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…]
Things are about to get spooky with this super fun Spooky Halloween Scavenger Hunt for kids. It’s got everything from haunted ghosts and sweet candy corn to scary skeletons and goopy eyeballs. This is a great activity for kids of all ages. Bring it trick or treating, or on your next evening walk through the neighborhood. If you’re skipping the door to door festivities this year, plan a scavenger hunt around your home or outdoors in the yard. The first to finish can collect a treasure box full of [Read more…]
If you’ve got a little one in preschool or kindergarten through second grade, then you know the struggle with teaching sight words. I’m always trying to come up with new and creative ways to try and reduce the repetitiveness of teaching sight words to my very non-interested 5-year-old. Flashcards are great, and in a pinch, I might fall back on them, but I try not to rely on them. I like to incorporate as many hands-on and creative learning when it comes to sight words, which is why this activity, Sight Word Practice with Magnetic Letters, [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…]
If you and your little ones are crafty, then this Paper Roll Caterpillar Pencil Holder is an easy craft you can make at home with items you probably already have in your supply. This little craft is one of my favorites for a few reasons. One, I can grab from my stock of saved up toilet paper and paper towel rolls and two, when it’s complete, it doesn’t have to end up in the trash! [Read more…]
With Earth Day coming on April 22 this year, it’s a fun month to teach young kids about the beauty of the world around us, including all the living things in it. The value of recycling is also a very important concept that, if taught at a young age, can hopefully instill a strong foundation and appreciation for reducing waste. Many of these Earth Day Preschool Activities are simple and fun ideas that can be [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…]
It’s Christmas time and I’ve got another fun scavenger hunt for those doing a little traveling this holiday season. If you plan on spending any time in the car with kids this Christmas—holiday shopping, a road trip to visit family, or even just a trip to the market, make sure you grab this Christmas Scavenger Hunt and a marker. [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 was inspired to do this DIY Rock & Gem Mining Activity by a recent mini-golf outing with my family. It’s a fun activity that can be put together fairly cheap and done over and over again. The hands-on experience of discovering buried treasures like gemstones, rocks, shells, fossils, and shark teeth is a great beginner science activity for preschoolers and Kindergarteners to learn about [Read more…]