PreK Homeschooling Archives

DIY Solar System Edible Playdough

May 21, 2018 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Have you ever tried making your own playdough? We’ve done it several times and it’s always a big hit with our kids.

But, if you really want to take it to the next level, edible playdough is where it’s at. Remember always thinking that playdough looked good and then being disappointed when you tried to taste it (whenever your mom wasn’t looking, that is)? Edible playdough actually does taste amazing.

So for a fun astronomy sensory play activity, I thought my kids would love some DIY Solar System Edible Playdough! This is so simple and fun to make! And it’s a sweet treat for the kids to enjoy too. (Just don’t let them eat too much or they’ll be bouncing off the ceiling.) Read on to get the recipe for yourself!

Want more fun sensory play? Don’t miss our simple DIY flubber kids can make!

Solar System Edible Playdough

Basically, you’re going to make colored sugar frosting. Which is why the kids shouldn’t eat too much, you know?

You can use any color of frosting you like, but the Funfetti brand has some awesome brightly colored versions that will give you a lovely color for each planet.

To make Earth and moon playdough, we went with blue frosting (for Earth) and yellow frosting (for the moon).

Mix the two together to get the right consistency. You want it squishy, but still kind of firm.

Turn your mixture onto a wooden surface.

Let the kids mix it up with their little fingers!

This is great gross motor skill practice, by the way.

All you need now are two empty jars with lids (baby food jars are perfect), colored ribbon, and some cute solar system stickers!

Fill each jar with one color of the playdough.

And add the lids!

These particular stickers came from a brick-and-mortar store, but if you want to get something solar system-themed online, try these solar system planet stickers. I actually think those are even better, because you can choose from specific planets with the planet names.

And with the different frosting colors, you could make a batch for every planet in the solar system!

These would make awesome party favors, but your kids will also love making up their own solar system edible playdough to play with (and taste!).

Click over to page 2 for the full recipe!

Pages: 1 2

Ocean Commotion: Number and Literacy Playdough Mats

May 3, 2018 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

I’ve always had a special place in my heart for the coast. I grew up near it and the smell of sea air is basically the best scent on earth (in my humble opinion).

Kids love the ocean too! And that’s why I thought that the ocean would be a fun theme for a new set of number and literacy playdough mats for preschoolers. These are so perfect for summer alphabet and number learning!

Little ones can use these playdough mats and their favorite playdough colors to form all of the uppercase and lowercase letters from A to Z and the numbers from 0 to 9!

Read on to see how to get your copy of these alphabet and number ocean playdough mats!

And, for more early literacy fun, check out our printable rhyming word puzzles! Plus, check out all of our fun playdough mats for kids while you’re here!

Ocean Commotion: Literacy Playdough Mats

To use these ocean literacy playdough mats, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links are provided here. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Printer (with ink)
Printer Paper
Laminator (recommended for best results)
Playdough

This set of ocean playdough mats includes 36 different printables:

26 mats featuring uppercase and lowercase letters from A to Z
10 mats featuring numbers from 0 to 9

To use them, let the kids choose their favorite playdough colors and form long ropes.

Once they make the “ropes”, they can connect them to trace the letters and numbers on the mats.

It’s also fun to use ocean-themed playdough colors for this activity!

Working with playdough is an excellent way to build fine motor skills, because it allows little ones to practice molding and forming – a great introduction to the skills they’ll need for writing later on.

Plus, they’re excellent for quiet play!

Scroll down to get your set of our Ocean Number and Literacy Playdough Mats!

Don’t miss these other early literacy activities for kids!

To get your copy of our Ocean Commotion Literacy Playdough Mats, check them out below!

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!

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>>> Busy Bee Scissor Skills Printables <<<

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.)

Printer (with ink)
Printer Paper
Pencils
Child-safe scissors
Laminator (optional)
A copy of Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion

In this set of ten early learning printables, you’ll find:

Two tracing practice worksheets
One match the numeral to the set worksheet
Ten number flashcards
One match the word to the picture worksheet
And one word tracing worksheet

All of the printables relate to the story in some way.

There are even tracing printables that let you help get muddy Harry to the bathtub! (Which finally happens at the end of the story.)

These would be great for preschoolers and kindergartners who are ready to tackle early literacy skills!

And, if you’re ready to work on number recognition with your toddler, the number flashcards would be perfect!

Personally, I prefer to laminate flashcards when I use them with my kids. Makes them last longer.

And for the tracing skills, you can let kids use crayons, jumbo pencils, or even highlighters to improve fine motor skills!

Scroll down to get your set of our Harry the Dirty Dog Printables for kids!

Don’t miss these other early learning ideas!

To get your copy of The Dirty Dog! early math and reading printables, check them out below!

