Preschool Powol Packets

New Years activities can be simple, fun, and exciting, or complex and unusual!  Here are a few ideas from this last year that would be a lot of fun tonight or tomorrow:  We had tons of fun doing them earlier, and children love to repeat favorite activities!  Have a wonderful and safe New Years, and I'll see you in 2013!! A Sparkly Explosion! Diet Coke Fireworks! Foot-Powered Rockets! String-Painting Fireworks! Colored Fire!   Marshmallow Fireworks!!  I may share at any of these parties !

January is a wonderful time to use snowman-themed activities, so I thought I'd share a small collection of Snowman FREEBIES with you today!!  Just click on the picture to go to the source --these are all free!!  Hiding Snowmen Number Puzzle from Preschool Powol Packets: Snowman File Folder Game from Preschool Powol Packets: Interactive Snowman Mini Book from Playing With Words 365: The Snowman Needs Buttons from "The Kids P lace" Home Da ycare: Snowman Preschool Pack from Living Life Intentionally: Just click on the pictures above to download any of the files you like...they're all free!! I may share at any of these parties !

May your week be filled with happiness and love! ! I may share at any of these parties !

Snow, anyone?  We have relatives that are shoveling snow as I type, but this afternoon, we played outside in  shorts and t-shirts!  Snow, rain, and clouds are all fun topics for preschoolers, and this quick and easy demonstration helps them see how clouds are full of water! Simple Supplies: clear, glass bottle or jar (mason jars work great) small pot of boiling water (small pots boil faster!) tongs or a hot pad Easy How-To: 1- Make sure your pot has boiling water and that your children are at a safe distance.  Show them the empty jar and talk about how they can see straight through it. 2- Use a hot pad or tongs to tip the jar upside down about a foot above the boiling water.  Water will collect inside the jar and along the walls. 3- Show your children the cloud and let them watch as it dissipates! You can also discuss how frozen water makes snow, how water can evaporate from many places to form clouds in the air, how water molecules "stick" to eac

Snow is such a fun winter theme...especially when you live somewhere that doesn't have any!! These cotton ball / pom pom snowmen (and snowman scenes!) are super easy to make and give your child a ton of creative freedom.  I love projects where they decide the final design, and the product actually tells about its creator!  Here's the easy How To: Simple Supplies: construction paper contact paper (optional) school glue markers cotton balls pom poms Easy How To: 1- Cut snowman shapes out of your contact paper and glue them onto the construction paper.  Let your child lift the "cover" off the contact paper to reveal the sticky snowman shape.  If you don't use contact paper, smear school glue in the shape of a snowman onto your child's page. 2- Let your child create his or her own snowman (or snow scene!) by sticking pom poms and cotton balls to the contact paper.  Show them how to stretch the cotton ball to make more

Snowflakes in nature have six sides, and luckily folding a 6-sided snowflake is very easy!  The trick is all in how you fold it before you cut.  Here's a step by step in pictures and then (because I like you all so much), I have a little video that shows the whole process (of how to make a 6-sided snowflake) in under three minutes!   Making these snowflakes is loads of fun to do with a preschool snow theme or a preschool winter theme. I've even made them with teenagers who had just as much fun as the little kids! Anyway, here's the quick and easy: How to Make a 6-Sided Snowflake 1.  Start with a square piece of paper. 2.  Fold your square into a triangle. 3.  Fold your triangle into a smaller triangle. 4.  Fold your smaller triangle into thirds. 5.  Cut through all the layers of paper at an angle close to that drawn in orange.  6.  Throw away the top half. 7.  Cut fun designs out of the bottom

When we began this Christmas preschool craft, we were just going to be making candy canes, and that's exactly what some kids did.  Others made even more beaded ornament shapes!  This is the perfect preschooler Christmas activity--they can do it just for fun and you can use it to review colors, talk about shapes, strengthen their eye-hand coordination and improve fine muscle skills!  And when they're done, they have some fabulous little ornaments to display!! Simple Supplies: pipe cleaners beads optional: small needle nosed pliers Easy How-To: 1- Cut the pipe cleaners in half with scissors.  This brings the project down to most young children's attention level. 2- Optional: Sort the beads by color into trays.  I use muffin tins.  This lets children practice sorting and review color names. 3- Let your children choose their first bead.  Bend the pipe cleaner around the bead so it doesn't roll off.  Small needle nosed pliers may be helpful fo