Preschool Powol Packets

Dirt.  Sensory Bins.  Preschoolers.   You may wonder why sensory bins, and you may wonder why dirt.  Let me begin by explaining. A sensory bin is a container with material inside designed to appeal to your children's senses.  It may have a unique texture or be easy to manipulate.  It may have a new smell.  It may be messy or it may be tidy.  Sensory bins can be created in a huge  variety of ways, but they all allow your children to discover, explore, and manipulate more of their world in a contained space through their senses.  It can also provide a platform for your child to interact with others and practice communicating.  An added bonus, if you have a child who struggles with sensory processing, is that sensory bins provide a sensory material that your child can use for extra sensory input or limited sensory input, depending on the child's particular needs.  It is instantly differentiated instruction for each individual child! Sensory bins are ofte

Salt Water Crocodiles can live in both the salty ocean and freshwater rivers!  How do they do this?  How do salt and freshwater differ?  Learn more about the differences in salt water and fresh water with your preschoolers with these simple science experiments! Get ready for some fun waterworks with these science projects! This experiment is perfect for young children because it introduces new concepts about how solutes (like salt) affect water and other variables.  It introduces a concept and allows your children to build on it by further investigation! Simple Supplies: * 3 clear cups * water * salt * food coloring * ice * other variables (toothpicks, grapes, soap, etc) Easy How-to: 1.  Put about one cup of water in each cup. 2.  Let your child dissolve 1-2 tablespoons of salt in two of the cups.   This is comparable to very salty ocean water.  (See note below.) 3.  Let your child squeeze some food coloring into the "fresh"

The Ocean Preschool Packet is here!! With more than 50 pages of adorable preschool printables, this Ocean Preschool Packet can be fun for "school time," "busy bags," Montessori baskets, one-on-one time, games, and so much more!   What's in the packet?  Well, I'm glad you asked!  Here are two collages with thumbnail images of all the pages: And the best part is that (like most of my big packets) the Ocean Preschool Packet will be {FREE} FOR 3 DAYS!!!  Sorry for shouting...I just want to make sure my readers have a chance to grab it before it becomes a paid product.  :) And please feel free to pin and share this post and tell others about it!   CLICK HERE to get the Ocean Preschool Packet on Teachers Pay Teachers   You will need either a Teachers Notebook or TPT account, but that is {FREE} and then you will have access to hundreds  of other {FREE} printables too!! And, as always, I would love  to hear from yo

Preschoolers are natural little scientists, and this open-ended, inquiry-driven science experiment is the perfect type of exploration their minds (and fingers!) love! The concept behind this science project is flow , and the materials provided let your preschoolers experiment with how different objects flow through foam, water, and other textures.  Even more important than flow , though, is that this experiment provides an opportunity for your children to manipulate materials, predict what they think will happen, experiment, and then repeat the experiment to see if the results change. To set up the experiment , arrange different objects within easy reach.  We used toothpicks, small rocks, leaves, bits of play dough, and liquid watercolors.  (To see how we easily make our own liquid watercolors, click here !) Then fill clear a clear cup or bowl half full with water and add a layer of shaving cream.   Ask your children if they think the paint will flow through t

We recently had a super fun sports themed preschool day, so today I'm sharing our Sports Day with you! Sensory Bin: I use this as a gathering activity.  This time, we put little sports balls inside a big rice bin. Circle Time & Guessing Bag :  In the circle, I give each child a chance to share something, we count, and talk about days of the week.  To introduce the sports theme, I had about a dozen different balls or sports accessories inside a large gift bag.  Each child drew out an item and explained which sport it represented. Relays outside :   Our weather has been gorgeous and our kids are energetic, so we headed outside right away!  Click here to learn how we used relays as a team building activity! Free play outside:   After the relays, I let the kids play outside.  I loved watching them work together to build a "campfire" together! Snack:   We had homemade rolls (aka balls) and oranges (aka basketballs)! Sports Grid Game :   C

As you know, we recently had a Sports themed day, and since the heart of any preschoolers education is reading, I wanted to share a ton  of sports themed books your preschoolers might love!  You can print this post and take the whole list to the library, or click on the individual pictures to go to Amazon and learn more about each book.   These books cover a huge range of interests...from football to ballet!  What sports do your kiddos love the most? The pictures are Amazon affiliate links...you never pay more for ordering through them, but they do give me a small referral commission.  Thank you for your support! Little Granny Quarterback by Bill Martin Dino-Soccer by Lisa Wheeler Dino-Baseball by Lisa Wheeler Dino-Basketball by Lisa Wheeler Dino-Hockey by Lisa Wheeler Dino-Football by Lisa Wheeler The Berenstain Bears Get Their Kicks by Stan Berenstain Th

This sports hide & seek graphing activity ties sports, science, math, and active large muscle exercise together into one interactive educational activity! Simple graphing is an early math and science skill that your children will use for the rest of their lives.  It takes grouping and sorting activities up a level and prepares them to read charts and graphs by building one themselves.  Plus, the hide and seek element of this activity makes it great for my little friends that just can't hold still! Sports Hide & Seek Graphing: 1.  Preparation:  Print off several copies of 4 different sports.  You are welcome to use our page { here } -- it has a running child, soccer ball, baseball, and bicyclist.  I printed it twice. 2.  A little more preparation:  Cut out the sports squares and hide them!  You can do this inside or outside and make the hidden pictures easy or hard to find!  Reserve one of each sport to place on a graph. 3.  Final preparation:  Draw a b