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Friday Freebie – Halloween File Folder Game
Happy Halloween! It’s sure to be a fun weekend, but I hope that your Friday won’t be too crazy with the parties and sugar highs! Today’s freebie is one that you can put together quickly and file away for next Halloween. This Candy Visual Discrimination File Folder Game is super cute, so the kiddos are sure to love it, and it works on some serious math concepts that are perfect for this part of the school year. Download your copy from Play to Learn Preschool and enjoy your Halloween weekend!
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Halloween shapes and emotions
Since Halloween is this weekend most of you are probably celebrating today or tomorrow. If you’re looking for one more really great Halloween activity for your celebration look no further! This is one of my all-time favorite Halloween sets because there are so many different ways to use it, making it something that every single child in your class can benefit from. This shape practice set includes three activities to do with the included printable cards. Children can use the Jack-o-Lantern mats to practice visual discrimination and recognizing shapes. Cut out each Jack-o-Lantern mat and the extra face pieces on each page. Then ask students to match the extra pieces…
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It’s Wednesday, and here at Preschool Ponderings, that means time to focus on the standards. Every Wednesday I choose an Early Learning Standard and share a number of activities that can be aligned with that particular standard. Remember, the Standards that I use every day, and am most comfortable with are Ohio’s Early Learning Development Standards – you can review them here, however I’ve found that even if your State’s standards differ, many of these activities can still be aligned similarly. I’ve rounded up some great ideas today!Domain: Language and LiteracyStrand: ReadingTopic: Letter and Word recognition This standard is the one most people think of when they consider language and literacy…
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Compare and contrast with pumpkin
What do you do with all of those pumpkin insides after you scoop them out? Sure, they make a great sensory experience, but have you ever considered doing an authentic compare and contrast? Simply put a large scoop or the insides of your class pumpkin on a tray or cookie sheet. Next to it, place a similar size scoop of canned pumpkin. What do the children have to say about these two scoops of pumpkin? If they need a little guidance you could ask these questions: Those are both pumpkin, why are they different? What do they look like? What do they feel like? Do they smell different? What else…
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Pumpkin Activity round up
‘Tis the season for pumpkin everything! Whether you’re carving your pumpkins for Halloween or trying to figure out how to use up all of the left-over pumpkins and gourds as Thanksgiving approaches, there are a million different ideas for classroom activities using pumpkins. I thought I’d share some of my favorites so that you can get all of your activities in one place! Pumpkin Pie Dough from Fun At Home With Kids Pumpkin Moon Sand from Growing a Jeweled Rose Pumpkins, hammers, and golf tees from Exploring the Outdoor Classroom Describe a pumpkin using your five senses from Gift of Curiosity Pumpkin Pie Art from Fun A Day Make a…
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Friday Freebie – Planner Pages
Happy Friday! I usually try to make sure that the freebie I share with you on Friday is either related to the other posts I’ve written that week or seasonal. So I have to apologize because today’s freebie is neither of those things. I know it’s the wrong time of year for a new teacher planner, but I saw these free pages, and they were too cute not to share. Plus, they’re gold, which is apparently my weakness at the moment, although I suppose it’s better that I fell in love with gold planner freebie pages and not a piece of gold jewelry… Download your planner freebie pages from Student…
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Planning your classroom layout
If you’ve spent any amount of time teaching young children there’s a good chance you’ve also spent a little time drooling over a classroom supply catalog. It’s a lot like pouring over the toy ads at Christmas time when you were a little kid. You know there is no way that you’ll get all of the wonderful things that you see on those glossy pages, but that doesn’t mean you can’t dream! I just found a tool from Kaplan that I could spend days playing with. It’s called My Kaplan Floor Planner. You enter the dimensions of your classroom, and then you can create floor plans using items from the…
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Exploring Rime in Preschool
It’s Wednesday, and here at Preschool Ponderings, that means time to focus on the standards. Every Wednesday I choose an Early Learning Standard and share a number of activities that can be aligned with that particular standard. Remember, the Standards that I use every day, and am most comfortable with are Ohio’s Early Learning Development Standards – you can review them here, however I’ve found that even if your State’s standards differ, many of these activities can still be aligned similarly. I’ve rounded up some great ideas today! Domain: Language and LiteracyStrand: ReadingTopic: Phonological AwarenessPhonological awareness is all about recognizing the different sounds that make up words, and all of the…
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Explaining Classroom Centers
As preschool teachers we spend a lot of time defending the importance of play. We know exactly how much learning is taking place in our activity centers during “free play” because we designed them specifically to encourage learning, social interaction, and inquiry. Parents and family members don’t always understand that. I designed these labels to identify the different types of learning that takes place in each center. Display them in a photo frame or attach them right to your shelf and parents can rad the brief description while waiting for their children to finish up their work. I wanted to share them with you, so I designed them in two…
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Evaluating your Environment
Every so often it’s a good idea to take an objective look at your classroom environment. Do you have everything in your room that you should have in your room? Are the children actually able to access the materials? Does the room feel warm and inviting, or is it a bit too cluttered and chaotic? It can be really difficult to be objective about your space, and that’s why I’m a fan of the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS-R). These have become a pretty popular tool in my state because programs are required to have a copy for our Quality Rating and Improvement System, but until recently I hadn’t actually…
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