preschool

Maple Leaf Activities

November 1, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Maple leaf paint print activities. Art, math, and display ideas for maple leaves.

Maple trees flourish in eastern Canada and turn vibrant colors in autumn. But I happily settled for these deep green maple leaves from a tree that can survive our harsh Alberta winters. When painted, they produce striking leaf prints. The prints look stunning displayed but can also be used for other maple leaf activities.

Maple Leaf Activities

Leaf Prints

Early learners can join in making maple leaf prints. Set out orange, yellow, and red tempera paints, paintbrushes, and large pieces of sturdy paper. Invite your little learners to paint the leaves, turn them over, and press them onto the paper. Encourage them to gently rub all over each leaf before removing them.

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Spooky Hands Craft

October 29, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

This shiny spooky hands craft is effortless to do and uses easy to gather materials. The supplies for this project can be found at your local grocery and dollar stores.

Supplies Needed

white corn syrup

orange, green, and purple food coloring

paint containers and brushes

spoons

spider-themed fake nails

skull-themed fake nails

polka dot fake nails

Q-Tips

spider gems

sturdy white paper

black permanent felt pen

scissors

Taste safe corn syrup paint ingredients.

Traced hands and supplies needed to make spider, skull, and skeleton hand-themed crafts.

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Toilet Paper Roll Monsters

October 21, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Toilet paper roll monster craft and activities. Easy to make watercolor painted monsters to use with stacking blocks or a red split lentil-based sensory bin.

For most of the year, there has been a plethora of recycled crafts and activities posted on blogs and social media, and toilet paper rolls have been a “hot” material for craft and sensory projects. Debuting in this post are spunky toilet paper roll monsters. They are so simple to make and can be used with toys or in sensory bins for imaginative play.

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Scented Playdough Activities

October 18, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

This two-ingredient playdough is super aromatic and has a unique consistency. It is easy and quick to make and inspires endless scented playdough activities.

Playdough Ingredients

The only ingredients needed are cornstarch and scented hair conditioner. Low cost perfumed conditioners can be picked up at Dollar stores and local grocery stores. Food coloring is an optional third ingredient.

Below are the supplies to collect for three scented playdough variations.

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Horse Chestnut Leaf Art Activities

October 12, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

A horse chestnut leaf featured in five easy to do art projects that are suitable for all ages.

Horse chestnut tree leaves are sizable and showy and have that “wow” factor. They are deep green compound leaves with five to seven leaflets that live on a tree that is beautiful throughout the seasons. The palmate leaves are showcased along with large, spiked flowers in spring. They turn golden yellow in autumn and are accompanied by dramatic, prickly lime green fruits that are coverings for ultra-smooth nut-like seeds called conkers. The leaves are a spectacular subject for art. Featured in this post are five horse chestnut leaf art activities that are easy to do with your early learners.

Horse chestnut tree flowers in spring. — Flowers in spring.

Horse chestnut tree with fruit in autumn. — Leaves and fruit in autumn.

Horse chestnut tree conkers on the left, and broken fruit casings on the right. — Conkers and empty fruit casings.

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Turkey Sensory Tubes

October 3, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Here are three quick and inviting turkey sensory tubes to put together for a Thanksgiving, fall, or farm theme. I used large water bottles with wide mouths purchased at a dollar store for these activities. Offer the tubes to little learners and have them “spot the turkeys.”

Three "Spot The Turkey" sensory tubes. Split pea and lentil base, glitter water base, and craft material base sensory tube ideas.

Split Pea And Lentil Based Sensory Tube

Split pea and lentil-based turkey sensory tube with turkey counters, and leaf, pumpkin, and apple gems.

This calming turkey sensory tube features a red split lentil and yellow split pea base. Also included are:

red, orange, and yellow rubber turkey counters

pumpkin and apple gems

fall round and leaf gems

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Carrot Theme Activities

August 18, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

One of the easiest vegetables to grow in an indoor or outdoor garden is carrots. This makes carrot activities ideal for hands-on nature experiences with young children.

Carrot theme sensory, art, and baking activities.

We usually think of carrots as orange, but did you know that they come in a variety of colors? You can purchase a rainbow bunch, which has purple, red, orange, yellow, and white carrots. Being a lover of all things colorful, I chose rainbow carrots for some of the carrot theme activities.

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Sea Star Activities And Facts

August 3, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Sea star theme activities for early learners. Art, sensory, and math activities featured. Sea star facts and links to resources included.

Sea stars have no trouble taking the spotlight along the sea edge or in an aquarium. They are stunning ocean creatures and come in a huge array of colors. And these sea star activities for early learners? They deliver.

Follow on Pinterest for more activities.

Ten Fast Facts About Sea Stars

Many sea stars live in shallow water; all live on the ocean floor.

Five-armed sea stars are common, but some have 10, 20, or even 40 arms.

Just like octopuses, sea stars can grow back a lost arm.

Sea star eyes are at the end of their arms and look like red spots.

Up to thirty-five years is how long sea stars can live.

Sea water gets pumped through sea star bodies instead of blood.

