Thanksgiving Ideas!

The turkeys are coming! The turkeys are coming!

Do you have leftover mini pumpkins from Halloween?

A project I like to do with little people is to make them into Thanksgiving turkeys!

You can use ice cream sticks, popsicle sticks or tongue depressors cut in half for the head and tail feathers. The sticks can be colored with crayons or makers.

 

The littlest learners will need help getting the sticks into the pumpkins after coloring. A knife maybe needed to cut slits into the pumpkin to make it easier to push in the sticks.

They look cute sitting on the Thanksgiving dinner table!

I also have a variety of Thanksgiving ideas and activities on my
Pinterest Thanksgiving Board.

This paid product in my store has a variety of different colors and fonts.

Thanksgiving Turkey Handprint Poem and Keepsake

I am posting a free page version of this activity here!
Enjoy!



Teaching With A Theme Jungle or Zoo Ideas

Many excited children are gearing up to go back to school!

Teachers; classroom, homeschool, preschool, daycare, afterschool, roadschool or worldschool have been busy getting ready. Many use themes to greet, meet and teach in their educational environment.

 

The Jungle or Zoo theme is a fun one to use and I have a few ideas to share! 

This first day activity makes a wonderful keepsake!

Jungle Picture Frame Attachments For First Day, 100th Day, & Last Day Of School

Be sure and click the Preview to see the activity.

There are pieces for the First Day of School (shown), 100th Day of School, and Last Day of School. The quickest way to use this activity to put Velcro on the empty picture frame corners and on the back of the picture attachments. Then just add or change them as needed.

Print the activity out on one side only. The heavier the paper, the more durable it will be. Laminate and cut the pieces out. Decide what size empty picture frame you are going to use. The 8” by 10”, 11” by 14” or 16” by 20” are great sizes for these attachments.

Have the student hold the empty frame with the pictures attached, centered in front of their face and smile! You take their picture!

 

I do have many other

Picture Frame Attachment Themes!

 

I have a

Back To School Jungle Welcome Banner!

This colorful Welcome Banner can be used for a variety of ways,

Back To School is just one!

It is 8 1/2 by 11 inches, with the top being 11 inches.

There are 8 posters: W, e, l, c, o, m, e, ! and the cover page.

 

The daily

Jungle and Wild Animals Calendar Pieces Make Monthly Patterns

This is a gorgeous set of calendar pieces with a jungle or wild animal theme. These date cards can be mixed and matched to make a different pattern for

each month of the school year!

 Again, these can be used to make a colorful, fun, and repeating pattern for each month! For example, start the year with a simple pattern like monkey, elephant, monkey, elephant, repeat. As the year progresses make the pattern more difficult like, turtle, turtle, zebra, giraffe, giraffe, repeat. The difficulty depends on the ability of your students.

Please note there is not a background chart to place these pieces on. They work in pocket charts, on bulletin boards, walls, or create your own chart out of jungle scrapbook or wrapping paper.

 

As a math bulletin board or center I have

10 Little Jungle Friends Songs, Number Flashcards and 10 Puppets

There are self-checking puzzle pieces 0-10. Match the number of jungle animals to the correct number or number word. Several puzzle pieces say Jungle Friends for extra fun.

The songs are sung to the tune of "One Little, Two Little, Three Little Indians." A song cards are included. One cards goes from 1 to 10 and the other card from 10-1.

The 10 animal characters can be made into puppets with popsicle or paint sticks attached. Magnets can also be stuck to the back to allow them to be attached to a magnetic surface. Add and subtract the animals while singing the song verses.

Print, laminate, cut apart, and use year after year!

 

This shared activity is

Math Jungle or Wild Animal Theme Skip Counting Color or Blackline

The child will cut the pieces apart on the dotted vertical lines. They must then count or skip count to place the pieces down in the correct order. If the counting is correct the animal pictures will be correct. The pictures can be colored.

 Here are pages  of the activity you can download!

Great for practicing cutting skills!
 