Preschool Playdough Mats: Ladybug Playdough Mats

March 19, 2018 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

Preschoolers (and adults, for that matter) love playing with playdough! And, by the way, when you need something to occupy your kids quietly, playdough is a wonderful resource. It’s quiet, it’s easy to clean up, and it’s affordable.

On a personal note – I just want to know: Are my kids the only ones who mix up ALL the playdough colors? I really struggled to find some dough that looked decent for this post and it was tough! Out of the 20 cans of playdough in our house, I found one that was actually the color on the lid. One. Someone please tell me this is normal.

Even though kids like to use playdough to make all kinds of wacky colors, playdough can be much more than a time-filler for kids. It can be used to reinforce fine motor skill development, to encourage literacy, and to provide some much-needed sensory input.

So, I wanted to add a few more preschool playdough mats with a fun spring theme: ladybug playdough mats! These are awesome for toddlers and preschoolers who are learning about spring and how to recognize circles!

Read on to get yours free! And check out our Over the Rainbow Playdough Mats for more spring sensory fun!

Preschool Playdough Mats: Ladybug Playdough Mats

To use these playdough mats, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links are provided here for convenience. For more, see our Disclosure Policy.)

There are three mats in this pack: One with a red and white ladybug, one with a ladybug crawling up a colorful flower, and a third with a black and red ladybug.

The graphics on these mats were done by the lovely Red Pepper and they’re so cute! Plus, they all feature circles. So if you’re doing shape of the week or a shape unit, this is a fab circle recognition activity.

We formed rough circles out of dough and our preschooler squashed them with her hands to fit the circles on the mats.

We also made balls and filled in the mat with those as well. This made a super easy and quick sensory and shape activity for spring!

Scroll down to get your free Ladybug Playdough Mats!

Be sure to check out these other playdough mats!

And for more early learning fun, follow my Learning for Little Ones board on Pinterest!

To get your copy of our Ladybug Playdough Mats free, sign up for our email newsletter! You’ll get these playdough mats, plus lots of other exclusive freebies, in our Subscriber Library!

Preschool Worksheets: Snowflake Preschool Matching Worksheets

January 18, 2018 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Winter is not my favorite season, but I absolutely love the beauty of snowflakes. Since we don’t see snow often in the South, a snowfall is still a big event down here.

In fact, we got a steady snowfall for a day last month and the kids just sat in the front of the living room window watching. It was basically our Super Bowl. 🙂

One of the most incredible things about snowflakes is that, as far as scientists can tell, no two snowflakes are alike! So it’s really difficult to find two similar snowflakes in nature.

But these snowflake preschool matching worksheets let kids find pairs of similar snowflakes in no time!

Since matching similar objects is a major preschool objective, these winter printables are perfect for practicing this skill with your little ones!

Read on to see how to get your set of these preschool worksheets! Then check out our winter literacy playdough mats for more fun winter preschool learning!

Preschool Worksheets: Snowflake Preschool Matching Worksheets

To use these snowflake preschool matching worksheets, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links provided below. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

This set of preschool worksheets features two color snowflake matching printables…

and two black line snowflake worksheets. So you don’t need color ink to use these!

These are great for learning to pay attention to detail. Some of these snowflakes look very similar at first, but as kids look more closely, they’ll spot the differences.

This set also includes a full answer key, so kids can check their own work afterward!

Scroll down to get your set of our Snowflake Preschool Matching Worksheets!

Don’t miss these other winter learning ideas for early grades!

To get your set of our Snowflake Sort! preschool matching worksheets, check them out below!

Free Printable Flashcards: Snowflake Counting Flashcards

December 21, 2017 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

Have you been missing our free printable flashcards? They’re back! Today, I’m sharing a new set of counting flashcards with a fun snowflake theme!

I really love the sight of falling snowflakes. Probably because we hardly ever see them down here in Georgia. The few times we’ve had snow, we’ve all gathered around to watch the flakes float gently in front of the window. It’s amazing.

For preschoolers, learning to count is a huge skill to master, especially by the time they enter kindergarten. These snowflake counting flashcards can help! Read on to see how to get yours free!

If you like these, don’t miss our free snowflake math factor printables or our All About Snowflakes Printable Unit Study!

Free Snowflake Counting Flashcards

To use these cards, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links are provided here for convenience. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Printer (with ink)
Printer paper
Scissors
Laminator (to make it easier to reuse the cards later)

These counting flashcards feature cards for the numbers 1-10 showing both numerals and pictures.

There is one set of cards with the number and the matching amount of snowflakes and then another set of cards with just the snowflakes.

They’re super easy to use for teaching numbers and reviewing counting concepts later on.

