20 Best Tips

Open-ended Math Exploration and Calm Boxes – Preschool and Kindergarten Commuity

Preschool and Kindergarten Community weekly linkup

Ready for another week of linking up and sharing ideas? I am so glad that you are stopping by today and can’t wait to see what you all have to share this week. Be sure to stop by our PreK & K Pinterest board to see a collection of the different posts we are pinning – including yours!

Don’t forget to link up a post (or two) of yours and share what you’ve been working on with your kids! Here are a few fun ideas from last week’s linkup.

 

Open Ended Math Exploration

The station that B-Inspired Mama set up for independent math work that is all open-ended. Krissy shares different ways to use the materials – some great ideas! 

The Tiny Seed Activities

Learn about the life cycle of a seed with these fun go along activity from Wife Mommy Me.  Stephanie shares their trip to pick out flowers and the simple activity they put together. 

Alphabet Caterpillar 

Your child can inch his way through the alphabet with this FREE super-cute and colorful alphabet caterpillar printable for both upper and lower case letters. 

 

The Giraffe That Walked to Paris Activities

From building with Legos to learning a little French, you’ll find some fun go-along activities to do when reading the book The Giraffe That Walked to Paris. Love these ideas from Schooltime Snippets! 

How to Create a Calm Box

 

If your child could benefit from a calm box, be sure to visit Five Spot Green Living and take a peek at what she has inside the calm box she created for her daughter. 

 

That’s it for this week!! Thanks so much for checking in with us and sharing below.

Follow the PreK and Kindergarten Community Pinterest Board

Preschool Pinterest Board

Each week I am  pinning many of your links onto the Preschool and Kindergarten Community Pinterest Board. I’m a visual person, so having pictures to help me remember posts is super helpful. Be sure to jump over and follow the board – and find some fun ideas at the same time!

Were You Featured in the Preschool & Kindergarten Community?

If you were featured in one of the weekly posts, feel free to grab the button coding below and display it on your site!
Homeschool Preschool

 

Link Up with the Preschool and Kindergarten Community!

Homeschool Preschool: Preschool and Kindergarten Community linkup at Homeschool CreationsShare what you are doing with your kids! Please link your exact blog post to the Mr. Linky below and link back here too! Grab a button for your post and be sure to take a minute to visit the person who linked up before you.



Craft Stick Flower Pots and Painted Rock Art – Preschool and Kindergarten Community Linkup

Preschool and Kindergarten Community weekly linkup

Ready for another week of linking up and sharing ideas? I am so glad that you are stopping by today and can’t wait to see what you all have to share this week. Be sure to stop by our PreK & K Pinterest board to see a collection of the different posts we are pinning – including yours!

Don’t forget to link up a post (or two) of yours and share what you’ve been working on with your kids! Here are a few fun ideas from last week’s linkup.

 

Cardboard Tube Marble Run

You probably have a lot of toilet paper and paper towel rolls around the house (at least if your kids go through it like ours). This cardboard tube marble run from There’s Just One Mommy is a fun indoor activity to work on with your kids. 

Painted Rock Art

With warm weather here, now is the perfect time to go on nature walks and collect lots of rocks. Once you get home, get creative with this painted rock art project from Typically Simple.

Alphabet Caterpillar 

Your child can inch his way through the alphabet with this FREE super-cute and colorful alphabet caterpillar printable for both upper and lower case letters. 

Craft Stick Flower Pots

This popsicle stick craft makes some super cute flower pots – perfect for those spring flowers (and a Mother’s Day gift too). Visit Typically Simple for the tutorial

Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear Shelf Activities

Working through Before Five in a Row? Check out all of these learning ideas from Stay at Home with Us that go along with the book. 

 

That’s it for this week!! Thanks so much for checking in with us and sharing below.

Follow the PreK and Kindergarten Community Pinterest Board

Preschool Pinterest Board

Each week I am  pinning many of your links onto the Preschool and Kindergarten Community Pinterest Board. I’m a visual person, so having pictures to help me remember posts is super helpful. Be sure to jump over and follow the board – and find some fun ideas at the same time!

