Learning Letters Preschool Name Craft

I saw this fantastic idea at www.imperfecthomemaking.com. What a fun way to learn how to spell words!

I knew it would be added to my teaching names curriculum the moment I saw it!

I printed names on card stock using a bubble letter font so the children could color them.

I used all capital letters.

I wrote lower case letters on the clothes pins.

The children match the lower case letter to the uppercase letter.

They learn to recognize the letters in their name & what order they go.

This was a huge hit! The kids loved this "game".

**Bonus** Strengthen the pincher grip small muscle!

For more on teaching children to recognize and write their names go to:

Texture and Tracing Name Craft

Name Bingo

Rainbow Writing

Recognizing Letters with Name Flashcards

Printable Handwriting Worksheets

Little Red Riding Hood Printable Mask

Cut out, color and pretend to be Little Red Riding Hood.  Great craft to make when learning about fairy tales!

What big eyes you have!!

Click HERE for a free printable Little Red Riding Hood Mask

The 3 Little Pigs Preschool Craft

 Oink! Not by the hair of my chiny chin chin! Make these egg carton pig noses then act out The 3 Little Pigs. Learn about pink, the number 3 and P is for pig.

 You'll need sections of an egg carton, pink and black paint and craft sticks.

Hot glue the egg carton to the end of a craft stick.

The children loved painting the noses pink.  Add black dots for the nostrils. 

Aren't Fairy Tales fun!?! 

Preschool Nursery Rhyme Printable-Hickory Dickory Dock

The mouse ran up the clock.

The clock struck one,

The mouse ran down,

Hickory Dickory Dock.

 

Click HERE for a Free Hickory Dickory Dock Printable

 

Cut out each piece.

 

Attach the clock hands to the clock face with a brad.

 

Glue the clock to the top of 1/2 a sheet of construction paper.

 

Color the mouse and decorate the clock.

 

Glue the mouse onto a clothespin.

 

Click HERE to print a copy of the rhyme, or make your own.

 

Play and learn!

 

 

Preschool Nursery Rhyme Craft

Rain, rain, go away!

Come again another day!

We all want to play!

Rain, rain, go away!

 

 

These would be so cute hanging from the ceiling!

 

Click HERE to print the raindrop.  Print on cardstock and cut it out.

 

Cut blue streamers into small squares.

 

 

The children can glue the squares onto the back side of the raindrop for a watery look.

 

 

Point out the rhyming words and show that the ending is the same.  Away, Day, Play.

 

 

Preschool Rainbow Craft

An easy, fun craft for preschool to teach colors and sorting.  Great project to do when learning about circles too.

 Cut a paper plate in half.

Now for the fun part!  Let the children sort the fruit loops.  I've tried the generic brand too, but found that too many pieces stuck together.  Fruit Loops are easier to sort.

Glue the fruit loops onto the paper plate in the rainbow color order (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple).

 

Easy Handprint Ladybug Craft for Preschool

I love how these handprint ladybugs turned out!

Cut out a black construction paper body.  Make your own or use my printable ladybug body template. 

 

Cut out two handprints from red construction paper.

 

Glue the handprints and two wiggly eyes onto the body.

 

Add precut black circles or let the children color black circles on the wings.

 

So easy!!

My Sprout House

Spring has sprung, the flowers are blooming, and we all have spring fever!!  Time to plant some seeds and watch them grow!  Kids love learning how seeds turn into plants and this project is the perfect way to teach the life cycle of a seed. 

Color the sprout house.

Use a napkin folded in half.  Get it wet and place in a Ziploc bag.  Let the children place the seeds on the napkin.  Zip up the bag and staple it to the sprout house (printable found below).

We used one bean, one pea, and one corn seed.

Tape them to a window that gets lots of light and watch them grow.  So much fun!!

Click HERE for the free My Sprout House Printable!

Feelings Face Wheel Printable

This crafts is a great way to help preschoolers learn how to identify feelings.  This particular craft shows sad, happy, worried and surprised.  The children love turning the face to see what feeling will show up next.

Simple construction:  Cut out the two circles found on the free printable (below).   Cut out the dotted line where the mouths will show through.  Put the face circle on top of the feelings circle and connect them with a brad.

The kids can color the face with crayons or markers. 

 

Click HERE  to print the free feelings face wheel.

 

Recently I attended a childcare training where part of the curriculum was spent discussing ways to teach children about friendship & feelings to build a caring classroom community.

