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Quick and easy summer snacks
It’s been a while since I’ve done a snack post, my go to snack during the summer are definitely a lot different than during other times of the year. My favorites are lite, quick and easy. This is the perfect time of year to introduce children to fresh produce, and you can play around with fun things like popsicles, that don’t take a lot of effort but always get great reviews. Here are some fun ideas for lite easy summer snacks that children will love as much as you do! Fruit Kabobs Frozen Banana Chocolate Chip Bites Strawberry Granola Yogurt Bark Chocolate Covered Banana Pops Fruit Salsa Cake Batter Popsicles…
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My Summer Bucket list
Every so often I like to stray from the preschool subject matter and share just a little bit of myself (although preschool is definitely a part of me) with all of you. So I thought I would share my bucket list for this summer! I have to be honest for a minute and tell you that it was hard to come up with 10 fun things that I want to do this summer – and I think that’s a little sad, so I’m making it my mission to seek out fun experiences! Go camping – Technically I can check this one off, we went camping with friends a couple of…
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Summer Fun!
It has been hot hot hot around here, and it definitely feels like summer! I wanted to share some previous posts that offer some fun ideas for summer activities that will keep you busy while you beat the heat! Water Play with Preschoolers Water Play with Infants and Toddlers Summer Activities for Preschoolers Summer fun – Activities to do at home (or school) Summer fun – Activities to do around town I hope that you will use some of these ideas to make memories that last a lifetime!
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Friday Freebie – Editable Boarding Pass
Happy Friday! My travel posts all week have me itching to go somewhere, I might have to make a day trip this weekend! Here is an incredible freebie for your travel week – this super-high quality Boarding Pass from A First for Everything can be edited to reflect the destination, the name of the traveler, and the name of the airline. How fun is that?! Make sure to download yours and have a great weekend!
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Travel-themed dramatic play props
Are you in vacation mode yet?! Me too, and since it isn’t going to happen for real, I figured I’d take a pretend trip (you can download my free travel lesson plan here!). I fully believe that children need the opportunity to explore authentic materials when engaged in dramatic play, so here is a great big list of travel-themed props that you can add to the classroom for your travel or vacation week. Suitcases Duffel bags Cosmetic or toiletry bags Empty travel bottles (Shampoo, conditioner, etc.) Tote bags Luggage tags Travel pillows Boarding passes Passports Travel magazines and brochures Cameras Binoculars Postcards Clothing Flip flops Maps Hotel room keys Sunglasses…
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Preschool books about vacation
Yesterday I shared a lesson plan for a vacation themed week (go check it out)! This is the perfect theme to introduce non-fiction texts, I’m a huge fan of the materials available from AAA. If you aren’t a AAA member, see if any of your colleagues or parents are, they might be able to pick up some travel guides for you. Many local tourism organizations are also more than willing to send you free information, you can often request info through their websites. These are both very cost-effective ways to gather non-fiction texts (that are usually full of beautiful photos) for your classroom library. Even with all of those great…
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Vacation Lesson Plan
I don’t know about you, but summer weather makes me want to take a vacation! Unfortunately, that doesn’t quite work into my schedule at the moment, but I know I’m not the only one in need of a vacation, so I though It would be fun to plan a vacation themed week for the children too. Here is the lesson plan that I put together for vacation week: You can download a copy HERE! I created it to be somewhat generic because I want the children to help decide where your class will go on their pretend vacation, then you can tailor the activities to your destination. Once your students pick…
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Friday Freebie – Cloud Hunt
Happy Friday – don’t you just love a short week, it seems to fly by! I’ve got a great freebie for you today, it fits right in with the cloud conversation that we’ve been having all week. This Cloud Hunt Bingo from Green Grubs Garden Club is AWESOME. The children are given different themes (i.e. find a cloud that looks like something from the ocean, find a cloud that looks like something that starts with a T, etc.) and then they have to see if they can write or draw the clouds that they see. I love that it’s a fun take on looking for shapes in the clouds, and…
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Cloud art!
When it comes to art, I believe in giving children the materials and letting them do their thing. This is especially true if an art project also happens to be related to the project that we’ve been working on because I want them to have the opportunity to express their own understanding of the topic. I try to anticipate the materials that they will want, and I will often ask them to help me create a list a couple of days before we do the project so that I can make sure I have the items that they want or need. Here are some of the things that I collected…
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Ideas for observing clouds
Yesterday I shared some questions to ask that might inspire a cloud investigation. Today I wanted to share a couple of ways that you can have the children document their observations. I should start with this warning: you can’t really put these activities on your lesson plan because you have to wait for a day when you actually have clouds to observe. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve planned this activity and there were no clouds in the sky, or the opposite happened and the sky was covered by one great big cloud, which makes it difficult to observe. Just take my word for it and let this…