Friday, November 29, 2013

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10 Excellent Toys for Preschoolers



My favorite toys for preschoolers encourage creativity, problem solving, team work, and pre-math, pre-language, and early science skills.  These are some amazing toys that I have seen preschoolers play {and learn!} with!  Most of them are also appropriate for older toddlers and early grade school children.  And, of course, your child will always get more out of these toys if you interact with them too!  Remember that you know your child best...only choose toys that are safe for them!

The pictures below are Amazon Affiliate links.  You can click on them to learn  more about each toy from Amazon.

10 Excellent Toys for Preschoolers:

Baby Connects:



TinkerToys:



Melissa & Doug Jumbo Cardboard Blocks




Caterpillar Construction Dump Truck:




Tow Truck:




Melissa & Doug Car Carrier:




Imaginarium Deluxe Marble Race:




Kidoozie Build a Road




Goldie Blox and the Spinning Machine




Train Table:




I may share at any of these parties!
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Tuesday, November 26, 2013

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{FREE} Frog Memory Cards & Poppins Book Nook & Giveaway!!

We have two pet frogs, so a "Pet Day" for us naturally revolved around frogs... and a free printable!



I'm sharing this Frog Memory Game {FREE} with you so you can join in the fun too!  Simply print two copies of the frog printable on cardstock, cut out the cards, and place them all upside down.  Take turns flipping over two cards at a time.  If you find a match, keep it!

Our Frog-themed book is From Tadpole to Frog by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld.  I love how my 6-year old can read it to my other kids, and the pictures are wonderful!

(image below is an affiliate link to Amazon)



Also, be sure to check out our Back To School Frog Packet here!

This post is part of the Poppins Book Nook!

PoppinsBookNook 


AND, each month the Poppins Book Nook hosts a giveaway for an amazing book! This month, you can enter to win your own copy of Animal Encyclopedia!  Just enter using the convenient Rafflecopter form below!



  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Do you have a post related to pets?  We'd love to see what you're up to!  Link up below:


    



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Monday, November 25, 2013

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30+ Thanksgiving Activities for Children!!

I have a fabulous collection of more than 30 Thanksgiving Activities for Children on my Thanksgiving Pinterest Board!



Click here to see the entire Thanksgiving board with more than 30 great ideas...everything from printables to crafts to snacks and more!

Some of the amazing ideas include the four pictured above (from top to bottom):





Do you have big Thanksgiving plans?  I'd love to know!

Have a wonderful, thankful week!!



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Friday, November 22, 2013

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A BIG Thanksgiving Tree!

I love that Thanksgiving is a public holiday that reinforces the concept of gratitude, and I love how easy this Thankful Tree made it to take time to talk about what my children have that they are grateful for.  (You can read my recent post about gratitude here.)



We do a different version of a Thankful Tree every year, but I think this may be my favorite yet!  I love the strong visual that this BIG Thankful Tree commands every time we are in the same room with it, and I love how it will fill up with Thanksgiving Leaves.

Simple Supplies:
  • brown packing paper (we recycled this from a package that came in the mail recently!)
  • colored construction paper
  • masking tape
  • markers and scissors


Easy How-to:

1.  Twist, wrap, and bend the brown packing paper into a tree shape.
2.  Tape the tree onto a wall or door using masking tape.


3.  Cut leaf shapes out of the colored construction paper.  I used 1/4 sheet for each leaf and am very happy with the size.
4.  Let your children (and help the younger ones!) write something they are thankful for on each leaf and tape the leaves to the tree.  Repeat this step each day until Thanksgiving!



How do you teach thankfulness and gratitude with your children?  I'd love to know!  Feel free to leave a comment or stop by Facebook and tell us there!


Are you looking for more preschool leaf activities? Check out my free preschool leaf theme!



Happy Educating, Carla

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Monday, November 18, 2013

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Pine Cone Science Experiments & Exploration

Pine cones are an excellent science experiment subject at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and any other time of year when you can manage to find them on the ground!



Pine cone science projects are excellent for preschoolers because they give your children a chance to predict what changes they will see and then actually watch those changes occur.

First, gather some pine cones!  Take your children on a walk and enjoy the process!  While you are outside, find which trees grow pine cones (pine trees) and look for cones that are still on the tree.  Let your children grab some pine needles too and feel the sticky sap that oozes when you pull needles off the tree or break a branch.


Feel free to collect other small objects too.  Your children can compare these to pine cones and discuss what they discover.


Experiment #1:

Do pine cones float?  What about rocks, sticks, needles, and any other objects you collected?  Older children can record their hypotheses and the results.




Experiment #2:

Can you close up a pine cone that is "open?"  How long do you think it will take?  Will its size change?  

Experiment by placing your pine cones in a bowl of water to find the answers.  Most pine cones will look dramatically different after half an hour.

