Minggu, 29 Maret 2015

Upper and Lowercase Letter Sort & Match Free Printable

You are going to love my next guest blogger, Tanya from Finding the Teachable Moments! Tanya is a homeschooling mom of three, blogging about educational activities, ideas and crafts. Some of my favorite posts of hers are Free Printable Rhyming & Cutting ActivityHuge List of Early Learning Themes and What Does my Child Need to Learn? (age 2 to grade 2). She is here today sharing a Free Printable Letter Sorting & Matching Activity!
Upper and Lowercase Sort & Match Free Printable
One of the very first steps to learning to read is the ability to recognize both upper and lowercase letters. My daughter knows her uppercase letters, and she also knows many of her “baby letters” (as she likes to call them). But matching lowercase to uppercase letters is something she needs to practice, so I made this printable letter matching activity for her. I included a set of uppercase letters in a variety of fonts as well for children working on uppercase identification alone.


Each page works on five letters at a time. Just print out the uppercase letter page and corresponding lowercase (or uppercase) letters. Cut out the lowercase letters and spread them out. Your little one will choose one letter at a time and place it in the correct column.


The first page contains just vowels so the activity can double as a vowel-consonant lesson as well. There is no reason to try and do the entire alphabet in one sitting. My daughter was only interested in doing one page at a time.


You could laminate the letters and use it as a busy bag activity for a child who may be able to use it independently or do it alongside your child as an introduction to new letters.



Tanya is a homeschooling mom of three who is passionate about hands-on learning. You can visit her at Finding the Teachable Moments where she shares learning activities and teaching tips for children age 2 to grade 2. You can also follow along with her on Pinterest and Facebook.

Jumat, 27 Maret 2015

Orange Tree Counting Activity with Free Printable

The next wonderful guest blogger in our series is Tarana from Sand In My Toes. Tarana is mommy to a toddler, writing about parenthood, activities and crafts for preschoolers. Some of my favorite posts of hers are Alphabet Matching Activity (with free printable), Hidden Letters Painting and Pasta Counting Activity. She is here today sharing a fun counting activity with orange trees!

Orange Tree Counting Free Printable

Counting is one of those skills which gets better with practice. Toddlers can start counting pretty early if they are interested, and we have been doing counting activities since my son was two (he’s three now).

The reinforcing is important too, so counting is something preschoolers and kindergartners should practice routinely.

The only thing is that they tend to get bored with numbers at that age (or pretty much anything!), so I’m always looking for new ways to make counting interesting.

We loved doing this Orange Tree Counting Activity. Kids love anything bright and colourful, so this is a great activity to get them interested in numbers! And there’s a free printable too (link below), so you can set it up pretty easily.

The printable has tree cards from 1 to 20, but I only used the cards from 1 to 6 when we did the activity.

I cut out circles from orange craft paper to make the ‘oranges’, but you could use stickers, play dough, pom poms, or even finger paint!

I set out the cards randomly and placed the right number of oranges needed for completing them.


We first read the number on the card out loud and then glued on the oranges in the correct quantity. You don’t need to glue them on if you plan to use the cards again. You can even laminate the cards to make them last longer.


It didn’t take too long for us to complete the activity, and we’ll soon do it with the bigger numbers. Hope you have fun doing this too!



Tarana Khan is mom to a toddler, living an expat life. She loves writing and has done her stints as a copywriter, reporter and content editor, before embracing parenthood full time. She blogs at Sand In My Toes, where you can drop by to read more of her parenting and other adventures! Tarana also has a series called Busy Hands where you can find more activities and crafts for toddlers and preschoolers. You can also catch up with her on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest or Google+.




Rabu, 18 Maret 2015

Easter Picture & Word Tracing Printables (Love to Learn Linky #34)

My daughter has really been intro tracing letters lately, so to encourage her interest, I created a set of Easter themed tracing printables. This is a fun way to practice handwriting and fine motor skills while getting ready for Easter. Trace the word, then trace the picture and color it in!

Free Easter Picture & Word Tracing

This Free Easter Tracing printable set includes 4 different designs: a rabbit, an egg, a basket and a cross, in both upper case and lower case letters.




If you enjoy this set, you might also like our Free Alphabet Picture Tracing Pack.
















