• summer field trips

    Summer Field Trip Ideas

    I love to GO – just about anywhere. Staying in the same environment for too long makes me a little stir crazy, and I can often see that in little ones too. During the summer, I especially make it a point to enjoy all of the wonderful opportunities to explore our community, and also to go a little further away than we might during the school year. It helps me to have a master list of all of the places that we love to visit so that I can mix up the indoor and outdoor experiences, and also find little trips that fit our budget best. Here’s what that list…

  • easy summer learning activities

    Learning activities for when you’re REALLY BUSY

    Summer can feel like a whirlwind – how do these months seem to go so much faster than the rest of the year?! That can make it really hard to be intentional about making time for learning, there’s just so many other things happening! There are still some really great ways to incorporate basic educational skills into even your busiest summer days. Here are some of my favorite easy summer learning activities. This post does contain affiliate links. Workbooks. I know there are tons of opinions on workbooks, but I’ll throw mine in here and say that I think there are ways that these can be used effectively and appropriately.…

  • preschool lessons and activities

    June Exclusive Activities!

    I just added the month of June to my Month of Preschool sets! I’m so excited to share this one with you because it has some brand new exclusive activities that can’t be found in my store on their own – they’re exclusive to this set. Organizing all of these resources is such a labor of love because I know that they would’ve made my life so much easier when I was in the classroom everyday. It’s invaluable to be able to focus all of your attention on the kids and what they need, and not on planning or prepping new preschool lessons and activities. Every Month of Preschool set…

  • preschool summer activities

    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…

  • summer organization

    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,…

  • summer organization

    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…

  • Summer learning

    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,…

  • embracing summer in the classroom

    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…

  • summer clipart

    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…

  • Summer activities for a kindergartener

    Summer Plans!

    This summer is going to look very different for our family – it’ll be the first summer that my girl and I will be home together all summer long. The idea of giving her a fun summer while I’m still working stresses me out a bit, so I took some time to do the one thing that always puts my mind at ease, some serious planning! If someone asked me to choose ONE word to describe myself it would definitely be the word “planner.” I truly love to organize my thoughts, lay them out on paper and fill in any missing pieces. It helps me feel in control and gives…