Preschool Powol Packets

Pin It Happy Leap Day!!  I'm very excited to share this free printable St. Patrick's Day Preschool Packet with you!  It has eight pages of fun St. Patrick's Day themed learning activities, including counting, tracing, matching, a journal prompt, and more!  And the best part...it's totally free! You can download it here , or click on the picture.  The link will take you to my Teachers Notebook page, where you can download the file for free.  If you don't have a membership, you will need to sign up for one (also free!).  I'm starting to use Teachers Notebook because it is well organized and more secure than what I was using before.  I haven't got any feedback from my blog followers since I started using them, so I would love to know what you think!  Have you had any trouble downloading from there?  Let me know! You are free to share the printables, but please keep the copyright note on them.  You can print them as many times as you like, or put them ins

This super fun inspired-by-Dr. Seuss science activity is perfect for kids in preschool, kindergarten, and even grade school!  To kick off Dr. Seuss' birthday in one week, we read Bartholomew and the Oobleck and (of course) made ourselves some Ooblek!  This ooblek is a sure crowd-pleaser...my 3-year old, 4-year old, and two 1-year olds absolutely loved it!  They had all sorts of ideas of ways to experiment with it, and I was happy to let them go wild.  Added perks: it's natural, easy to clean, and edible (if a bit nasty-tasting).  This was particularly important because I had two young toddlers today, and one of their favorite experiments is the taste test ! I also made up The Ooblek Song ...if you're really lucky, I'll figure out how to turn it into a YouTube video before Dr. Seuss' Birthday!  I loved hearing all the little guys singing, "Ooblek, Ooblek, Ooblek..." {Update: You can see it now here ! Be kind...it's my first attem

I knew my preschoolers would love this science experiment...I didn't know my 20-month old would love it too! The  Penny Playground science project  teaches young children about balance and levers in a Montessori-style experiment. You will need these supplies: 5 pennies 1 nickel any other coins you want  12-inch ruler small block or other fulcrum The easy how-to: Show your child how to set up the see-saw with the ruler and the block for this science experiment.  Challenge her to find out how many pennies it takes to balance a nickel.  Ask her to make a hypothesis--a guess she can test about what the right answer is!  Make sure you place the coins at the ends of the ruler.  Once she has figured out the challenge, let her experiment and answer her own questions with this science project...she will have plenty! This science experiment comes from the packet 5 Science Experiments With Pennies for Young Children, available at Teachers Notebook .  Pin It

My preschoolers love science experiments that cause reactions, and the classic Diet Coke and Mentos reaction is so popular it's been requested and repeated more than once! They love all the fizzy fun of this science project. The INGREDIENTS are simple: Diet Coke (you will want several bottles!) Mint-flavored Mentos  (at least two rolls!) Other mix-ins  (rock salt, nails, and other candy are interesting ones, but let your child choose what she wants to experiment with!) The HOW TO is fun: 1.  Plan how you will put 5 Mentos into a 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke at the same time.  I've used a roll of paper, but prefer to thread them onto a string with a needle.  It doesn't take long to thread, and is so much more effective. 2.  Drop 5 mint-flavored Mentos into a 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke at the same time.  Step back fast! 3.  Oooh and aaah!!  Note: the reaction only lasts 5-6 seconds, and the kids usually want to do it again...and soon! 4.  Talk

Bugs are everywhere!  Inspired by the little boys I spend my days with, I created Bats To The Rescue, a counting game .  This free game lets children practice counting while rolling dice and making bats gobble up obnoxious bugs!  On your turn, you roll a die, count the dots, draw that many bats, and place each bat on a bug on your board.  The one-to-one correspondence prepares children for addition, subtraction, and reading while engaging in an exciting and fast-paced game. You can use it just for counting, or you can bring it out when you talk about things like bugs, insects, bats, habitats, and food chains.  The boys love it.  And so far, none of my girls have been scared away by the horned dung beetles! To download it for free, click here !  I'm starting to put all my free items at Teachers Notebook.  You will need to register for an account, but it's all free and much more secure than Google Docs.  Teachers Notebook has lots of things you can purchase, but this file is