A Little Pine Cone Science:

Pine cones grow on pine trees to protect the seeds.  Each pine cone scale protects 1-2 papery, thin seeds.  When the seeds are mature, the pine cone falls off the tree and the pine cone scales dry out. As they dry, they "open" up and release the seeds.  The scales are made such that when they are wet, they are closed and when they are dry, they open.  

Do you use pine cones to decorate for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas?  What about for a little science project fun? I'd love to hear all about your pine cone science experiments!



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Saturday, November 16, 2013

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Gratitude With Children



What are you thankful for?

November is a fabulous time to practice gratitude and a thankful attitude with children, whether or not you celebrate Thanksgiving!

Research is showing that people who practice gratitude feel happier, more optimistic, and more energy.  Children who practice gratitude tend to get better grades, get along better with family and friends, and set higher goals.  


How can you experience gratitude with your children?  Here are a few ideas:


* Get a special notebook and record three things you're grateful for daily with your children.

* Talk about what you're grateful for at dinner, breakfast, or bedtime.

* Talk about people you're grateful for.

* Express gratitude to your children (for example, "Thank you for helping Charlie get his shoes.  I really appreciate it!).

* Make a Grateful Tree: Write something you're grateful on "leaves" and hang a few up each day.


How do you encourage gratitude in your children?  I'd love to know!


This post is part of the 21 Days of Gratitude Challenge, organized by Inspired by Family Mag.  Be sure to stop by the other blogs involved and be inspired by a little extra dose of gratitude!


21 days of gratitude challenge
These are the wonderful bloggers joining in the 21 Days of Gratitude: 





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Thursday, November 14, 2013

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Preschool Bubble Science Experiments and Activities

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Friday, November 8, 2013

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{FREE} Thanksgiving "Which One is Different?" Cards!

It's getting close to Thanksgiving, and I am thrilled to share these {FREE} Thanksgiving-themed "Which One is Different?" cards!



These Thanksgiving cards are designed for the young preschooler, but could be used with any age that's working on this skill.

"Which one is different?" activities strengthen reasoning and observation skills that your children will use later when they begin to read graphs and interpret data.  They also help develop a one-to-one correspondence concept that will be important as children begin to read.

These Thanksgiving cards can be used in many ways!  I recommend printing them on cardstock and laminating them so they last longer.  You can pull them out for one on one fun, set up a pile at a "center" table, or put them in a busy bag for outings.  Use clothespins to clip the different picture on each card, and you're strengthening small muscles too.  You can also use coins, buttons, pompoms, or any other small object to cover the different picture on each card!  Or punch holes in each picture and let your child tie a string to the one that is different!

I would love to know how you use the Thanksgiving "Which One is Different?" free preschool cards!


Happy Educating!
Carla

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Wednesday, November 6, 2013

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Kandinsky-Inspired Diamond Painting Color Studies with Kids!

Color studies are not limited to great artists like Wassily Kandinsky...they make fabulous painting projects for kids too!


Wassily Kandinsky was born in Russia, but worked as an artist in both Germany and France.  He is famous for his ideas about music, color, art, painting, and their relationships.  He often listened to music as he painted.  His paintings were often driven by colors and shapes, and did not always look like objects.  We learned a little about Kandinsky and his style, and then I let the children explore color and music while they created their own paintings!

Simple Supplies:

  • canvas (You can also use a sheet of paper.  Sometimes, though, it is exciting for the children to use a "real" artist's canvas, both because it is a different medium and because it is special.)
  • paints and brushes
  • ruler and a pencil (optional, for older children)
  • classical music

Easy How To:

1- Introduce Wassily Kandinsky.  This website has many of his paintings and this website has a picture of his 1913 Colour Studies, which inspires this project. 

2- Explain that Kandinsky felt like music and color could affect each other.  He even said, "Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the harmonies, the soul is the piano with many strings.  The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul."  Play some classical music and ask your kids what color the music sounds like.  Tell them that when you start painting, they will be painting the colors the music reminds them of.

3- If you have older children, let them use a ruler to divide their canvas into four quadrants.  Your kids can then use the ruler to add layers of diamonds to the canvas.  This was excellent straight-edge practice for my 6-year old and 4 1/2-year old.  If your preschoolers are much younger, you may want to skip this step.


4- Play another short segment of music and ask your children what color it reminds them of.  Let them get started painting!





We had lots of comments like, "Ooh!  This part is definitely blue!" and "The music is telling me to paint red now!"



What's that?  The music says to use your hands?  Go right ahead!



5- Find somewhere to display your finished projects!  Everyone here was very pleased with their work!





And it was so much fun, I had to make one with them:



Have you studied any famous artists?  We have another Kandinsky project that we will do soon, but that will be another post!  I feel like Kandinsky gives preschoolers and other kids permission to experiment with color and explore paint without feeling bad about their painting not looking like anything in particular.  And seriously...every single canvas looks great on the wall!

Amazon Affiliate Links:







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