Be sure to let the kids practice counting each snowflake so they can learn to identify the quantities on their own!

Scroll down to grab your set of our snowflake counting flashcards – free!

Don’t miss these other winter learning ideas!

To get your free snowflake counting flashcards, sign up for our newsletter! You’ll get these printable flashcards, plus lots of other freebies – just for subscribing!

And see more ideas for learning about winter on my Winter Activities for Kids Pinterest board!

Easy DIY Flubber for Kids

December 18, 2017 by Selena Robinson 3 Comments

My kids, like most children, love to play with playdough. So we’ve done a LOT of playdough activities for kids over the years. But for a new sensory experience, we decided to make something different: DIY flubber!

And it turned out really, really well. In fact, it worked out so perfectly that I…uh…played with it too. I regret nothing. 🙂

Read on to see how we made flubber using just a few household ingredients! And if you like this simple activity, check out our list of super easy preschool crafts you can make in just 10 minutes!

Easy DIY Flubber for Kids!

We decided to try out a very popular recipe for making flubber. If you’re not familiar with flubber, it also goes by the names “slime” and “gak”. It’s pretty much a stiff kind of “Magic Muck“, which we made a while back. But it’s very solid, so it’s easy to clean up after. Win!

The project was originally shared from Live Craft Eat and it turned out to be a great recipe for DIY flubber! It took about five minutes.

You’ll just need a few ingredients: (Affiliate links provided for convenience. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

The kids were fascinated at the various textures of the flubber. It felt slippery initially, but then it turned rubbery the more we used it.

We could even make handprints with it!

We also found that when we stretched the flubber out and then let it sit on the table for a while, it returned to a single flat puddle on its own.

It even breaks cleanly when you pull it, but it slowly returns to a flat blob in time.

But if you pick it up, it will run through your fingers! Super, super cool.

If you prefer to make DIY flubber without Borax, I found this great Borax-free flubber recipe from Little Bins for Little Hands. Works just as well! 😉

Have you tried learning how to make DIY flubber? Did the recipe work out? Let us know your experiences in the comments!

Try these other great crafts for kids!

And see even more sensory ideas on my Sensory Play Pinterest board!

You can get even more craft and sensory ideas for kids when you sign up for our email newsletter! Just use the widget below to sign up!

Winter Wonderland! Alphabet and Number Winter Literacy Mats

December 4, 2017 by Selena Robinson 5 Comments

There’s just something about playing with playdough that captures kids’ attention.

I loved playdough as a child. Every child I knew loved playdough.

So, naturally when I was creating these alphabet and number winter literacy mats, my first thought was to use them with playdough.

Preschool playdough mats can be used to build fine motor skills, to make shapes, and to learn to form letters and numbers.

But there are other ways to use these literacy mats with young learners too!

Keep reading to find out how to get your set of these winter playdough mats.

And, for more winter fun in early grades, take a look at our list of adorable snowman books for kids to read!

These winter literacy mats are perfect for building literacy and fine motor skills during winter!

Alphabet and Number Winter Literacy Mats for Kids

To use these winter literacy mats, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links are listed below. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Printer (with ink)
Printer paper or cardstock
Laminator (optional)
Playdough (optional)
Mini erasers (optional)
Dry erase markers (optional)

Mini Erasers for Letter Practice on Winter Literacy Mats

This set of winter literacy printables includes 26 letter mats – from A to Z!

Each mat shows both the uppercase and lowercase version of each letter.

And the letters are large enough for students to trace with pens, markers, highlighters, crayons – even their fingers!

How to Use Winter Playdough Mats to Build Literacy

There are also number mats featuring numerals from 0 to 10.

All of the mats have a fun wintery background theme!

How to Use Winter Literacy Mats with Early Learners

There are several ways to use this resource to help early learners build literacy skills!

Using Winter Playdough Mats with Early Learners

Kids can roll playdough into “ropes” and then connect them to form the uppercase and lowercase letters.

Working with Winter Literacy Mats in Kindergarten

If you decide to laminate the mats, hand out dry erase markers for students to trace the letters!

Forming Letters with Mini Erasers at Centers

You can also place the mats at literacy or math centers (for the number mats).

Hand out mini erasers, pom-poms, or math counters for students to trace the letters and numbers.

Or print the mats half-sized!

They’ll be a perfect size for adding to morning tubs or busy bags.

Get a closer look at this resource in the video below!

Scroll down to get your copy of our winter literacy mats!

For more winter learning fun, don’t miss these other ideas!

Use these winter sight word learning cards to help early readers build reading fluency!

Get into the spirit of the winter season with this list of 15 adorable snowman books for kids!

