that is very close to my heart. I hope you can take a moment to check it out and maybe pass it on to your other fellow teachers in your schools. What a beautiful way to help our students demonstrate the power of kindness. Random Acts of Kindness Book http://whimsyworkshop.blogspot.ca/2013/12/random-acts-of-kindness-class-project.html Click this picture below to go to Aileen Miracle's blog and check out her five favorite pins of January Do you have 5 favorites, too? Comment below and then, link up! Directions are on her page below her post. Thank you and "sing"-ya later! Tina
Learn about animal habitats as kids compare and contrast Arctic animals and Forest animals with this hands-on science activity!
Today's blog post will be a quickie. I was just so excited about my latest Target find, I had to share it with my teaching friends! So let's get started with our build a sight word fun! I knew it was going to be a good trip because this was the first thing I saw when...
What are Opposites & Why Teach Opposites Opposites are pairs of words that have different meanings (e.g., big/little, fast/ slow, happy/sad). These words are part of basic concepts. Understandi…
Exploring Northern Lights with preschoolers is like discovering these bright phenomena all over again. To the Laboratory! Exploring the Sun: Sunset and Sunrise.
Learn how the ear works with a FUN human body experiments for kids project. Create an ear model with common materials that will AMAZE kids!
Help your preschooler's develop their fine motor skills while being creative in expressing their favorite food with this drawing worksheet.
I pulled out my Asia storage box a couple of weeks ago and was overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I’ve put in it over the years. I decided it was finally time to get it properly organized. (More thoughts about organizing thematic units here.) Here are the preliminary results! I put a few […]
Learn easy electricity experiments with kids!!
Teach your kids about the northern lights (and science) with this hands-on activity
Pinay Homeschooler is a blog that shares homeschool and afterschool activity of kids from babies to elementary level.
Print the cute and free "my little book of opposites" with images to color, cut, and glue! This is a perfect companion to Opposites by Sandra Boynton.
Celebrate differences and diversity with the Rainbow Colors of Me free printable to help kids see how colorful our world is.
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Anya, the founder of Montessori From The Heart, is an educational coach, a blogger, an author, a digital creator, and an influencer.
Anya, the founder of Montessori From The Heart, is an educational coach, a blogger, an author, a digital creator, and an influencer.
