Mini Bow & Arrow Set (with free printables)
When I saw this idea for making a tiny bow and arrow set, I knew this would be a fun activity to do at Big Brother’s camping party! I adapted it slightly to fit our needs. These mini bows…
Beaded Snowflakes
Big Brother is a bit under the weather, so making this beaded snowflake was the perfect activity to do to take a break from all the TV watching! This is the fine motor activity for our snow thematic unit….
Snowy Sight Words
We’re starting a brand-new thematic unit…SNOW! Regardless of whether we have any white stuff on the ground outside here, we are going to enjoy snow, snowflakes, and even snowmen for the next few weeks. To kick off our new thematic…
10 Steps to Teaching Your Child to Read
As a former first grade teacher, teaching children to read is one of my greatest passions! But because most children don’t start actually “reading” until around 6 years old (which is upwards of the targeted age range for my…
Shape Investigation
As we’ve been talking about shapes recently, I realized that Big Brother didn’t know the difference between a “side” and a “corner” (or angle, if you really want to get technical). I thought a fun shape investigation was in order…
What To Do When Naptime Ceases…
I don’t know about you, but my sanity break (and my blogging time) comes about 2:00 every afternoon…when my children nap. Both boys have thankfully been regular nappers their entire lives. Until now, that is… Big Brother will be…
Learning to Dial 9-1-1
Proceed with caution on this post…or else the 9-1-1 dispatchers might have it out for me with all the little ones accidentally dialing 9-1-1! Before your child learns to dial 9-1-1, he/she needs to know what constitutes an emergency. Obviously,…
What puts out a fire?
I started off this little science experiment asking Big Brother, “What do you think puts out a fire?” I then used a candle in a glass jar with a lid for the following activity. PLEASE use EXTREME caution if you…
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…
Invent Your Own Jello Dessert!
We had so much fun coming up with our very own variation of a gelatin dessert! I put out several ingredients (liquids and fruit) and let Big Brother choose which he wanted to use. Big Brother’s first choice was Dr….
Beyond Homework:: Helping Your School-Aged Child Learn
Guest Post by Karin If you send your child to school each day, there’s a good chance they are coming home from school each night with some kind of homework or practice. Math practice, vocabulary work, or nightly reading. Here’s one…
Letter Boxes & Scavenger Hunt
Making letter recognition meaningful for preschoolers is crucial. Getting your child to automatically recognize letters is great, but children will retain information much more once they have had a variety of experiences with those letters. Making it fun and multi-sensory will…