Learn to recognize uppercase and lowercase letters in two languages with this fun snowflake English and Spanish letter matching activity!

To get your set of our Winter Wonderland! Alphabet and Number Literacy Mats, visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store or check them out below!

Winter Sight Words Flashcards

November 27, 2017 by Selena Robinson 2 Comments

Winter is quickly approaching and it’s a great time to introduce a set of handy Winter Sight Words Flashcards!

Learning sight words is a big part of early literacy education. After all, phonics are great, but the typical phonetic rules don’t always apply!

Some words are simpler to learn through memorization and repetition drills.

And that’s where these winter sight words learning cards can be a huge help.

Read on to get your set!

And be sure to grab our printable snowflake counting cards for some wintery math practice!

Printable Winter Sight Words Flashcards for Kids

To use these sight words flashcards, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links are listed below. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Fun Winter Sight Word Flashcards for Kids

In this printable pack, you’ll find picture flashcards for the following winter-themed sight words:

Coat
Cake
Fire
House
Hill
Wind
Snow
And Shoe

There is a set of cards with images and words. A second set of cards features just the images.

A third literacy card set shows only the printed words.

There’s also a set of blank word labels for writing the words on the labeling cards!

How to Use the Winter Sight Words Flashcards with Students

There are several ways to use these learning cards with early readers.

Using Word Labels with Winter Sight Word Flashcards

Review the picture cards, especially if you’re working with pre-readers or ELL students.

When students are ready, have them practice matching the pictures they’ve learned to the picture matching cards.

This is a nice way to introduce them to the written sight words.

Printable Winter Sight Word Cards for Early Readers

As your early readers become more comfortable, let them begin practicing labeling the picture cards with the written sight word labels.

Printable Winter Sight Word Learning Cards for Kids

They can even use the blank word labels to write the sight words themselves!

If you laminate the cards, students can label the pictures using dry erase markers.

Winter Sight Word Picture Labeling Cards

You may even want to turn the matching exercises into reusable activities with hook and loop adhesive coins.

Scroll down to get your copy of our printable Winter Sight Word Flashcards!

Don’t miss these other literacy learning ideas!

Learn the Spanish ABCs with this fun Spanish alphabet literacy center for early learners!

These fun dinosaur word matching puzzles are so fun for early literacy practice!

These printable beach number literacy mats are perfect for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergartners!

To get your copy of our Winter Sight Words Cards, pick up our Seasonal Sight Words Learning Cards!

You’ll find the winter-themed sight word activities, plus practice for spring, summer, and fall nouns too!

Get a look at this resource in the video!

To get your copy of our Seasonal Sight Words Learning Cards, visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store or check them out below!

100 Fun Learning Activities for Preschoolers

November 6, 2017 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

When you take on the responsibility of teaching toddlers and preschoolers at home or in the classroom, it can be a challenge to come up with new activities that will hold their attention.

We’ve gotten to homeschool four little ones in our homeschooling journey and each one of them has been different.

They’ve had different interests, different learning styles, and very different personalities.

So the activities that worked for one preschooler didn’t necessarily work for the next or the next or the one after that!

And that’s why it’s good to have a huge variety of preschool activities that you can go to at anytime.

Read below to get some inspiration from this list of 100(!) fun learning activities for preschoolers!

These activities feature plenty of practice with early concepts in math, literacy, fine motor skills, and even science!

If you try some of these, let me know which is your favorite!

And be sure to check out our list of fun preschool worksheets and activities for more hands-on learning!

100 Fun Learning Activities for Preschoolers

Image c/o: yanlev / depositphotos1. Preschool Color and Number Sorting Worksheets – Look! We’re Learning!