These are some of the ideas I thought would be beneficial to my group:

• Friendship Can: Cut out strips of paper with different ways children can be a good friend written on them.  Decorate a can (maybe with children's names) and place the ideas in the can.  Have each child draw out an idea.  Encourage them to use this idea throughout the day.  Example of ideas: make something special for their friend; play with their friend; share with their friend; compliment their friend; help their friend; ect.
• Kindness Jar:  Each time a child or caregiver notices someone being a good friend and using their friendship skills they drop a cotton ball into a large jar.  When the jar is full the class gets to have a friendship celebration.
• Friendship Journal:  Create a friendship journal that has pictures of the children in the classroom using friendship skills.  This journal can be added to the book area for children to look at throughout the year.
• Mirrors:  Children are given small mirrors during discussion time.  Ask the children to make their face reflect different feelings and look at themselves in the mirror.  The teacher can also read a book that is filled with feelings, the children make the face corresponding to the feeling the book is talking about. This helps the children recognize feelings in others as well as their own feelings. 
• Feeling Hunt:  The teacher puts feeling face pictures around the room and tells a child to find a specific feeling.  Can use binoculars or magnifying glasses.  When they find the feeling they can share a time when they felt that way.

I'd love more ideas to use for our Feelings and Friendship February!  Please share :-)

 

Printable Large Heart Template

Click HERE for the Large Heart Printable

 

We used streamers cut into squares glued onto the large heart to decorate our room for Valentines!

Paper Doll Craft

Teaching preschoolers to be a good friend can be challenging!  February is our Feelings, & Friendship month.  This is a "kids favorite" craft that we incorporate into that theme.

Click HERE for the Paper Doll Printable Template

Fold the paper in half.

Then in half again.

Then one more time until you get this :-)

Cut out the shaded areas.  Leave the arms and feet in tact at the folds.

                                     

 Open and let the children design their "friends". 

Handprint Valentine Printable

This is the perfect valentine for your little preschoolers to give to someone they love! 
Click HERE to print the I love you this much word strips

Cut out the word strips.

Fold them accordion style. 

Trace and cut out the child's hands on construction paper.  Then staple them to the ends of the word strip.  Let the children color the strip to add a personal touch.

Arctic Animals Memory Game Printable

You & your preschooler can enjoy a quick game of memory with this free printable arctic animals coloring page. 

Click HERE to print.

Easy, straight scissor practice to strengthen those small motor skills.

 

For more Arctic Animal crafts & ideas for preschool click HERE.

Winter Arctic Animals --

P is for Polar Bear & Penguin Preschool Crafts

 

Download & print the Printable Polar Bear Template on cardstock.  The children can unroll & tear apart the cotton balls.  Then glue the cotton pieces all over the polar bear.

For this adorable penguin craft, download and print the templates.  Cut them out on black, white & orange construction paper.  Trace & cut out two handprints.  Wiggly eyes make the perfect finishing touch.

Printable Penguin Body Template

Printable Penguin Tummy & Beak Template

 

I used a handwriting page from www.first-school.ws P is for Penguin to practice our writing skills.

 

The kids loved this polar bear video!

 

 

And they laughed hysterically at this penguin video!

 

Click HERE for a printable arctic animals memory coloring page.

Let it SNOW -- Snowflake crafts for preschool

 

It's snowing this week at daycare! 

 

I have compiled my favorite snowflake crafts for preschoolers. 

 

Click the following links for step-by-step instructions:

 

1. Handprint Snowflakes (pictured above):  Made using white acrylic paint and blue construction paper.
2. Q-tip painted snowflakes at www.notimeforflashcards.com
3. Tissue Paper Snowflakes at http://happyhooligans.ca
4. Snowflake Masterpiece at www.tenkidsandadog.blogspot.com
5. Pipe Cleaner Snowflake at http://theinspiredtreehouse.com
6. Coffee Filter Snowflakes at my very own www.craftsforkidsminds.com

 

FANTASTIC!

J is for Jump --

I can jump, jump, jump into January!

Anyone out there make a new year's resolution to get healthy?  How about to help your kids stay healthy? 

This activity is a fun way to help kids get excited about exercise!

Print off this certificate to record their stats on.  Click HERE for the free printable.

 

Try it again next week and see if they've improved.

 

Good luck with your new year's resolutions!  Keep moving!