LOVE TO LEARN LINKY

Visit my co-hosts to see their posts and features!

Preschool Science & Activities About Clouds from A Little Pinch of Perfect
Spring Birds Activities for Kids from One Time Through
Mad Scientist Play Dough Mat Printables from Left Brain Craft Brain
Love to Learn Linky

Now it's time for some more links! I hope you'll join me and a couple of friends for a brand new linky party!

Bloggers, link up your posts every Thursday and watch as we round them up and share them all over the place.

Almost anything goes, we're just hoping your activities teach kids (or us!) something. (science, art, cooking, behavior, crafting, parenting, etc...)


Love to Learn Linky Etiquette:

  • Posts should be about educating our kids in any way - science, art, cooking, crafts, behavior, parenting, etc. Please keep them family friendly and please no Etsy shops or giveaways unless they are relevant to the topic.

  • Upload your direct post link to the InLinkz widget. Link up to 3 posts.



  • Post our button on your site.

  • By linking up, you agree to have your images shared with credit.

Link up and grab a button!
Love to Learn Linky





Minggu, 15 Maret 2015

Rainbow Photo Hunt STEAM Activity

I am pleased to introduce the next guest blogger in our series, Jamie from Hand Made Kids Art. Jamie is an art teacher and a mom who shares creative art ideas and projects for kids of all ages. She is here today sharing a fun way to put the "A" in STEAM.

Learn and master your colors with a rainbow color hunt. This STEAM activity combines science, technology and art for a fun twist on preschool color learning.
Rainbow Photo Hunt: STEAM Activity

STEAM is the combination of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math. Hand Made Kids Art believes the inclusion of the Arts to STEM is essential to our young children’s future success. Teaching children how to think creatively and learning to be problem solvers is how we can prepare our children for the future.

With STEAM activities, the final product of the activity is not as important as the process or creating the product. Through the process of experimenting and exploring your child is using creative and critical thinking skills. Scientists, mathematicians, engineers and artists all use the same critical thinking skills to find new and innovative solutions.

Activity Objective: Child will observe and identify the use of color in their environment. Child will use technology to document their exploration of color with photography.

Materials:
Rainbow Hunt Printable
Clipboard
Pencil
Digital Camera (or Cell Phone Camera)
Printer
Hole Punch
Key Ring

Tutorial:
Step 1: Print off the rainbow hunt printable (or create your own) and place on the clipboard. My three year old requested her favorite color pink be included in the color hunt so I made two versions, one including pink.


Step 2: Go exploring and identify each color either outside in nature or inside the house.



Step 3: Document your “color” finds by taking a photograph of each color. Use the printable to keep track and check off what colors you have found.



Step 4: Once you have completed taking a photo of each color, download and print the photographs. We printed our photographs on 4x6 photo paper. Below is a collage of our final color photographs. All color photographs were taken by my five and three year old.



Step 5: Create your photo book. Punch a hole in the corner of each photograph and slide the photograph on to the key ring. You may print off the rainbow printable to use as the cover for the book or let your child create their own book cover.



Activity Extensions:
Write the color names on the back of the photographs.

Provide additional art experiences by letting your child experiment and explore making marks with color using a variety of materials, such as crayons, markers, and paint.


Related links from Hand Made Kids Art:



Jamie is a certified Art Instructor having taught children of all ages. In addition to inspiring young minds and creating for Hand Made Kids Art, she is a busy mother of 3 children. Hand Made Kids Art focuses on quick, easy and inspiring art activities to grow creative kids. It doesn’t matter if you only have 5 minutes or 20 minutes, you can find time to create art with your children with Hand Made Kids Art. Follow along with our art adventures at HandMade Kids Art, Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.



Kamis, 12 Maret 2015

Free Easter Basket Matching Game

The next fabulous blogger in my guest post series is Deborah from Mommy Crusader and Her Knights and Ladies. She is mommy to five young children, and blogs about kid's activities, crafts, parenting and even creates free printables like the one she is sharing today! You can find a lot of great ideas for preschool educational activities, such as C is for Counting, D is for Dots and E is for Equals, all of which include free printables, so definitely check them out!

