Creating an Atmosphere for Learning // a roundup post

I recently had the privilege to collaborate on a post about preparing a learning environment within the home that was featured on Redfin. Hope you'll take away some new ideas and a renewed sense of purpose for your home learning space!

Snow Dough // a recipe {preschool fine motor activity}

We had a slight dusting of snow recently and it was the catalyst for our new homeschool unit. Preschool activities have been very seasonally focused this school year and I find it keeps us attuned to nature in a deeper way.

Preschool activities for home-bound learning // a roundup

In the midst of all the uncertainty during this current health scare we are facing I find myself searching for new activities to keep my kiddos engaged while learning. And I know I'm not alone in this endeavor (there's only so many showings of Frozen 2 one person can handle, amiright?!) I combed through my archives and gathered my favorite Preschool Activities that will best serve you and your child during these home bound times. My hope is you both have fun learning together!

This picture of Kinsey circa 2016 just slays me!

Preschool STEM opportunities with Snapology

Raise your hand if you've encountered the term STEM. It is the acronym that stands for: 

SCIENCE

TECHNOLOGY

ENGINEERING

MATHEMATICS

Chances are if you have a child in school than you already know what I'm talking about. 

As a Preschool teacher and mom to a three year old, I am constantly aware of the activities I share and make sure to include aspects of STEM learning whenever possible.

But why is STEM important? As explained here it is the foundation for a well rounded education and supports organic learning while making it fun!

And this is where Snapology comes in! It provides a place to go to engage in STEM learning and caters to ages 1 to 18! By incorporating the use of fun building blocks (think LEGO!) and being hands-on, it helps set the stage for life long learners.

"Snapology provides interactive, STEM / STEAM programs for children featuring technology and popular building toys such as LEGO® bricks and K’Nex®. Kids have so much fun in our programs, that they don’t realize just how much they are learning."

Snapology is a budding new program and unfortunately there are no locations close to us but there are franchise opportunities available, any takers? :)

This blog has a great roundup of STEM activities for toddlers and preschoolers. For more information about STEM visit here. 

This post is a partnership with Nakturnal.

Linking up here.

   

   

Children's Book Club // Dr Seuss fun {March}

Welcome to March's Children's Book Club, Jess and I are so happy you are joining us! What kind of Seuss fun have you had this month? I actually took this month's fun to my Preschool classroom and had a full week of silly shenanigans.

We had Slime in our water table/Colorful rocks in our sensory bin with Seuss characters/Patterning like The Cat in the Hat's hat/And finished it off with green eggs and ham!

Next month in celebration of Spring we will be reading Eric Carle's The Tiny Seed, so link up with us on Tuesday, April 18th! Below is some inspiration for you. And link up too!

An InLinkz Link-up

Eric Carle flowers // Do A Dot Flowers // Tissue Flowers // Flower Prints

Seed Packet Fun // Sorting Seeds // Plant Diagram // Growing a Seed

Linking up here.

   

   

The Day it Rained Hearts // Children's Book Club {February}

Thank you for joining Jess and I for another Children's Book Club link up. To celebrate the month of love we read The Day it Rained Hearts by Felicia Bond (the artist behind If You Give a Mouse a Cookie series) this is a cute story to read any time of year. I mean, how often as a kid did I wish for it to rain something other than water?

We kept it simple and made my absolute favorite sugar cookies but added red food coloring to make it that much more special. The recipe follows:

Sugar Cookies:

recipe from in Katrina's Kitchen

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract (this seriously makes the cookies divine!)

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 cups flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Cream butter and sugar until smooth

3. Beat in extracts and egg

4. In separate bowl mix together flour and baking powder and add a little bit at a time to wet ingredients.

5. Don't chill. Divide into workable batches and roll out onto floured surface and cut (about 1/4 inch thick.)

6. Bake at 350F  for 6-8 minutes (start off at 6 and add as needed. The longer the baking time the crispier the cookie.) Let cool on the cookie sheet fro 5 minutes and then move to baking rack to cool completely. Can top with icing etc or eat as is!

We make this recipe multiple times a year so it never disappoints. I hope you'll try these!

Next month is Dr Seuss's Birthday and Jess and I are so excited to announce that he is our featured author! You can choose your favorite Seuss book (I have several favorites so I'm not sure which one to choose yet!), do an activity with your child(ren) and then link back up with us on Tuesday, March 21st! I look forward to seeing all your wacky posts! Below is some inspiration for you to get started. And link up too!

An InLinkz Link-up

Put Me in the Zoo // The Lorax // Green Eggs and Ham // Cat in the Hat //

One Fish Two Fish // Ten Apples Up on Top // Fox in Socks //

Horton Hears a Who // Oh The Places You'll Go

Name Puzzle // Alphabet Game // Rhyming Egg Match

Goldfish Graph // Ten Apples Counting // One Fish Two Fish Goldfish // Pet: Add It, Build It

Slime Party // Stack the Cat's Hat // Oobleck

Hop on Pop Rhyming // Foot Book Opposites // Hop on Pop Letters

Truffula Trees // Cheese and Crackers // Hat Pizza // Green Eggs and Ham

Linking up here.

   

   

Children's Book Club // Snow Paint {Snowmen at Night}

I'm joining Jess to host Children's Book Club and have Amy's big shoes to fill so wish me luck! 

For those of you who don't know the premise of Children's Book Club it is a monthly link up where we share a book and some ideas for crafts, snacks, art, math etc to fully engage with your child(ren) and then we come back here and  share what we did! Then the next month's book is announced and we do it all over again! There is no set activity and the additional activities are just ideas to spark creativity and learning. Let's get started!

January's book is Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner and illustrated by Mark Beuhner. This was a new-to-me author and I love that it is a husband and wife team (reminded me of James and Audrey Woods when they were together.) The neat thing about Snowmen was the hidden pictures in each page- a Santa Face, a cat, a dinosaur and a bunny camouflaged throughout the story! Did you see them?

After spending way too much time searching every page for the hidden pictures I whipped up some Snow Paint for the girls.

This paint uses only three ingredients- salt, flour and water in equal parts. It looks like thick pancake batter but when it dries it looks like glittering snow! Er, I could be wrong about it since the last time I saw snow was in 2006 but it  is a neat sensory experience. And clean up is easy too.

Next month we'll be reading Day It Rained Hearts by Felicia Bond (of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie fame) Below is some inspiration. Come back here on Tuesday, February 21st  to share your activity! Now it's your turn to link up.

Alphabet Matching // Name Puzzle // Heart Letter Practice // Compliment Cards

Cupid's Arrow Toss // Cupcakes & Counting // Roll to Fill // Heart Rocket

Heart Sorting // Lacing // Lego Hearts // Counting

S'mores snack // Heart Pizza // Fruit Hearts

Heart Hopscotch

We hope to see you next month for February's Children's Book Club!

Linking up here.