Category: Holiday Learning

Posted on

Valentine’s Day Fun: Preschool Edition

A few days ago, a photo memory popped up on my phone from a few years ago of my older kids doing a Valentine’s themed activity. I remembered it being a lot of fun for them, and remembered it being super easy to set up. I tucked the memory back into my mind, thinking that if I had time in the next few weeks, I’d set it up for my preschool aged kids. Well, as luck would have it, neither of those kids have school on Mondays, and we were all going a little stir crazy yesterday, so off to the craft store we went, returning with a pack of pipe cleaners. A few minutes later, my kids were happily playing!

The concept is simple: form several pipe cleaners into hearts and toss them in a pile on the floor. Give your kids some different objects that they can use to pick the hearts up— things like straws, plastic forks, tongs, chop sticks, popsicle sticks, clothes pins, etc.— and watch them go! Having them simply pick up the hearts is the most basic task with this activity. There are also many other variations, such as:

  • Assign a color and have them work on only picking up that color. Provide papers that match the colors of the hearts and have them sort the hearts onto the pieces of paper. This is great for color recognition and matching.
  • Have them transfer the hearts from one place to another. This helps with hand-eye coordination.
  • After they pick up each heart, have them create a pattern. Early math skills are in play here as they figure out a pattern to make.
  • See how many hearts they can fit onto their pick up tool, without any falling off. They can count their hearts once their tool is full.
  • Have them stack their hearts as they collect them, seeing how tall their stack can get before falling over.

As I watched my kids play with this super simple activity, I got thinking about some other activities I have done in the past when my older kids were preschool age. Most of these activities can be set up with little effort, and require materials that you may have around the house (or can buy for very cheap at the dollar or craft store). 

Pipe Cleaner Beading

Give your child a pipe cleaner and a handful of pony beads. Have them put the beads onto the pipe cleaner. This encourages fine motor hand-eye coordination. They can also create patterns, count their beads, and name colors as they go. 

Paper Heart Sort

Using whatever paper you have on hand, cut out hearts of varying sizes and colors. Have your child sort them from largest to smallest, smallest to largest, or by color if you have more than one color of paper. Again, kids can count hearts, make patterns, and recognize colors as they work through this activity.

Valentine Necklace

Cut a heart out of craft foam or felt and attach a piece of yarn, ribbon, or string of some kind. Give your child a bunch of pony beads and have them make a necklace. As with other activities, this one also allows for kids to work on small motor hand-eye coordination, counting, patterning, counting, and color recognition. 

Another great thing about these activities is that they are practically mess free! There’s no cutting, gluing, or coloring. Sure, the beads could spill, but that’s about the biggest mess that could come from all of these activities! Pro-tip, though— if you do the bead activities, have your child sit on the floor. That way, if the beads do spill or drop, they aren’t going to bounce all over your kitchen floor.

Not only are these not very messy, they are also great activities for promoting several learning skills and coordination skills. And, as a bonus, mom or dad might get a little break for a minute while the kids play and learn! 

Let us know in the comments if you use any of these with your kids or class!

Posted on

Valentine’s Day Freebies

Valentine’s Day is just a couple of weeks away! If you’re looking for a fun, easy Valentine’s Day themed activity for your class to do, I’ve got you covered! Click the boxes below to download a Valentine’s Day Word Scramble and/or a Valentine’s Day Word Search. Check back next week for some more Valentine’s Day fun!

*Please only use for home or classroom use. Do not sell or redistribute these files.*

Valentine’s Day Word ScrambleDownload
Valentine’s Day Word SearchDownload
Posted on

100 Days of School Celebrations

My second and third graders hit the 100th day of school mark today, and my kindergartner and preschoolers will hit it next week. It’s weird to think we are over halfway done with the school year already.

The second grade celebrated by inviting kids to dress up as 100 year olds and did a bunch of activities throughout the day. Amazon saved my behind with overnight delivery and kindly had a cute little “old man” costume at my door by 6 am. I dropped my son off at school and smiled as I watched other students walking into the school in costume. Sure, dress up days can be stressful, but they are so much fun!

Do you celebrate the 100th day of school at your school? If so, how do you celebrate? Since our school year started in the middle of August, we are hitting our 100th day sooner than a lot of other schools across the country. If you haven’t hit the 100 day mark yet, and are planning on celebrating with students, here are a few ideas you could use!

  • Have students dress up as 100 year old people— there’s nothing cuter than little kids dressed up as old people!
  • Ask each student to bring a small bag filled with 100 of something— noodles, buttons, small candies, beads, legos, Cheerios, pennies, crayons, erasers, etc. Have them compare how big or small each collection of things is— even though each bag contains 100 items, the fullness of the bags will differ according to the size of the items in them.
  • Give students 100 small items— math counters, buttons, pennies, etc. Have them sort them several different ways to show how many ways you can make 100.
  • Color and make 100 day hats or glasses.
  • As a class, in small groups, or individually, have students come up with a list of 100 words they know.
  • Make 100 day necklaces with 100 pieces of cereal. Have students count out their cereal before they make their necklaces.
  • Make a list of 100 things they can do (or want to learn to do).
  • Make a mosaic using 100 small pieces of paper.
  • Count out 100 ice cubes into a bowl. Have students guess how long they think it will take them to all melt.
  • Make a paper cup pyramid with 100 cups.
  • Have students create a “Before I am 100” bucket list with things they’d like to do in their lifetime. You can choose the number of things you want them to write on their list.
  • Go on a candy scavenger hunt. Write numbers 1-100 on dot stickers, then stick them on small wrapped pieces of candy (Hershey kisses work great). Hide them around the room and have students go on a hunt. Have them put the numbers in order as they find them. 
  • Have each student walk 100 steps. Measure whose steps went the furthest. You could try different ways to walk— little tiny steps, big monster steps, normal steps, alternating one small step with one big step, and so on. 
  • If you have snack time during school, give each student 100 of whatever snack you have that day. If you don’t normally have snack time, this is a great day to have one!
  • Choose a few exercise moves (sit ups, jumping jacks, push ups, etc.) you know your students can easily do and have them do 100 seconds of each exercise.
  • Give each student 100 interlocking math blocks. Have them build something with them. This is a fun small group or partner activity.
  • Using 100 objects, create 100 written out.

