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printables

Woolly Valentine’s Day Crafts

February 6, 2021 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Soft and dreamy woolly sheep Valentine's Day crafts decked with hearts and pompoms. The crafts make heart-tugging keepsakes.
Soft and dreamy woolly sheep Valentine's Day crafts decked with hearts and pompoms. The crafts make heart-tugging keepsakes.

Here are two, oh so cute woolly Valentine’s Day crafts your little learners will be excited to make, and loved ones will be elated to receive.


Items To Collect

Woolly sheep valentine craft supplies.

purple, pink, red and white pompoms

white glue and glue paddle

paper, foam or sticker hearts

8 ½ x 11-inch white or cream cardstock paper

12-inch x 12-inch cardstock paper

sheep template

glue stick

scissors

hot glue gun


Making The Woolly Valentine’s Day Crafts

Print the sheep template on to 8 ½ x 11-inch cardstock.

Cute sheep template for farm or holiday crafts.

Sheep PrintableDownload

This printable is for individual or one classroom use only.


Set the template on a table and invite your early learners to add sticker, paper, or foam hearts to the sheep’s body.  Then invite them to glue pompoms to the head. Your little charges will love the chance to use soft and showy pompoms in art.

Cute woolly sheep craft for Valentine's Day. Free printable included.

Print this version to include the header “I Woolly Think You’re Special.”

Cute woolly sheep template for a Valentine's Day craft.

Woolly Sheep PrintableDownload

This printable is for individual or one classroom use only.


Or cut the sheep out and have your little learners decorate one. Afterward, mount the sheep on to complementary pieces of 12-inch x 12-inch cardstock paper using a glue gun. Add a “woolly” Valentine’s Day saying of choice.

Soft and dreamy woolly sheep Valentine's Day craft.

[Read more…] about Woolly Valentine’s Day Crafts

Filed Under: art, friends, party, preschool, Valentine's Day Tagged With: printables, sheep, Valentine's Day craft, valentines

Chinese Money Tree Activities

February 2, 2021 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Easy to do, creative Chinese money tree activities that give early learners a chance to use shiny gold coins and loose parts in art and sensory play while learning about a world-renowned celebration.
Easy to do, creative Chinese money tree activities that give early learners a chance to use shiny gold coins and loose parts in art and sensory play while learning about a world-renowned celebration.

Chinese money trees have been part of Chinese New Year celebrations since the 1980s and are a symbol of luck and wealth. People buy money trees for their homes and place them in strategic places. They also purchase and display shiny, metallic tree ornaments laden with gold coins. Here are art and sensory Chinese money tree activities your early learners will enjoy.


Chinese Money Tree Tray

Set a tree drawing inside a wooden tray. Add containers with Chinese coins and green and gold gems.

Invitation to decorate a Chinese money tree with gold coins and acrylic gems.

Feel free to download this template for the project.


Tree PrintableDownload

This printable is for individual or one classroom use only.


Invite your little learners to decorate the tree.

Invitation to decorate a Chinese money tree with gold coins and acrylic gems.

[Read more…] about Chinese Money Tree Activities

Filed Under: art, Chinese New Year, gardening, preschool, sensory, trees Tagged With: Chinese New Year, loose parts, printables, sensory tray

Recycled Card Mitten Matching

January 31, 2021 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Mitten and snowflake matching math activity using recycled cards.
Mitten and snowflake matching math activity using recycled cards.

Christmas is one of the best times to collect recycled cards for classroom activities. I ask people to save their cards for me and then file them away for future use. Cards are beautiful and add an arty flair to any project. And winter-themed cards are perfect for this recycled card mitten matching challenge.

For this activity, select cards with a snowy, winter theme. Christmas cards frequently have this. Cut mitten shapes from the cards. Use one of these templates if you wish. I made the mittens in two sizes!

Mitten template.

Large Mitten PrintableDownload

This printable is for personal or one classroom use only.


Mitten template.

Mitten PrintableDownload

This printable is for personal or one classroom use only.


Punch shapes from the center of the mittens. I used a snowflake paper punch, but any shape could be punched or cut out. Then set the mittens and punched shapes out on a table. Invite early learners to match the cutouts to the mittens.

Mitten pattern matching math activity.

[Read more…] about Recycled Card Mitten Matching

Filed Under: art, Math, preschool, winter Tagged With: mittens, printables, recycled cards

New Year’s Countdown Activities

December 30, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Art and math New Year's countdown activities. Printmaking with fringed toilet rolls, collage art, and number matching opportunities.
Art and math New Year's countdown activities. Printmaking with fringed toilet rolls, collage art, and number matching opportunities.

