Preschool Mother's Day Gifts

Hello all!

I just thought I would share some fun ideas for Mother's Day gifts! My Preschool class will be making these baby food jar candle holders (idea from freepreschoolcrafts.com):






Some other ideas are:

Stepping Stones

directions found at Tip Junkie

Cute hand print card



Painting wooden picture frames then insert a photo of the child

Turning clear stones into photo magnets is always a great gift!
Flat, clear stones can be purchased at a craft store. Take a photo of the child and trim down to the size of the stone. Adhere to the back of the stone with glue (photo side to the stone) and attach a magnet. These were an awesome gift for father's day last year!

My New Bamboo Create!

 

I am sooooo excited! I just ordered this Bamboo Create yesterday! I can finally take all my sketches digital and start making clipart again! I will post a link to my shutterstock and bigstock images when I get started! Keep on the look out for even more teacher printables, coloring sheets, and newsletters! 

Learning To Brush Our Teeth!

This was a fun activity for a dentist unit or just a fun activity to go with talking about brushing your teeth! I cut out large tooth shapes from paper. Then we pretended that our finger was a toothbrush! I gave everyone a squirt of "toothpaste" (shaving cream) and then we started to brush! We also practiced brushing for the amount of time that we should!

Vegetable Painting!

This activity is perfect for a plant theme!! This month we are doing plants and this was definitely a favorite activity! Most people have tried potato prints or apple prints but, try the rest of the produce department!! Mushrooms, peppers, carrots, celery, strawberries, corn, and especially cabbage! Check out the pictures for how it turned out!

Soil Sams!

As crazy as this activity might seem, the kids LOVE it! This activity teaches children about roots of plants and how they function. It also gives them an opportunity to grow something themselves and watch it sprout and grow "hair"!

You need the following:
-Pantyhose
-Soil
-Grass Seed
-Googly Eyes
-Plastic Cups
-Scoops
-Permanent Marker
-Glue

First cut the pantyhose so that you just have the foot part (about a six inch long section). Then, have the child choose what emotion to have their Soil Sam portray (happy, sad, mad, excited). Assist the child to glue on googly eyes and draw the face with permanent marker. (Draw the face with the open side of the pantyhose down).  Have the child scoop grass seed into the pantyhose (about 2 Tablespoons). Then fill the rest with soil (about 1-2 cups). Fill a plastic cup with water and place the Soil Sam in it. Watch his hair grow over time and discuss with the child how the seeds at the top gets the water at the bottom!

Bubble Themed Preschool Newsletter

Hope you like this one   :)

Straw Painting

This activity works really well using liquid watercolors and water. Or, you could just mix up some tempera paint with water.. that works too! :)    We splattered some watered down paint onto poster board (we used poster board to avoid the paper getting too wet and ruined) then.... I gave the kids straws and they blew the paint all over the paper!

Today's Paintings

Here are the paintings I did today! It was such a stress reliever and something to take my mind off the fact that I take my Praxis test tomorrow  :/  I'm excited to have yet another "to do" checked off of my list but, still nervous! Wish me luck!

Garden Theme Newsletter Template

Here is a new newsletter template! Perfect for May -- Enjoy!! :)

Light Table Ideas

Since my post yesterday seemed to spark a lot of interest, I thought I would give everyone some more fun ideas for a light table! Some things that I think are neat are:

 

-Jello!! This looks really neat on the light table. The kids can cut it, scoop it, squish it, whatever!!

-Transparent colored dividers. These can be cut into various shapes and can be used for making pictures, matching, color mixing (when overlapped), etc.

-Leaves and flowers. The kids loved exploring these on the light table after finding them outside. When the light shines through it shows all the details which provides a great learning experience!

 

- Magnatiles! If you have never seen these, you are missing out!!!  My kids go crazy over these -- and sometimes a little too crazy :) But, they are also awesome on the light table! They're transparent so when they're on the light table it adds a whole new wonder to them! I highly suggest checking these out. They're expensive but, if you're an ebayer like me I'm sure you can find a deal!