Free Easter Basket Matching Game

I’m so excited to be guest posting for Totschooling today. Educating my little ones is something I take rather seriously, and Totschooling is a great blog that gathers fabulous resources for parents who work on educating their toddlers and preschoolers. Today, I am sharing a Math activity geared for three to five year olds. We had a lot of fun with it, and I hope you do too.

Easter Basket Matching – One to One Correlation Math Activity

Who doesn’t love to go Easter egg hunting? I know my children love to, so I thought I’d make a Math card game based on an Easter egg hunt. The game is based on the classic card game war, but with a slight twist.

Setup:
Print out the cards here: Easter Matching Game (Cardstock is best, it makes them easier to shuffle and easier for little hands to handle.)

Shuffle the cards and deal them all out.


Play:
The youngest player goes first. Everyone turns over their top card and the player examines the cards to see if there is a match. If there is a match, that player keeps the match and has another turn. Any cards that aren't part of a match are discarded. Continue until there is a round with no matches.


Move to the next player. They play the same as the first player, with everyone turning over their top card and the player examining them to see if there is a match. This player keeps all matches and discards any non-matching cards. This player keeps playing until there is a round with no matches.

When any player runs out of cards, shuffle the discard pile and re-deal the cards to the players.

Continue the game until every card has been matched.


This game is really helpful for little ones who are working on one-to-one correlation and also very helpful for number recognition. They also really like it because they can win. My preschooler considers the game a 'win' whenever she gets a match.

Deborah is the Mommy behind Mommy Crusader and Her Knights and Ladies. The name of her website was chosen because her children are always playing princess and knight, and sometimes being a mommy feels like a crusade. She has five children, 10 and under, and one awesome and supportive husband. With her bachelor’s degree in Interpersonal Communication, she writes about parenting tips and fun kid’s activities and crafts with a focus on preschool learning activities. Check her out at MommyCrusader.com.




Rabu, 11 Maret 2015

Pot of Gold Math Game (Love to Learn Linky #33)

A great way to teach number recognition and addition is to play "roll and cover" math games. Here is a fun St. Patrick's themed game, although it can be played at any time of the year. All you need is "gold coins" (see affiliate link below) or you can use anything else like playdough or pom poms.

Pot of Gold Roll & Cover Math Game

This Pot of Gold Roll & Cover game includes 2 levels of difficulty:

For younger children and toddlers, use the first page with numbers 1-6 and a single die. Roll the die and place a "gold coin" on top of the correct number. This can be played with multiple players or just one.

The second page is a more advanced version, which is great for learning addition. It includes numbers 2-12 and you roll two dice, add the numbers together, and place a "gold coin" on top of the correct number.

Reading a regular die can be hard for young children, so I have included a printable paper die that is larger and easier to count the dots. You can also find larger dice at a dollar store or through my affiliate link below.




LOVE TO LEARN LINKY

Visit my co-hosts to see their posts and features!

15 Easy Spring Crafts for Toddlers from A Little Pinch of Perfect
Playful Hands-On Math for Young Children from One Time Through
Tube Painting Gross Motor Art Project from Left Brain Craft Brain
Love to Learn Linky

Now it's time for some more links! I hope you'll join me and a couple of friends for a brand new linky party!

Bloggers, link up your posts every Thursday and watch as we round them up and share them all over the place.

Almost anything goes, we're just hoping your activities teach kids (or us!) something. (science, art, cooking, behavior, crafting, parenting, etc...)


Love to Learn Linky Etiquette:

  • Posts should be about educating our kids in any way - science, art, cooking, crafts, behavior, parenting, etc. Please keep them family friendly and please no Etsy shops or giveaways unless they are relevant to the topic.

  • Upload your direct post link to the InLinkz widget. Link up to 3 posts.



  • Post our button on your site.

  • By linking up, you agree to have your images shared with credit.

Link up and grab a button!
Love to Learn Linky





Senin, 09 Maret 2015

Hands-On Alphabet: Rice Sensory Bin

It's time for another guest post! Next up is Megan from Twin Talk. Megan is a mom to toddler twins blogging about cheap and easy educational activities for toddlers. Some of my favorite posts are What are Tot Trays?DIY Zipper Board Tutorial and The Cheapest, Easiest Sensory Bin Ever! She's joining us today with an easy, educational sensory bin idea that anybody can whip up in a few minutes.


