From the category archives:

Read & Write

Rainbow Poems

We have been having a crazy mix of rain and sun (and hail!) – just the perfect weather for rainbow-hunting! With rainbows on our mind, I gave the girls this simple rainbow poem coloring sheet:

Natalie decided to make her poem about rainbow-colored fruit, and Delaney was using Lois Ehlert’s Planting a Rainbow for rainbow flower [...]

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My girls have been looking ahead on their calendars to find the next holiday – guess it’s time to pull out some St. Patrick’s Day activities!
In the deep, dark archives of my teaching days I found this fun fill-in-the-blank book that you can make with your child, along with a happy little leprechaun to walk [...]

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Thankful Poems

Doesn’t Thanksgiving fall at a perfect time? Just when my girls start rattling off their extensive Christmas wish lists, I can pull out some Thanksgiving books and crafts and we can all reflect more deeply about what we are truly thankful for. Gratitude is always a topic of conversation around here, but even more so [...]

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Sweet Scarecrow

Delaney and I spent some time doing an art project together, just the two of us. She loves doing free art exploration, but had been asking to do a “project” for a couple days. I showed her a couple of the projects geared toward Kindergartners and First Graders at Deep Space Sparkle (an awesome kids’ [...]

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List Poems

I love to read and write poems with my girls and they love it, too! We have been trying out all different kinds of poetry forms, and for the most part, I take dictation while they compose their poetic masterpieces. There is just something satisfying about putting a few simple words together and creating an [...]

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Paint Bag Writing

Learning to write letters and numbers can be frustrating for little hands! I like to offer lots of play activities that help build those fine motor skills in a relaxed, fun way. Toddlers and up will enjoy making shapes, swirls, and even letters on a ziploc bag filled with paint!
To make your own paint bag [...]

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Exploring Apples

We have been celebrating the arrival of fall with some fun apple exploration – I love apple season! We are planning a trip to the apple orchard soon. In the meantime, here’s what we’ve been up to:

sink or float?

How many teddy bears does your apple weigh?

sketching the inside of an apple

apple printing
Yesterday, we brought home [...]

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Taking Dictation

There is really nothing like the imagination of a preschool-age child! Long before they can write their own stories, children are ready and eager to tell their own stories. It is wonderfully empowering for a child to see her words written down as a “real” story. So, what are you waiting for? Grab some paper [...]

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Time Capsule in a Tube

One of our first-week-of-school projects was making these simple time capsules using a cardboard tube. Start by collecting, writing, or drawing some things to go inside. My girls traced their hands, drew a self-portrait, filled in a list of favorites, and thought of three things they want to learn about. We also cut a string [...]

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Hink Pink Riddles

My girls love a good riddle, especially when the answer rhymes – double giggles! A hink pink is simply that – a pair of single-syllable rhyming words that answers a riddle. Try these out on your kiddos:

What do you call a crying father? sad dad
What do chickens write with? hen pen

What do you call a [...]

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