XGirl is working on learning her numbers. Although she can count to 10, she only recognizes a few numbers. I have been trying to come up with creative ways to help her practice number recognition and number ordering. I created this activity, which I call Put the Numbers on the Clothesline, to capitalize on her interest in all things domestic ... Continue Reading
Teaching combinations of 10 {math activity for kids}
QBoy has shown a lot of interest in numbers and basic addition problems. He has mastered numbers 1 through 10 (and beyond). He loves it when we practice mental math, which at his age mostly consists of problems like "How much is 3 + 1?" and "If you have 5 apples and I take 2, how many will you have left?" He is already grouping items to ... Continue Reading
Shapes activity: How many ways can you make a shape?
We've been playing with shapes quite a bit in recent weeks. I've been giving my kids all sorts of different and playful shapes activities to help them engage, explore, and build with shapes. In this post I'm sharing a free shapes printable and accompanying shapes activity we did to look at all the different ways to make a shape. Note: For more ... Continue Reading
6 activities for learning about colors
One of the early skills we expect children to learn is to identify colors. Teaching colors to kids can be a lot of fun, as there are so many playful ways for learning about colors. Plus, there are so many dimensions we want kids to learn. For example, we may want them to first identify the basic colors like red, orange, yellow, etc. ... Continue Reading
Melting candle wax to explore states of matter
As part of our preschool science lessons, my kids have been learning about states of matter. As such, we've done a number of activities to learn about states of matter. We've discussed how objects can be classified as solids, liquids, or gasses. We've also discussed how objects will transition from one state to another (e.g., from a solid ... Continue Reading
Transportation Toys Do-a-Dot Printables
It seems like most boys - and a fair number of girls too - go through a phase where they are obsessed with one type of transportation toy or another. For my son, the obsession was trains. He has a big train set that was his favorite toy for more than a year when he was a bit younger. And I have friends whose kids have gone through car ... Continue Reading
Books about fire fighters for kids
My son is really into fire fighters right now. He'll be turning five soon, and what he really wants for his birthday is a fire suit complete with hat, mask, and oxygen tank. (Luckily for him he'll be getting most of what he wants. :-)) Because of his interest in fire fighters, we have been reading a lot of books on this topic. Below I ... Continue Reading
7 ways to have fun outdoors
Has the weather warmed up in your area yet? We've been cycling through really hot (above 90 degrees), moderate (70s), and cooler (60s) temperatures the last few weeks. But there have been enough warm and sunny days to make it feel like spring has arrived and summer is almost here. We've also enjoyed spending more time outside. If you are ... Continue Reading
Painting with strings
I often hesitate to do painting projects with my kids because of the mess that always ensues. When we do paint, I often do it outdoors in order to facilitate clean up. So now that the weather is warming up, we'll be getting outside more often to paint! For this activity, I wanted to try something a bit different. Rather than painting with ... Continue Reading
Ocean Do-a-Dot Printables
Has warm weather hit your area yet? We've been going back and forth between cooler temperatures (high 60s) and really hot temperatures (low 90s) over the last few weeks. On those really warm days, it feels like summer has arrived and it's time to hit the beach! So between our warm weather and our family's recent visit to the really ... Continue Reading
