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10 Moon Sand Recipe Ideas + Ways to Play!

April 30, 2018 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Have you ever tried moon sand with your little ones? My four love playing with it! It’s soft, squishy, and moldable, which makes it a wonderful sensory play activity for kids. But once you’ve made one moon sand recipe, you’ve made them all, right?

Nope!

There are plenty of awesome moon sand recipe ideas that you can make at home! Take a look at these fun ways to make moon sand and be sure to check out the different ways to play with your moon sand too!

For more sensory fun, don’t miss this super easy DIY flubber!

10 Moon Sand Recipe Ideas to Make at Home

These moon sand recipes are really easy to make. Most of them only require a couple of common ingredients!

1. DIY Colored Moon Sand – Look! We’re Learning!

2. Moldable Moon Sand – Laughing Kids Learn

3. Taste Safe Moon Sand – Parenting Chaos

4. 2 Ingredient Moon Sand – Happy Hooligans

5. Glitter Moon Sand – The Imagination Tree

6. Snow Themed Moon Sand – Powerful Mothering

7. Chocolate Moon Sand – Parenting Chaos

8. DIY Play Beach Sand – Look! We’re Learning!

9. Fizzy Moon Sand – Powerful Mothering

10. Pumpkin-Scented Moon Sand – Parenting Chaos

Check out 10 ways to play with moon sand – up next!

10 Ways to Play with Moon Sand:

Once you’ve chosen one of the moon sand recipe ideas above, try one of these super cool ways to play with it!

1. Moon Sand Construction Bin Play – Happiness is Homemade

2. Moon Sand Absorption Experiment – Lemon Lime Adventures

3. Moon Sand Space Sensory Play – Little Bins for Little Hands

4. Moon Sand Syllable Smash Game – Still Playing School

5. Moon Excavation Sensory Bin – Parenting Chaos

6. Moon Sand Castle Play – Delightful Learning

7. Dinosaur Moon Sand Sensory Bin – Little Bins for Little Hands

8. Moon Sand Desert Small World – Crayon Box Chronicles

9. Moon Sand Space Writing Tray – Gift of Curiosity

10. Moon Sand Beach Small World – Fun-A-Day

Need more simple play ideas to share with your kids? Check out these fun activities!

See more ways to play inside on my Indoor Play Pinterest board!

Spring Worksheets for Kids: Busy Bee Scissor Skills Worksheets

April 24, 2018 by Selena Robinson 6 Comments

Who’s ready for spring? I feel like a wimp, because we haven’t had any snow here this year, but I’m still ready for warmer weather! So, I’m sharing some free bee-themed scissor skills worksheets to help little ones get into the spring spirit!

Piglet is a little cutting machine. She wants to cut and paste every single thing she sees.

But she’s ready to move on from basic straight lines, so it was either make her some scissor skills printables with wavy lines or cower in fear as she goes Edward Scissorhands on my drapes. Printables it is!

These are great fine motor boosters for preschoolers and kindergarteners! So if you have an early elementary student who still struggles with scissor cutting, these spring worksheets for kids are a good resource for building those skills.

Read on to see how to get your free copy of our Busy Bee Scissor Skills Worksheets! And be sure to grab our free Spring Sight Word Flashcards for early reading practice!

Busy Bee Scissor Skills Worksheets

To use these worksheets, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links are provided in this post. For more, see our Disclosure Policy.)

The pack includes four scissor cutting exercises for little ones.

There are printables with straight lines, curved lines, wiggly lines, and even wavy lines for a little challenge.

Your child’s job is to get the bee to the hive safely!

With Piglet, I just handed her the printables and a pair of child-safe scissors and she was off to the races.

In about ten minutes, she had a pile of paper scraps and a big grin.

That’s one proud preschooler!

Scroll down to get your copy of our Busy Bee Scissor Skills Printables!

Don’t miss these other fun preschool printables!

Round out your bee learning with these gorgeous children’s books about bees!

To get your copy of these fun Busy Bee Scissor Skills Worksheets, click the image or the link below to have them sent to your inbox!

Note: If you have a pop-up blocker, be sure to disable it to see the widget where you can enter your email address.

>>> Busy Bee Scissor Skills Printables <<<

Dollars and Cents: A Printable Money Game for Kids

April 23, 2018 by Selena Robinson 2 Comments

My youngest son is obsessed with learning how to count money. In his mind, counting money equals earning money.