My last product is a set of posters!
 Jungle Position Word Posters Left, Right, Front and Back

Front, Back, Left and Right are the 4 words written and demonstrated by the

position of the giraffe.

Whatever your theme is.......enjoy and make each day special! 



Christmas in July With Presents!

I. Love. Christmas!

Need I say more!

So I am celebrating......

I posting four free Christmas activities for you to collect and use when it really is December.

 

The first activity was actually in the TpT Christmas EBook!

Santa Express Geometric Christmas Train.

It is a popular free activity!

 There are so many great stories about trains for children! A very special story for the holiday season is the classic "The Polar Express" by Chris Van Allsburg's. This fun product incorporates 5 geometric shapes into the building of a train engine, plus a creative literacy activity.

 

This activity can also be used in a center, but it is better if the pieces are laminated first. Some of the pieces are small so a baggie helps to keep any from getting lost.

 

 The second free activity is

Christmas Santa's Beard Countdown Math Activity.

 

 

This product is a math activity for counting down the days until December 25th Christmas Day. One page is color and the other is black and white. It starts on December 1st by gluing one cotton ball on the #1 spot. Glue one piece on everyday until the big day!

It is good practice for number sequence, plus adding and subtracting the days until the 25th! It can be hung in your classroom or send one home with each child.

I always sent home a copy of Santa's Beard and a bag of 25 cotton balls to each child. It makes a great early student Christmas present! If no cotton is available, the numbers can be colored or marked off as each day passes.

 

 The third free activity is

Christmas Santa's List.

This is a fun seasonal activity for Christmas that can be used a variety of ways.

There are several versions of this in color or black and white download. One has the words “Santa’s List” at the top, one “Nice,” one “Naughty” and the last is blank.

Children can write down things they have done to get them on the Nice List and the Naughty List! It helps to give them an understanding of good behavior and not as good behavior. Plus, motivate positive behavior to add to the Nice List that will last long after Christmas!

Children can write down what they want for Christmas right on the scroll! The list can be mailed to Santa after coloring.

 

The fourth and last activity is a bookmark! 

Christmas Bookmarks "A Very Merry Reader." 

 Here are two pages of bookmarks for Christmas. One page is color and the other is black and white.

It can be used to motivate reading with the words "A Very Merry Reader." The clip art is appropriate for a wide range of groups. 

 

I have a variety of other Christmas products in my store too!

Christine Maxwell Hand to Heart Store-Christmas.

 

So celebrate Christmas in July with me!

Be sure and "Follow" my Blog, you never know when I might post something awesome!

I would love to have some comments below too!

Plus it would be wonderful to leave feedback in my
TpT Store
for the freebies you download! 

Enjoy! 



National Teacher Appreciation Day

Educators play a critical role in educating and shaping our children, the future leaders of our country. They are kind, patient, hard-working, dedicated, understanding professionals that mold lives in a positive direction and have the power to change those lives forever! 

We can find educators in classrooms, homeschools, roadschools, worldschools, preschools, daycares and afterschool programs!

In honor of  those special people that spend time nurturing our greatest resource,

I have a set of bookmarks to share called

The Starfish Story Bookmark. 

 This poem was given to me many years ago, along with a starfish pin, by a very special person. They truly made me feel like I was making a difference! I still have the pin!

THE STARFISH POEM
by Loren Eiseley
Once upon a time there was a wise man
who used to go to the ocean
to do his writing.
He had a habit of walking on the beach
before he began his work.
One day he was walking along the shore.
As he looked down the beach,
he saw a human
figure moving like a dancer.
He smiled to himself to think
of someone who would dance to the day.
So he began to walk faster to catch up.
As he got closer, he saw
that it was a young man
and the young man wasn't dancing,
but instead he was reaching
down to the shore, picking up something
and very gently throwing it
into the ocean.
As he got closer he called out,
"Good morning! What are you doing?"
The young man paused,
looked up and replied,
"Throwing starfish in the ocean."
"I guess I should have asked,
why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?"
"The sun is up and the tide is going out.
And if I don't throw them in they'll die."
"But, young man, don't you realize that
there are miles and miles of beach
and starfish all along it.
You can't possibly make a difference!"
The young man listened politely.
Then bent down, picked up another starfish
and threw it into the sea,
past the breaking waves and said-
"It made a difference for that one.“
 You make a difference!

