Monday, July 29, 2013

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Learning Through Play from Teach Me Tuesday

Happy Tuesday!!  Thanks for joining us at Teach Me Tuesday!!  Today I'm sharing some super fun ways to learn through play:




Also, I'm starting a new feature!

Featured Freebies will be a list of {FREE} printables from last week's linky party!

Free Blends Wall Cards from 3 Dinosaurs
Free Zoo Pack Update from 3 Dinosaurs
Free Sight Word Dolch Cards from 3 Dinosaurs
Free Sight Word Dolch Lists from 3 Dinosaurs
Free Spell It! (a spelling game) from The Measured Mom
Free Fairy Tale Emergent Readers from The Measured Mom
Free Dot Sticker Letter K from The Measured Mom

And you definitely want to see the...

Most Clicked On Link:




If you missed any of these posts, be sure to check them out!  And if you were featured, feel free to grab a button from the right side bar!

Now, on to this week's linky party!!

The party will be live from 8pm tonight until Thursday night!


Preschool Powol Packets
<div align="center"><a href="http://PreschoolPowolPackets.blogspot.com" title="Preschool Powol Packets" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j368/cmg38/TeachMeTuesdayButton.jpg" alt="Preschool Powol Packets" style="border:none;" /></a></div>




















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Polar Bear Fur Experiment & Poppins Book Nook

This experiment is so fun...and it makes the principles of insulation so tangible!



We love polar bears!!   The Poppins Book Nook theme this month is Oceans, so we spent some time learning about the arctic oceans and some animals that live there...especially polar bears!

Check out these amazing polar bear fun facts:

  • Polar bears are excellent swimmers and have been known to swim more than 60 miles!
  • When a polar bear is swimming, it can close its nostrils!
  • When a polar bear stands, it can be 8-9 feet tall!
  • A polar bear's foot is as large as a dinner plate!
  • Polar bear skin is black!
  • Polar bear fat is about 4 inches thick!
  • The furry coat of a polar bear can be 1-2 inches thick!
  • Polar bear hair is hollow and clear, but it reflects light and looks white!
  • Polar bear hair is oily--water does not stick to it easily and after swimming a polar bear can shake itself mostly dry!

The polar bear's thick fur is vital to staying warm in the icy arctic water.  We did this fun Polar Bear Fur experiment to demonstrate this insulation concept:

Polar Bear Fur Insulation Experiment

Simple Supplies: 
  • huge pile of balloons
  • rubber band
  • ice water

Easy How-To:

1- Make some polar bear fur by surrounding one of your fingers with the balloons and rubber-banding them together.  Polar bear fur is hollow, just like the balloons.  The "closed" end of the balloons represents where the hair connects to the bear's skin.  Remove the fur from your finger so your kids can slip their finger in the middle of the fur.  This is a little tricky, but you can do it pretty easily!  

2- Let one of your children's fingers turn into a polar bear finger!  This is a two step process:  First, slip their finger inside a balloon.  (Polar bears have thicker skin than you!)  Second, slip their finger inside the balloon fur you just made.  Be careful not to pinch your children's finger with either the balloons or the rubber-band.  Their finger will look like the first picture in this post.

3- Let your child put one kid finger and one polar bear finger into the ice water.  Talk about which finger gets cold faster and why this is.  You can also point out that polar bears have a thick layer of fat under their skin to keep their insides even warmer!



Your kids may also notice that just having a thicker, water-repellent layer keeps their skin warmer in the ice water:


One of my kids' favorite polar bear books was Where Do Polar Bears Live?  I really enjoyed it too--it had tons of fabulous polar bear information in it, and the pictures were wonderfully compelling!  I was a little disappointed by how much time the book spent on global warming, but since I was reading the book to my kids each time, I was able to adjust it to a level I appreciated.


Are you doing an Arctic Animals Theme with your preschoolers (or older kids!)?  If so, be sure to check out my Arctic Animals Theme here!! It has free printables, games, literacy activities, and more!





