Preschool Powol Packets

These cute monkeys are a fun preschool craft, and they go perfectly with a jungle theme or the awesome book we read for Poppins Book Nook. Monkeys live all over the world and come in all sorts of colors!  Did you know that some monkeys are silver as adults and orange as babies?  We learned all sorts of fun things about monkey colors in the book below, and we used paper towel tubes to each make a monkey. Simple Supplies: paper towel tube, cut in half face and ears cut out of paper wiggly eyes (optional) paint and paint brushes glue Easy How-To: 1.  Let your kiddos paint the paper towel tube (and face, if they want!). 2.  Let them attach the face and ears.  I had one child do this by drenching his papers in paint and sticking them on his wet paper towel tube.  The rest used a low-heat hot glue gun.  You can also use school glue, but we like the hot glue gun. 3.  Let it dry!  While we waited we graphed information from a map in the book sh

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Biz Stain & Odor Eliminator for SocialSpark . All opinions are 100% mine. Children learn more about their world through play and hands-on experimentation than any other way--they are fabulous little scientists!  Messy play particularly helps children create frameworks to understand their world and become faster learners in the future.  Just last year, a study* was published in Developmental Science showing distinct cognitive advantages to messy play!   Engaging in messy play activities is usually easy to set up and loads of fun!  If you're looking for ideas, try this  Magic Rainbow Foam ,  Leaf Print Paintings ,  Fizzing Dinosaur Eggs , or a  Construction Sensory Table !  And, like the study suggests, you can always let your kiddos touch their food with their hands! The problem, of course, is "What do we do with all the messy clothes after the messy play?"  Fresh berries especially seem to stain well

Today I am at 3 Boys and  a Dog sharing this {FREE} Ladybug Count & Clip Card set , some ladybug information, and one of our family's favorite games!  Do hop over and get your {FREE} cards and check out the amazing resources at 3 Boys & a Dog! And if you're looking for more insect or bug resources, check out these other  FREE insect, bug, and spider printables : Happy Educating, Carla!

We made this fun Straw Rainbows Preschool Craft as part of our St. Patrick's Day celebration, but you could use the same concept for a spring or summer rainbow activity or as part of a colors unit! Inspired by the rainbow sensory activity at Mess For Less , I wanted to let the kids invent rainbows and create a take home craft.  These straw rainbows ended up being perfect. Simple Supplies: colored straws, cut in 1-inch-ish segments blue or green construction paper for the background white paper cut into clouds black paper cut into pots yellow paper cut into coins glue Easy How To: 1.  Explain that we're making rainbows today!  Let your children choose their background paper and make sure they can reach all the pieces.  I set them out in a tray: 2.  Review how to glue and let your kiddos get to work! HINT:  When you let your children do a glue project, squirt some glue onto a piece of construction paper and let them dip their papers (or stra

It has been said that play is children's best research, and this Magic Rainbow Foam lets your preschoolers experiment in the most fun way...with a mess!  (Happily, it is easy to clean up too!) This rainbow foam is so extremely easy to set up, you can even let your kiddos help decide what the rainbow should look like.  The colors appeal to their visual sensory processing while the foam is a unique texture they can experiment with. The process uses their fine motor muscles and (if you let them add more foam) is a great work out for little fingers! Creating the foam is easy:  just spray shaving cream into tins for each child.  I usually stock up on shaving cream from the dollar store.  Exercise judgement if your children can be safe with shaving cream: children with sensitive skin may need gloves and babies who eat shaving cream should use an alternate like whipped cream instead. Adding the colors is even more fun ...and it leads us to the &quo

I love to share real-life heroes with my children: real people who overcome challenges, reach across barriers, and do good and amazing things.  The 2014 Winter Olympics may be over, but we can still use these stories to teach our children precious character lessons. I love to watch a good competition as much as anyone, but the stories that were the most moving for me were stories of people overcoming challenges and displaying the best aspects of human nature.   These five inspired me: Noelle Pikus-Pace returns from bone-crushing injuries, child-bearing, and devastating loss to claim a silver medal in the skeleton:  http://www.nbcolympics.com/knsd/noelle-pikus-pace-silver-medal-sochi-olympics-happy-family-posnanski?ctx=olympic-journey  Shaun White, famous for winning gold as a snowboarder, jumps over a barrier to make a 10-year old cancer-fighting fan feel special:   http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/shaun-white-olympic-moments-and-mettle-without-a-co

These Giant Cat in the Hat Fruit Kabobs are super easy to make and so fun to eat! We made them for our Dr. Seuss/Read Across America celebrations and ate them after reading the Cat in the Hat Comes Back! affiliate link: To make your own Giant Cat in the Hat Fruit Kabobs, you need kabob sticks, bananas, strawberries, and black frosting. Slice your strawberries and bananas, then arrange them on the kabob stick, alternating strawberries and bananas. End with a banana turned for a head.  Draw the face on with black frosting! Yummmmmm!!!   We ate ours with Green Eggs and Ham ! I may share at any of these parties !

As part of our Dr. Seuss and Read Across America Day celebrations, we made a Green Eggs & Ham lunch! Of course, before you present a plate like this, you need to read Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham!   (affiliate link): Then ask your kiddos, "What about you?  Would you eat green eggs and ham?" I had all sorts of wonderful responses like,  "No way!  I do not like green eggs and ham!" "Maybe.  Maybe I would try them." And my favorite:  "I would have to try them.  And after I taste them I would decide if I liked them or not." Too fun!! Make your own Green Eggs & Ham: 1.  Roll pieces of ham up and poke a toothpick through them.  Refrigerate them until you're ready to serve. 2.  Make green eggs, boil the eggs, peel the shells, and cut each egg in half lengthwise. 3.  Pop the yolks out and mash them.  Add a little mayonnaise, salt, pepper, mustard, and green gel fo