November 18

November Learning

These past two weeks in kindergarten have included some new hands-on activities that the students are loving. We have been learning about shapes, and the students cannot get enough of these personal light pads that come with a set of translucent tangrams.

Students had the option of building using the templates or creating their own designs.

I have also created an activity for Morning Exploring that utilizes these personal light pads. Students use translucent letters to identify the beginning sounds in words, matching the letter to the picture that I have printed on a transparency. Using the personal light pad makes everything so much more FUN!

So many of the students asked me to share the information for these light pads that I thought I would write a post. Below is a link to the light pad we used in class. I will also link a different version of a small light table that comes with many different options for playing.

Transparent Letters and Numbers

Geometry Light Pad

Small Light Table for Kids

Another new activity we did this November was perfect for fine motor development. Students created ears of corn using colorful pony beads. We took four pipe cleaners, wrapping one of them around the middle of the other three. Students then beaded each of the eight  “arms”. We left a little of the pipe cleaner exposed at the end of each “arm” and then pulled all the pipe cleaner “arms” up and twisted them to make the shape of an ear of corn. The student absolutely loved this beading project.

The end result is beautiful ears of corn that will add a fall festiveness to any space!

We have been writing in our Gratitude Journals daily. In addition to this, students created a placemat that highlighted one thing they were grateful for. Students used a Sharpie to draw their pictures. Then they used watercolors to paint the border of the placemat. I was very impressed with the way students were able to control the paintbrush and successfully use the watercolors to create crisp, clear, and vibrant colors.

I love the quality and color choice of these watercolors.

Another activity we have been doing frequently is writing uppercase and lowercase letters. I will say a sound and then the students write the uppercase and lowercase letter that makes that sound. We sometimes use sand trays or sensory bags for this activity. Recently, we have been using these really fun writing tablets.

Writing Tablet

Finally, students have been creating their own alphabet puzzles. They are really enjoying illustrating a picture of each letter of the alphabet. We hope to finish these this week so that students can bring them home to use over the break.

DIY Puzzles

Each of these activities gives students multiple opportunities to strengthen fine motor skills in fun and engaging ways!

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July 14

Summer Slide is Real: Here are Dozens of Ideas to Help!

You may have heard about the dreaded summer slide- children may experience learning loss when they are out of school for an extended period. The good news is that research also shows that students who read at least six books over summer break tend to maintain their reading level. So, keep reading, but let’s set our young learners up for success by providing them with play-based activities to engage them and develop the whole child. Below are some of my favorite activities and affiliate links, should you be interested.

Chalk. Chalk can be used for so many activities. Make a hopscotch and add numbers or letters in each box. You can create addition equations, work on number sense, or even letter/sound recognition. Have your child use chalk to practice letter writing. To help develop motor skills, you or your child can use giant chalk to make a track. The track can be for toy cars or large enough for your child to ride their bike, scooter, or skateboard. Chalk honestly can provide hours of entertainment and a variety of learning opportunities.

Chalk

Pretend Play. I love pretend play! Whether playing with puppets, dolls, critters, or dress-up, pretend play allows children to role-play and use their imaginations. Recently, I added this ice cream shop to my class Choice Time activities. The children LOVE it! They pretend to take customer orders, make the ice cream, serve it, and even make change using a mini cash register.

Ice Cream Shop

Building Activities: Magna tiles are the best. They can be used for so many different things. Children can build structures, like a garage to house their toy cars or a bridge for their vehicles to drive across. I even saw a child make a skeeball game on their staircase using magna tiles and ping pong balls. Have your child use a light table as the base for their magna tile construction for even more fun!

Magna-tiles

Portable Light Table

Fine Motor Strengthening Activities: So many engaging activities strengthen fine motor skills. From wood-building kits to sewing kits, your child will never know they are exercising and strengthening their finger muscles. Numerous games have fun manipulatives that your child will love playing with. And playdoh?! Playdoh is the ultimate tool for strengthening fine motor! Set up a Play-Doh station outside, and I promise your child will be entertained. One summer, my girls spend days making a bakery. They used some of my mini muffin tins, cake stands, and cookie cutters to make baked goods.

