Preschool Powol Packets

Do you need a dinosaur preschool activity that takes less than 30 seconds to set up ?   I have one for you today! Actually, I have a whole series of no-prep dinosaur activities ! I think you'll love them because they're SO easy to set up and are still super engaging! I know they've been useful to me!! Anyway, today's super-easy-but-insanely-fun dinosaur preschool activity is all about dinosaur footprints!  As an extra bonus, it works great for babies and toddlers too (as long as they're not allergic to wheat)! Dinosaur footprints are one of the ways we have learned about dinosaurs.  The footprints can tell us their size, if they likely walked on two feet or four, how big their gait was, and more!  You can talk to your kiddos about all the great science we can get from dinosaur footprints and how footprints are a type of "trace fossil" (meaning a fossil made by a living critter without any of the critter actually fossilized), and how fossils are m...

Space, astronomy, and planets have always been some of my favorite themes, so I love sharing them with my preschoolers! This little Playdough Planets activity can be a whole project on its own, or just a fun extension you can add in to your day next time you pull out some playdough! We started with Jupiter because I was talking about how you can see both Jupiter and Venus right now, easily, shortly after sunset, with my older kids. (If you live in the northern hemisphere, look for the two bright planets after sunset in the western sky.) My preschooler joined us while we talked about how some awesome Jupiter Fun Facts (see below), and then I pulled out the play dough. I limited the colors to red, orange, and yellow. He happily designed four different "Jupiters" and then -- on a different day -- asked to repeat the entire activity! Play dough is awesome for developing fine motor skills and pre-writing muscles. Pulling it out when you talk about science lets kids stretch their...

Last year I started teaching a preschool Music and Active Movement class in our community, mostly so my preschoolers could make some new friends and get the benefits of an organized music class . I decided to share the lesson plans here, partly to help anyone else who is planning preschool music lessons (whether it's in a preschool class, a homeschool co-op, a library, or just in your community!) and partly so I could find them again easily! I like to have a theme each week and consistent routines within the class. The kids enjoy the variety of themes and the routines help young children adjust to a structured class. These lessons are designed for 3-4 year old kids, but we have had siblings from 2-6 join in and have a great time too! Each lesson takes about 40 minutes. It is worth pointing out that in the first lesson (Moon & Space) , I share more details about our Welcome Song, Good-bye Song, and a little more background about some of my inspiration fo...

For our Preschool Music & Active Movement class this week, we focused on penguin songs! Here is the outline I used to teach our 45-minute class for 3-4 year olds. In addition to our preschoolers, we usually have a couple younger and older brothers and sisters join in too.  ;)  1- Gathering time: play with musical instruments bin. This week I also brought out a set of handbells for the kids to play with. 2- Welcome Song. 3- When I Sing LaLaLa by Janeen Brady. We do this and the welcome song with puppets: 4-  I introduced the theme, we talked about other animals that live in cold places, and we started with the Penguin Dance song. I like to start with a song that gets the kids moving a lot because it helps everyone relax and focus at the same time. For the Penguin Dance song, we listened to the words and acted out any actions we could hear: 5- We talked about how penguin moms lay eggs and penguin dads carry their eggs around on ...

This is my plan for our Snow-Themed Music Time for preschoolers! I'll add more details soon, but I needed to get a plan typed up! Last semester I taught a Preschool Music & Active Movement class for 3-4 year olds in our community.  We had such a wonderful time that I decided to do it again this semester! I especially love teaching these classes because they are full of safe sensory exercises, group activities, pre-reading activities, and (of course) music information! This was our first week's plan: Gathering Activity : Playing with musical instruments. 1- Welcome Song! You can get more details about the welcome song I use HERE . 2- When I Sing La La La by Janeen Brady . Again, more details on this song are HERE . 3- Shake! Your Shaker Eggs! by We Kids Rock.   I wanted to encourage the kids to shake their "snow clouds" to make it snow! 4- Snowflakes, Snowflakes by Songs for Kids.   We clapped rhythm sticks on beat du...

I'm teaching a Music & Movement class for preschoolers this semester, so I'm excited to share some of the activities we'll be doing with you here! This little activity is a moon or space themed activity for rhythm sticks! I included it in our Space Themed Music Class ! Rhythm sticks are TONS of fun to play with, but in addition to being super engaging, they also help your preschoolers develop skills like the following: * eye-hand coordination * fine and gross motor development * a sense of rhythm, beat, and tempo * directions like up, down, right, and left * following instructions * taking turns * math and music skills * creative thinking (like in this activity!) Our first music class's theme will be the moon and space, so I decided to do an astronaut rhythm stick activity. Here it is in lesson-plan format: 1- Show rhythm sticks and discuss safety rules (this is our first class, so we need to establish rhythm-stick-safety!). ...

I have a secret to confess. The fossil hunt STEM activity is the project I have been most excited about in the  Preschool STEM series !  I absolutely adore fossils and dinosaurs. There is a part of me that will forever be about four years old and absolutely in love with anything more than 10,000 years old. And if it makes it over 65 million years--well, anything older than the KT Extinction is more exciting than chocolate (and that's saying a lot)! When I was a teenager we went to a dinosaur quarry, and I kind of wanted to move right then and become a paleontologist! I wanted to create some of that magic for my preschoolers, especially because the nearest dinosaur quarry that I know of is thousands of miles away. Happily, we have this very awesome game: Fossil On! I Laugh-n-Learn sent us this game to review last year, and we have absolutely loved it (you can see some of my thoughts on it HERE on Instagram )! Anyway, I decided to use these fossils to create ...

"I'm making Rainbow Reactions!" my 3-year old happily cried out! And the title for this preschool chemistry / preschool STEM exploration was born. The truth is that there has been a point in each of my kid's lives where this was their favorite experiment. This was how each if them learned to use a pipette, as a preschooler. This was the first chemical reaction they each experimented with. They have done it with friends and without. And now another beautiful child of mine has fallen in love with it!  (For some other fun variations we've done with this, check out our sparkly fizzing rainbow and New Zealand volcanoes !) To make these awesome rainbow reactions, you just need a pan, baking soda, food coloring, vinegar, and pipettes! First spread the baking soda in a thin layer over the bottom of a pan. Let your kiddos add drops of food coloring: My girls right now are pretty tidy--they like to control things like food coloring and plac...