spring

Bee and Sunflower Sensory Bin

May 26, 2024 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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It is common to see bees hovering around sunflowers, as bees love the generous supply of nectar and pollen that sunflowers produce. Bees pollinate sunflowers so are helpful to these giant-headed flowers in return. Their relationship is the inspiration for this bee and sunflower sensory bin.

Sensory Bin Supplies

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In searching for supplies, my first stops are always at discount or dollar stores. This is often all that is needed to add specialty items to a sensory setup. The following locally found supplies are in this insect and flower sensory bin:

honeycomb ice cube tray
honey pot and dippers
sunflower-themed spatula
bee figurine
artificial sunflowers
bumblebee stickers
pompoms
pearl beads
spatula
bowl and spoon

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The Bee and Sunflower Sensory Bin

White glutinous rice, one of my favorite supplies, is the bee and sunflower sensory bin base. The bin itself is a bus tub, another favorite accessory.

A honeypot and honeycomb ice cube tray are eye-catching feature accessories.

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Artificial sunflower heads and a sunflower-themed spatula represent the sunflower theme.

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In addition to one life-like bee figurine, bumblebee stickers without the white paper-backing removed provide opportunities for counting and sorting.

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Pearl beads and pompoms in various sizes add interest and offer fine motor and eye-hand coordination opportunities.

Preschoolers love sensory play, and setting up a bee and sunflower-themed sensory bin for your little charges will surely have them buzzing with excitement.

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Honeycomb Cereal Necklace Lacing

A fun honeycomb cereal "snowflake" necklace lacing activity that is great for fine motor control and eye-hand coordination practice.

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Spider Theme Activities

Green Huntsman Spider Activities

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Baby Chick Theme Activities

April 18, 2024 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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These baby chick theme activities are inspired by Mo Willem’s picture book titled “That Is Not A Good Idea.” The activities include two storybooks about chicks, a chick headband craft, chick songs and chants, a hen and chick coloring page, discussing the life stages of a chicken, and performing “The Chicken Dance.” A free downloadable chick headband template is included in the post.

Picture Books About Hens and Chicks

Two picture books perfect for a baby chick theme day are:

“The Cow That Laid An Egg” by Andy Cutbill. In the humorous story, chickens hatch a plan to help a cow that thinks she is ordinary feel extraordinary. A little chick hatched from an egg is part of the plan.
“That Is Not A Good Idea” by Mo Willems. The characters in the picture book are a wolf, a hen, and a brood of chickens. The story is suspenseful and fun and has a delightful surprise ending.

Chick Headband Crafts

These simple chick headband crafts look super cute and help get little learners in the mood to act out baby chicks in rhymes, chants, and action songs. Pick one design to create with your little learners. Then invite them to wear it for music time and dramatic play.

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Children welcome the opportunity to use specialized art supplies in a craft. Wiggly eyes and a feather tuft accent this first chick headband.

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To keep the craft simpler, use construction paper for the entire headband. The colorful paper headband looks equally sweet.

To make craft preparation super easy, download this free chick headband template to use for the craft.

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Chick Headband PrintableDownload

This printable is for individual or one classroom use only.

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Don’t have construction paper in the colors needed? No problem. Download the template and invite participants to use crayons to color the pieces before assembling them into a chick headband.

Songs And Chants About Baby Chicks

Wearing a chick headband sets the mood for language arts and musical activities. The fun baby chick songs and chants featured in a blog post by Teaching Mama are perfect for the theme.

Chick Coloring Page

A simple hen and chick coloring page is a good calming activity. There are many options to choose from online.

Life Cycle of a Chicken Figurines

Hen and chick life cycle figurines by Safari Ltd. are great accessories to use to explain the life cycle of a chicken.

The Chicken Dance Song

A fitting ending for the baby chick theme day is dancing to a version of The Chicken Dance song. It’s bound to send everyone off in good spirits.