2. Early Childhood Science Activities – Susan C. Evans

3. Five Senses Unit – Some Random Lady

4. Fall Preschool Worksheets – Look! We’re Learning!

5. 3-Step ABC Sensory Bin – This Outnumbered Mama

6. Printable Emotions Daily Check-in – Totschooling

7. Static Electricity Butterfly Experiment – I Heart Crafty Things

8. Preschool Farm Counting Worksheets – Look! We’re Learning!

9. Butterfly Math Mat – Look! We’re Learning!

10. DIY Color Matching Activity – Natural Beach Living

11. Printable Farm Shape Matching Activity – From ABCs to ACTs

12. Fall Preschool Alphabet and Number Playdough Mats – Look! We’re Learning!

13. Simple Scissor Practice – This Outnumbered Mama

14. Squishy Snow Sensory Activity – Coffee Cups and Crayons

15. Preschool Fall Memory Game – Look! We’re Learning!

16. Autumn Leaf Suncatcher Activity – Fantastic Fun and Learning

17. Saltwater and Waves Experiment – Gift of Curiosity

18. Preschool Pumpkin Ordinal Number Worksheets – Look! We’re Learning!

19. Are You My Mother? Unit Study – Susan C. Evans

20. Apple Preschool Matching Worksheets – Look! We’re Learning!

21. Ocean Animal Literacy Game – The Letters of Literacy

22. Preschool Butterfly Life Cycle Lesson – Pre-K Pages

23. Apple Harvest Preschool Scissor Skills Printables – Look! We’re Learning!

24. Teeth Mini Unit – Some Random Lady

25. DIY Bubble Frames – Brain Power Boy

Pages: 1 2 3 4

Fall Sight Words Flashcards

October 26, 2017 by Selena Robinson 2 Comments

Are you in the fall mood yet?

We had our first actual cool weather day here yesterday and it was wonderful.

I put on my favorite sweater, walked out the door, and enjoyed a hot coffee. Of course, we’ll have highs in the 80s again later this week, but for those few minutes, it really felt like fall had arrived.

Printable Fall Sight Word Literacy Cards

Fall is a great time to focus on building sight word skills with students.

If you’re working on sight words this year, these fall sight words flashcards are a fun way to strengthen reading skills and get into the fall spirit!

Practicing Fall Noun Sight Word Skills with Kids

Keep reading to see how to get your copy.

By the way, be sure to take a look at our Fall Alphabet and Number Playdough Mats too!

These fall sight word learning cards are perfect for building literacy skills during autumn!

Printable Fall Sight Words Flashcards

To use these fall sight words flashcards, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links are listed below. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Printer (with ink)
Printer paper
Scissors
Laminator (if you want to reuse them later)
Hook and loop adhesive coins (optional)
Dry erase markers (optional)

These flashcards are perfect for kids who are working on sight word skills, whether they’re toddlers or even first graders!

In this early literacy resource, you’ll find flashcards for the following fall-themed sight words:

Apple
Bear
Cat
Cow
Farm
School
Night
And School!

Practicing Fall Sight Words at Literacy Centers

There’s also a blank set of cards without the words so that kids can practice identifying each picture.

A set of cards with just the words is also included to help students learn to recognize the words alone.

There’s also a set of cards with the words only to practice recognizing the words on their own.

How to Use the Fall Sight Words Flashcards with Students

There are several ways to use these fall noun sight words learning cards in the classroom.

Fall Themed Sight Words Learning Cards for Kids

Cut apart the picture cards and let students practice identifying each item before introducing the written words.

Fall Themed Sight Words Practice for Kids

Add in the written noun sight word flashcards and practice identifying each picture by reading the words.

Students who are ready to practice writing can use the blank word labels to write the sight word for each card.

You may wish to laminate the cards and hand out dry erase markers for the labeling activity.

Keep the flashcards nearby for students to check their work at centers or in morning tubs.

You can even add hook and loop adhesive coins to turn the matching activities into reusable practice at centers.

Scroll down to get your fall sight words flashcards!

For even more fall fun, check out the following kids’ books about fall as well as some fun fall crafts and activities for children!

Kids’ Books about Fall

1. Hooray for Fall! by Kazuo Iwamuara

2. Fall (The Seasons) by Nuria Roca

3. Mouse’s First Fall by Lauren Thompson

4. I See Fall by Charles Ghigna

Kids’ Fall Crafts and Activities

1. Fall Playdough Recipe – Learn Play Imagine

2. 50 Free Fall Printables – Look! We’re Learning!

3. Fall Button Tree Quiet Bin – Hands On As We Grow

4. Leaf Stamping Fall Tree Craft – Crafty Morning

5. Fall Snow Globe Craft – Look! We’re Learning!

Get even more ideas for learning about fall below!

Use these realistic leaf identification activity cards to help students recognize common tree species!

Use this printable preschool fall activity calendar to plan an entire season of ideas for early learners!

This hands-on oak tree life cycle sequencing activity makes learning about fall plant science fun for early grades!

To get your copy of our Fall Sight Words Flashcards, pick up our Seasons of Sight Seasonal Sight Word Learning Cards set!

The fall sight words learning cards are inside, plus noun sight word practice for spring, summer, and winter too!

Watch the video to get a look at this resource in full!

To get your copy of our Seasonal Sight Word Learning Cards, visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store or check them out below!

Preschool Worksheets: Fall Preschool Worksheets

October 5, 2017 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

Fall is such a wonderful time to be a preschooler. I vividly remember my “nursery school” (we didn’t have preschool back then) and going there in the fall was so fun. We read fun books, we ate fall snacks (apples, of course), and the air was crisp and I just loved it.