Do you love polar bears too?  Be sure to grab this {FREE} Polar Bear Preschool Packet.  It's perfect for preschoolers and can be used with older kids too!


Are you interested in other ocean-themed activities and books?  Check out the other Poppins Book Nook posts from these bloggers, and feel free to link up your own activities to the list!






Happy Educating!
Carla
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Saturday, July 27, 2013

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$50 Gift Card to MPM School Supplies Giveaway!!

It's back-to-school time!  Do you have some wish list items?  Could you use $50.00 to buy them?


I am thrilled to announce that MPM School Supplies is offering one of you a $50.00 gift card!

Just think of all the goodies you could get!

Office Supplies:




 Posters and School Room Decorations:

 

Manipulatives:


Learning Toys:


Craft Supplies:


And so much more!

 

 I am certain you will find something exciting at MPM for your kids, no matter what age or grade you're teaching!

To enter the giveaway, just use the Rafflecopter form below!  Be sure to read the terms and conditions (US, respond within 24 hours, entries will be verified, etc.).  And a huge thank you to MPM School Supplies for providing this giveaway!!  Good luck!!





a Rafflecopter giveaway






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Friday, July 26, 2013

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Summer Fun for Preschoolers: Learning About Time Through Outdoor Races

Today I am happy to welcome Becky from For This Season with an awesome way to teach your children time concepts while using their active large muscles!! 


This is the eighth week in the Summer Fun For Preschoolers series! Each Friday this summer I'm sharing a guest post with wonderful ideas of ways to intentionally spend time with your young children!  Click here for a list of all the weeks, and check out the contributors in the left hand sidebar!


If your preschoolers are anything like mine, they have no concept of time.  Sure, we give 5 minute warnings all the time to make transitions easier, but do they know what 5 minutes really means?  For that matter, do they know what a minute feels like?  How about a second or an hour?  I have found the summer excitement of playing outside all morning to be a perfect opportunity to explore the passage of time with my boys.

We started by timing our races.  Armed with my iPod timer, I sent the boys off to run around the circle at the end of our cult-de-sac. 

Bebop (5 years) ran faster than Magoo (2 years) so we talked about relative speed: Who was faster? Who was slower?


Then I had the boys race around the circle on their bikes.  Before I said go I had them make a hypothesis: Did they think the time would be faster or slower?  Did that mean a bigger or a smaller number?  Both guessed faster but were confused as to why a smaller number was better.  More is better right? 

After the bike races, I had them sit down on a blanket and remain still for the same amount of time as it took them to race (about 30 seconds, using Bebop’s race time).  Did it feel longer or shorter?


These activities usually happen at unscripted and unpredictable times and have led to some very good conversations about time.  Bebop is really starting to understand time and often asks how much time has passed since an event or how much time until the next one (usually referencing a meal).  Magoo still is pretty clueless and always tries to negotiate for 2 more minutes.  It’s pretty cute! 

How do you talk about time with your preschoolers?


Becky Marie is a wife and stay at home mom to three little boys living in Central New York State.  Their days are filled with racecars, trains, and super heroes.  The boys learn through every day activities and play in a Montessori inspired environment. When the weather is nice you will find the whole family hiking in the nearby mountains.  After discovering a dairy allergy in her second son, Becky has developed a passion for dairy free nutrition and cooking.  She blogs about motherhood, homeschooling and homemaking at For This Season.




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Thursday, July 25, 2013

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{FREE!!} Awesome Arctic Animals Preschool Packet

I'm very excited to share my {FREE} Awesome Arctic Animals Preschool Packet with you today!



We've been talking a lot about arctic animals lately (be sure to come by on Monday for a fabulous polar bear experiment!), so I thought I would put this freebie up for you!

This packet is full of activities your preschoolers can do with each other, by themselves, or even with older siblings!  You can print and laminate these pages or use them to create file folder games.  