This post is an updated version of one of last year’s posts.

These New Year’s countdown activities give practice in number recognition and counting down from 10 to 1. And how fun is it for early learners to print fireworks with fringed toilet paper rolls!


Printmaking Fireworks

Supplies needed:

Happy New Year printable (downloadable below)

scissors

toilet paper rolls

magenta, yellow and light blue tempera paint

small plates or container lids

paint brushes


Happy New Year Printable

New Year's Countdown template to use for art and math activities with young children. Invitation to add paint print fireworks, count down from 10 t0 1 and match numbers.

The “Happy New Year” printable can be printed on 8 1/2 inch x 11-inch paper, or 11-inch by 17-inch paper.


Happy New Year PrintableDownload

This printable is for individual or one classroom use only.


[Read more…] about New Year’s Countdown Activities

Filed Under: art, Math, preschool Tagged With: Happy New Year, painting, printables, printmaking

New Year’s Crafts

December 29, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Glitzy, easy to make 2021 New Year's keepsake crafts that enhance eye-hand coordination, fine motor control, patterning, and number recognition.
Glitzy, easy to make 2021 New Year's keepsake crafts that enhance eye-hand coordination, fine motor control, patterning, and number recognition.

2021 is just around the corner, and who doesn’t mind having some easy to do New Year’s crafts at their fingertips. These activities double up as 2021 keepsakes. You can choose from several versions.


2021 Collage Craft

Supplies Needed:

glitter gold cardstock

tan cardstock

8 ½ x 11-inch cream cardstock

gold sequins, stars, balls and confetti

gold glitter glue

glue paddle

collage containers

adhesive gems

black or gold metallic felt pen

pencil

scissors

glue stick or glue gun


Making The 2021 Collage Craft

Trace your little learner’s hand on a piece of tan cardstock, or let your child do the tracing.

Help your child cut out the hand.

Add gold glitter glue and the craft bits to small containers. Just collect any gold colored craft items you have around for the collaging.

Set out the gold bits, glue, glue paddle, and paper hand on a table.

Gold craft supplies to decorate traced hands.

Invite your little one to glam up the hand with the collage items, using the glitter glue as an adhesive.

Let the collaged hand dry.

Cut a number one and a pair of number two shapes from gold glitter cardstock or a gold gift bag. Download the printable further on in this post to use as a template if desired.

On cream-colored cardstock, help your little learner use a glue stick to tack on a number two, the decorated hand, another number two, and a number 1. Reinforce the shapes with a glue gun if needed. Add a greeting with a black or gold metallic felt pen.

Gold-themed traced hand 2021 keepsake craft.

The glitzy hand takes center stage in this craft.


[Read more…] about New Year’s Crafts

Filed Under: art, Math, preschool Tagged With: Happy New Year, keepsakes, printables

Scissor Skill Gingerbread Man Craft

December 19, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Gingerbread man craft with scissor skill opportunities. Christmas-themed craft supplies are used to decorate the kraft paper gingerbread man.
Gingerbread man craft with scissor skill opportunities. Christmas-themed craft supplies are used to decorate the kraft paper gingerbread man.
.

Gingerbread man stories and activities are definitely one of the most fun parts of Christmas. Including them in my preschool plans is an annual routine.

After reading a few fun-filled gingerbread man picture books to my preschoolers this month, I was eager to set out a scissor skill gingerbread man craft so they could explore beautiful bits and baubles and practice cutting and gluing. This activity would be easy to set up for the little learners in your life.


Craft Materials To Collect

Gather Christmas-themed craft materials that can be cut and glued, or simply glued.

Compartment sorting tray with Christmas-themed craft supplies.

Included in this compartment sorting tray are:

gingerbread man themed cupcake liners

striped straws

cream lace

Christmas bows

pompoms

feathers

pipe cleaners

tissue paper squares

bead garland

thick ribbon pieces

The color scheme for this scissor skill craft is red, yellow, green, gold, and cream.


[Read more…] about Scissor Skill Gingerbread Man Craft

Filed Under: art, Christmas, preschool, sensory Tagged With: Christmas craft, gingerbread man, loose parts, printables

Handprint Christmas Crafts

December 18, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Heart-tugging handprint Christmas crafts using paper bags as a base. Featured are heart, Christmas tree, reindeer, and fish ornament crafts.
Heart-tugging handprint Christmas crafts using paper bags as a base. Featured are heart, Christmas tree, reindeer, and fish ornament crafts.

