• exploring flower gardens with preschoolers

    Flower Garden Theme Ideas for Preschool

    Planting flowers and watching them grow is a natural activity for any gardening theme, but there are so many other amazing activities that can support learning about all things related to gardening. Some of these lend themselves better to the classroom environment than others. Here are my favorite ideas for exploring flower gardens with preschoolers. Look for flowers in children’s environments – walk around school, bring photos from home and other places that children go often Visit a garden center or nursery Identify different types of flowers Invite someone in to talk about gardening (a local homeowner with a beautiful garden, landscaper, staff from a botanical garden, florist, etc.) Ask…

  • Flower Garden Printables

    Flower Garden Activities for Preschool

    Gardening is not one of my natural talents – but I’ve always wished that it was! Growing flowers offers so many amazing learning experiences, from patience and discipline to life cycles and plant science. It’s a staple in the preschool classroom, for good reason! Since actually growing beautiful flowers isn’t a strength of mine, I’ve created a number of printable activities to support children’s learning and understanding when it comes to this particular theme. All of these are available in the Preschool Ponderings TPT store. Click on the image to learn more.

  • classroom supplies for camping

    Camping Supplies for the Classroom

    I’ve shared resources and ideas for fun camping activities, no here are my favorite products! These are all of the classroom supplies for camping that make learning even more fun. All of the links are affiliates. Kids Playhouse Tent Coleman Kids Mini LED Lantern Melissa and Doug Campfire Smores Playset Kids Binoculars Classroom Set Find and Seek Scavenger Hunt Kids Headlamps 5-pack Bug Catching Kit Tree Stump Stools Glow in the Dark Star Stickers

  • Camping Activities

    Ideas for Exploring Camping in the Classroom

    One of my favorite things about camping as a learning theme is that there are so many ways for children to interact with the supplies, materials, and activities that are actually part of a real camping trip. It’s all very authentic, and even the youngest children appreciate that! It also lends itself well to spending a ton of time outside, which everyone wants after a long winter! Beyond setting up a dramatic play center, here are some ideas for helping children explore camping. Set up a tent. Tents are tons of fun to play in, but actually putting them up is where the learning happens – following directions, working together,…

  • Camping Activities for the Classroom

    Printable Camping Activities for Preschool

    Camping is one of my favorite summer activities, so it makes perfect sense that I’ve always loved sharing this topic in the classroom too. Camping supplies lend themselves perfectly to math an language activities, and it’s so fun to find authentic materials to supplement these activities. Here are my favorite camping activities for the classroom – all of these are printable and available HERE!

  • Last Day of School Traditions

    Last Day of School Traditions

    Our last day of school is tomorrow! When my daughter was in kindergarten the last day of school rolled around and I realized that I hadn’t planned for any fun traditions. For me, someone who LOVES holidays and celebrations, this was a massive problem. I quickly came up with a couple of things that work well for us and have been things my girl really looks forward to. Here are our last day of school traditions. I try to keep mornings the same – throwing a special breakfast or activity into our well-oiled routine would throw the whole day off. My daughter’s school always does a half day for their…

  • Printable End of the Year Memory Book

    End of the School Year Memories

    The last couple of days of the school year always feel so hard to plan for – There isn’t really time to accomplish anything, and the learning has been accomplished, but you have to do something! I created this End of the Year Memory Book to give us something to work on together as we revisit all of the fun from the entire year. The great thing about this book is that it’s truly customizable. Each child can complete their own, or the class can do one together as a group with discussions about each prompt, Children can write or draw their answers, or do a combination of both. The…

  • No Prep Preschool Activities

    Easy Last Minute Activities

    The end of the school year and the summer months can be a little crazy. Schedules are very different, there are all kinds of field trips and gatherings, and holidays can really throw everything off. These are the months when it’s especially helpful to have activities in your back pocket that you can pull out without any kind of prep work. Here are some of my favorite activities to lean into for those moments when I really need something to keep the children engaged. Bubbles – Taking preschoolers outside and letting them loose with bubbles is ALWAYS a hit. It doesn’t matter what kind of mood your kids are in,…