These days, kids receive a structured education earlier than they used to, but we can certainly make it fun! And that’s why I’ve rounded up some new preschool worksheets: fall preschool worksheets! These are perfect for simple, age-appropriate autumn learning that kids will love!

If you like this list, be sure to check out our collection of fun preschool worksheets and activities you can use with your kids! We’re adding more all the time!

Preschool Worksheets: Fall Preschool Worksheets

A quick note here: There’s a lot of backlash against using worksheets in preschool these days. And I can understand why that’s the case. Giving four-year-olds paperwork to fill out all day doesn’t sound like much of a childhood.

In our family, we don’t use worksheets to that extent. We use them as a minimal part of our learning day. And my four-year-old loves them! She also loves to play fun learning games, read great preschool stories, and make fun preschool crafts. We try to keep it diverse. 🙂

And now – for the fall preschool worksheets you can add to your learning day too!

1. Farm-Themed Fall Counting Worksheets

2. Fall Color and Trace Worksheets

3. Apple Preschool Scissor Skills Worksheets

4. Pumpkin Sight Word Worksheets

5. Apple Preschool Matching Worksheets

6. Pumpkins Mini Activity Book

7. Pumpkin Preschool Ordinal Number Worksheets

8. Fall Do A Dot Printables

9. Cookie Counting Worksheets for Preschool

10. Fall Sight Word Worksheet

11. Pumpkin Counting and Tracing Worksheets

12. Fall Color by Sight Word Worksheets

13. Fall Tracing Worksheets

14. Fall I Spy Graphing Worksheet

15. Animal Homes Preschool Worksheets

16. Fall Color by Letter Worksheets

17. Fall Maze Worksheets

18. Pumpkin Spin and Trace Worksheets

Ready to share more fun preschool worksheets with your kids? Don’t miss these!

And see more ideas for teaching young learners on my Learning for Little Ones Pinterest board!

You can get exclusive learning worksheets, activities, and resources when you sign up for our email newsletter! Get started with the widget below. 🙂

Preschool Playdough Mats: Alphabet and Number Fall Playdough Mats

September 19, 2017 by Selena Robinson 2 Comments

We’ve been enjoying releasing all of our newest fall-themed products lately! Today we’re wrapping things up with a set of Alphabet & Number Fall Playdough Mats!

If you’re teaching toddlers or preschoolers this year, you’ll love using these mats to help them work on fine motor skills and letter/number recognition!

Plus, it’s always fun to play with playdough, even for adults!

By the way, don’t miss our other preschool playdough mats, including our apple tree counting mat – another easy fall project for PreK!

Preschool Playdough Mats: Alphabet & Number Fall Playdough Mats

To use these preschool fall playdough mats, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links provided here for convenience. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

This pack includes:

26 letter mats showing both uppercase and lowercase letters
10 number mats showing the numbers 0-9

To use these mats, show the kids how to roll their playdough into rope-like shapes.

Once they form the playdough ropes, they can connect them together to trace the shapes of the letters and numbers on the mats.

We decided to use fall-themed colored playdough as well.

There are mats for each letter – from A all the way to Z! So if you’re using letter of the week with your preschoolers, you can choose one letter per week and work on practicing forming the letters as you go.

Plus, there are printable fall playdough mats for the numbers 0-9 as well!

Be sure to laminate them before you use them with any playdough, especially if you want to reuse them at another time.

Scroll down to get your Alphabet and Number Fall Playdough Mats!

Toddler Books about Fall:

Make this activity into an easy fall pre-k unit with these fun toddler books about fall!

1. Fall Is Here by Frankie Jones

2. Fall Mixed Up by Bob Raczka

3. I Love Fall! by Allison Inches

4. Fall by Roger Priddy

Homemade Playdough Recipes:

Need some ideas for making your own playdough for use with these mats? Check out these simple recipes!

1. DIY Edible Playdough – Look! We’re Learning!

2. No Cook Playdough – The Imagination Tree

3. Kool-Aid Playdough – Look! We’re Learning!

4. Cotton Candy Playdough – Mama Miss

Don’t miss these other fall activity posts!

To get your copy of our Fall Fun Literacy Mats, check out the details below!

Printable Counting to 100 Flashcards

June 13, 2017 by Selena Robinson 2 Comments

Remember the Count on Sesame Street? I can’t exactly recall when I learned to count, but I like to think that he played a large role in my mastering that skill. I still say “One, ha, ha, ha!” on occasion.

What I learned from the Count is that learning to count should be fun. When kids have fun learning, they pick up on concepts so much faster!

Which is why I wanted to make some printable counting to 100 flashcards to help Piglet learn to master counting from 1 to 100. And I’m sharing them with my readers today!

