Sustainable & Creative Living
Thanksgiving is all about turkey, pumpkin pie, and family. It’s also the time of year when I like to take the opportunity to teach my little one exactly what being thankful is all about. We spend the whole month of November concentrating on what it means to be thankful and what we are thankful for. I love incorporating everything from the Mayflower voyage in 1620 to the [Read more…]
We’ve been doing a lot of easy science experiments at home, trying to keep the creative mind of an inquisitive 4-year-old active and curious. This Floating Letters Experiment is simple enough for young children and still fun for older kids. What’s great for parents is that it shouldn’t require an extra trip to the store due to the magic of Amazon, and it keeps kids busy for a while doing their best to guess the results. [Read more…]
With Easter just around the corner, we’ve been doing lots of Easter crafts in my house. This Paper Plate Easter Bunny Craft is one of my favorites. I took an old favorite— the cotton balls on a paper plate idea and added a little flare. Most of these items you should have on hand but if you don’t, [Read more…]
Preschool is a fun age for kids to learn about numbers and letters. It’s all cutting and pasting and making animals out of letters. It marks the beginning of many academic milestones to come. My little one recently started VPK a few days a week but still comes to work with me on his off days. I’m always scouring for new ways to [Read more…]
DIY sensory bins and motor development games are some of my favorite ways to help my son explore his 5 senses. They’re great for helping him develop the skills he needs to learn how to use his hands and fingers. I have a closet full of Dollar Tree bins that I’ve turned into fun and interactive sensory bins. This Spider Search- Fine Motor Development Game is a festive way to enjoy the [Read more…]
Learning to recognize sequences and patterns is an important part of beginning math skills. Even the simplest form of patterning can help a child learn and develop the skills they will need to master math concepts like times tables and addition. There are many ways to help your preschooler develop these skills without spending a lot of money. One of mine and my son’s favorite ways to practice learning sequences and patterns is with [Read more…]
I’ve had some great feedback from my scavenger hunt games so I decided to make some more! If you’re headed out of town or just driving to the grocery store these Road Trip Scavenger Hunt printables are perfect for your active and observant little ones. [Read more…]
The Fizzing Rainbow Baking Soda Experiment is a fun and simple experiment for kids of all ages. It’s a great beginner science activity for preschool or Kindergarteners to learn about chemical reactions and colors.
What you will need for your Fizzing Rainbow Baking Soda Experiment is [Read more…]
Easy science experiments are a fun way to get your child interested in learning. They don’t have to be too detailed with a lot of steps, just a lot of fun. Actually, in my opinion, the fewer steps the better when trying to entertain a toddler. During letter O week of my alphabet lesson plan, we made Foaming Orange Volcanos with just an orange, some baking soda, and little bit of vinegar. [Read more…]
When I first started teaching my son how to recognize different shapes, I would draw them on a piece of paper, point, and tell him what each shape was. Before too long he would get bored and move on to a toy with wheels or sound and leave me in the dust. It didn’t take me long to realize I was going about my teaching style all wrong. He needed something to touch and feel in his hands to be more interested in learning his shapes. So I turned my original boring shape activity into a reusable, hands-on, and very easy-to-make Shape Recognition Activity with colorful felt shapes that can be stuck on and peeled off over and over. [Read more…]