Educational creativity

Here are some more printables.  I am providing these because the people who make them are very talented.  If any are repeats, I apologize. Mr. Printable - kind of says it all.  games, letter cards, number cards, worksheets for older kids Preschool printables - theme oriented colored printables 2 Teaching Mommies - large theme unit printables including holidays, seasons, about me, community Our Little Monkeys - neat themes outdoors, pilots, bakers, tools, cars, cat in hat, April showers File folder games Literacy printables - make your own worksheets- I will use them for these=letter cards, make your own dominoes, follow me games Pocket Full of Posies - numbers, letter tracing, size sorting, others Tools for Educators - make your own dice, game boards, dominoes, Bingo games, vocabulary (even for other languages) Tired, need sleep - build a letter, other letter related stuff, and math printables

I'm sure you've seen these stick puzzles floating around.  They are cute, 3D, and easy to make.  This is another version using the child's name as the puzzle. First step is to tape the sticks (fat sticks work better) together using the same number of sticks as number of letters in the child's name. Write child's name or put stickers to spell child's name on sticks. Glue picture on stick.  You can add modge podge.  Then cut the pieces apart.  You can then put the pieces in a baggy labeled with the child's name.

     I was attempting to show all the literacy center ideas as on post, but it has become a very large and long post.  Therefor I am going to show you one center at a time. Some things to remember about centers.      Centers need to be ever changing.  Repetition is good.  Kids learn exactly how to use the materials, but if you use the same materials day after day, week after week, month after month, the children will get bored and become a  behavior problem.      Centers should be mostly independent.  This way you as the teacher can facilitate, solve behavior problems, have small groups, and perform assessment.      Centers may seem like play to children, but they should be organized and purposeful. Letter Work provides children with multiple opportunities to play with letters.      Connect Game- you will need plastic link toys (fine motor) and a set of upper case letters and lower case letters.  Children then match the upper to lower case letter.  You could use flash cards

     I have been waiting forever to make these but just couldn't figure out when and for whom.  This is where I saw the idea for edible crayons .  I had problems printing the wrappers, so I wasted a lot of paper.  Use your print preview to find the page to print if you are having trouble too.  The color words did not print out.  They still look cute.  I decided I will make them for all the teachers at my daughters new school.  There are a lot of teachers, so I decided to make a bunch for everyone instead of individual ones.  I thought you might like to see them before school starts, so you can decide if you want to try them. These are what Teaching Heart Mom's looked like. I am doing a few things different because ingredients are just harder to find here.  I am using pretzel rods and breaking them in half instead of twisty pretzels.  I also could not find already colored candies.  So, I bought a huge block of white vanilla candy, and I'll put food coloring in it.  I'm

     One of my hobbies, since college has been writing.  I started writing about my family, but once I discovered the world of children's books, I have always wanted to write one.  I have written a few, but when I tried to get it published, it was just a lot more work than you can imagine.  So, now I just write.  One day, maybe, I will find the time to branch out and try the published way.      Here is some of the book I have been working on.  It was inspired by a few of my favorite books by Alyssa Capucilli and illustrated by Ted Arnold.  Inside a Zoo in the City and Inside a House that is Haunted.  They kind of copy the House that Jack Built idea.  Alyssa Capucilli also wrote some popular books about Biscuit.  I did not know that.  I also saw some other Scholastic books that I have used in my classroom.  Here  is her website.      Please let me know what you think.  I was trying to get all the things we do during our school day into rhyme and rhythm.  If you have read these b

These are one of the cutest things I have ever seen.  I want them for my house.  It would be so easy to store toys inside, and it is still a seat for a little one. storage and seat Everyone that has made them says they are sturdy and have lasted through at least 1 full school year.  I guess it is a great time to buy these crates too.

Since I'm still hoping to find a job soon, I thought I would organize some more of my favorites.  All these sites offer free printables.  I would be willing to share any of mine, but I'm not sure how to put them on here.  So if you want something just let me know and I'll email it to you.  classroom printables from prekinders  cute center signs and a neat sub folder prekinder  also has lots of other printables by theme, by subject, music this was my favorite classroom signs from ABC Teach 1+1+1=1 has preschool themed activities all included in one folder.  She offers colored games, puzzles, letter cards, little books, playdo letter and word mats Tot Packs from 1+1+1=1  are suppose to be for toddlers but are easily adaptable. Even more fun stuff from 1+1+1=1 And another preschool pack site is home school creations DLTK mini book for letters and other stuff.  You can even make a custom book for your child. making learning fun  has printables to go with all kinds o

