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Friday Freebie – 5 Little Pancakes
Yay for Friday! For this week’s freebie I wanted an activity that you could do with all of the Daytime Slumber Party ideas that I shared yesterday. I was having a really hard time finding any kind of PJ party freebie, so I made one myself. 5 Little Pancakes is a cute little magnet story that you can do with your students, and once they learn it, they can do it all by themselves. This activity is a fun way to practice counting and number recognition, along with rhyming and intonation. Download this cute freebie here, and then check out my other blog freebies! Have a great weekend, and enjoy…
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How to host a great slumber party
Maybe you have spring break coming up and you’re looking for something to do with your kids at home, or maybe you just need a fun day at school to shake your class out of their winter blues. Either way, a daytime slumber party is a lot of fun and really easy to pull off without a ton of prep work. Use these suggestions as a guide for your slumber party. Stay in Your Pajamas all day! This is the best way to start the day, getting to keep your comfy pjs on really sets the mood for a fun, carefree day. Why not?! Set a few ground rules (only…
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Focus on the Standards
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: AlgebraTopic: Group and Categorize Algebra is all about patterns, but before you can begin recognizing and creating patterns children have to be…
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Snack ideas on the go
This is the time of year when we all seem to be extra busy, there is always somewhere to go and something that needs done. One way to keep little ones happy through all of this is to make sure they aren’t hungry. I’ve collected a ton of snack ideas that are portable and sure to keep kids happy. These are perfect for trips to the park, before practice, field trips, and club meetings. Make your own fruit leather from PopSugar You can make snack mix out of just about anything, Frosting and a Smile has a recipe for easy Smore snack mix Everyone loves a granola bar, make your…
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An Easy Letter Activity for Preschool
I got to sub in a preschool classroom last week and the students were using my very first blog freebie. It’s still a great little freebie, bit it really needed an update – so I gave it one, and you can download the new version here! These are perfect for all kinds of letter recognition activities. I like to use them with letter pasta and have the children place the correct letter noodle in the box below the letter. I’ve also seen them used with letter beads, foam letters, and letter stamps. Older children can also write the letter in the box for extra writing practice. Great activities for preschoolers…
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Easy Alphabet Match Activity
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Friday Freebie – Phone Number and Address Practice
Happy Friday! This week it has really felt like spring, and it is crazy how much different everyone’s attitudes have been. The spring weather has me thinking about all of the things that are coming up this spring, and one of those big events is that my Pre-K kiddos will graduate, and start getting ready for Kindergarten. One of the topics that I strive to make sure my students know before heading to Kindergarten is their phone number and address. For me, these two things help children feel just a little more confident about making such a big change. When they get on a bus, they can be sure that…
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Encouraging Outdoor Exploration
My students are itching to get outside, and I love it! I am a huge advocate for outdoor play, especially because there is so much than can be learned from digging in the mud and chasing each other around the playground. I firmly believe that outdoor play time should be unstructured. Children need to explore, they need to get messy, and make up their own games. These activities build confidence, self-esteem, and creativity, but some times children need a little nudge. Many children don’t get the opportunity to play outside often, so here are some materials that you can include in your outdoor play space that will encourage children to…
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Focus on the Standards
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: Number Relationships and OperationsTopic: Number Relationships While number sense focuses on what a number means (understanding quantities and one to one correspondence),…
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Inspiring Preschool Playgrounds
Now that spring is really almost here (we’re so close I can feel it!) I’m desperate to be outside with my students. I’ve been drooling over some really impressive playgrounds, and I had to share them with you! Amazing sound exploration center from Babble Natural landscaped sandbox from Mummy Musings and Mayhem Outdoor work space (great art opportunity!) from Kiwi Teacher Loose parts for the playground from Puzzles Family Day Care Easels for the playground from Sun Scholars Easy, beautiful sun canopies from Let the Children Play My favorite thing about each of these ideas is that they are actually do-able. I could really make any of these great play…
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Preschool Leprechaun Traps
St. Patrick’s day is pretty special in my classroom, every year we try to catch a Leprechaun! This has become a favorite activity, and while the children think it’s hilarious, I’ve been able to sneak some learning into the process too. I start with a cute little note “from the Leprechaun” and a basket of green St. Patrick’s day goodies that we can use in the classroom. This note encourages the students to help me decorate the classroom, which helps get all of my kiddos excited about St. Patrick’s day, and engaged in the project. I usually try to plan a St. Patrick’s day craft to go along with this.…