We love painting, and using a variety of painting tools makes this art project even more exciting for preschoolers--toddlers can join in the fun too! Supplies: paper 2-3 pieces of yarn, twine, or other thick string 12-24 inches long 2-3 colors paint (primary colors work well) The Easy How To: 1.  If your child is able, let her help measure and cut the string. 2.  Fold your paper in half lengthwise (hotdog style) and set it near the paint. 3.  Dip (and coat) each string in paint--I like to encourage the kids to choose one color for each string the first time, and then let them experiment with whatever string/color arrangement they want next time.  (Be prepared to repeat this several times!) 4.  After you dip a string in paint, place it on one half of the paper.  Arrange it so one end of the string pokes out below the paper.  Repeat Steps 3 and 4 until you have 2-3 strings on one half of your paper. 5.  Fold the other side of the paper over. 6.  P

Making these little books is so fun and easy that your preschoolers will want to make one with every unit!  We used one for my daughter's first leaf collection, a Halloween story she wrote, and many other activities.  It is quick and simple to make, and gives your child the satisfaction of making her own book!  A few strong folds, one snip, and the book is ready to go!  Each book comes from just one paper and has four 2-sided pages (including the "cover").  Here's the tutorial: 1.  Fold your paper in half three times (one hotdog and two hamburgers, if you like that terminology!), then unfold it so that you have eight rectangles, like the picture below.  2.  You need to cut on the green line in the picture above.  The easiest way to do this is to fold it in half again (hamburger) and cut along the middle fold. 3.  Open the page back up and fold it in half lengthwise (hotdog), opening the middle out so it makes a diamond like the picture below. 4.  Bring the

There is something magical when you give a child options and they create their own art.  This sponge-painting, salt-using, crayon-marking art project was actually inspired by my 1-year old, but everyone (1-4 years old) loved it!  My 1-year old has had a thing lately about dumping salt out of the shaker onto the table.  He sprinkles it like snow, then spreads it everywhere with his hands.  Well, I thought...why not?!  The sensory experience is wonderful for both preschoolers and toddlers, and they all like to create things.  So, we made Mixed Media Valentine Art !   Supplies (These supplies would also make a fabulous sensory bin!):   ** Sponges, cut into various shapes (Valentine's Day is next week, so of course I included hearts!  I also like to talk about shapes, so added some triangles and miscellaneous sponges.)   ** Paint (Valentine's colors here included red, pink, white, and purple.  Adding blue and yellow made sure that all my kiddos favorite colors w

UPDATE: It has been years since we first tried making these rainbow heart crayons, and my daughter still talks about our first "crayon experiments!" They do have a unique texture, but they are SO fun to make and color with...and they are perfect for this Valentine season! Inspired by Melismama at The Joys of Home Education , we recycled our old crayons into beautiful, festive, valentine-y "Rainbow Heart Crayons!"  My 4-year old named them.  She loves rainbows and hearts and art, so these were triply exciting!  As an added bonus, they were simple enough for my 1-, 2-, and 3-year old kiddos to participate in! Here's the quick how-to: 1- Prepare the molds.  Melismama used silicone hearts, but I don't have hearts.  I pinched some aluminum foil inside my round silicons, and used that.  Be careful not to tear your foil--the one I tore had wax melt on the outside of the foil.  It made pulling the new crayon out tricky. 2- Peel the pap

I am so excited to share this fabulous, free printable Valentine game with you!  Originally, I was going to post it on Thursday, but we've had so much fun playing it during the weekend that I decided to post it sooner so you can enjoy it! Inspired by Criss-Cross Applesauce , I created a Valentine Game: Decorate a Heart Cookie !  My daughter really loved their Christmas game, so I thought it would be fun to make a similar Valentine's game.  Once I got started, though, I wanted to make it last past Valentine's Day, so I made it a heart cookie--you can have a heart cookie before or after Valentine's Day!  You can click here to download your free Valentine Game: Decorate a Heart Cookie ! The directions are simple--I also included them in the download!  Basically, each player starts with 20 M-n-m's and takes turns drawing cards to see how many M-n-m's you move to your heart cookie.  The download includes a game board for each player, the cards, in