I don’t have the heart to tell him that’s not true quite yet.

But I am glad that he’s willing to put in the work to learn how to count amounts of money.

So, to help him out, I made up a simple printable money game “Dollars and Cents”!

Printable Money Game for Learning Dollars and Cents

This is such an easy math activity to share with kids. Plus, you can use it over and over again for money counting practice!

Read on to see how to get a copy of this printable money game for your kids!

And, while you’re here, don’t miss our list of easy math activities you can try with ADHD students!

Help kids learn how to count money with this printable money game you can play at home!

Dollars and Cents: A Printable Money Game for Kids

To play this Dollars and Cents printable money game, you’ll need the following: (This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Printable Money Game for Counting Dollars and Cents

This game includes three sets of eight cards – 24 printable cards in all.

Eight of them include money amounts shown in dollars and cents, eight of them include amounts written in monetary form, and eight include the amounts written in word form.

After printing out the product, glue scrapbook paper to the back and then cut out the cards.

That way, kids won’t be able to read the writing from the other side. Which would kind of take all the fun out of the concentration game.

Printable Money Game for Learning to Count Money

Choose two sets of cards and lay them face down.

Then let students take turns flipping cards over one by one to try to match a pair.

Learning to Count Money with a Printable Money Game

If students are comfortable working with amounts of change, add the amounts that have dollars included.

If you want to make the game challenging, add a few of the monetary amount cards along with the word form cards.

Dollars and Cents Printable Money Game for Kids

See if kids can recognize the amounts in all three forms!

The one who matches up the most pairs wins!

If you want to make this really challenging, play with all 24 cards at once. Students will have to match up sets of three on each turn!

Scroll down to get the Dollars and Cents printable money game!

Don’t miss these other math activities for kids!

These printable ladybug math activities are perfect for sharing with the kids this spring!

This printable rainbow tally marks lesson for early learners is a great way to teach students how to count with tally marks!

To get your copy of this Dollars and Cents! Printable Money Game for kids, visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store or check it out below!

Easy Spanish for Kids with Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids®

April 20, 2018 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

We’ve been learning Spanish with our kids for the past few years and, while they’ve been enjoying their lessons, they’ve also seemed just a little bit…bored in the process.

It’s understandable. When you learn a foreign language, you spend a lot of time repeating vocabulary words, listening to rules of grammar, and writing sentences over and over. That can get old pretty quickly, especially for little ones.

I looked around for a program that would be more kid-friendly without being too easy. And that’s when I found out about the Spanish curriculum from Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids®, which is exactly what I was looking for!

With this program, my kids are learning Spanish and having fun at the same time! Worried about time commitments? You can use this program in as little as 15 minutes twice a week!

Read on to see how this Spanish for kids program works and check out how you can score a coupon code or win a copy of the Level 1 lesson free!

Disclosure: I received this product in exchange for this post and I was compensated for my time. All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review.

Easy Spanish for Kids: Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids®

What’s included in the Spanish for Kids program from Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids®? Here’s a look at Levels 1 and 2.

Since we were using the online Spanish curriculum, we received printed workbooks, vocabulary card games, word stickers, a plushie of Squisher, the International Inchworm, a mini frisbee, and a pencil. My five-year-old ran off with Squisher and I haven’t seen him since.

As you can see, the Spanish curriculum includes multiple levels to help kids build on the vocabulary they learn. There are also online quizzes and practice activities for them to try. By the way, if you don’t want to use the online program, you can pick up the Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids® Spanish DVD set instead.

In the video lessons, kids use Spanish vocabulary words to have simple conversations. Common objects are labeled with the Spanish vocabulary words for them. (Kids get a chance to do this in their own homes too, as you’ll see later on.)

Vocabulary words are also introduced on the screen as kids see each object.

Plus, they can use the Rapid Review challenge at the end of each level to test their memory of the vocabulary words they learn.

What I love the most about the video lessons, though, is that each lesson follows a simple storyline that’s understandable and funny. My kids couldn’t wait to see what happened next! They enjoyed watching each lesson because it was entertaining and then they wanted to act out the scenes themselves. They were practicing Spanish vocabulary without even knowing it!

After each video lesson, kids can take a reading quiz that gives them a chance to match up the vocabulary words with pictures from the video.

