Calendar Puzzles

This is another great visual discrimination skills activity. You will need different calendar pictures ... you can use the full size pictures or mini calendar pictures. We cut the larger calendar pictures into four pieces and laminated them. The smaller pictures can also be cut into four pieces or into halves and laminated. You can watch a video of this activity here.

Puffy Paint

Puffy paint is easy to make and fun to paint with. When the paint is dry it has a puffy look and texture. You will need to have shaving cream ... white glue ... and paint. I mix equal parts of the shaving cream and white glue together and then add paint. The paint then can be used like fingerpaint. You can watch a video of this activity here.

Sea Shell Discovery Bottle

Sea shell bottles are really easy to make and the children really love to explore the different kind of sea shells in the bottles. You will need an empty water bottle ... sea shells ... and decorative stones. The sea shells will need to be small enough to fit through the opening of the bottle. I purchased our sea shells at Wal-Mart but they also sell them in craft stores and in online stores. To make the bottles you simply but the sea shells and decorative stones in the bottle and then fill with water to almost the top of the bottle. You can watch a video of this activity here.

Sea Shell Discovery Tray

Sea shells are a great way to bring real life objects into your early learning environment. You just need to have a variety of sea shells ... a tray to place them on ... and some magnifying glasses. This is a great activity for a science or discovery center. You can watch a video of this activity here.

Sea Shell Sorting

I set up a sorting activity using different kinds of sea shells and a clear plastic relish tray purchased from Wal-Mart. As a math extenstion the children counted the number sea shells in each section of the sorting tray. You can watch a video of this activity here.

Watermelon Observation Jar

We put this watermelon observation jar in our science center for children to observe how watermelon changes. You will need to have plastic jar and sliced watermelon. We put the watermelon inside the jar and then put the list on. We then talked about what the watermelon looked liked and what it might look like later after it has been set out for a while. We also graphed and did surveys as to how long it would take for changes to take place. Each day I put a card out next to the jar that kept track of how long the watermelon had been there. You can watch a video of this activity here.

Bear Counters Sorting

Bear counters are great for an early learning environment. You can do a variety of counting and sorting activities with them. For this activity I used bear counter in four colors and three sizes. I put the bears in a container and the children had to sort the bears by color into plastic cups which had a color indicator on the front of them. After the bears were sorted by color the children counted the number of bears in each up and they then sorted the bears by size and counted how many where in each size. You can watch a video of this activity here.

Bear Counting Bags

This is another couting bears activity. I put different amounts of counting bears in four zip lock bags and put a letter sticker on each one. Children count the number of bears in each bag and write the numbers on the sheet which you can find here. You can watch a video of this activity here.

Name See and Spell

This is a great name recognition activity. I wrote the name of each child on a strip of cardstock paper and then wrote the individual letters of the name in the blank squares. I then laminated the pieces and attach self-adhesive magnets on the backs. Children spell the names they see with the letter squares. You can watch a video of this activity here.

How To Make Finger Paint

This is an easy to make recipe for finger paint.

You will need:

2 Tablespoons of Sugar
1/3 C Cornstarch
2 C Cold Water
1/4 C Clear Dish Soap
Food Coloring

Mix sugar and cornstarch together in pan. Slowly add cold water and stir. Cook over low-medium heat for around ten minutes. Mixture will start outlooking like milk and then turn into a transparent thick mixutre. Remove from heat and cool. Stir in dish soap and divide mixture into four containers. Add food color and stir.You can watch a video of this activity here.

Colored Pumpkin Seeds

I really love colored pumpkin seeds. They are so easy to make and you can do so many things with them such as sorting ... counting ... graphing ... and art activities.

To make the colored pumpkin seeds you will need:

clean dry pumpkin seeds
1/2 -2/3 cup warm water per color
1 tablespoon of vinegar per color
food coloring

For each color of pumpkins seeds you want to make you will place the warm water in a cup and then add the vinegar. Add you food color of choice and mix. Pour in dried pumpkin seeds and stir. The longer you leave the pumpkin seeds in the food color mixture the darker the color will be. We let ours stay in for a couple of ours and stirred them a few times. When the pumpkin seeds have reached the desired color color scoop them out with fork and place on a cookie sheet that has been lined with paper towels. After a couple of hours you can place the pumpkin seeds on a wax paper lined cookie sheet or tray. Dry for 24 hours (could be less or more time depending upond the temperature of the air). You can see a video of the colored pumpkin seeds here.You can watch a video of this activity here.

Counting Cups

Counting Cups are a great addition to a math center. You can reuse the cups and change the counting sticks. For these counting cups we used owls to go along with our owl unit. Children put the correct number of owl sticks in each cup. Children can also put the cups in numerical order. You can see a video of this activity and find the patterns here.

Learning Links Letter Match

I have long been a fan of learning links. There are so many uses for them in an early learning environment. In this activity children attach matching letter cards together with learning links. This is a great activity for developing letter recognition as well as fine motor skills. Learning links can be purchased from amazon.com and other online retailers. You can get the patterns and see a video here.

Apple Pony Bead Sorting

This is a great activty for fine motor development and math skills. You will need to have red ... green ... and yellow pony beads and the apple mat pattern. Children place the pony beads on the same color apple on the mat and then count the beads. You can get the patterns and see a video here.

Apple Roll and Pick

I made this game for our math center. It can be played individually or in groups with children taking turns rolling the dice. Start with all of the apples on the tree. Children roll the dice and remove the number off apples from the tree that was displayed on the dice. Play continues until all of the apples are removed from the tree. We used red pom-poms with self-adhesive magnets but I have also included red markers that you can use if you do not have pom-poms. You can get the patterns and see a video here.

Scrapbook Paper Blocks

These blocks are great for matching ... for memory games ... and even for building. They are super easy to make. You just need to have blocks (they all need to be the same size) ... I just Jenga blocks that I was going to throw out because of missing pieces. You will also need to have a variety of scrapbook paper and glossy mod podge. I started by tracing around a block on the back of a sheet of scrapbook paper and then cutting it out. Next I applied a thin layer of mod podge to the block with a brush and then placed the pater I had cut out on top of the block. After letting the blocks completely dry I applied a thin layer over the top of the scrapbook paper. You can see a video of the blocks here.

Pony Bead Sort ... Lace ... and Count

This is a great activity for fine motor skills. You will need to have pony beads and pipe cleaners in various colors. Children sort through the pony beads and lace them on to the same colored pipe cleaners. Children then count and record how many pony beads are on each pipe cleaner. You can see a video of this activity here.

Sight Words In A Can

This is a great activity for sight word recognition and review. You will need to have empty paint cans which can be purchased at most home improvement and paint stores. Sight words are attached to the outside of the can with magnets. Children pick a sight word and if they can read it they put it back in the can and then choose a new word to read until all of the sight words are back in the can. This can be for both individual as well as group play. You can get the patterns and see a video of this activity here.

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