     Deborah at Teach Preschool  made some dot dabbers (also called bingo dots) for her school.  I have always loved these and bought a colored set of washable ones at the local teacher store.  They are very expensive, and when one child tries to use it like a paint brush, the little sponge comes off.  They have non washable ones at the Dollar Tree, but that can get you into some trouble.  I have seen refillable ones at the teacher store but never bought them.  Deborah says they didn't work out the way she wanted, so she made her own. You can see them  here .      As I was looking through my cabinet, I saw this bottle of formula which I am not using because I am breast feeding.  They are the premade ready to use by just putting on the nipple. I'm not sure if they sell them like this or if they just give them away at the hospital.  But they looked perfect.  And many people use formula, and if you know someone that works at the hospital, I think this is what they use.          

Every teacher will say "It's the process not the product."  So why do we have such cute art projects? They go with the theme.  They help with following directions.  The parents like them.  Okay, but what about the child?(It hit me when we saw a real jelly fish at the beach, and it looks nothing like the streamer ones we always make during our ocean theme)  Shaving cream rainbow fish I have been torn many times over the art project in my own classroom. So my decision was to offer a project bu not force the child to do it.  I provided many other types of activities that would attract children and focus on learning skills through play.  Then the parents complained they didn't have anything to put on the fridge. markers on coffee filter then spray with water butterfly So I have tried to come up with ways to give the child the process but also give the parent a product.  String printing ice cream cone Using materials you would like children to experience, you can m

     For our vacation, we stayed at a beach here in Texas.  In the past we have visited a beach in Florida, so we were anxious to compare the Golf beach to the ocean.  It became a learning adventure.  Well, any vacation can be a learning adventure if you encourage talking.  First, we traveled across a Ferry.  New vocabulary.  And saw some familiar animals. And some new yet scary animals.  This is a jellyfish.  Nothing like our craft jellyfish, huh? We found some plants. We dug (digged) holes, buried treasure, and dug again. All the while we used very descriptive words, like bumpy, smooth, muddy, etc. We made marks and found marks for treasure.  X marks the spot. Found and made prints.  This was her hands, but she was imitating the bird footprints we saw. Building castles.  Okay we did not build this one. Writing names in the sand. Making shadows. Comparing seashells we found.  They were a little different than ones we found in Florida. The amount of vocabulary that c

     One of the activities I do at the beginning of the year for introducing scissors and gaining fine motor control is cutting drinking straws.  They are very easy to hold while using scissors.  Children also can't use both hands on the scissors.  We found these colorful striped straws at the Dollar Tree.  I usually put lots of straws in a big tub with 2 or 3 pairs of scissor.  You could give each child a bag to cut the straws into, but I just asked the kids to pick up any straws on the floor.  It was part of the fun.  This time, I gave my daughter an empty baby wipe container to try to contain the mess.  The cut straws tend to fly when cut.   After all the straws are cut, you can have the kids string them for more fine motor practice.

Yes, this is a baby bathtub.  We don't have room for a water table so this works for now. My daughter had notice, while helping wash dishes, that her cups tinted the water the color of the cup.  And, when you put 2 colored cups together they make another color. We had lots of colored water balloons left over from a failed experiment earlier.  So, we put them in the water table to try and mix colors with these child sippy cups.  First, she just liked matching the balloons to the same color cup. Then some color mixing.  Some showed only a little color change. Others, showed a real noticeable change. Then, to the pouring and spraying with a spray bottle. She liked the way spray sounded on the balloon. Well, we are off to the beach for a short vacation.  See you when we return with some beach creativity.

Some of you have probably heard of sand on a pan.  This is colored rice on a pan. This supports fine motor skills by encouraging children to use their pointer finger to make shapes, letters, or numbers.  It is a very tactile activity.  My daughter loved the way it felt on her fingers.

How do you involve parents in your class?       Parent involvement is a major factor in school success: and no I don't mean homework.  Head Starts have a parent involvement requirement.  Since it is so important, how do we encourage parents to get more involved in their young child's education?  Many parents work and don't have the free time to come visit the classroom like they may want.  Here are a few ideas. Make Parents Feel Welcome!      I have heard of many teachers who do not want parents to come in because their children do not act the same when they are around.  So, they shut their doors and have parents only come in on certain days and times.  How would that make you feel?  Instead, you could have activities planned ahead that parents can sit down and do with children throughout the day.  I have a parent helper folder that parents can choose a game or activity. Parent Folder      We have plays or programs that parents are invited to throughout the year.  Mo