These baby chick theme activities are perfect for an Easter, spring, or farm animal theme.

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Easter Clothespin Fine Motor Activities

March 24, 2024 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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Clothespins are traditionally used for hanging clothes, towels, and sheets on a line, and little learners love a chance to do this in the classroom. Clothespins also have creative uses and are easy to incorporate into seasonal activities. These DIY Easter clothespin fine motor activities work well in a spring theme.

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Clothespin Egg Fine Motor Activity

Supplies to Collect

For this cute clothespin egg activity, gather the following:

wooden egg craft shape
white or cream acrylic paint
paintbrush
bunny and chick stickers
felt craft bunny head
wooden clothespins
glue gun

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Preparing the Clothespin Egg Activity

To prepare this easy DIY clothespin egg fine motor activity, start by painting a large wooden egg craft shape with white or cream-colored acrylic paint.

After the paint has dried, affix Easter or spring stickers around the edge of the egg using a glue gun. These iridescent puffy bunny and chick stickers are an attractive choice.

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Then use the glue gun to affix matching stickers to the tips of wooden clothespins.

If desired, add a felt bunny head for a finishing touch to the egg.

Set the sticker-decorated clothespins and egg on a table. Invite little learners to clip the bunny and chick clothespins to their match on the egg.

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Clothespins, Eggs, and Color Words

To extend play and add a language arts component to the activity, write the color of each bunny and chick on a 4 ½ inch x 11-inch piece of cardstock paper.

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Next, add bunny or egg stickers underneath. Set the cardstock strip on the table along with the clothespins for children to use.

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In addition, set out a strip with the color words and no stickers. Invite participants to clip bunny and chick-decorated clothespins to their matching color word.

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More Easter Clothespin Fine Motor Play

For even more practice using clothespins, set the decorated clothespins on a table with an Easter treat bucket. Invite little learners to clip clothespins around the rim of the pail. This activity is sure to be a hit.

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Benefits of Clothespin Activities

Clothespin activities are loved by young children. in addition to being fun, clipping clothespins to objects is great for finger and hand strengthening and hand-eye coordination. These Easter clothespin fine motor activities add a seasonal touch to the exercises.

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Related:

Alphabet and Number Matching Game

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[Read more…]

Easter Bunny Light Table Activity

March 23, 2024 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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There are a lot of great educational toys for the light table, and I regularly collect them. Routine shopping trips can lead to beautiful, unexpected finds for the center. This Easter bunny light table activity was assembled after a prize find on one of my run-of-the-mill trips.

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Easter Bunny Light Table Supplies

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The following supplies are in this effortless Easter bunny light table activity:

transparent tabletop bunnies
bunny candy holders
transparent plastic egg garland
large clear bowl
clear reusable egg tray
clear plastic egg carton

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The Easter Bunny Light Table Activity

Transparent acrylic and polyester tabletop bunnies were the unique find and are the inspiration for this Easter light table activity.

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Bunny candy holders, easily picked up at dollar stores, add variety to the bunny collection.

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Plastic eggs in transparent spring colors cut from an Easter garland are set in a clear bowl for sorting.

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A clear reusable egg tray and a clear plastic egg carton are the sorting containers.

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More Easter Light Table Ideas

To keep things simpler, skip the transparent bunnies and go with bunny candy holders, transparent fillable Easter eggs, egg trays, and round acrylic gems.

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For more light play fun, set out Easter bunny, chick, and carrot candy holders along with light-up Easter chicks and acrylic gems for little learners to explore.

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More Light Table Play Ideas

Rainbow Light Table Sensory Tray

Gorgeous Eye Dropper Art

Canada Day Light Table

Transparent Page Divider Activities

Light Table Leaf Exploration

Christmas Light Table Small World

Valentine’s Day Light Table Play

Valentine’s Day Jewelry Light Table

St. Patrick’s Day Light Table Tray

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[Read more…]

Tree Art Bulletin Board

July 13, 2023 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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This bright tree art bulletin board is inspired by the stunning storybook called “The Wind and the Trees” by Todd Stewart. I discovered the book at a local library and instantly fell in love with the tender story and vibrant illustrations. The picture book provided just the inspiration I was looking for to redo a bulletin board begging for a change.