Were You Featured in the Preschool & Kindergarten Community?

If you were featured in one of the weekly posts, feel free to grab the button coding below and display it on your site!
Homeschool Preschool

 

Link Up with the Preschool and Kindergarten Community!

Homeschool Preschool: Preschool and Kindergarten Community linkup at Homeschool CreationsShare what you are doing with your kids! Please link your exact blog post to the Mr. Linky below and link back here too! Grab a button for your post and be sure to take a minute to visit the person who linked up before you.



Peep Catapults and Spring Montessori Trays – Preschool and Kindergarten Community Linkup

Preschool and Kindergarten Community weekly linkup

Ready for another week of linking up and sharing ideas? I am so glad that you are stopping by today and can’t wait to see what you all have to share this week. Be sure to stop by our PreK & K Pinterest board to see a collection of the different posts we are pinning – including yours!

Don’t forget to link up a post (or two) of yours and share what you’ve been working on with your kids! Here are a few fun ideas from last week’s linkup.

Coffee Filter Rainbows

Add a little cheer to your windows with these coffee filter rainbows from Joyfully Weary. The activity is great for talking about color blending as well. 

Spring Montessori Trays

If you need some practical ideas for spring learning, visit Trillium Montessori. Julia shares some cute ideas, such as the birds on the fence, where kids use tongs to transfer the birds from their nest to the fence posts.

Alphabet Caterpillar 

Your child can inch his way through the alphabet with this FREE super-cute and colorful alphabet caterpillar printable for both upper and lower case letters. 

Peeps Catapults

 

Have some leftover Peeps in the house? This simple catapult activity from There’s Just One Mommy will have them flinging all over the house in no time! (Who says you have to eat all the candy – this is for the sake of science!)

Frost in a Can

If your area isn’t prone to snow or frost, you can make it right in your kitchen. The Jenny Evolution shares a simple science project that will have you rubbing your hands together in fun!

 

That’s it for this week!! Thanks so much for checking in with us and sharing below.

Follow the PreK and Kindergarten Community Pinterest Board

Preschool Pinterest Board

Each week I am  pinning many of your links onto the Preschool and Kindergarten Community Pinterest Board. I’m a visual person, so having pictures to help me remember posts is super helpful. Be sure to jump over and follow the board – and find some fun ideas at the same time!

Were You Featured in the Preschool & Kindergarten Community?

If you were featured in one of the weekly posts, feel free to grab the button coding below and display it on your site!
Homeschool Preschool

 

Link Up with the Preschool and Kindergarten Community!

Homeschool Preschool: Preschool and Kindergarten Community linkup at Homeschool CreationsShare what you are doing with your kids! Please link your exact blog post to the Mr. Linky below and link back here too! Grab a button for your post and be sure to take a minute to visit the person who linked up before you.



Are You a Ladybug – Ivy Kids Kit

A little friend and I have been having some fun with the recent Ivy Kids kit for April based on the book Are You a Ladybug. (Can I tell you how much I really miss this kindergarten/first grade age?? Don’t get me wrong – I love the ages my kids are now, but there’s just something about picture books and the simple painting and creating that I absolutely adore. 

Literature-based learning is really one of my favorite things to do with kids. Over the years we have read so many books together and extended the learning between the covers of the books with so many hands-on activities. Ivy Kids puts all of that wonderful-ness into a box, gathers all the supplies you will need, writes the lesson plans for the activities, and you and your children do the fun stuff together. What’s not to love about that? 

Unboxing Our Ivy Kids Literature Kit


For those of you who aren’t familiar, the above video gives you a peek into what is in an Ivy Kids box and how they are put together. 

Our Ladybug Fun

Katelyn was more than excited to see the box of goodies I brought over to use with her, and over the next few weeks we are going to explore the rest of the box together, but I wanted to give you a quick look at some of the fun things we did together already. 