There has been a return in popularity of paper grocery bags, so why not use a few for handprint Christmas crafts? The bags are sturdy and give craft projects a vintage feel.

Here are a few festive, heart-tugging crafts that employ brown paper bags as a base.


Handprint Heart Decorations

Cut hearts from paper grocery bags. Feel free to download this heart printable to use as a template.

Heart printable for art and craft projects.

Heart TemplateDownload

This printable is for personal or one classroom use only.


Set out bright red tempera paint and a paper heart. Invite your early learner to dip a hand in the paint and make a print on the heart.

Invitation to make a red handprint on a paper bag heart.

Or, invite your little one to paint a hand and then make the print. This takes more time, but the result is often neater.

Invitation to paint a hand to make a print on a paper bag heart.

After the handprint heart dries, hot glue on a red bow. Then add a looped ribbon to hang the craft.

Red handprint heart craft ready for hanging.

[Read more…] about Handprint Christmas Crafts

Filed Under: art, Christmas, preschool Tagged With: Christmas craft, Christmas tree, handprint crafts, ornaments, paper bag crafts, printables

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Hi, I'm Annette Kaminsky. Thanks for visiting my blog. I hope you find inspiration and leave some for me! Feel free to stay awhile!

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puttingtheprettyin.preschool

The bright sun streaming through my office window The bright sun streaming through my office window belies the fact that it is -16  degrees C /  3.2 degrees F outside. So an icy ice drum post it is!  This activity can be done indoors or outside any time of the year. ❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️ 🌞🌞🌞 🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈

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This post is inspired by the storybook “The Snow This post is inspired by the storybook “The Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats. The book was published in 1962 and features an African-American boy as the main character. I read the story every winter to my preschoolers and they are spellbound each time. ❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

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A heart jewelry sensory tray that goes beyond Vale A heart jewelry sensory tray that goes beyond Valentine’s Day with its spring colors. The jewelry theme is inspired by a post by @littlelilacpreschool .

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Happy Valentine’s Day! Here’s a last minute cr Happy Valentine’s Day! Here’s a last minute craft for dinosaur lovers. Link in profile to a free printable. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

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Make a last minute purchase at this Valentine’s Make a last minute purchase at this Valentine’s Day store! 😍

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Invitation to decorate a Chinese money tree. This Invitation to decorate a Chinese money tree. This activity is inspired by an invitation to decorate a cherry tree by @rubberbootsandelfshoes .  Money tree facts and a free tree printable are #ontheblog .
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A woolly Valentine’s Day craft. The pattern for A woolly Valentine’s Day craft. The pattern for this craft is now on the blog...link in profile.

This craft was first featured last year and is inspired by a post from Agnes @hellowonderful_co . I’ve shared her adorable version in my stories.

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Valentine’s Day playdough invitation. The dough Valentine’s Day playdough invitation. The dough in the middle is jello playdough. The dough on the right is my all time favourite basic playdough recipe.  The recipes for these three varieties are on the blog. Link in profile.

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Sometimes you just want to use designer erasers fo Sometimes you just want to use designer erasers for their original purpose. 😅😅😅

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Dinosaur fossils have been found all over the worl Dinosaur fossils have been found all over the world, even in cold, icy places like Alaska and Antarctica. But could dinosaurs have survived in polar regions? Link in profile to a blogpost that explores this topic with scientific views and sensory activities.
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Sensory tray inspired by polar ornaments.

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Chickpea based Chinese New Year sensory tub. The c Chickpea based Chinese New Year sensory tub. The chickpeas are dyed with varying amounts of red acrylic paint, and some are left undyed. Read my latest blogpost  to find out more about the chickpea dying process. Link in profile.

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Recent Posts

  • Ice Drum Musical Instruments February 26, 2021
  • Arctic Animal Facts And Sensory Trays February 25, 2021
  • Valentine’s Day Gingerbread Cookies February 18, 2021
  • Jewelry Sensory Tray February 15, 2021
  • Valentine’s Day Musical Instruments February 14, 2021
  • Dinosaur Valentine Craft February 13, 2021
  • Scissor Skill Heart Collage February 10, 2021
  • Valentine’s Day Playdough Activities February 7, 2021
  • Valentine’s Day Sensory Tubes February 6, 2021
  • Woolly Valentine’s Day Crafts February 6, 2021

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