They can also take a listening quiz to practice identifying Spanish words when they hear them. (Personally, understanding what is said to me has always been my weakest area in Spanish. So helping kids learn to do this early is a great skill.)

Using Foreign Language for Kids by Kids® Spanish for Kids Lessons

While the video lessons from Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids® are awesome, they’re only half of the program! The curriculum also includes lots of workbook and hands-on activities to reinforce what kids learn from the video clips.

We used several of the enclosed Level 1 stickers to label common objects around our home.

All of the vocabulary words were covered in the video lesson, so it was easy for the kids to spot them on their own.

They even learned to use basic expressions such as me gusta (I like) and no me gusta (I don’t like). As you can see, it was easy for them to figure out which things they like and don’t like around our house.

We printed a couple of pages from the digital workbook to let them try a few Spanish learning worksheets.

My third-grader was partial to the word search.

And my fourth-grader liked drawing pictures of things he liked and didn’t like. He doesn’t like cleaning – something I was already WELL aware of.

After we completed level 1, we broke out the Level 1 vocabulary cards to play a spirited game of Go Fish.

The vocabulary cards include pictures of objects and scenes from the video lessons and written expressions for the kids to match up.

Even our five-year-old got in on the fun!

My children are having a ball learning Spanish for kids with Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids®! Interested in checking out the program? You can choose from the Early Learner Set for young ones, a Single Level Set if you want to go slowly, or the Super Set if you’re ready to learn Spanish for the long haul!

Don’t forget to use the promo code 20OFFFORYOU to save 20% on any order before April 30, 2018!

See more ways to make foreign language learning fun on my Foreign Language for Homeschoolers Pinterest board!

Ready for the giveaway? You can score a free copy of the Level 1 Video: Basketballs Aren’t for Breakfast from Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids®! Use the giveaway widget below to enter for your chance to win! Prize shipped only to USA addresses.

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Printable Spanish Flashcards: Spanish Zoo Animal Flashcards

April 17, 2018 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

What kid doesn’t love going to the zoo?

We take ours every month and they always find a new animal to obsess over. Last time, it was the lions. (To be fair, lions are pretty awesome.)

Since we’re still working on teaching our kids Spanish, I thought I’d make up a set of Spanish zoo animal flashcards!

These feature several popular zoo animals in both English and Spanish, which means you can use them to teach kids how to identify zoo animals in either language!

Read on to see how to get yours!

And don’t forget to check out our other printable Spanish flashcards, including Spanish clothing word flashcards, Spanish family flashcards, and more!

Printable Spanish Flashcards: Spanish Zoo Animal Flashcards

To use these Spanish zoo animal vocabulary flashcards, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links are provided. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Printer (with ink)
Printer paper
Scissors
Laminator (optional, but the best way to make sure you can reuse these later)

This flashcard pack includes the Spanish and English words for the following animals:

Elephant
Giraffe
Hippo
Lion
Monkey
Panda
Tiger
and Zebra!

A complete pronunciation key is also included, so you and the kids will be able to practice pronouncing each animal word correctly.

Scroll down to see how to get your copy of our Spanish Zoo Animal flashcards!

Want to work on building Spanish vocabulary with the kids? Don’t miss these other fun Spanish learning resources!

To get your set of these Spanish animal flashcards, check them out below!

40 Simple Water Science Experiments for Kids

April 16, 2018 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Warmer weather means lots of water play and, for us, that means plenty of simple water science experiments to try with the kids!

Since we’ve been homeschooling, I’ve learned that science doesn’t have to be a complicated subject to teach.

Many scientific concepts sound complicated (and really are amazingly intricate), but showing kids how they work doesn’t have to be complex.

Turns out that you can use a few household supplies and demonstrate how scientific principles work in a kid-friendly way!

And that’s why I’ve rounded up 40 easy water science experiments that would be great to share with kids – either indoors or outdoors!

Don’t miss our list of science experiments that you can do in just 15 minutes too!