I have 19 month-old twins, B & C. They’re quite a handful and I find myself constantly looking for new and exciting activities for them to do. During the week, we have an amazing nanny who has helped us in teaching the twins their letters, numbers, shapes, and colors. Learning the alphabet, in particular, has been thrilling for the toddlers. They love to identify letters in matching games or books, and know just about all of them. In addition to the rapid pace in which they’re learning, my son, B, is highly sensory-stimulated. Typically impatient and strong-willed, I’ve discovered in the past few months that when he’s knee-deep in a sensory activity (like our Valentine’s Day Soup water bin), he’s calm, focused, and determined. A whole new toddler.

It’s for these reasons that I decided to implement our latest sensory bin (and themed for St. Patrick’s Day!) – the alphabet rice bin. Now, after a year on maternity leave, I’m back at work full-time as an elementary school teacher. My husband has a good job as well, but money is tight. When I choose what activities and crafts to do with the twins, the first thing I look for is the money factor. I’m looking to go as cheap as I can– under $5 if at all possible. In addition to money, I don’t have time to spend setting up and taking down an activity. I need it to be easy and quick! The alphabet rice bin fit all of my criteria and was a huge success. Here’s what I did:

I purchased foam letters from the dollar store, which was, of course, quite cheap. Then, the night before the activity, I colored some rice green for St. Patrick’s Day. That wasn’t necessary in the implementation of this activity, but it was something I had been meaning to do anyway, as it can be used for all sorts of crafts and activities. I also recently colored rice for Valentine’s Day and it took me about 10 minutes. Here’s my tutorial for dyeing rice – two ingredients; so easy and quick!


I have used both large and small bins for our sensory activities. When contemplating which to use for this one, I wanted the main focus to be on the alphabet and less the rice, so I used a small bin. I prepped the activity by popping the letters out of their holders and burying them in the green rice. I put out a few spoons, threw a cheap tablecloth down on the floor and let the twins go to it!


As usual, they loved the sensory bin the moment they sat down. They have always thoroughly enjoyed scooping, dumping, and the way the rice feels in their hands. However, this bin took an educational turn (which was what I was hoping for!). I had put out the letter holders on the ground, hoping the twins would see that letters were missing. As they began unearthing letters from the rice bin, they would shout out the letter they were holding and desperately search for the spot to put it. This activity kept them busy for almost an hour!

In the end, it turned into a 3-part educational activity: They scooped and poured rice, digging up the letters. They identified the letters and the colors that they held in their hands. Finally, they used their fine motor skills to place the letters back into the foam puzzles. It was tricky and they needed assistance at times, but it was very rewarding for them as they realized that yes, they knew each letter coming out of that bin.


It was rewarding for me as well. For one thing, I’m still in awe that my young little “babies” know the alphabet and are so excited to practice and demonstrate their new skills. In addition to that, this activity was unbelievably cheap, simple in its construction, and a breeze to set up and clean up. I’ll be adding it to our sensory bin rotation for sure!

If you wanted to do this activity but skip the mess that a sensory bin can bring, just using the foam letters could be fun enough. Popping them out, identifying them, and putting them back would be not only great fine motor practice but educational as well!

My name is Megan and I have 1.5 year old boy/girl twins. I started blogging at Twin Talk when I was struggling with infertility treatments and needed a supportive community who knew what I was going through. After the babies were born, I began blogging about surviving life as a mom of twins. But my true passion started when my babies grew into toddlers. The more they learn, the more I aim to teach them, and I have recently reshaped my blog. Now, I blog about super cheap and easy educational activities and crafts for toddlers and I'm loving every minute of it!

Jumat, 06 Maret 2015

35 Free Easter Printables for Kids + $1500 Giveaway

If you enjoy printables you have come to the right place! I have collected 35 of the best Free Easter printables and printable packs for kids. I did all the hard work for you, so bookmark this page and it can be your one-stop site for Free Easter printables!

Oh, and by the way, there is a really amazing giveaway at the end of this post where you can win one of three $500 prizes!

