Leaf Bracelet
Awww…fall is finally here! I absolutely love fall–the cooler temperatures, beautiful colors, and all of the fun family activities. A few weeks ago we did this little activity with the 2 and 3 year old class we teach at our…
Apple Patterning
This activity involves both cognitive development (patterning) as well as fine motor development (coloring, cutting, and gluing). It was also great practice for learning to color inside of the lines. It was like pulling teeth to get Big Brother to…
First Fingerpainting
Little Brother woke up early from his nap yesterday, which meant that we had some very rare one-on-one time while Big Brother was still asleep. I’ve heard of using yogurt (or pudding) as fingerpaint for very young children and thought…
Apple-Seed "A"
It’s been a crazy day. We only had about 5 minutes to do an activity today, so I was thankful this was a simple one! Here’s what you’ll need: a piece of red and white construction paper, glue, and several…
Apple Garland (The Fruit of the Spirit)
“But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” -Galatians 5:22-23 All of these characteristics are things I wish to see first and foremost in myself and…
Ten Apples Up on Top
Have you read Ten Apples Up On Top! by Dr. Seuss? It is a lesser-known Dr. Seuss book, but so much fun to read. Big Brother loved it! Written in true Seuss-style, this one is much shorter with fewer words on…
Apple *Star* Stamping
I was really bummed that the “stars” in the center of the apples didn’t show up in our prints, but maybe it will work for you. I’m sure everyone has seen this idea before…but I couldn’t do an apple unit…
Family Handprint Apple Tree
At the beginning of every school year, my student’s first “homework” was always to make a family tree out of each of their family member’s handprints as the leaves. We thought we’d make our own family apple tree using our…
S is for Sunflower
Sunflowers are in full-bloom here. So yesterday I took the boys out to a nearby field to take some pictures! My mom came along to help pry some smiles and she suggested we pick several sunflowers to make a “Sunflower…
Paint Sample Rainbow Fan
I love looking at paint colors! It seems like every time I go to Lowe’s I end up coming home with a stack of paint samples (good thing I don’t go very often). :) Here’s a fun little activity to…
Bathtub Painting
Turn your bathtub into an artist’s canvas AND practice color recognition! Here’s what you’ll need: shaving cream (I would suggest using the Sensitive Men’s Shaving Cream–I just used what I had gotten for free with coupons a while back and…
Pedicure Stegosaurus
I don’t consider myself a high-maintenance girl. I’ve never colored my hair and, come to think of it, I went 10 months between my last two haircuts. There is one indulgence that I absolutely love from time to time–getting a…
Make It: Mini Chalkboard
Handwriting was one of my LEAST favorite things to teach when I taught first grade! With all of the standards and benchmarks I was expected to cover, I had a really hard time finding the time to squeeze handwriting practice…
Sorting a Snack with "Dinosaur Teeth"
This simple activity lets your preschooler work on 2 skills at once- fine motor control and sorting. And with a little imagination…a chip clip becomes dinosaur teeth! The small muscles in the hands are always much slower to develop than larger…
Vertical Writing with Window Crayons
Writing on a vertical surface provides great fine-motor practice and helps a young child learn how to correctly hold a writing utensil. It is hard to improperly hold a crayon at that angle! On my latest Target trip, I lingered in the…
SandDough
Big Brother is very sensory sensitive and sometimes has a hard time with new textures, so this coarse version of playdough was great for him! It is super easy and takes less than 10 minutes to make. We just used…
Safety Scissors Sea
I just got our Melissa & Doug safety scissors (70% off) I ordered last week and thought we would try them out. We’ve never attempted cutting before and let me tell you…Big Brother is NOT a fan. After about 30 seconds…
Beach Scene
I am feeling a bit beach-deprived. For the first summer in several years, we haven’t gone to visit my brother in North Carolina and therefore have not gotten to enjoy the sun and sand at Myrtle Beach, SC. :( So…