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Personalize your playground with children’s artwork
At school we’ve been focusing on making our playground a fun place for the children to explore. We did some fundraising so that we could purchase a beautiful new sandbox, but I also wanted the children to be able to put their mark on the space. The Reggio Emilia philosophy encourages us to find beauty in our surroundings and create aesthetically pleasing learning environments, so I rounded up some ideas that will add color and whimsy to the playground! Recycled water bottle sun catchers Cement garden balls DIY stones with natural impressions Natural materials garden stones Tin can lanterns Stone and stump games I can’t wait to do some of…
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Ideas to start your summer off right
Happy Memorial Day! I hope you’re enjoying your holiday weekend and taking some time to appreciate those who’ve served our country! Since today is the unofficial start of summer I wanted to share some posts from last year that list a ton of ideas for summertime activities with the kiddos. These activities are great for the classroom, or for your own children at home! Summer fun at home Summer fun around town Ice cream activities If you’re still looking for fun ideas to fill out your summer calendar, be sure to check out my Preschool Summer Ideas Pinboard and enjoy the rest of your weekend!
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Friday Freebie – Summertime
We made it to Memorial Day weekend! This is definitely cause for celebration, and I’ve got another reason to celebrate – I’m presenting at the OAEYC Conference in Sandusky Ohio today. If you’re going to be at the conference this weekend I’d love to meet you! I’ve presented at OAEYC a few times, but I’m especially excited this year because the conference is being held at Kalahari Resort and Indoor Waterpark, so I’m taking a mini-vacation with some of my favorite teachers. In honor of the unofficial start of summer I found a really cute freebie for you today. This ABCs of Summer book from Whitney Parlin would be a…
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Easy Alphabet Match Activity
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Banish boredom with a rainy day box
One of the best things that I’ve done for my classroom is to put together a rainy day box. This is a fairly large tub of games, activities, and art supplies that only come out on rainy days. Now, when I say rainy days, I don’t necessarily mean days that are literally rainy (although sometimes I do bring it out when it’s raining – are you confused yet?), this box is for those days that everyone is just grumpy, or days when the activities I have planned just aren’t working out, sometimes I use it on days when I’m feeling crummy – just to lighten the mood in the classroom.…
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Activities for practicing shape comparison and analysis
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: MathematicsStrand: GeometryTopic: Analyze, Compare, and Create ShapesThis standard encourages students to look at shapes critically. Children should be able to recognize that…
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Making chores fun and easy
Yesterday I shared a list of chores that preschoolers can do at home and in the classroom to build confidence, motor skills, and responsibility. Today I’ve got some great ideas for making sure that children want to do their chores. First, I suggest incorporating the responsibilities into your daily routine. When children complete their chores as a part of a regular routine, they are more likely to complete them without whining or complaining. This is because they know what is expected of them, and their chores become a responsibility and not a task they have to complete before they have fun. It is also fun to have your children or…
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Using chores to build responsibility
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Age appropriate chores for preschoolers
Young children love to help, and encouraging this is a great way to ensure that they develop a sense of responsibility, and understanding that when we all work together, things get done faster. Whether you’re looking to give your children some responsibility at home over the summer, or you could just use a little help keeping the classroom tidy, here are chores that are developmentally appropriate for preschoolers to help with; At home– Gathering dirty laundry– Folding t-shirts and towels– Matching clean socks– Feeding pets– Dusting– Cleaning up play spaces– Cleaning up small messes with a handheld vacuum– Use a damp mop or Swiffer on the floors– Making their own…
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Using chores to build responsibility
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Friday Freebie – Seed Math
Happy Friday! My posts this week have been all about spending time outside; Exploring, Taking Walks, and Gardening – today’s freebie is a math activity that would be great to do while you take a break from planting the garden. This seed math set is a really cute way to help children practice sorting different seeds, counting them, and graphing them. It is also a really nice visual of what the seeds for each plant look like, one that you could refer to all summer long. Go download this freebie from Elizabeth McCarter and enjoy your weekend, we’ve almost made it to Memorial Day!
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Ideas for gardening with young children
Young children desperately want to help with everything, and gardening looks like so much fun because you get to dig in the dirt and get your hands dirty. Gardening together is a great way to teach responsibility, and to help children learn where their food comes from, plus, children are a lot more likely to try new foods when they’ve had a hand in growing them. There are a lot of things that children can help with in the garden, starting with choosing the plants. Ask children what kind of plants they would like to grow. Encourage them to think about the kinds of vegetables that they like to…
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Preschool Activities to practice shape identification
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: MathematicsStrand: GeometryTopic: Identify and Describe ShapesThis standard is about exactly what you would think – teaching children to recognize and name different…