These are so fun for reviewing number skills with kids! Plus, they have a fun toy friends theme!

Read on to see how to get your set! And, if your kids love these, don’t miss our Alphabet Animals flashcards for letter practice!

Toy Friends Counting to 100 Flashcards

To use these toy themed counting to 100 flashcards, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links are listed below. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

This set contains flashcards for each number from 1 to 100. 25 pages of four flashcards each!

For Piglet, we focused on learning the numbers in sequence. So I gave her the cards and let her practice putting them in sequence by tens.

First, we focused on listing the numbers from 1 to 10.

After she got the hang of putting those numbers in order, we started working with other number groups.

Finishing with the numbers from 90 to 100!

We made it all the way to 100!

You could also use these flashcards to have kids match up even and odd numbers. Or they’d be great for an “I Have, Who Has?” game!

For reviewing, just hole punch them and put them on an O ring. See if the kids can remember which number comes next!

Scroll down to get your printable Toy Friends Counting to 100 Flashcards!

Check out these other preschool resources!

To get your copy of our printable Toy Friends Counting to 100 flashcards, click the image or the link below to visit our Store!

>>>>> Counting to 100 Flashcards <<<<<

25 Free Spring Printables for Preschoolers

March 29, 2017 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Are your little ones getting spring fever yet?

My four-year-old is super excited about going to the park now that the skies are turning blue and the air is getting warmer.

Yes, I know we can go to the park during winter, but I’m from Florida, so no.

To help her along with her preschool lessons, I use a lot of printables for preschoolers and so today I’m sharing 25 free spring printables for preschoolers!

These are wonderful for helping young ones work on basic early childhood skills while enjoying a fun spring theme!

Check out the list below for some great resources for early learners!

And be sure to browse our list of spring books for kids that you can read together this year!

Work on essential early childhood skills with these free spring printables for preschoolers!

25 Free Spring Printables for Preschoolers

1. Colorful Birds Color Matching Activity – Look! We’re Learning!

2. Printable Flower Petal Counting Activity – My Mundane and Miraculous Life

3. Name Recognition Flower Garden – Totschooling

4. Spring Preschool Worksheets – Mess for Less

5. Butterfly Identification Cards – Look! We’re Learning!

6. Flower Names Building Printable – A Dab of Glue Will Do

7. Spring Sight Words Flashcards – Look! We’re Learning!

8. Bugs Preschool Worksheets – Learning 2 Walk

9. Rainbow Letter Match Free Printable – A Little Pinch of Perfect

10. Over the Rainbow Playdough Mats – Look! We’re Learning!

11. Printable Flower Counting Book – Fun-A-Day

12. Catch a Bug Printable Game – Picklebums

13. Printable Spring Flower Flashcards – Look! We’re Learning!

See more spring preschool printables on the next page!

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Preschool Playdough Mats: Birds and Bugs Spring Playdough Mats

February 20, 2017 by Selena Robinson 2 Comments

Spring is just around the corner! And down here, spring usually means lots and lots of bugs. Some are downright frightening to me (palmetto bugs), but some like caterpillars, snails, and butterflies are just adorable.

I thought these cute Birds and Bugs Spring Playdough Mats would be a fun spring-themed addition to our growing collection of Preschool Playdough Mats!

These are a super way to work on fine motor skills, counting, and letters with toddlers and preschoolers!

If you love these, be sure to grab our Rainbow Playdough Mats as well!

Preschool Playdough Mats: Birds and Bugs Spring Playdough Mats

To use these birds and bugs spring playdough mats, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links are used below. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Printer (with ink)
Printer paper
Laminator (for keeping the mats sturdy)
Playdough

These preschool playdough mats are a wonderful spring activity for toddlers and preschoolers!

There are 36 mats in all – one for each letter of the alphabet (featuring uppercase and lowercase) and one for each number 0-9.

Kids can roll playdough into long ropes and then use it to trace the outline of each letter and number.

This is great fine motor skills practice and an excellent way to help them learn to recognize uppercase and lowercase letters and their numbers!

Scroll down to get your Birds and Bugs Spring Playdough Mats!

Don’t miss these other spring resources!

To get your copy of our Preschool Playdough Mats: Birds and Bugs Spring Playdough Mats, click the image or the link below to visit our Store!

>>>>> Birds and Bugs Spring Playdough Mats <<<<<

Check out loads of Free Homeschool Printables from iHomeschool Network! Head over to grab freebies for your homeschool from my fellow bloggers!

Preschool Playdough Mats: Rainbow Playdough Mats

February 3, 2017 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

Seasonal allergies aside, I absolutely adore spring. Next to fall, it’s my favorite season. Well, summer might be in the running also, which tells you how I feel about winter.

