• 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    Thanksgiving is a two-part holiday – first, you’ve got the historical references, and then there are the social emotional lessons.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…

  • 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…

  • A cranberry recipe preschoolers will love

    Cranberries may not be the first Thanksgiving food that your preschoolers want to try, but this easy recipe just might change their mind – and they can help make it! These cranberry tarts are made with three simple ingredients;1 package of sugar cookie doughchocolate chipswhole cranberries The only prep work that you will have to do is to cut your whole cranberries in half.  Then the children can help you press spoonfuls of cookie dough into each hole in your muffin tin (you will probably need a couple of muffin tins to use all of your cookie dough).  Mix the chocolate chips and cranberries together in a bowl and the…

  • Thanksgiving Activities for Preschool

    Thanksgiving is the beginning of the holiday season craziness, you’ve got fun activities, parties, and family events at school and then throw in all of the stuff that also happens to be going on in your personal lives and sometimes it can be just a bit much.  I have a list of simple Thanksgiving activities that children love and that will save your sanity (this is a repost from last year because these activities are still just as wonderful as they were last year)! I Spy Thanksgiving  My kiddos love I Spy books, I think they are great for improving concentration and visual discrimination.  These beginning reader versions also include simple…