Wood Building Kit

Sewing Kit: Woodland Animals

Sewing: Dog Stuffie Kit

Play-Doh

Play-Doh Kitchen

Play-Doh Fun Factory Tools

Play-Doh Hair Stylin’

Play-Doh Ultimate Baking Set

Dinosaur Matching/Tweezer Set

Magnetic Marble Sort Board

Pluffle

Word/Spelling/Reading Practice. Maybe your child wants some more traditional letter/sound learning activities. Grab a cookie sheet and some magnetic letter chips. You can even use the letter chips on the portable light table! Your child can identify the beginning letter of items around your house. They can spell CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words. They can spell their name. And then, they take the magnetic wand and swipe it across, collecting all the magnetic letters in one quick swipe! Take a look at these word-building rods as well. These incorporate word-building skills as well as fine motor development.

Magnetic Letter Chips

Magnetic Wands

Word Building Rods

Decodables. Your child may be beginning to read. For beginning readers, they must have decodable books to read. Decodables are books written using words that can be read using specific sound and spelling patterns that students have been explicitly taught. Here are some that I recommend:

Junior Reading Decodable Books

Starfall Reading

Benchmark Readers Decodable Books

Orton Gillingham Decodable Reader

Charge into Reading

Tonies. Have you heard about Tonies?! A student of mine last year first introduced me to Tonies. Tonies are figurines that, when placed on a Toniebox, tell a story or sing a song. There are soooo many to choose from. I just purchased a Toniebox with Peppa Pig. There are 60 minutes of Peppa Pig stories. Plus the figurines are fun to play with! And, you can record yourself reading aloud a story! Tonies make listening to stories independent. I definitely wish Tonies were around when my own children were little!

Tonies National Geographic Starter Set

Tonies Disney Starter Set

Tonies Disney Princess Starter Set

Games. Playing games encourages social-emotional development…like taking turns, waiting patiently, problem-solving, playing fair, and winning and losing. Below are some of the games my family has loved playing over the years:

Candy Land

Walk the Dogs

Avalanche

Chutes and Ladders

Hi Ho Cheerio

Sorry

Tongues Out

Uno

Spot It!

Go Fish!

Crazy 8’s

Hearts

How about writing? There are so many ways to encourage your child to write and to make writing fun. The Happy Me journal has been a hit in my house. They now make a journal specific to different age ranges. My son was eight when he first got him, and my oldest daughter was 18! They love the Happy Me journal so much that they are on their second set!

Fine Tip Smelly Markers

Raised Lined Paper

Owl Pencil Grip

Pencil Grip

Tri-Write Pencil

Pencil Sharpener for Large Diameter Pencils

Silly Sentences Handwriting Practice Book

Happy Me Journal

Lined Paper Roller Stamp

Doodle Board

Outdoor Games: It wouldn’t be summer if we couldn’t spend time outside enjoying our beautiful weather. A sand and water table with built-in shade is a MUST! The bonus to many of these outdoor activities is that they keep your child physically active. The Ninja Warrior Climbing Course was in our backyard for three years…my son LOVED climbing, swinging, hanging, twirling, and more on this course. It always tired him out!

Toss and Catch Set

Pop and Catch Set

Sand and Water Table

Ninja Warrior Climbing Course

Balance Board

So, with about a month and a half of summer left, I hope you find some fun, creative, and engaging ideas to keep your child actively learning!

 

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January 24

Dinosaurs!

The kindergarten class is enjoying our third week of learning about dinosaurs! For Friday Fun, I prepared a fine motor-focused project that used balloons, water, mini dinosaur figurines, and pipettes!

The students LOVED it!

They squeezed…

and squeezed…

until…

a little dinosaur “hatched!”

This is a quick and easy project you can do at home! Simply grab a balloon (full-sized, not water!) and blow it up. Hold the air in it for thirty seconds to stretch out the shape. Let the air out and then use your fingers to spread open the balloon. Push a small plastic dino figurine into the deflated balloon. Fill the balloon with water and tie it off. Place in the freezer for 24 hours or more. Then, remove it from the freezer. Cut a hole in the balloon and have your child remove the balloon. Provide a cup of warm water and a pipette or turkey baster. Then watch as the egg melts away, and the dino is revealed! The repetitive squeezing of the pipette is the perfect way to strengthen fine motor muscles!

 

 

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November 20

November Morning Exploring

I revamped our Morning Exploring bins once again! For the past two months, we have been using a rotation where it takes two days for each student to rotate to the next bin. With nine bins, that means it takes 18 school days to complete! With new activities begging to be showcased monthly, we just do not have 18 days to focus on one theme! So I decided to make two sets of each activity. This was a big task, but fortunately, I already had a lot of extra materials I could use to make these duplicate activities.