We don’t see rainbows that often in our area, but when we do, they are gorgeous. If I happen to see one while driving, I’ve been known to shout “Look, kids! A rainbow!”

They’re just as fascinating to me now as they were when I was a kid.

For our newest preschool playdough mats, I wanted to share one with a fun spring theme. And that’s why today we have our Over the Rainbow Playdough Mats!

Guess what? They’re FREE! Read on to see how to get yours!

To round out your spring unit, check out these adorable spring crafts for kids to make. And for more rainbow fun, don’t miss our Rainbow Number Word Matching Puzzles!

Preschool Playdough Mats: Rainbow Playdough Mats

To use these rainbow playdough mats, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links provided here for convenience. For more, see our Disclosure Policy.)

You can use these without laminating them, but you probably won’t be able to reuse them a second time if you do.

If you’re waffling on buying a laminator, they’re totally worth it.

This product includes one color rainbow mat and one black and white mat, so it’s a great way to talk about colors with preschoolers as well!

Since these rainbow mats use several colors, kids can break out many colors of playdough to use together. That’s always fun.

Rainbow Preschool Playdough Mat for Kids

Work on one color row at a time and make sure that kids can recognize and name each one before moving on.

This is also a good fine motor activity, because preschoolers can use their hands to form the playdough into ropes and then mold them to fit the mat pattern.

Once kids follow the color playdough mat pattern, they can recreate it on the black and white mat.

Or just come up with their own color scheme instead!

Scroll down to get your free Over the Rainbow Playdough Mats!

Don’t miss these other preschool playdough mats while you’re here!

And pick up our Spring Sight Word Flashcards to help get preschoolers reading!

And see more ways to make learning fun for early grades on my Learning for Little Ones Pinterest board!

To get your free copy of our Over the Rainbow Playdough Mats, sign up for our email newsletter!

You’ll get these printables, and lots more, in our exclusive Subscriber Library! Just use the widget below to enroll.

NOTE: If you don’t see your welcome email, check your spam folder.

Learning about colors is so fun with these printable preschool rainbow playdough mats! Laminate them and use them over and over again for quiet play!

Free Winter Printables for Preschoolers

December 13, 2016 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Winter is a great time to get kids excited about learning! Especially when the weather is so awful no one wants to venture outside. 🙂

If you have older kids (like I do), it can be tough to keep your younger ones involved in your homeschooling lessons. Our preschooler always wants to be at the table with her older siblings during class, no matter what we’re learning about. I could be teaching organic chemistry and she’d want to be involved.

So I use a lot of preschool printables to keep her learning along with the older kids. If you enjoy using winter printables with your children, these free winter printables for preschoolers are a fun way to let your younger kids get involved!

And if you love these, don’t miss our printable winter sight word flashcards – perfect for working on early reading skills!

Free Winter Printables for Preschoolers

1. Free Snowflake Counting Flashcards – Look! We’re Learning!

2. Printable Winter Clothes Dress Up Busy Bag – Teaching Mama

3. Printable Winter Easy Pack for Kids – Kids Activities Blog

4. Winter Printable Pack for Toddlers and Preschoolers – Totschooling

5. Printable Winter Nature Walk Trivia – Rain or Shine Mamma

6. Roll A Snowman Printable Game – Kiddy Charts

7. Free Winter Coloring Pages – Crafty Morning

8. Free Winter Printable Activity Pack – A Little Pinch of Perfect

9. Printable Winter Bucket List for Preschoolers – No Time for Flashcards

10. Winter Color by Number Printables – Itsy Bitsy Fun

11. Color the Snowman Buttons Printable – Gift of Curiosity

12. Winter PreK/K Pack – This Reading Mama

13. Arctic Animal Flash Cards – Look! We’re Learning!

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100 of the Very Best Picture Books for Preschoolers

November 21, 2016 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

I’ve been a parent for nearly 13 years and we have four children. So I can tell you that it’s easy to get into the “routine” of parenting – just kind of going from day to day trying to keep your head above the water.

But something happens when your last child begins preschool. Personally, that snapped me out of the routine mindset and into the “treasure every moment” way of thinking. The thought that this is my last child to teach at home was a real jolt.

Piglet started PreK this fall, so we’re officially teaching our very last preschooler. And, since she already has a good grasp on letters, numbers, colors, counting, and shapes, I want to spend a lot of her preschool year exploring wonderful children’s books.

So I thought I’d make an ultimate list of the very best picture books for preschoolers. There are 100 of the best children’s picture books on this list, including modern stories and classic picture books that preschool-aged kids will love to read! But be warned, parents: Expect to read a lot of these over and over again.

If you love these selections, don’t miss our preschool homeschool reading list for this year!