Hundreds of tube feet on the underside of their bodies help sea stars move, hang on to rocks, and pull away.

Sea stars have soft bellies and tough spiny or leathery skin on their backs.

Clams, oysters, and snails are foods these carnivorous creatures eat.

Their bright colors allow sea stars to blend in with their surroundings, and help scare off attackers.

Sea Star Activities

Sea Star Sensory Tray

Sea stars purchased at a craft store, and seashells, smooth rocks, and gems arranged in blue-hued water make an inviting sensory tray for early learners to explore.

Sea Star Counting

Colorful sea star counters and a ten frame give little learners hands-on counting practice. Download the ten frame here.

Taste Safe Playdough And Sea Stars

This no-cook, easy to make playdough recipe is taste safe. Anyone with a sweet tooth will love it.

You will need:

1 cup store-bought vanilla frosting

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup icing sugar

yellow and red food coloring

Mix and knead the frosting, cornstarch and icing sugar in a bowl. This should make a moldable dough. If the playdough is a little sticky, knead in a bit more cornstarch. If the dough is dry, add a spoon or two of frosting.

Divide the dough into a large and small lump. In the smaller lump, knead in a little yellow and red food coloring. Place the playdough pieces on a tray along with sea stars, sea star molds, shells, stars, and chocolate chips. (Read on to find out why chocolate chips are on the tray.) Any ocean-themed loose parts you have handy will work.

Invite your early learner to explore the playdough and loose parts.

Sea star sensory play invitation using taste safe playdough.

The recipe makes enough playdough for one or two children to use. Multiply the ingredients if more little learners are participating in the activity.

Playdough Chocolate Chip Sea Star

Yes, there are starfish named “chocolate chip sea stars!” These sea stars come in a variety of colors but always have dark brown spots on top. They grow up to 15 inches / 38 centimeters in size and make good pets.

Invite your little learner to mold a five-armed chocolate chip sea star with the vanilla playdough. Then encourage adding little dots of orange-red playdough to the top of the starfish, and pressing in chocolate chips. This will complete the sea star.

Chocolate chip sea star made with taste safe playdough.

This sea star is featured in the engaging picture book “I See Sea Food: Sea Creatures That Look Like Food” by Jenna Grodzicki.

Sea Star Art

The two-ingredient paint recipe used in this art activity has previously been featured in my Octopus Theme Activities blog post. It works well in sea star art too. This project is inspired by the pink short-spined sea star. Click the link below for a video tutorial.

Taste safe painted sea star inspired by the pink short-spined sea star.

View a Sea Star Art video tutorial.

Video tutorial featuring a taste safe painted starfish inspired by the pink short-spined sea star. This is an all-ages art activity.

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Northern Lights Squish Painting

July 22, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Northern lights inspired squish and string painting. Facts about northern lights included. An all-ages art activity to celebrate nature's dazzling light show.

Northern lights, or auroras, are nature’s majestic light shows sent from the heavens to earth. They are spectacular to view and stunning in photographs or art. A northern lights squish painting project celebrates the vibrancy and uniqueness of this natural light display.

Ten Facts About Northern Lights

Northern lights are dazzling neon light shows visible in night skies.

Electrically charged particles from the sun interact with gases in the earth’s atmosphere to produce the auroras.

Charged particle collisions with oxygen in the upper atmosphere cause green dominant auroras; collisions with nitrogen in the slightly lower atmosphere cause blue or purple-red auroras.

Northern lights can also showcase pink, blue, orange, or yellow colors.

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St. Patrick’s Day Treasure Blocks

March 14, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Leprechauns add an element of fun to St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. And a leprechaun is the star sighting in these St. Patrick’s Day treasure blocks that are sure to appeal to little learners.

St. Patrick's Day treasure blocks featuring a leprechaun and shamrock themed craft supplies and coins.

Ten Things To Know About Leprechauns

In Irish stories passed down through oral tradition, leprechauns …

are tiny, imaginary men.

are older in age and have rust-colored beards.

make shoes for a living.

are good craftsmen and musicians.

collect gold for their work. Some stories say they keep it in a pot at the end of a rainbow for safekeeping.

are smart with a quick sense of humor.

are mischievous tricksters. They can easily distract people from getting their gold, or from having three wishes granted.

are hard to catch. Listening for the faint tapping sound of their little shoe hammers is a tip to track them down.

live in remote places and like to be by themselves.

No one has ever seen one!

St. Patrick's Day loose parts with gold coins, foil shamrocks, rainbows, pots of gold, and a leprechaun.

20^th Century photos and figurines usually show leprechauns as well dressed, wearing green coats, buckled shoes, and top hats. In earlier years they were dressed in dark red.

St. Patrick’s Day Treasure Blocks

There is plenty of gold to keep a leprechaun happy in these St. Patrick’s Day-themed treasure blocks.

Items in the treasure blocks:

leprechaun

gold and green beads

rainbow, pot of gold and top hat erasers

rainbow and pot of gold stickers on felt backing

green, gold, black, and white pom poms

gold and green coins

pot of gold confetti

shamrock confetti

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