These activities were lovingly created for my own very active 3-year old, so you will find lots of hands-on manipulative pages, including:

  • Arctic Animals Matching Cards (just print two sets)
  • Arctic Animals Matching Cards with name (you can trace the names or just learn them!)
  • Arctic Animals Head/Tail Puzzle Cards
  • Arctic Animals Pin the First Letter
  • Arctic Animals Number Matching Cards
  • Polar Bear Grid Game

What animals are in this packet?  You will find pictures of a polar bear, caribou, musk ox, arctic hare, narwhal, walrus, snowy owl, and lemur!

You can grab your copy of this {FREE} by clicking HERE.  

I hope you enjoy this freebie!  I would be thrilled (and very grateful!) if you would be willing to share it by linking to this blog post on Facebook, pinterest, or anywhere else!  Please do not upload the file to any other website or server.  Thank you!!

Happy Educating!
Carla
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Wednesday, July 24, 2013

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Craft Stick Penguins & Penguin Small World Sensory Learning Fun

These little craft stick Macaroni Penguins have been so much fun!!  They are perfect for learning about penguins, they tie into some books we've read recently, and the kids have had a blast using them in imaginary play and in a Penguin Small World we made!  I have all the details below!



A couple weeks ago we won a sweepstakes craft kit form Craft Project Ideas--it included these wide craft sticks, yellow craft feathers, and the adhesive wiggly eyes.  My daughter absolutely loves penguins, so we decided to create some little "penguinos" to go with our Spanish lessons and penguin books!  (Have you entered our Song School Spanish giveaway yet?)

Be sure to keep reading because our Penguin Small World is just below these instructions!



How to Make a Craft Stick Penguin


Simple Supplies:

  • wide craft sticks
  • adhesive wiggly eyes
  • black paint
  • white paint
  • yellow craft feather
  • orange craft foam
  • scissors & glue


Easy How-to:

1- Cut out beak and feet shapes from the orange foam and cut the feather into 1-inch long pieces.



2- Let your children paint the craft sticks black!  My kids loved this part--they may have even got a little carried away with the black paint!



3- Stick the feet and beak onto the wet paint.  If your child doesn't have enough paint to stick the foam to, just use a little glue.

4- When the glue is dry let your children choose what eyes they want to put above the beak.

5- Paint the top part of your children's finger white and let them press it onto the penguin to make the white belly.  Alternatively, you can let your child choose the belly's color...my son insisted on a blue tummy!



6- Flip the penguin over and put a small pile of glue onto the back of its head right behind the eyes.  Let your child stick the feathers on!


Ta-da!  Your penguinos are done!!

At this point my kids took their penguins on a parade while they chanted, "Pen-guin-o!  Pen-guin-o!"


We also made this Penguin Small World inside a bin for them:





The sensory bin included little stones, white cotton balls, and two fish.  As we played, we talked about how penguins eat fish (and that coral fish do not live in the antarctic with macaroni penguins), what dangers the penguins have (my daughter did not want the shark in the picture!), and different ways penguins work with their environment.  Then I stepped back and just let the kids play!

Do your kids love penguins?  Be sure to grab my {FREE} penguin emergent reader and check out my new penguin board on pinterest!

And here are some affiliate links to Amazon for several penguin books, including my daughter's favorite penguin book, One Cool Friend:











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Monday, July 22, 2013

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6 Kids Crafts from Teach Me Tuesday

Welcome back to Teach Me Tuesday!  The summer is just flying by!  I'm so glad you're joining me!  Today I'm going to share six awesome crafts for kids:






Last Week's Most Clicked on Link:


Make sure you stop by these lovely ladies' blogs and try some of their great ideas!  And if you were featured, feel free to grab the featured button from the right sidebar!

Now, for this week's party...

Thank you so much for being here!  I always appreciate your linking up and sharing this party on your blogs and social network sites!  The linky will open at 8:00 pm CST time and remain open until Thursday night!











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