Quiet Time Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers Some kids are great nappers, and some kids struggle with taking naps, but regardless of which type of kid you have…they all drop their nap eventually. Usually this is somewhere around age 3 or 4. If you’re like me, you dread the day your child no longer wants to take a nap, as that is sacred alone time! Fortunately, there is a solution to this: quiet time activities! Many parents have implemented quiet time in place of nap time, where instead of taking a nap, the child plays quietly for a designated time instead. This allows you as the parent to still have…
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10 Easy Fall Sensory Bin Ideas for Toddlers and Preschoolers
Fall Sensory Bin Ideas for All Ages Fall is my absolute favorite time of year. Anyone else? I love the crisp air, colorful leaves, pumpkins, and of course all the fun fall festivities. Fall is also one of my favorite themes for sensory bins. There are so many amazing fall sensory bin ideas that are perfect for this time of year! If you’re looking for some beautiful autumn setups, that are also fairly easy to prep and safe for all ages, then keep reading for 10 of my favorite fall sensory activities! Fall Sensory Bin Theme Ideas There are so many great themes that can be used for a fall…
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5 Awesome Weather Activities for Kids
Weather Activities for Kids Spring is upon us, and it is the perfect time to teach your weather unit in science! Depending on where you live, spring likely showcases a lot of diverse weather patterns which makes this the prime time for weather observations and experiments. If you’re teaching weather right now (or about to), check out these fun weather activities for kids to really engage your students. 5 Weather Activities for Kids 1. Cloud Demonstration In this simple science experiment, students will observe what causes clouds to rain. For this activity, you will need: First, fill the jar with water. Then, top the jar off with shaving cream. The…
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4 Fun Statistics Activities That Elementary Students Will Enjoy
Fun Statistics Activities for Kids I know you probably read the title of this post and asked yourself why elementary students would ever need to know statistics. Well, they don’t exactly, but that doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t still benefit from some subtle exposure to the concept! April is National Statistics & Mathematics Awareness Month, and is the perfect opportunity to add in some fun statistics activities to your instruction. If this is something you would like to do, here are a few (age appropriate) ideas! 1. Play SNAKE. SNAKE is a fun math dice game that loosely involves probability, as well as a little bit of risk! This game…
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3 Festive Easter Activities For Kids That Your Students Will Love
Easter Activities for Kids Easter is one of my favorite times in the classroom! I am 100% here for all the Easter eggs and candy and Peeps. I know Peeps are controversial, but I LOVE them. Speaking of Peeps…did you know you can use them in several Easter activities for kids? Yep! So if you’re gifted a bunch in the next couples weeks but don’t want to eat them, you can turn them into a fun activity instead! If you do like Peeps, don’t worry – there are activities you can do that don’t involve Peeps, as well! So you can have your Peeps and eat them, too. 🙂 Anyway,…
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How to Set Up and Run a Successful STEM Challenge
Have you ever done a STEM challenge? One of my favorite activities to do in the classroom is a STEM challenge. These short, quick engineering challenges are easy to implement, fun for students, and SO meaningful! I guarantee you that your students will be begging for more. I highly recommend any science teacher implementing STEM challenges regularly into their instruction. When I taught third grade, I tried to do one challenge per week. When I moved to a new school, I didn’t quite have time for that in my new schedule. However, it still made a great, special activity every once in awhile. If you’ve never implemented STEM challenges in…
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Do You Need Some Ideas for Celebrating Pi Day in the Classroom?
Celebrating Pi Day at School One of my favorite math holidays is Pi Day (March 14th, in honor of 3.14). Although, in my house we treat it more like PIE Day! Typically, we have chicken pot pie (our favorite!) for dinner, and then some other form of pie for dessert. However, for teachers, celebrating Pi Day can be fun in the classroom as well. Since this fun day is just around the corner, today I wanted to share some Pi Day ideas for the classroom. If your students are too young to learn about the actual number pi (which, if you’re a regular reader of this blog, they probably are!),…
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3 Easy and Exciting Spring Science Activities to Celebrate the Season
Spring is just around the corner, and it’s a wonderful time of year filled with blooming flowers, butterflies, and (depending on where you live) lots and lots of rain! Spring brings so many GREAT opportunities to do some really fun activities in your science class. So, today, I wanted to share with a few of my favorite spring science activities! Butterfly Craft This is a simple craft that helps students learn about the anatomy of a butterfly! Students will have fun making beautiful butterflies they can take home, while also being able to identify the parts of a butterfly’s body. Here’s what you need for each student: 1 clothespin 3…
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How to Help Your Students Develop Strong Problem Solving Skills for Kids
Building Problem Solving Skills for Kids Problem solving is one of the key foundational aspects of math. At its core, math isn’t about numbers – it’s about solving problems! Naturally, kids with strong problem solving skills have an easier time in math class. Problem solving comes naturally to some students, but not for others. However, there are things we as teachers can do to help build strong problem solving skills in our students. If this is something you think would benefit your students, here are a few ideas for carrying this out. Problem Solving Skills for Kids Activities Each of the following activities are helpful for building students’ problem solving…
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How to Teach the Steps in the Design Process to Your Students
How to Teach the Design Process Steps to Students Do you do a lot of STEM challenges in your class? If not, you should definitely start! But if you are already doing them, then hopefully you also understand the importance of teaching your students the steps in the design process. Students will be much more successful in completing STEM challenges if they understand these steps. However, the design process steps themselves can be a little hard to understand. Because of this, I broke the steps down into an easy-to-remember, 5-step process using the acronym B.U.I.L.D. If you’re interested in learning more about teaching your students the design process using B.U.I.L.D.,…
