3-5 years Archives

Copying and Cutting

As a former first grade teacher, I can tell you that generally boys struggle much more with fine motor skills than girls. Holding a pencil correctly, cutting with scissors, and legible handwriting are all skills that prove more difficult for the…

Share

Pin101

101 Shares

3-D Pumpkin Puzzles

Sometimes people ask me where I come up with my ideas. I’m REALLY not a very creative person (I’m not even a fan of crafting, at least on the adult level…mostly because I am completely inept). In all honestly, a…

Share

Pin5

5 Shares

Making Shapes

I’ve seen lots of ideas floating around using variations of craft sticks and velcro. So rather than try to fancy it up, I thought I’d keep it simple and show you how we used this idea to make various shapes!…

Share

Pin12

12 Shares

Shape Hunt and Sort

After using the painter’s tape yesterday for our walk the line toddler activity, I decided to “recycle” the tape for an activity for Big Brother as well. I just tore strips of tape and arranged them into 4 shapes: a…

Share

Pin95

95 Shares

Build A Monster!

Go Away, Big Green Monster has been one of our favorite books to read lately! This is a wonderful book for young children because it is repetitive and has a predictable pattern (as is Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You…

Share

Pin114

114 Shares

M is for Monster

Use the letter “m” to make a unique monster! All you need is a piece of cardboard, some fuzzy fabric (cut into squares), wiggly eyes, glue and a sharpie. 1. Take a piece of cardboard and using a Sharpie, write…

Share

Pin3

3 Shares

Playdough Monsters

This was Big Brother’s favorite monster activity yet! He spent over an hour playing with the playdough monsters…which is like an eternity in little boy time! We used wiggly eyes (sent to us by Craft Project Ideas), pipe cleaners, and some…

Share

Pin32

32 Shares

Magnetic Monsters

I adapted this idea from Pre-school Play (via Pinterest) and it sort of took on a life of it’s own. First you’ll need to cut up some pipe cleaners… And then use either your hot glue gun or some gorilla…

Share

Pin20

20 Shares

Monster Finger Puppet

These little boogers are fun for kids of all ages! There are so many fun ways you can use this puppet glove: color recognition, one-to-one correspondence, songs, and monster-tickles…just to name a few! All you need is a gardening glove…

Share

Pin55

55 Shares

Mini Monster Fruit Pizzas

We swapped date nights with some friends of ours this weekend…we went out on Friday (and they watched the kids) and then they went out on Saturday (while we watched the kids). On our night with the kiddos we decided…

Share

Pin5

5 Shares

Monster Sensory Tub

This was definitely our favorite sensory tub yet! Even I enjoyed digging around in it! We used water beads, which I first learned about from my friend Julie’s blog. She found the idea on Play At Home Mom. These little…

Share

Pin275

275 Shares

Clothespin Capital & Lowercase Matching Activity

This was a super-easy activity for Big Brother that combined fine motor skills and alphabet recognition. I was pleasantly surprised how much Big Brother took to this activity…he really enjoyed it and needed very little assistance. I just reused the…

Share

Pin176

176 Shares

‘Are You My Mother’ Sensory Tub

After our Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Sensory Tub, I thought it would be fun to do more sensory tubs inspired by some of our favorite children’s books! The Are You My Mother? Board Book is one of Little Brother’s…

Share

Pin148

148 Shares

Turntable Art

I love free stuff. I happened upon this PhonoViewer on the “free-take it” shelf at church. It came with tons of “records” as well. I honestly don’t really know what a PhonoViewer is…and apparently I won’t be finding out because…

Share

Pin52

52 Shares

Encouraging Independence: Getting Dressed

Getting a toddler/preschooler dressed is normally less about the skill involved (although that certainly takes a lot of practice),and more about the battle of the wills…or at least this is the case in our house. Last summer, Big Brother…

Share

0 Shares

Homemade Musical Instrument

Both of the boys have had so much fun playing with their musical instruments. This is really multiple instruments in one…it acts as a maraca, a tambourine, and a drum. Talk about versatile! A word to the wise: Don’t let…

Share

Pin334

334 Shares

“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” Sensory Play

Big Brother’s favorite book at the moment is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. We read it at least twice a day. If you’ve ever read this book, you know how long it is…it is quite the time investment! I think the…

Share

Pin3K

3K Shares

Painting with Dried Corn Husks

It seems like just about everything these days can be transformed into a fun art project (much to the dismay of my husband)…often including what otherwise might go in the trash. After eating fresh corn on the cob recently, I…

Share

Pin2

2 Shares

Note on Copyright