Keeping Kids Occupied

The weather here has been pretty cold so we have been inside a lot.  The kiddos can get pretty bored and into mischief if I don't keep them busy.  That's why I love doing activities as part of our homemade kindergarten.  They get all excited when I say I have an "activity" for them.  Just don't tell them they are learning.....shhhhh!  Here are some of the activities we have been up to:

I rolled out a large piece of paper and we traced objects we found around the house looking for shapes.  We then counted how many squares, circles, etc.. we had drawn.

We had lots of fun sorting shapes using a veggie tray plate from the dollar store.

We then used the shapes to make pictures!

We practiced making patterns by using links.  First I had them finish my pattern that I created and then I had them make up their own patterns.

We threaded pipe cleaners into a colander.  Great fine motor practice!

We weaved pipe cleaners through an metal rack. 

  

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The Magical Product Swap!

This week I participated in a product swap organized by Jessica Standford from Mrs. Standford's class.   Each participant was given a partner teacher who sells their products at Teachers Pay Teachers.  We then picked a product from each of our stores to share with you all.   My partner is Julie from the teaching bug and I am sharing her My Five Senses Science-SOL Common Core Activity Experiment.

This package is aimed at Kindergarten & Grade 1 students and is based on the story Goldilocks and the Three Bears. This package includes 30 pages of fun filled activities.  There were only a couple of things that I had to print and laminate like the story strips and the sense sentences.  I took a picture of one of the story strips and 2 of the sense sentences to give you an idea of what they are like.

The rest of the activities were ready to go as soon as I printed them.  Here is a glimpse of a few that the kiddos and I completed:

We cut pictures to retell the story

We used our senses and drew what Goldilocks saw, heard, touched, tasted, and smelled in the story.

We cut and paste pictures to complete a story map

Completed a Gummy Bear experiment and filled out our recording sheets.

And there is so much more in her package! 

Jessica reviewed my Valentine's day literacy and math centers.  So check out her blog for more.

And don't forget to check out Jessica Standford's blog for a linky containing a list of all the product swap participants.  There are some amazing products so make sure you have a peek.

The very best kids activities blog hop 2012

Happy New Year!!  

Now that the holidays are winding down and we are preparing to get back to "normal" I have been reflecting on so many things that have happened this past year! My kiddos are getting so big (Waaa!!) and so independent, they still love their art activities and our kindergarten activities.  We will need to include much more reading activities this year as they are improving so fast!  My blog has been steadily gathering followers (thank you all!) and my TPT store has been doubling in sales! I also joined a fabulous group of kid bloggers that inspire me everyday.  As a group we are all sharing our most popular kids activities or our favorite kids activities from last year. I choose to share my most popular kids activity of last year with you all again, 14 fun learning activities that use plastic eggs.

This post was shared back in April 2012.  Who doesn't love Easter Eggs right!  To see the original post please click here.  I look forward to 2013 and would love to hear any of your thoughts on what you would like to see more of on this blog. 

To see the very best kids Activities from 2012 from the most A-MAZ-ING group of bloggers that are part of the kids blogger network.  Check out the list below!  And don't forget to add your own very best kids activity from 2012 in the linky!

Thanks so much and Happy New Year! 

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