35 Free Easter Printables

Easter Printable Packs

Easter Learning Pack for Tots & PreK by Totschooling
Easter Egg Pack for PreK & K by This Reading Mama
Easter Printable Pack for ages 2-7 by Gift of Curiosity
Easter Do-a-Dot Printables by Gift of Curiosity
Easter Printable Pack by 3 Dinosaurs
Easter Resurrection Pack by 3 Dinosaurs
Easter Worksheets for Kids by Itsy Bitsy Fun
Easter Printable Pack for PreK & K by Itsy Bitsy Fun
Easter File Folder Games by Itsy Bitsy Fun
Easter Pre-K Pack by Over the Big Moon
Easter Activity Book by Happy and Blessed Home

Easter Hands-On Printable Activities

Easter Lacing Cards by Totschooling
Easter Peep Lacing Cards by From ABCs to ACTs
Easter Playdough Mats by Totschooling
Easter & Sring Playdough Mats by This Reading Mama
Easter Playdough Mats by Golden Reflections Blog
Easter Basket Math Game by Totschooling
Easter Picture & Word Tracing by Totschooling
Easter Egg Scissor Skills Pack by This Reading Mama
Easter Scissor Cutting Sheets by Makeovers and Motherhood
Easter Egg Color Grading by Gift of Curiosity
Easter Egg Memory & Matching by Powerful Mothering
Egg Pals Cut & Paste Printable Craft by Kids Activities Blog
Pin the Tail on the Bunny by From ABCs to ACTs
Easter File Folder Game by The Measured Mom

Easter Printable Coloring Pages

Easter Coloring Pages by Itsy Bitsy Fun
Easter Coloring Pages by Gift of Curiosity
Easter Coloring Page Placemats by See Vanessa Craft
Printable Easter Eggs by Picklebums
Bunnies & Eggs Coloring by 1+1+1=1
25 Free Easter Coloring Pages by Kids Activities Blog

Easter Fun & Games with Printables

Beginning Letter Sounds Egg Hunt by This Reading Mama
Easter Printable Masks by Itsy Bitsy Fun
Easter Scavenger Hunt Printable by Artsy Momma
Easter Bingo Game by Crazy Little Projects
Don't Eat the Peep Easter Game by Thirty Handmade Days
ABC Easter Egg Hunt and Stamp by Playdough to Plato



Win one of THREE $500 cash prizes directly in your paypal account! This giveaway is open internationally. You must be 18+ years old to enter. Void where prohibited. No purchase necessary. Winners will be notified via email and have 48 hours to respond before another winner is chosen. Please see detailed terms and conditions below the giveaway for more info.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Kamis, 05 Maret 2015

Making Animal Tracks

Happy Friday! Next up in my guest blogger series is Meghan from Playground Parkbench! Meghan blogs about kid's activities and crafts, parenting, financial and household tips. Some of my favorite posts are Montessori Animal Match, 9 Ways to Ease Daily Transitions, and Yoga for Toddlers. Today she is sharing a really unique activity and a free printable to go along with it.

Making Animal Tracks

Big M, my overly imaginative 3 year old, has become fascinated by animal tracks. It started last summer, going for walks on the beach boardwalk by our house. She loved to make footprints in the sand, and check out the tracks left behind by the seagulls. Fast forward a few months to winter, and she was over the moon that she could make visible footprints again in the snow… and better still, see all kinds of animal tracks in it as well. MerMer, our Texas Grandma, further fueled the fascination by sending us Whose Tracks Are These?: A Clue Book of Familiar Forest Animals for Christmas.


Now, every night after her bath, she stomps back and forth, and stares with pride at her “paw prints” all over the bath mat.

I’ve started correcting her:

“M, only animals, like bears and dogs, make paw prints. What do people make? FOOT prints!”

“Oh, right, Mama… foot prints!”

But her continued fascination with the topic, got me to thinking – how excited would she be to make her own paw prints and animal tracks? So I set out to make it our activity one snowy afternoon. 

Supplies:
Cardboard box
Animal Track Template Printable
Hot glue gun
Ribbon
Paint
Builder’s paper
Painter’s tape

Cost: Less than $10

Prep Time: 30 minutes, to make two sets of animal tracks

Clean Up Time: 10 minutes

While the girls had their daily quiet time (Lil’ M, my 18 month old, naps while Big M plays quietly in her room), I printed off page size animal tracks – a bear paw, dog print, wild cat print and a moose track. I used these as my templates to create pairs of animal tracks out of a cardboard box. I first cut out the outline of the track, then made a second cardboard layer with the track details, attaching the two layers with hot glue. To make the matching pair, be sure to flip the track over so you create a left and a right track.