40 Simple Water Science Experiments for Kids

1. Simple Light In Water Refraction Experiment – Look! We’re Learning!

2. Milk Jug Water Wheel Experiment – J Daniel 4’s Mom

3. Float Vs Sink Experiment – Teach Me Mommy

4. Leak-Proof Bag Science Experiment – Fun Learning for Kids

5. How to Make a Lava Lamp – Coffee Cups and Crayons

6. Measuring Water Beads – Blue Bear Wood

7. Water Balloon Parachute – Fantastic Fun and Learning

8. Food Coloring Fluid Mechanics Experiment – Mama Smiles

9. Measuring Buoyancy Experiment – KC Edventures

10. Color Mixing Experiment – Science Sparks

11. Tide Pool Science Experiment – Buggy and Buddy

12. Floating Peep Boats – Sixth Bloom

13. Traveling Water Experiment – The Wise Owl Factory

14. Simple Water Displacement Experiment – Life with Moore Babies

15. Ripple Water Experiment – J Daniel 4’s Mom

16. Why Does Water Rise STEM Experiment – STEAM Powered Family

17. Make a Rain Cloud In a Jar – Coffee Cups and Crayons

18. Water Xylophone Sound Experiment – Little Bins for Little Hands

19. Growing Mint in Water – Sloely

20. Sticky Ice Experiment – Capri Plus 3

See more of these awesome simple water science experiments on page 2!

Pages: 1 2

What to Do When You Have Too Much Homeschool Curriculum

April 10, 2018 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

The question of what to do when you have too much homeschool curriculum might seem like a strange one to ask. The more curriculum, the better, right? Well…

Remember when you first started homeschooling? Did you look at your bookshelves and imagine them filled one day with gorgeous picture books, beautifully-illustrated encyclopedias, and resources your kids would love?

I did. I wanted to make sure that my kids had the opportunity to learn from any book they wanted and that I had any resource I needed to create an engaging and happy homeschooling experience in our home.

Fast forward nine years later. Instead of staring lovingly at our academically-equipped bookshelves, I was fighting to keep the door of our homeschool closet closed. Actually, I was in the habit of hurriedly slamming it shut before an anchor chart fell on me. Something…went wrong somewhere.

What went wrong is that I went on a curriculum hoarding spree over the years. In my desire to make sure that my kids had every homeschooling resource they’d ever need, I’d managed to store materials for literally every grade level and their first two years of college. And, no, I’m not exaggerating.

Rather than feeling comfortable and secure in my homeschooling arsenal, I felt overwhelmed at the very thought of trying to plan the new year. So, I had to take some drastic steps to minimize our homeschool. And if you’re overloaded with homeschool curriculum, these steps might help you too.

What to Do When You Have Too Much Homeschool Curriculum

Images c/o: belchonock & ArturVerkhovetskiy / depositphotos

Revisit Your Educational Goals.

Before you dive head first into your curriculum hoard, take some time to revisit your homeschooling goals. After years of homeschooling, we can get so used to following a “routine” that we lose sight of exactly what we’re trying to accomplish with our kids. It’s understandable, but it’s also counterproductive.

Grab a notebook and write down a homeschooling mission statement. Imagine what you want your children to be able to do by the time they finish homeschooling and then write it down. Or imagine what you want to have accomplished for them by the time they graduate and then write it down. Be very, very specific with this.

Keep the Resources That Align with Your Goals.

Read what you just wrote. Then read it again. Think about what you’ll actually need to make your goals a reality.

Now, open the door of your homeschooling closet (watch our for falling charts!) or venture over to your overloaded bookshelves and start pulling everything down. And I mean everything. If it’s a LOT (like ours was), do one bookshelf at a time to avoid collapsing into a puddle of overspending regret.

As you sort through each resource, reread your homeschooling mission statement and ask yourself: Will this help me accomplish my goals? Trust me, you’ll know when it will. If it will, put it off to the side.

Get Rid of Everything Else. Really.

Okay. We’re at the hard part. You have to get rid of every other thing that will not help you accomplish your homeschooling mission statement.

Complete curriculum you personally love? Get rid of it.

Expensive reference book you saved up to buy? Get rid of it.

Program you’ve kept for years just waiting for the right time? Get rid of it.

Just so you know: If you’ve been homeschooling a long time, this might be excruciating. So, to ease the pain, do NOT flip through any of the materials you plan to discard. It will not help.

Now when I say “get rid of it”, I don’t necessarily mean throw it in the garbage. Find another family to donate or sell the program to. Donate it to your local library. Feel free to pass it on, but just get it out of your house. Once you do, your homeschooling space will look better and you will feel wonderful!

One last thing: Now that you know what to do when you have too much homeschool curriculum, resolve never to get into this predicament again.

The next time someone offers to “give” you a program, reread your homeschooling mission statement. If it won’t help you accomplish it, it’s okay to say no! When you find out about a curriculum that’s on sale, read the details and reviews carefully to see if it will harmonize with your learning goals. If not, don’t buy it! It’s that simple.

