Play to Learn

The first time I did shadow character's with Hunter and Lorelei my son was completely thrilled. He absolutely begs to do it before nap time books and bed time…

1) Take Celery or Napa Cabbage (largest you can find) and slice a stalk halfway up the middle. 2) Place two clear containers close together. Add a few drops of food coloring in two different colors to the jars. 3) Add water to the jars to fill to about 1.5 inches deep. 4) Wait about 8 hours and observe the difference! Plants use little tubes to transport water from where they have it (the ground, usually) to where they need it (in their leaves, where it is "breathed out" through little pores…

So it’s late November and we have just a few first graders who have not yet mastered their letters and sounds. For these little firsties, we needed to readjust their intervention plan and bump it up a knotch in terms of intensity. It’s always difficult to find time in a jam-packed school day, but mastering letters […]

Okay, so this is more like "First Grade At Home" than "Preschool At Home" but both of my girls like to play with it. The Frog Princess is getting the most benefit (as the newest reader in the house) but the Mini-Saurus is learning her alphabet and wants to be included in whatever her big sister is doing! I saw this idea over at the Snail's Trail blog and it was too perfect for words! (2013 Update: I've been informed that this post is no longer available) You can get her great lists of…

Mother's Day poems and gifts make the perfect activities in school. Students can create Mother's Day crafts, gifts and use poems for Mother's Day to make it a special occasion. You've got an audience of one to create for and we know that she'll treasure gifts from such little hands. These gifts are simple and easy to do in the classroom. Many incorporate writing {which is an added bonus}. Many of these projects take materials already on hand at your school, could be donated or easily…

I love this toy form Melissa and Doug, but I found three ways to recreate it.The first uses her magnets and we do this on her cookie sheet so the letters don’t slide around.The second uses cl…

This freebie goes along with "The Gingerbread Boy" by Paul Galdone. It's a cut and paste printable that will be a nice supplement to the book. ...

Life size Lincoln Logs made out of pool noodles~ 15 pool noodles from the dollar store cut in half cut notches out easily with scissors = hours and hours of fun playtime! aWESOME!!!

Check out Gavin2177's artwork on Artsonia, the largest student art museum on the web. Don't forget to join the fan club and leave a comment on the website.

We really haven't done much weaving yet because I really wasn't sure if my oldest daughter would like it or find it frustrating. This weaving activity was just right for her skill level, she was able to weave independently and she enjoyed it. I used an embroidery hoop, yarn, and strips of fabric. First, I separated the hoop and put the yarn across the smaller hoop (6 seemed like a good amount) and then put it back together. (Next time I will use a coordinating yarn color so that the yarn…

I'm using this post to organize all the DIY Montessori materials posts I've published. I realized I've published too many for you to find them easily by using the category or tags in the sidebar. I'll be adding to this post whenever I publish a new DIY Montessori materials post. You'll find resources here for homeschools or schools. There will be a new tab under the 'About Montessori' tab at the top of the site with links to some of my main Montessori resource posts. Photo Credit: Background…

Scrabble letters to build first words. Good for quiet time :) (can be used with their name cards after rest time)

I'm obsessed with busy bags. TONS of ideas for busy bags with some free printables to go along with them! Also some ideas for hosting a busy bags swap party