 National Teacher Appreciation Day, also known as National Teacher Day, is celebrated on Tuesday of the first full week in May. This day is part of Teacher Appreciation Week which is the first full week in May of each year.

Spring Into Learning!

This is the time of year when children really seem to takeoff!

They start to accomplish learning goals at a more rapid pace and make sense of ideas

and problems that used to confused them.

 

Some people say a "light bulb goes off" when a child finally understands that tricky concept, that before, they just couldn't get. For me, I see an explosion of pure happiness and joy, like the burst of bright sun in this poster!

 

Feel free to print and share! 

 

 For beginning readers knowing the letters of the alphabet and letter sounds is an important part of beginning to read.

 Making learning fun is helpful to motivate children to learn,

such as this alphabet puzzle with self-checking pieces.

Alphabet Puzzle Match Sounds and Letters

It can be cut with rounded corners or simply cut the black edgelines straight off,

to make it with square puzzle pieces.

 

A brand new activity, I uploaded is

Bees and Hives Letter and Sound Matching for Spring and Summer

There are a several ways to use this product, starting with working on letter matching, then adding the letter sounds.

It comes in color or black and white. It can also be cut apart a variety of ways.

 

Near the end of the year some educators do an ABC review of a letter a day.

Aa to Zz Letter and Sound Banners

This is a great set of 26 Aa thru Zz triangle shaped banners in black and white, no prep, just print and use. These are perfect for introducing or as a review of the letters of the alphabet.

Each 8 ½ by 11 inch banner has a simple sentence at the top using beginning vocabulary words. The sentences become more difficult with each letter. The words used are: a, my, see, the, I, it, is, look, at, here, this, an, like, have, we, to, end and can.

 

Banners can also be made into an Aa to Zz Book for each child to keep or they can also be sent home, so each student can make their own chain of hanging ABC banners.

 Enjoy!

100 and 101 Days of Learning Celebrations!

The dates for 100 or 101 days of learning varies greatly for each little learner. If they are in a school, homeschool, roadschool, worldschool, preschool, daycare, etc, celebrating being 100/101 days smarter is a milestone for each child! 

Creating Picture Frame photos that they hold in front of their face is a fun way to create a lasting memento. I have a variety of themes to make the 100 day special,

plus they can be used for the first and last days of school too.

Picture Frame Attachments

I have many other activities that can help to reinforce the concept of 100/101.

100th Day of School Do Together Parent/Child Homework Activity

is one of my most popular products.

Parents love it too because they can be part of the celebration!

I also have bookmarks, glasses, badges, headbands and activities for this special day!

 100th Day Of School Skip Counting by 10 To 100

100th Day Of School With Badges, Glasses, Headbands and Song!

  

100 day bookmarks and

101 Day of School Bookmarks! Color and Blackline

See all all my activities and products for

50, 100, 101 Days!

Celebrate those days of learning!

A Cute Winter Activity!

Free Winter Bookmarks for your readers or print some for yourself!

Snowman Bookmarks "Reading is SNOW much fun!"

 

 One of my favorite activities for winter now in my store is called

Mr. Snowman!

 

The Mr. Snowman story is read or sung to the tune of "Happy Birthday". This fun, educational activity is good practice using color and position words. Parts of the body and clothing items are also reviewed.  

 

Once created by you, this 15-page book contains a different verse on each page. Additionally, it includes all the pieces for a 2-foot snowman, plus a worksheet for a child's drawing activity.

 

  I also used the snowman pieces as patterns to trace on flannel to create a flannel board Mr. Snowman.

Children so enjoy the singing and reading of this story, plus creating Mr. Snowman with all his pieces and parts. The littlest learners love to have the story read or sung to them while they make Mr. Snowman!

 

So even if you have snow or don't have snow, now your children can make a man with a very big heart!