Don’t miss these other homeschooling tips!

Get more tips for managing your homeschool on my Help for Homeschoolers Pinterest board!

How to Afford Homeschooling eBook Download

Printable Spanish Flashcards: Spanish Parts of the Body Flashcards

April 9, 2018 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Hi everyone! I’m back with another set of printable Spanish flashcards!

This time, we’re learning about los partes del cuerpo (the parts of the body). If you’re covering the human body with your kids this year, this is a perfect set for introducing some simple Spanish vocabulary!

Check out our brand new Spanish parts of the body flashcards below!

By the way, if you love these, don’t miss our Spanish verb flashcards and our Spanish zoo animal flashcards!

Spanish Parts of the Body Flashcards

To use these Spanish parts of the body flashcards, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links are listed in this post. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Printer (with ink)
Printer paper
Scissors
Laminator (if you want to reuse the flashcards later)

Learning the parts of the body is a major skill for young students in general. Why not add a little foreign language learning to the mix at the same time?

Our Spanish Parts of the Body Flashcards pack includes cards for eight different body parts, including:

Eye
Foot
Hands
Leg
Face
Ear
Nose
and Mouth

There is a set of cards with the Spanish vocabulary words, a set of cards with the English vocabulary words, and a set with only pictures for review.

Plus, we’ve included a Spanish pronunciation guide to help you and your kids learn how to say the Spanish phrases properly. Each Spanish card includes the appropriate masculine or feminine noun form as well.

Scroll down to get your copy of our Spanish Parts of the Body flashcards!

Learning Spanish with your kids? Grab some of our other printable Spanish resources!

To get your copy of our Spanish flashcards, check out the details below!

Easy Toilet Roll Butterfly Craft for Kids

April 5, 2018 by Selena Robinson 5 Comments

I have to be honest: I haven’t been much of a crafter over the years. But, as the kids have grown up and shown an interest in making simple crafts, I’ve gotten into it with them. And I have to say: It’s been pretty fun!

Springtime, in particular, is a great season for making crafts. There are cute animals coming out all over the place and we can use our crafting projects to learn more about them.

So this spring we decided to make a cute and easy toilet roll butterfly craft!

See how to make this easy spring butterfly craft with your little ones below! And, for more adorable spring crafting fun, don’t miss our list of 30 spring animal crafts you can make with the kids!

Toilet Roll Butterfly Craft

To make this spring toilet roll butterfly craft, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links are provided in this post. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

This craft literally came together in about 45 minutes from start to finish, so it was perfect for keeping the kids happy while we made dinner.

Cut a single sheet of construction paper in half horizontally. Then wrap the half sheet of construction paper around the toilet roll and secure with clear tape.

Next, fold the coffee filter in half and use a glue stick to seal it closed. Color the entire filter half.

Cut four small petal shapes out of a contrasting color of construction paper.

Glue two petal shapes on either side of the filter, then use a crayon to color a dot in the center of each petal. These are your butterfly’s “wings”.

Use the glue stick to attach the wings to the toilet roll.

Cut off a small piece of a colored pipe cleaner and fold it into a “V” shape. Tape it to the back of the toilet roll. These are your butterfly’s “antennae”.

Finally, use a marker to add eyes and a smile. You’re done!

You can make these in all kinds of colors!

If you enjoy this toilet roll butterfly craft, check out some of other spring activities!

Plus, get more ideas on my Spring Activities for Kids Pinterest board!

Harry the Dirty Dog Printables for Kids

April 3, 2018 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

My kids absolutely love the classic storybook “Harry the Dirty Dog”. We’ve read it so many times that I’m pretty sure they can recite it by heart. Backwards.

Reading the story is a wonderful way to practice early literacy and to spend some storytime with the kids, but I wanted to add a few story extension activities that included early math and reading also.

And that’s why I’m sharing these fun Harry the Dirty Dog printables for kids today!

These are so much fun for helping early learners practice writing, reading, and math concepts that relate to the storybook!

Read on to see how to get your copy!

And, for more fun with Harry the Dirty Dog, check out our simple “Clean the Dirty Dog” extension activity for toddlers!

Harry the Dirty Dog Printables

To use these Harry the Dirty Dog printables for kids, you’ll need the following: (This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)