I have always loved the idea of Montessori trays. They’re a way to gather materials for kids to play with or manipulate that keeps things together and makes it easy to support a theme in the classroom or at home. … Read More ...
Fall Activities for Cutting Practice
Cutting practice can sometimes feel like a waste of time, doing crafts instead of learning, though we know that it’s all connected, and that cutting develops motor skills that are necessary for writing. And it’s just fun to make fall-themed … Read More ...
Turn Stone Soup into Science
Over the course of several years, my daughter’s classes have read the book Stone Soup and made their own versions. It’s a lovely story to do in a classroom environment, because it highlights the idea that everyone brings something different … Read More ...
Review: DIY Box Creations
I’ve always been the sort of person who wants to hang on to happy trash, shorthand for things that might otherwise be thrown out or recycled but that could also be used for creative projects.
Now I’m going to be … Read More ...
Fall Science with Leaves and Pine Cones
Fall is a great time to gather natural materials to using in play, art and learning, and there are a great variety of things you can do with them, from painting on leaves to making collages of natural materials, drawing … Read More ...
Free Halloween Themed Printables for Kids
Halloween printables are one of those wonderfully handy resources that can save the day when you need a quick classroom activity, party game, quiet-time worksheet, or something festive to keep little hands busy while the excitement builds. Whether you’re a … Read More ...
Bat Crafts and Learning Activities
Bring a bit of Halloween fun into the classroom or your learning activities at home by learning about bats and making bat crafts.
We’ve probably all read the book Stellaluna, right? Make your own hanging bats with clothespins and basic … Read More ...
Download this Free Ebook Full of Science Ideas for Early Learners
I just came across this amazing resource from Science Sparks: a free ebook on science for the early years, full of fun experiments you can do with a classroom of kids or with your own child.
There’s some really … Read More ...
Talk About Social Skills with Five Little Pumpkins
It’s always fun when you can work the seasons and holidays into learning activities (such as these roundups of fall learning activities, pumpkin learning activities and apple learning activities), and this activity for teaching about emotions with Five … Read More ...
Combine Science and Art with Paintball Bombs
This homemade paintball bomb experiment would be cool any time of year, but it might be really fun to do this experiment and use the bombs to paint a pumpkin.
Teach Beside Me has all the details of how to … Read More ...
Do Pumpkin Investigations with this Printable
I’ve already shared a bunch of pumpkin learning activities, but this one is great, too, so I wanted to make sure to include it.
The free pumpkin investigations printable from the STEM Laboratory is an easy way for you … Read More ...
Fall Lego Building Challenges
Building with Legos is always fun, but some kids need help deciding what to build when they aren’t working from a kit. Lego challenges are a great way to inspire kids to go a certain direction with their building without … Read More ...
Explore Natural Materials in a Jar
Playing with, exploring and mixing up natural materials like said, soil and stone is a lot of fun for kids, and you can make it an easy science exploration without a lot of effort, as shown in this tutorial from … Read More ...
Encouraging Reading and How to Read Chapter Books with Preschoolers
My daughter has always loved books and reading. I think that the fact that we have read a lot, her whole life, made her see books and reading as important, and we still read together a lot, though she … Read More ...
Make a Garden Xylophone from Natural Materials
Music is one learning activity that doesn’t seem to go outside very often, and that’s a shame, because natural materials can be used in a lot of different ways to make musical instruments.
This idea for a garden xylophone from … Read More ...