We worked on number identification and covered the numbers we turned over until all the spots were on the ladybug. The number cards that come with the kit – all perforated for easy take-apart (win!). 


Our favorite activity so far has been recreating the life cycle stages of the ladybug. We used modeling clay to create our own bugs (these were all made by Katelyn, age 6). 

We also read the book together and worked on odd and even number identification. Overall, reading the book and completing three activities today took us about 50 minutes – working on those teeny, tiny eggs from the ladybug took some concentration and time!  There are still ten more activities for us to work on together, and we’ll spend time doing that later this week. 

Here’s what the contents of the entire box hold: 

  • The book Are your a Ladybug by Judy Allen and Tudor Humphries
  • Read along Bookmark: Use to assist with reading comprehension.
  • Realistic Life Cycle Figures: Learn more about the 4 stages of a ladybug’s life by exploring the realistic figures.
  • Ladybug Life Cycle: Match each figure to the corresponding stage of the life cycle. Use the realistic life cycle figures as models for an observational drawing. 
  • Clay Model of the Ladybug Life Cycle: Use the colorful clay to make models of each of the 4 stages of the life cycle: eggs, larva, pupa, and adult ladybug. 
  • Ladybug box: Use paints to decorate a cute and functional ladybug box.
  • Ladybug Painted Rocks: Use paints to create beautiful ladybug rocks.These adorable rocks can be used as paper weights, shelf decorations, or additions to your garden.
  • My Ladybug Garden: Grow your own garden and attract ladybugs with easy to grow forget-me-not seeds. Decorate your planter with ladybugs and painted rocks.
  • Ladybug Spots: Roll and Cover: Roll the dice, find the number on the ladybug board, and cover it with a black pom-pom.  
  • Ladybug Paper Plate Craft: Create your own ladybug by placing the stickers onto the plate. Then find a nice spot to hang your ladybug.
  • Ways to Make 5 : Place different numbers of pom-poms on each side of the ladybug to make a total of 5 spots on the ladybug. How many many ways can you make 5 spots on the ladybug? 
  • Ways to Make 10: Place different numbers of pom-poms on each side of the ladybug to make a total of 10 spots on the ladybug. How many many ways can you make 10 spots on the ladybug? 
  • Catch the Aphids: Catch as many aphids as you can with the ladybug racers! Name the letter and letter sound on each aphid you catch! How many can you get?
  • Ladybug Race: Pull-back the ladybugs and then watch them go! Use the number cards to measure the distance that each ladybug traveled.
  • Odd or Even Spots on a Ladybug: Investigate whether a number is odd or even by dividing it equally between the two sides of a ladybug.
  • Ladybug Frame: Add your favorite photo to this ladybug frame and decorate. 

Check Out Ivy Kids Kits for Your Family

New subscribers to Ivy Kids can save 20% using the code IVY20. Free shipping is always available for orders over $60. Don’t forget that the kits are personalized for your child, so if you have more than one child to work on the kit with, you can add on a sibling kit for $5 more! 

Have you used Ivy Kids before? I’d love to hear your favorite book! 

 

Ideas for Celebrating Earth Day – Preschool and Kindergarten Community

 

Ready for another week of linking up and sharing ideas? I am so glad that you are stopping by today and can’t wait to see what you all have to share this week. Be sure to stop by our PreK & K Pinterest board to see a collection of the different posts we are pinning – including yours!

Don’t forget to link up a post (or two) of yours and share what you’ve been working on with your kids! Here are a few fun ideas to use if you are learning about Earth Day this week. 

Protecting Wildlife and Caring for Nature

Earth Day is coming soon and Joys of the Journey has a list of great kid-friendly ideas on how you can teach your kids more about protecting wildlife,   preserving and taking care of nature, and celebrating Earth Day.

Create a Worm Jar

Learn about how composting works by gathering dirt, sand, worms, and veggies to make your own Worm Jar. It’s fascinating to watch! 