Well there you have it— fun ways to celebrate the 100th day of school! Happy celebrating!

Posted on

Inauguration Day Freebie

Inauguration Day only comes every four years, so it’s likely that your current students don’t have any memories of the last one because they were too young, or they were old enough to know it was happening, but not old enough to really care too much. Since our next Inauguration Day will be one week from today, I’ve created a word search for you to print off and use with your students. You will find a list of words that have to do with the inauguration, which provides an excellent teaching opportunity as you go over the words and what they mean– and how each word ties to a Presidential Inauguration.

*Please only use for classroom or home use*

Inauguration Day WordsearchDownload
Posted on

Hanukkah and Kwanzaa Book Reviews

As promised, here are some fun books that involve other winter holidays: Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. I really enjoyed reading and learning more about these holidays. I hope you will too!

Simon and the Bear: A Hanukkah Tale by Eric A. Kimmel; illustrated by Matthew Trueman

Simon sets out on a journey to get to America. He is lucky enough to get the last ticket on the boat, and sets sail. Tragedy strikes when the boat hits an iceberg and sinks. Simon finds himself stranded on the iceberg, alone, with just his knapsack. In his knapsack, his mother had packed latkes, fish, boiled eggs, a dreidel and a menorah and candles. Simon wishes for a Hanukkah miracle. He is found by a polar bear who brings him fish each day and keeps him warm. He is finally rescued and taken to New York, where he finds a job so he can earn money and bring his family to America.

How Do Dinosaurs Say Happy Chanukah? By Jane Yolk and Mark Teague

Another darling book in the How Do Dinosaurs… series, this books goes through what not to do and what to do during Hanukkah celebrations and how to properly behave and celebrate. Filled with fun illustrations, this book is engaging and fun for all ages.

Li’l Rabbit’s Kwanzaa by Donna L. Washington; illustrated by Shane W. Evans

Li’l Rabbit is feeling left out and useless during his family’s Kwanzaa celebrations. His grandma is sick, and he wants to do something to help her have a great Kwanzaa. He ventures out in search of the perfect things to make the Karamu extra special. He runs into several friends while he is out on his search. He comes up empty handed and is feeling defeated. When he arrives back home, he is surprised to find that all of his friends and family have pulled together to create a wonderful, memorable Karamu. 

Seven Spools of Thread: A Kwanzaa Story by Angela Shelf Medearis; illustrated by Daniel Minter

A family of seven brothers lives in a small village in Ghana. The are constantly arguing, and their home is never peaceful. After their father dies, he leaves them an inheritance, but with the stipulation that they must find a way to turn seven spools of thread into gold, and that they must never argue again. If they can do this by the time the sun sets, they will be able to divide the inheritance amongst themselves. If not, the inheritance will be given to the poorest villagers. The brothers head back home, determined to make gold out of the thread. They learn that they must work together to accomplish what they need to. Using the seven principles of Kwanzaa, the Nguzo Saba, they come together and create beautiful things with their spools of thread. They learn that working together in peace is the best way to work.

Happy reading, and Happy Hanukkah and Kwanzaa to all who celebrate!

Posted on

Children’s Christmas Books

If you’re looking for a fun book to read with your kids (or students if you’re still in school!), look no further! When I was looking for books to review and share with you, I learned that there are a TON of Christmas books! I could never even come close to reviewing all of them. So, after reading several, I narrowed it down to just a few.

The Not Very Merry Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen; illustrated by Dan Hanna

Pout-Pout fish gets so caught up in finding the most perfect gift for each of his friends that he finds himself unable to decide what to get them. He soon learns that it’s not about giving the most perfect gift, but giving from the heart that matters most. 

Tough Cookie: A Christmas Story by Edward Hemingway

A Christmas sugar cookie is sad to learn that he tastes terrible, can’t run fast like the gingerbread man, and can’t build his own gingerbread house. He tries to “fix” the things that he thinks are wrong with him, until he learns what he is supposed to be. He finds his place and celebrates knowing who he really is.

The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore; illustrated by James Marshall

There’s nothing changed with this classic Christmas story, but the illustrations are darling and incorporate all the pets of the house.

Cookiesaurus Christmas by Amy Feller Dominy & Nate Evans; illustrated by AG Ford

Cookiesaurus Rex is a determined Christmas cookie. He thinks he should be the cookie that gets set on the plate for Santa. With every other cookie that is chosen to be put on the plate, he finds a way to knock them off the plate, all while causing a mess and trouble each time. It’s not until the end that he discovers that the humans of the house have a special place, just for him, that is even better than Santa’s plate.

5 More Sleeps ’Til Christmas by Jimmy Fallon; illustrated by Rich Deas

The excitement of the Christmas countdown is almost too much for one little boy to handle! As he counts down to Christmas day, he thinks that he is so excited to sleep each night as he watches the snow, thinks about what gifts he might receive, and more. The illustrations are darling and detailed in this fun Christmas book.

Holiday themed books are just so much fun. They bring an added element of fun and magic to any holiday! Next week, I’ll share a few books that spotlight other winter holidays. See you then!