-
Cyber Monday Sale on TPT
Don’t you love my fourth grade school picture (1996)?! the worst part is, other than the bangs and much better sense of style, I don’t look all that different 🙂 I’m sharing this beautiful picture to let you know that Teachers Pay Teachers is hosting their annual Cyber Monday (and Tuesday) sale! I love to take a minute to share what’s on my TPT wish list with you, so here are the products that I can’t wait to add to my cart: I have been a huge fan of Erin Bradley designs for as long as I’ve been creating things for my classroom (long before I started me TPT store!)…
-
Friday Freebie – Holiday Cookie Party
Happy Black Friday! That’s right, Thanksgiving is officially over, so bring on the Christmas craziness! I wanted to share one of my favorite freebie from last year with you, so that you can use it to start planning your holiday celebrations. Last year I hosted a cookie party for my students, I made these signs to go with the activity stations. Download a set of the signs for yourself, and then take a minute to check out these posts all about the party; Cookie Party InspirationFoam Cookies for Dramatic PlayHoliday Cookie Party Recap
-
Happy Thanksgiving!
Card by Red Stamp
-
Printable Decorations for Thanksgiving
Whether you’re still pulling together your annual classroom celebration, or your preparing for you own family’s feast, I’ve got one more Thanksgiving treat for you! These Thanksgiving decorations are 100% printable, making them your last minute lifesaver for any Thanksgiving celebration that needs a little sprucing up. The set includes a festive bunting, name tags, treat bag toppers, a door decoration, and cupcake picks (or they could also be stickers. I have these decorations available for every holiday because they have changed the way I celebrate. Everything can be printed when I need more, and if there is something that I want to save for next year, like the bunting,…
-
Classroom Gratitude Journal
The easiest way to help children understand gratitude is to talk about it over and over again. I’ve created a really cute freebie that will help your students put practice their thankfulness, while recording what happens each day. These pages can be used to create a classroom gratitude journal. Each day ask your students what they are thankful for, or grateful for. In the beginning you’ll likely get the same answers again and again – “I’m thankful that we got to play outside” and “I’m thankful for snack time.” You may need to set an example by telling the class what you are thankful for each day, but with practice…
-
Teaching Thankfulness
Thanksgiving is a two-part holiday – first, you’ve got the historical references, and then there are the social emotional lessons. Thanksgiving is the perfect time to help children practice being thankful, and for very young preschoolers, this may be the first time they’ve ever considered the fact they they are lucky to have certain people and things in their lives. There are a number of ways to help children focus on what they are thankful for this holiday season, here are a few ideas; Host a food drive. This doesn’t have to be just for Thanksgiving, make it last until your winter break. Families need help all winter long! Some…
You May Also Like
Finding Joy
-
NAEYC Conference 2015 session trends
I attend and facilitate a lot of professional development trainings, they’re part of my job, so when I go to a conference the sessions aren’t usually my favorite part. Don’t get me wrong, I love hearing others’ experiences and finding ways to use their tips and tricks in my work, but there are a couple of other highlights for me. I love love love exploring the Expo Hall. It is absolutely fascinating to explore new products and see what each company has come up with to capture my attention this year, plus FREEBIES! I also spend ridiculous amounts of time pouring over the conference program. The sessions available say a…
-
Conference Prep – What I’m taking
I’ve been to quite a few conferences, and they’re all a bit different, but my experience has given me a list of things that are necessities for every conference. Here’s what I take with me; An extra tote bag – you never know when one of your sessions will have freebies or giveaways, and the expo hall is always full of fun samples and there’s never an easy way to carry all of it. This tote from Ikea is perfect because it folds into a little pouch so I can throw it into my purse until I need it. A water bottle – I’m cheap, there, I said it. I…
-
It’s NAEYC Week!
The NAEYC Nation Conference is this week in Orlando and I’ll be there, will you?! This is the third time that I’ve gone to the conference and I love love love spending time learning from all of these amazing ECE professionals (and the Expo hall is fun too). NAEYC is at the forefront of developments in Early Childhood Education, and as an educator and someone who educated other teachers, it is incredibly important to me to know where NAEYC stands. I find myself turning to their position statements all of the time to give direction to my own work. You can find them using the following link, the information is…
-
Friday Freebie – Thanksgiving Roll and Graph
Happy Friday! For me, November means Thanksgiving. I spend the entire month planning and re-planning what I’m going to take to our Thanksgiving celebrations. I search endlessly for new recipes, and inevitably end up making the same old favorites. Today’s freebie fights right in with my monthly theme of food! This cute roll and graph from Ashley Hughes is all about Thanksgiving dinner. I can see kiddos loving this game, and learning so much as they begin to recognize the vocabulary and practice recording their data on the graph. This would be a great activity for large groups or smalls groups, so go download it and add it to those…