Water Pollution

You might also be interested in some of the hands-on ideas that Every Star is Different shares, including this visual example of water pollution.

 


Montessori-Inspired Earth Day Activities

Montessori-Inspired Earth Day Activities

Deb shares Montessori-inspired Earth Day activities at PreK and K Sharing. There are some fun hand-on ideas that you can easily incorporate into your day.

Preschool Earth Day Packs

Free Printables Earth Day Packs

Royal Baloo shares a great printable pack for Earth Day that you can download for free.

Teaching Kids About Pollution

Natural Beach Living shares a great pollution activity using glass jars to show up close what pollution is and can do to the area we live. 

Earth Day Slime

This colorful (and glittery) slime from Little Bins for Little Hands would be a perfect fit for some Earth Day fun!  

Earth Day Pinterest board

Visit the Earth Day theme Pinterest board that I’ve been gathering and collecting fun crafts and learning activities to celebrate as well. 

Follow the PreK and Kindergarten Community Pinterest Board

Preschool Pinterest Board

Each week I am  pinning many of your links onto the Preschool and Kindergarten Community Pinterest Board. I’m a visual person, so having pictures to help me remember posts is super helpful. Be sure to jump over and follow the board – and find some fun ideas at the same time!

 

Were You Featured in the Preschool & Kindergarten Community?

If you were featured in one of the weekly posts, feel free to grab the button coding below and display it on your site!

 

Homeschool Preschool

 

Link Up with the Preschool and Kindergarten Community!

Share what you are doing with your kids! Please link your exact blog post to the Mr. Linky below and link back here too! Grab a button for your post and be sure to take a minute to visit the person who linked up before you.

Frog Bowling, Pinwheels, 5 Ducks, and Sight Words – Preschool and Kindergarten Community

Homeschool Preschool: Preschool and Kindergarten Community linkup at Homeschool Creations

The weather is warming up, flowers are being to push through and blossom – and I am SO excited to get spring going here! There are some fun spring and Easter ideas beginning to link up, so if you are searching for ideas, be sure to check the links this week!

Frog Bowling

frog-bowling

This frog bowling activity from Lovely Commotion is SO cute, and a great way to recycle some empty containers.  

Homemade Pinwheel Craft

pinwheel craft.jpg

How cute is this homemade pinwheel from Winegums and Watermelons? These would be such a cute springtime craft, especially with the warm breezes coming.

Feed the Puppy Game and Printable

The feed the puppy game is a fun way to practice letter recognition with your child. Find the letter and give the puppy a treat. There is a free printable to go along with the game as well. 

Easter Sensory Bins

Sensory play is a great opportunity to introduce new vocabulary and also work on fine motor skills.  Welcome to Mommyhood shares some Easter sensory bins to try out this week. 

5 Little Ducks Go-alongs

picmonkey-5-little-duckswith-text-collage

 

Learning is Messy shared some great go-along activities for the 5 Little Ducks rhyme – as well as a snack idea.

Sight Word Egg Bin

easter-sensory-bin-4

Visit There’s Just One Mommy to see the Sight Word Egg Bin she put together using extra Easter eggs. Each egg has a special treat inside if the word is read correctly!

Follow the PreK and Kindergarten Community Pinterest Board

Preschool Pinterest Board

Each week I am  pinning many of your links onto the Preschool and Kindergarten Community Pinterest Board. I’m a visual person, so having pictures to help me remember posts is super helpful. Be sure to jump over and follow the board – and find some fun ideas at the same time!

 

Were You Featured in the Preschool & Kindergarten Community?

If you were featured in one of the weekly posts, feel free to grab the button coding below and display it on your site!

 

Homeschool Preschool

 

Link Up with the Preschool and Kindergarten Community!

Share what you are doing with your kids! Please link your exact blog post to the Mr. Linky below and link back here too! Grab a button for your post and be sure to take a minute to visit the person who linked up before you.