Preschool Powol Packets

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:

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!    Every month some of your favorite bloggers share a book and activity based on a common theme! Be sure to check out these other bloggers:     Enchanted Homeschooling Mom - 3 Dinosaurs - Monsters Ed - Chestnut Grove Academy - Growing in God

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): 1:   Turkey from Creative Kid Snacks 2:   Turkey Felt Board Feather Matching from Teach Beside Me 3:   Thanksgiving Do a Dot Printables at Crystal & Co. 4:  Leaf Turkey Craft for Kids from Mamas Like Me Do you have big Thanksgiving plans?  I'd love to know! Have a wonderful, thankful week!! I may share at any of these parties !

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

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 resul

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 gratit

As the last day in my Bubbles! Mini-series, I am bringing you a collection of 17 brilliant bubbly posts featuring fun science projects!  These bubbly science experiments will have the kids begging for more!    Some are from right here, but many are from other clever kid bloggers around the world!  So, here you go... Bubble Science with Pumpkins from Preschool Powol Packets: Bubbly Brew Lab from Preschool Powol Packets: Dish Soap Foam from Dirt and Boogers : Bubble Brew from Time for Play : Bubble Exploration from Suzy Homeschooler : Bubble Painting from The Chaos and the Clutter : Bubble Bar Group Play from Nate & Rachael : Giant Bubble Recipe from Busy Kids Happy Mom: Bubble Solution for a Giant Bubble from 123Homeschool4Me: Bubble Spider Webs from Preschool  Powol Packets:  Tabletop Soap Bubbles from Simple Fun for Kids  : Making Giant Bubbles from Science-Sparks : Lu

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,

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