I recently received a back-ordered order of pencil boxes. I noticed immediately that these pencil boxes are quite challenging to open and close, and it became clear that they would not be an effective tool for students to use frequently throughout the day. I began brainstorming ways to use these boxes for something else. 
Why not make two kits for each Morning Exploring rotation using the pencil boxes as a way to keep the tools and supplies organized?! It works like a dream!

They are just the perfect size!

This month’s Morning Exploring activities are varied and build on a plethora of skills. Just wait and see!

Who’s ready to use algebraic thinking? Students are introduced to solving equations to ten with a missing number. They roll little balls of playdoh (fine motor!) and put the required number of balls in the ten frame to show the number at the top of the mat. Then they must count the empty squares to figure out how many more they need to get ten.

Another activity has students rolling two dice and adding them together. They must then move that number of water beads to the fall-themed cookie cutters.

Then and Now Writing has students writing high-frequency words using a pencil and the quill of a feather and black paint. They had SO much fun with this activity!

Leafy Patterns engaged students in extending colorful patterns using acrylic leaves.

Students use a feather to write high-frequency words in sand.

Q-tips were used for students to create fall-themed polka-dot masterpieces…and strengthen their fine motor skills!

Students used sunflower seeds to demonstrate number sense of teen numbers.

This addition activity has students sorting the acrylic leaves according to color. They recorded the number of red leaves and the number of yellow leaves and then added them together.

Having two sets of each activity prepared really made Morning Exploring so much fun! The feedback from the students has been very positive. They love doing the same activity as a peer and seeing the results of their friends’ work. I am planning on doing the same for our December tubs!

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October 23

Fine Motor Fabulousness!

So many kindergarten skills involve fine motor…..and fine motor can be so tricky to develop and strengthen. It involves more than cutting with scissors or holding a pencil properly. I try to sprinkle fine motor activities into our everyday learning as much as I can. We use playdough. tweezers, stickers, hole punches, and pokey pins as much as possible to strengthen the littlest muscles!

Students working on a pokey pin activity.

 

Another GREAT fine motor activity is Perler beading. This group of kindergarteners LOVES making Perler bead creations. Students have the option of using their fingers or a small pair of tweezers to place the beads. Creating with Perler beads also helps build hand-eye coordination and fosters creativity.

We also spend quite a bit of our Friday Fun time sewing! So far this year, we have sewn pumpkins and coasters. Our first project was a minky fabric pumpkin. Students used a running stitch to sew around a circle of fabric we had prepared for them. I put a series of black dots circling the fabric so the students knew where to place the needle next. Look how cute these turned out!

Today, students sewed festive pumpkin coasters. This was a multi-step sewing project, and I was very impressed with the students’ enthusiasm and focus on completing the project.

The kindergarteners are so excited about sewing that they asked if I could include it as a Choice Time choice. Time to plan some new projects!

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October 8

October Morning Exploring

With the new month comes new Morning Exploring tubs. The creepy crawlies are out and these students had no problem using the thematic manipulatives!

Students dig in sensory putty for googly eyes. They then sort them by color.

 

Students match numbers to coordinating tens frames and then clip them together.

Using stickers, students outline the shape of a pumpkin. They count to see how many stickers they used.

 

Students choose a number card and use pumpkin buttons and a ten frame to build the number.

 

Color patterns are extended. Students use tweezers to put the colored pom-poms in order.

 

Students roll one or two dice and move that many flies onto the spider web using tongs.

Using a push pin, students create a stained glass window effect.

Students use a hole punch to punch out teen numbers.

The last activity has students counting and recording the number of pumpkins in each container.

These activities keep the students busy practicing so many different skills! We love Morning Exploring!

 

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September 6

Morning Exploring

We enjoyed our FIRST rotation of Morning Exploring activities today! These activities are designed to strengthen fine motor skills while reinforcing math and literacy concepts. They also encourage teamwork! I am just thrilled with how successful our first rotation was!

Take a look:

Students use their thumb and pointer finger to grasp very slippery water beads and sort them by color.

 

Working together, students place numbers in order from least to greatest. They use clips to clip the number cards in order.

 

Students cut along the curvy lines.

 

Using pop beads, students measure the pictures of school supplies to see how long each is. They record their answer.

 

Students roll two dice. They add the dice together. Using tongs, students place that number of frogs on the lily pads.

 

VERY CAREFULLY, students use a pushpin to make holes that follow each letter in their name.

 

Students use a hole punch to punch a specific number of holes on each page.

 

Pop beads are used again…but this time students use them to extend a pattern.

