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Finding the motivating factor
I just came home from the dentist, I had to get three cavities filled. Yuck. To be honest, the actual procedure doesn’t bother me, I’ve had enough dental work done in my life that I’m used to the noise and the numbness, it’s the price tag that really hurts. I’ve been told for the last 20 years that I need to be flossing every day, and I finally learned the lesson – because I finally figured out my motivation. The cavities don’t motivate me, but the money definitely does. So what does this have to do with preschool… I promise, it actually flows quite well! This is why it is…
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Currently – February
I’m not quite sure what happened to January, it flew by! I can’t say I’m complaining, the faster that warm spring weather gets here, the happier I’ll be. Since it’s officially February, that means its also time for a Currently. Here’s what I’m up to right now: Listening: I didn’t have a great day. It was a bit of a stressful Monday, so I figured the best way to put things in perspective was to watch the news. Between the local news and the national news, someone must’ve had a much worse day than I did. I sat down to watch with a cookie and a glass of wine, so…
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Building and celebrating friendships
The major focus of preschool is all things social emotional. Learning how to build friendships, express empathy, and take another’s perspective are lessons that take time and practice. While many of these lessons are organic – happening throughout the day as a natural part of your routines – they can also be planned intentionally. When you’re trying to encourage friendships, it helpful to spend time making sure that children know each other really well. When a child can say “I have a brother, just like you” or “My favorite food is pizza too!” They start to form bonds over these similarities. Here are some fun ideas for helping children get…
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Friday Freebie – Color Words
Happy Friday! I love typing those words, because I love it when Friday finally gets here, and because I love sharing freebies with you! Since this week has been all about crayons, I thought I would share one of my favorite freebies that you can use your crayons with. These color word practice sheets are easy for little ones to complete independently, and they promote color recognition and color word practice. Go download your set and enjoy using them with your class!
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Melted Crayon Activities
Melting crayons is pretty trendy right now, and while it can be a little messy for the classroom, there are still some really amazing activities that you can do with melted crayons. PLUS, these activities are a great way to explore liquids, solids, color mixing, and temperature concepts. Here are some perfect ideas for melted crayon activities; Ice Cube Tray Crayons Make your own crayons! Children are always more likely to use something that they made themselves, and it’s a well known fact that no child wants to use a broken crayon. Melting all of your broken crayons into new crayons is the perfect way to get rid of those…
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Crayon Art for Preschool
I think that crayons are one of those art supplies that we take for granted. They are always available, so we don’t necessarily use them to their fullest. There are SO MANY different things that you can do with crayons, so here are some great drawing activities for little ones to explore: Crayon resist with watercolors Draw on sandpaper Use hot glue to make rubbing plates Use multiple crayons at one time Give them plenty of space to draw Try a batik-type resist Make your own scratch art Tomorrow I’m sharing activities to try with melted crayons, so be sure to check back for more ideas!
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Fun Crayon Products
While I fully understand that preschool budgets can be tight, sometimes it’s fun to splurge (or window shop). Since this week is all about crayons I thought I’d share some fun crayon products for you all to drool over. All links are affiliates, but I really love these items and I may have already purchased a few for myself! Twistables Fun Effect Crayons Some are metallic, some are neon, some are multi-colored! Crayola Triangular Crayons 8ct Yes, they promote proper grip, but let’s be honest – the best thing about these is that they won’t roll off the table! Color Appeel Crayon How fun are these?! Not only are they…
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Crayon Storage
I’m starting something new for my little blog; the last week of each month I’m going to focus on a different art supply, and how you can use that supply with your kiddos. This week will be all about crayons, which seems really simple, but I have a promise I have a lot to say about crayons! First and foremost, it’s important to recognize that you don’t have to use a specific type of crayon when you’re working with little ones. While it may be easier for your youngest students, or those with fine motor delays, to hold on to chubby crayons we also want to make sure that we…
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Friday Freebie – Weather I Spy
Happy Friday! This week kind of got away from me, there was just a little too much going on! I haven’t posted as much this week, but I have been working on big things with some of my favorite products. Tons of them are getting updates, so If you’ve purchased any from my TPT store make sure you take a minute to see if any of your purchases have updates! Today’s freebie is an activity that I could see myself sitting down to enjoy with the kiddos, its a Weather I Spy Counting set from Life Over C’s. There are so many different ways that you could use this fun,…
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Teachers Pay Teachers SALE!
Yup, you read that right, TPT is having a sale! It’s happening today and tomorrow and it’s the perfect time to stock up on everything that you’ll need for the rest of the school year, so start planning ahead and get your shopping done now! It’s a tradition here at Preschool Ponderings for me to share my own wish list when there’s a sale, so take a few minutes to see what I’ve got my eye on, and then go pick out some fun stuff of your own. Remember to use the code START16 for extra savings. Here’s my wish list: This adorable Sharing is Caring poster set from…