In the storybook, an old pine tree teaches a young sapling about the benefits and dangers of wind. Over the course of the story, the old pine weakens and deteriorates and the young sapling slowly grows bigger. By the end of the story, a storm wind has knocked the old tree down, and a seedling soon takes its place.

The vivid silkscreen illustrations in this heartwarming children’s book show the same scene on each page in different weather, seasons, and times of the day. Tree trunks, needles, and skies are designed in beautiful, varying color schemes. Woodland animals are included subtly in silhouette form on many of the pages.

A pink and red-leafed woodland tree design that fits in with a spring blossom theme.

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As I am accustomed to doing an art-themed bulletin board using the same tree in different seasons or times of day, I soon realized that drawing inspiration from the color combinations in the book would work nicely for a new tree art bulletin board. The tree art design is easy to replicate in a space you have available.

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Supplies To Collect

Colored tree trunks prepared for a picture book-inspired tree art bulletin board project. An easy-to do, all ages art activity.

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A selection of quality sturdy paper and a few other supplies are needed for this woodland papercraft project. Gather the following:

tree template
9-inch x 12-inch fade-resistant construction paper in a variety of colors
cardstock in an array of colors
glitter cardstock
glue stick
paper punches
woodland animal stickers
pencil and scissors

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Preparing The Tree Art Craft

To plan out this tree art bulletin board, decide on a few different color schemes. I chose eight, but you can easily go with four. View the picture book “The Wind and the Trees” by Todd Stewart for color palette ideas.

Select a background color, tree trunk hue, and leaf colors for each tree art design. Use the paper choices you have available to pick color combinations.

Tip: Acid-free or fade-resistant paper is worth investing in for papercraft projects. The colors stay bright much longer.

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Then use a template to cut out paper tree trunks. Feel free to download the template below to make your craft preparation easier.

Download this free, user-friendly tree template for art and craft activities. The template is perfect for bulletin board art.

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Tree Craft PrintableDownload

This printable is for individual or one classroom use only.

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Use two different-sized heart paper punches to create leaves. A few metallic paper leaves add a little glitz and are often children’s favorite collage pieces to use.

Note: The tree in the picture book is a pine. I chose a deciduous tree for my designs because its leaves work well for collage projects.

Next, glue a tree trunk to each background piece of paper.

Afterward, invite children to affix heart leaves to their trees using a glue stick.

Sunset-themed woodland tree art inspired by a picture book.

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Finally, participants can add paper punched and/or sticker woodland animals to their tree scenes. I used paper-punched birds and butterflies, and sticker deer, foxes, rabbits, raccoons, bears, squirrels, and porcupines.

Night-time woodland tree art inspired by a picture book.

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The Tree Art Bulleting Board Display

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Displaying the tree art is easy when using a rectangular bulletin board. Arrange the art in a sequence of color designs, and repeat the pattern for the whole display. An alternative is to display the art randomly or in another pattern of your choice.

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More About “The Wind and the Trees” Picture Book

In addition to being an inspiration for art projects, this gorgeous picture book by Todd Stewart is perfect for a tree or nature theme. Through colorful pictures and wisdom-filled print, it communicates the life cycle of trees. It also shares the following details about how wind benefits and hurts trees:

How The Wind Benefits Trees

tree roots grow deeper
tree bark becomes stronger
messages and signals are carried from one tree to another
seeds are scattered so new trees can grow

The Dangers Of Wind To Trees

roots are stretched
tree trunks and branches dry
older trees get knocked down

Lastly, the pictures also depict a variety of woodland animals for children to spot and name, such as bats, owls, squirrels, bees, eagles, a raccoon, and a porcupine.

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