Blog Archives

Playdough Hearts Bead Match

1/30/2015

We did this fine motor activity last year and the children really enjoyed it. They used cookie cutters to make heart shapes out of playdough and lined them up. They then took the pony beads I had set in a bowl and found the colors that matched the playdough hearts.

The next step was to press beads in to the same color hearts. They could put on as many as they wanted and at the end they counted how many beads were in each heart. We used eight different colors of playdough but you can use less colors with younger children.

You can see a video of this activity by clicking below:

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February Number Tracing Calendar

1/28/2015

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I have posted February's Number Tracing Calendar and Calendar Numbers along with other February items to my free printables page (if you do not see them at the bottom of the page please refresh your browser).

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Colored Ice Balls

1/27/2015

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Colored Ice Balls Sensory and Sorting Activity for Preschool and Kindergarten

We do a lot of learning activities outside when weather permits and this week we worked with colored ice balls. They were easy to make ... the children loved them ... and they looked awesome in the snow!!

We did counting and sorting for specific activities and then the children took the ice balls and played with them in the snow. They made shapes ... buried them ... lined them up and really had an great time with them.

I used liquid water color instead of food coloring for the ice balls. The ice balls will stain children's hands but the water color paint will wash out easier than food coloring. Because we were outside the children had mittens and gloves on for most of the time they were working with the ice balls. I also had special scooper tools that were perfect for picking up the ice balls.

I purchased a special silicone ice ball mold and filled it up with colored water that I had mixed together in a squeeze bottle. I didn't put a specific amount of the liquid paint in ... I just put enough in until I liked the color of the water.

The mold makes four ice balls of the same color at a time and it takes between four to five hours for them to freeze. One they are frozen I removed them from the mold and placed them in zip lock bags with each color having their own bag.

Colored Ice Balls Sorting and Sensory Activity for Preschool and Kindergarten

When we were ready to go outside I put all of the ice balls in clear plastic bowls (I had three ice centers set up) and added a special scoop that that is from a fine motor skills tool kit that I really love. The children used clear plastic cups as well as muffin tins to sort and count the ice balls.

You can see a video of this activity by clicking below:

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Puffy Paint Penguin

1/21/2015

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Puffy Paint Penguin Craft Project For Preschool and Kindergarten

We made puffy paint penguins after circle time today. It was a great project for scissor skills ... sensory and fine motor development. We used black and orange cardstock paper to make the the penguins.

The next step was to make the puffy paint which was really easy. The children mixed 1 cup of shaving cream and 1/2 cup of white glue together with a craft stick. The puffy paint should be like a thick marshmallow topping ... if it is not you can add more glue.

The children applied the puffy paint to the penguins using either their fingers or craft sticks. The penguins took a while to dry because of the thickness of the paint.

You can see a video of this activity by clicking below:

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Weekly Printable January 19th - 23rd

1/19/2015

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Penguin Number Clothespin Cards Fine Motor and Math Activity For Preschool and Kindergarten

The free daily printable this week is Penguin Number Clothespin Cards which is a great activity for number recognition as well as fine motor development. I printed the penguin number cards on cardstock paper and laminated them. I then set them out in a basket along with clothespins for the children to self-select.

Penguin Number Sequence Cards Fine Motor and Math Activity For Preschool and Kindergarten

In this activity children put the put a clothespin on the number that matches the number on the penguin. You can grab the patterns for free until Sunday January 25th ... after that they will only be available in the member's section.

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Snowflake Circle Time Songs

1/16/2015

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Snowflake Circle Time Songs For Preschool and Kindergarten

I wanted to share with you our snowflake songs that we use for circle time during our snowflake theme. There are three easy to learn songs along with snowflakes that you can glue on craft sticks to use a props to increase engagement during the songs. You can grab the songs and patterns here.

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