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Using chores to build responsibility
Starting a chore routine comes with so many questions – What chores are appropriate? Should I offer a reward for completing them? If so, what? It’s a little overwhelming, because we all want to get it right. Truthfully, it’ll take a bit to figure out, and there will be constant adjusting as your child ages. Here’s a list that I’ve shared previously about some chores that are developmentally appropriate for preschoolers: 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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New resources for summer!
I’ve been busy adding so many new summer resources to the Preschool Ponderings store! If you’re looking for preschool summer activities I’ve got you covered. Here’s what’s new: Ice Cream Clipart – These are perfect for any of your summer creations! I use them for planner stickers, prize stickers, and summer activities. They’re classic shapes and colors that instantly set the mood for summer fun. Bee Unit – Bees are fascinating and so important to our ecosystem, but they can also be very scary for young children. Taking time to understand them a little better and explore them in the safety of the classroom can help remove some of that…
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Summer must-haves for the car
Are you ready for some more summer organization?! On Monday I shared everything that I’m keeping in my summer tote bag. There are some things that I know I might need, but don’t necessarily want to carry around all the time. The car is the perfect place to keep these things. Some of them are the same as the things in my tote (sunscreen, bug bands, wipes) because you can never have enough of those. Others are more geared towards adventures that we just might go on a little more spontaneously. A random trip to the beach – I’ve got a towel, wet bag, ziploc bags for all our treasures,…
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Organization on the go!
I’m the kind of teacher (and mom) that has all the things all the time. What can I say, I like to be prepared. When it comes to summer, whether I’m in the classroom or at home with my girl, I’m always on the go – this means that all of the stuff needs to go with me! I’ve got the cutest tote bag to help me with that summer organization, here’s what I’m keeping in it: *This list includes affiliate links* My bag was a TJMaxx score that I added some chenille letter patches to, but this one is a close amazon find in the same price range. I’ve…
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Preschool Teacher Wardrobe – Summer Edition
*This post contains affiliate links It can be really hard to find those outfits that are the perfect balance of professional, comfortable, and meet all of the needs of a preschool teacher (getting messy, sitting on the floor, lots of movement – you know what I mean). This is especially true in the summer. Summer means even more time outside, higher temperatures, and often running to other activities at the end of your work day. Every program is different, and that will of course mean you may have restrictions related to things like shorts, sleeveless tops, and dresses – but hopefully the items that I’ve been loving will give you…
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DIY Mother’s Day Gift Idea
I’ve been all about the upcycle lately, and our Mother’s Day Gift is no exception! This painted vase couldn’t be more simple, and the easy projects often pack the biggest punch. These vases can be made with any glass jar or bottle. I used the bottles from Trader Joe’s sparkling lemonade because they’re so fun and fancy. We used acrylic paint and a 1/2 inch wide paint brush to create the paint strokes. That’s it! We’ll put some flowers in them and have an easy, eco-friendly, economical gift for the important ladies in our lives.
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DIY Art Supply Kit
*This post contains affiliate links* I’ve been looking at art supply kits like this one, and this one, for months. I love the idea of them – all of those great supplies right at your fingertips! It definitely makes creativity feel easy and inviting. Plus, everything is easy to access, which means that children can use it independently and I’m not using my precious time finding and opening supplies. I haven’t been able to pull the trigger because every kit that I find includes one or two things that I don’t need or want. So I finally took matters into my own hands and put together a DIY art supply…
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Organizing Supplies for Learning
You know that I’ve been prepping for summer, and part of that has included taking stock of our supply situation and making sure these are organized and as useful and accessible as possible. It’s really important to me that we’re continuing to learn – but I also want to spend as much time outside as possible. Having a way to use these materials outside is kind of a requirement, and I was struggling to come up with the best possible solution. Enter Ikea. Wandering through Ikea, my eyes landed on this organizer tray and I immediately thought “what can I do with that?” I stared at it for a bit,…
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Summer in the classroom
There are so many different kinds of summer child care and preschool program situations – so it’s impossible to generalize one “right” way to do summer in the classroom. In my own personal experience, I’ve always worked for full-year, full-day childcare programs. our summers typically look exactly like the rest of the year, but summer always FEELS different. I like to embrace that and really do my best to incorporate the very best parts of summer into the classroom. For me, this has always included a little less structure and a lot more time outside. Now don’t get me wrong, we still do a ton of learning! It just feels…
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Summer Clipart!
I’ve really been into creative projects lately, and I’m taking full advantage of this while working on my summer clipart collections! I use these for my monthly planner spreads, but they would truly work for anything that you might use clipart for. I’ve also been using some of the images to update my seasonal classroom resources and it’s so fun to see my own images in these. Here’s what I’ve added to my clipart section for the next couple of months: The lemonade stand set is just sunny and happy – it doesn’t get much more “summertime” than this! There’s a bit of a party vibe and it all makes…
