Cupcakes, I think, are the most fun dessert ever invented. It’s like – if you make cupcakes on the most boring Tuesday, it’s automatically a party. Cupcakes are also a fun early learning theme for kids. Which is why I thought they’d make for a cute math center activity – this Cupcake English and Spanish numberKeep Reading…
Hot cocoa on a winter morning is just about the best thing ever. Well, hot cocoa on a winter morning when you don’t have to leave the house for any reason whatsoever is the best thing ever. But hot cocoa plays a major role in both scenarios! And what’s hot cocoa without marshmallows? Which isKeep Reading…
Nothing says “winter” like snow. Unless you live in the Deep South. Then nothing says “winter” like temperatures below 50 degrees. It almost never gets cold enough for snow down here, but our kids always want it to snow each year. So we’re making it snow inside with this fluffy snowman slime recipe! This isKeep Reading…
I don’t think there’s a thing young children like more than candy. Okay, maybe ice cream. But it’s got to be a close competition. If you ever want to make math more fun, just start by switching the word problem phrase “Susie has three apples” to “Susie has three pieces of candy” and watch theKeep Reading…
Have you ever put on a puppet show with the kids? We’ve done it a few times and they always had a blast with their puppet characters. We’d usually have rehearsed lines in advance, but someone always wanted to improvise and take the story in a different direction. Which is part of the fun! WhenKeep Reading…
I hate winter. Hate it. I’m from Florida and, whenever the temperature dips below about 60, I’m done for the year. But when you’re homeschooling, you can’t just opt out of teaching during the cold. I know. I’ve tried it. So that’s why I wanted to find some ways to make winter homeschooling fun! TheseKeep Reading…
We’ve been having an unseasonably warm winter down South this year. But that changed drastically this week. Last week, we had highs in the 70s. This week, we woke up to 25 degrees in the morning. That’s nothing to Northerners and Midwesterners, but us Southerners panicked. I think it’s safe to say that winter hasKeep Reading…
When I was little, I was a total hot cocoa addict. My parents drank coffee every morning. But I was in love with hot chocolate. I had a little microwavable mug and, once I learned to make cocoa on my own (usually with Nesquik), I was off to the races. As the weather gets colder,Keep Reading…
Community helpers are such an important theme in early childhood education. After all, it’s important for children to learn how their local community works and who provides the services we all rely on each day. So when you’re ready to teach a community helper theme in class, make sure to use some of these community helpersKeep Reading…
Preschoolers love to pretend to deliver mail. When we took our little ones to a pretend neighborhood, they all wanted to dress up as mail delivery workers and put envelopes in the tiny mailbox. It was adorable. Since learning to recognize colors and color words is an important skill for toddlers and preschoolers to master,Keep Reading…
Early foreign language learning tends to focus on numbers, letters, and basic sentences. Which is great! But it’s also cool when you add in a little fun as you go, right? We’ve already shared printables to help kids learn to count in Spanish, but that’s not quite the same as learning to interact with othersKeep Reading…
When I was little, one of my very favorite movies was Disney’s Robin Hood. You know, the one with the foxes. Actually, I think fox Robin Hood might have been one of my very first crushes. (Please tell me I’m not alone in this.) Ever since then, I’ve had a soft spot for foxes. SoKeep Reading…
One of the wonderful things about preschool is that you don’t have to teach a whole lot of math. After all, you’re working with kids that are four to five years old. So it’s really a time for introducing the very basics of mathematics: shapes, sizes, counting, numbers, and so on. I thought we’d addKeep Reading…
Donuts are life. Okay, maybe not life-sustaining. But definitely life-enriching. Nothing gets my kids up and out of the bed faster than me shouting “Alright, let’s go to Krispy Kreme!” So when I wanted to share a fun ELA activity set to keep them practicing creative writing, parts of speech, and more, I knew thisKeep Reading…
Have you ever gone on a craft supply shopping spree? And then realized that you have way too much of something? I have. When we first moved into our present house, I learned about a simple way to add color to your bedroom walls – scrapbook paper! Naturally, I bought tons of it. Which leftKeep Reading…
Learning about short vowel sounds is part of a great foundation in early literacy. After all, when we teach early readers to decode CVC words, the short vowel sound in the center is what separates the two consonants. But early learners tend to remember concepts best when they get to incorporate movement in each lesson. Keep Reading…
When my husband and I moved to the suburbs, we started to see something we hadn’t seen before. Crows. Our neighborhood didn’t have many trees, but it had lots of telephone lines. And it was an everyday occurrence to see crows gathered up in groups on the lines right outside our window. In the fall,Keep Reading…
Fractions are not exactly known for being…the most fun math concept to teach. I remember trying to make colorful anchor charts to bring this topic to life as much as possible, but it just fell flat. The kids were not interested in hot pink definitions of fractions on colored chart paper. The good thing isKeep Reading…
We’ve been on a bit of an owl kick lately. But it’s the right time of year for it! As the days get shorter and the sun sets earlier in the evening, we’re starting to hear owls hooting more often in our area. We don’t get to see them in flight much, though. So we’reKeep Reading…
Working with size recognition is such a fun early learning concept! All of our kids loved learning the differences between small, medium, and large. My husband, who is 6’3″, was always an easy way to show “big”. Meanwhile, I’m 5’2″, so I kind of worked as “medium”. And, of course, our kids (when they wereKeep Reading…
With Piglet starting on preschool work this fall, we’ve been using a lot of preschool playdough mats. So this week I’m sharing a brand new printable set of preschool mats: Mountain Playdough Shape Mats! These are super fun for little ones who are working on fine motor skills, shape recognition, and more! Plus, they’re aKeep Reading…