 

After Morning Exploring was complete for today, I overheard a student say, “I can’t wait to do this tomorrow!” These are words every teacher loves to hear!

 

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November 28

November Morning Exploring Tubs

Though the month of November is quickly coming to a close, I wanted to share with you the November Morning Exploring tubs and the concepts they cover. The students could not get enough of these tubs…all of the little manipulatives were very exciting to them! The explanations for each tub are above the images.

Tub 1: Students choose a number from 0-20. The then link together the three different ways to show the value of that number. These ways include a ten or double-ten frame, tally marks, and pictures.

 

 

Tub 2: Using playdough, students fill in a ten frame to make a number. Then students must figure out how to complete the equation…who says kindergarteners can’t do algebra?!

 

Tub 3: Students use tweezers to choose a pumpkin. On the bottom of the pumpkin is a two digit number greater than 20. One student then spins the spinner, deciding on “greater than” or “less than.” Students must compare their numbers, and the student whose number matches the spinner gets to keep the pumpkins.

 

Tub 4: Students choose a High-frequency word and spell it using letter cards. They link the letters together to spell the words.

 

Tub 5: Students chose a number card and build the number using sunflower seeds.

 

Tub 6: Students follow the outline of the acorn with small stickers and then count up the total number of stickers used. The children LOVE using stickers and peeling and sticking is great for fine motor development!

 

Tub 7: Students choose a turkey container and count the number of glass beads inside. They record the two-digit number.

 

Tub 8: Students dig through a small sensory bin to find leaves. On the leaves are high-frequency words. Students read the word and match the leaves to their play mat.

I can not believe that in three short days, December will be here! It’s time to switch out the Morning Exploring Tubs!

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October 19

October Morning Exploring Tubs

October is already half-way over, and I haven’t yet shared the October Morning Exploring tubs! There are some FUN thematic activities this month!

 

Tub 1: Students choose a number card. They then build that number in a ten frame using pumpkins. Read more about why the concept of the ten frame is important: https://mdelwiche.edublogs.org/2017/10/24/terrific-ten-frame/http://

 

Tub 2: Students us a die or two dice to roll a number. They then build that number on the spider web mat using tweezers and flies…eewww! With this activity, students are not only strengthening their fine motor skills, but they are practicing several math concepts including addition and number sense.

 

Tub 3: Students identify a number on the candy jar and then fill the jar with that number of candy corn. Besides building fine motor skills, students are recognizing numbers and demonstrating both one-to-one correspondence and number sense.

 

 

Tub 4: Students count the number of pumpkins in each container and record their answer. This activity reinforces counting as well as number writing.

 

Tub 5: Students match a number to the correct ten or double ten frame and then clip the cards together. Squeezing the clothespin strengthens fine motor skills. Students are also identifying numbers, counting, and demonstrating number sense.

 

Tub 6: Pokey Pins! Students use a push pin to poke holes along the outline of either a ghost or a pumpkin, making this fun light-up design! This activity works on strengthening fine motor skills.

 

Tub 7: Students pick a pattern card and then use tweezers to make the pattern. They are working on AB, ABC, ABB, AAB, and AABBCC patterns.

 

Tub 8: Each student has a number book with teen numbers. They use a hole punch to punch that number of holes on each page. This activity demonstrates number sense and one-to-one correspondence and strengthens fine motor skills

 

Tub 9: Students use links to measure Halloween themed items. They record the number of links long each item is on the picture card.

Mornings are delightfully busy in kindergarten!

 

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May 7

Morning Exploring, Spring Edition

We are enjoying the final few rotations of our spring themed Morning Exploring tubs. Besides strengthening fine motor skills, these tubs continue to build both math and language arts concepts.

Students use mini stickers to follow the outline of an umbrella. They then count how many stickers they used.

Students extend the cottontail’s pattern using tweezers.

 

Students use tweezers to locate raindrops in plastic grass. They then solve the word puzzles each raindrop makes.

 

Students use a bunny hole punch to illustrate addition equations.

 

Students dig in therapy putty to remove colored beads, which they sort and graph.

 

Students choose a number card and place that number of ducks in the pond. They then write the two numbers that come before their chosen number.

Students choose a container and sort the erasers by carrot and bunny. They count the number of each and record that number in the coordinating box, writing an addition equations. Students then solve the equation.

 

Students create raindrop number bonds.

 

Students play a game of greater than or less than when they choose a duck, read the two-digit number, spin the spinner, and compare their number to their partner’s number.

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