To attach them to her feet, I made two 1.5” long incisions with an X-Acto knife, about a 3 year old foot width apart, and threaded through a 2-3’ long piece of ribbon. If I did this activity again, I would have added the ribbon BEFORE gluing on the track details, so the ribbon didn’t show up in our tracks. But that didn’t stop Big M from having a great time…

When quiet time was over, I told her we were going to make “paw prints!” She was so excited. I rolled builder’s paper down the length of our dining area, and taped it to the floor with painters tape. A roll of builder’s paper has over 150’ of paper on it, and is great for murals, wrapping gifts, or as a quick clean up surface for messy crafts. You can buy it for $5 to $10 on Amazon or at your local Lowe’s or Home Depot. We are still on our first roll after almost 2 years.


She wanted to try on the bear paws first. I tied them to her feet, and had her sit down on the floor while I painted a thick coat of paint on them. Then, I helped her stand up and let her walk up and down the paper. Next, she tried the moose hooves. As always, her 3 year old ingenuity drastically exceeds my own - when she tired of making the big animal tracks, she asked me if we could make some smaller ones with her plastic frogs and lizards.

While she ran to grab them, I cut a sponge in half, wet it and added some paint to it on a plastic plate. She spent another half hour making small animal tracks with her plastic animals. Lil’ M got in on the fun with these too. Now, every time we read Whose Tracks are These?, she talks about the time she made her own animal tracks.


To create your own animal tracks, download our free printable. It includes templates for four different animal tracks, as well as a fun Whose Tracks Are These? matching game to play after reading the book and making your own animal tracks.

What animals leave tracks around your house? Have you ever gone on a nature walk to look for tracks? If you enjoyed Making Animal Tracks, be sure to check out all our At Home Activities on Pinterest! 

Follow Meghan @ PlaygroundParkbench's board At Home Activities on Pinterest.


Meghan is mom to two girls, Big M (3) and Lil’ M (18 months). A former hedge fund professional turned stay-at-home mom, she was frustrated by the lack of online resources to find engaging, age appropriate activities for her toddler in her town. Her best information came from fellow parents while at mommy and me playgroups or on the Playground Parkbench as her kids played in the sandbox… she founded PGPB to capture all those tips and share them with other parents.

In addition to maintaining a database of local family-friendly events and activities, she also writes as the PGPB Guru, offering weekly household and parenting Tuesday Tips, shares kids’ crafts, adventures and recipes in At Home Activities, and informed by her former career, publishes Financially Savvy Fridays.

Rabu, 04 Maret 2015

St. Patrick's Day Playdough Mats (Love to Learn Linky #32)

Playdough mats are a great way for kids to explore their creativity and work on fine motor skills. I usually create a set of playdough mats for every season and Holiday, so check out all of them here. In this Free St. Patrick's Day set, kids will have fun putting a beard on the leprechaun, gold coins in the pot, creating a rainbow and a shamrock!

Free St. Patrick's Day Playdough Mats

Click here to download your Free St. Patrick's Day Playdough Mats



If you have a toddler or preschooler, don't forget to print off your Free St. Patrick's Day printable pack!



LOVE TO LEARN LINKY

Visit my co-hosts to see their posts and features!

Fun Things to do with the Kids for St Patrick's Day from A Little Pinch of Perfect
2 Ways to Stimulate Conversation with Kids at Dinnertime from One Time Through
Love to Learn Linky

Now it's time for some more links! I hope you'll join me and a couple of friends for a brand new linky party!

Bloggers, link up your posts every Thursday and watch as we round them up and share them all over the place.

Almost anything goes, we're just hoping your activities teach kids (or us!) something. (science, art, cooking, behavior, crafting, parenting, etc...)


Love to Learn Linky Etiquette:

  • Posts should be about educating our kids in any way - science, art, cooking, crafts, behavior, parenting, etc. Please keep them family friendly and please no Etsy shops or giveaways unless they are relevant to the topic.

  • Upload your direct post link to the InLinkz widget. Link up to 3 posts.



  • Post our button on your site.

  • By linking up, you agree to have your images shared with credit.

Link up and grab a button!
Love to Learn Linky