Kleenex Box Dice for Halloween!

No Tricks, just Treats!

Sometimes trying to make paper dice with little learners is too hard for them to put together.

 

This is when cube Kleenex Tissue boxes are sooooo helpful!

So I have updated and added to this product to make it easier to use,

plus the size makes it an awesome class activity!

 

Halloween Pumpkin Roll and Graph.



The children roll their dice and color in the correct box on the graph showing the same pumpkin. Several faces are similar so they need to look carefully before coloring the box.

See which pumpkin reaches the top first! This activity can also be used in small groups or in a center.

Enjoy!

Halloween is Coming With ABCs

There are so many fun activities for Halloween, especially using the letters.

I love to make books that are child created by using pages made by little learners. Those pages are then laminated, bound together in the book and able to be

shared again and again!

 

A favorite one for Halloween is

 Halloween Trick or Treat ABC Class Book Trace Dotted Letters & Illustrate

I've made a Halloween Trick or Treat ABC Book with 26 pages of A thru Z words. All the words are made with dotted lines that the children need to trace! Have each child pick a letter and draw themselves in that costume or draw how they might look as that example. They will illustrate and color a picture that goes with the words.

BUT if you don't like the words I've picked, I have added other choices for most of the letters. Just print the one you want for each letter to change the original story or have the child pick the one they want. The extra pages are listed after the ABC Story.

Print the 26 A-Z pages you want for the book.

Don't print them all!

Here are some examples of the other B letter choices.

 

The first word listed is in the story, and the other words are pages to choose from.
A-astronaut, angel, alien
B-ballerina, bat, bunny, baseball player, basketball player, bride, butterfly
C-clown, cat, cowboy, cowgirl, cupcake, candy
D-doctor, dog, dinosaur, dragon, diva
E-elf, elephant, engineer
F-fireman, fairy, football player, farmer
G-ghost, gorilla, gladiator, gnome, gypsy, genie
H-horse, hiker
I-Indian, ice cream cone, imp
J-jack-o-lantern, jester, jellyfish
K-kitty, king, knight
L-lion, leopard, ladybug, lamb
M-monster, monkey, mummy, mermaid
N-nurse, ninja
O-owl, ogre, octopus
P-pirate, princess, prince, policeman, policewoman
Q-queen
R-robot, rock star
S-superhero, skeleton, scarecrow, spider, superstar, soccer player,
T-teacher, T-rex, tiger, troll
U-unicorn, umpire
V-veterinarian, Viking
W-wizard, warrior
X-x-ray, eXtraterrestrial
Y-yoyo, yellow duck, yellow bee
Z-zebra, zzzzzz Trick or treat is over. Good night.

 

This is also a fun activity for a child to work on between now and Halloween,

doing just a couple pages a day with a finished book to keep and reread!

 

Another good learning activity for a variety of ages, is to see how many words can be made using the letters for the words Happy Halloween!

Halloween Words to Make

Students, especially younger ones love to be able to arrange and rearrange letters to make different words. The activity includes the letters in two sizes to manipulate during play.

There are different versions in this product, see the link. There are two sheets with the letters large enough for a chart or group work in color and black & white. They can also have magnets put on the back for magnetic play.

Also included are two worksheets with little Happy Halloween letters at the bottom to cut off for arranging the letters into various words. Color and black & white copies in my TpT Store. Snack size baggies would help students keep track of their letters.

 Even beginning readers can make simple words like: A, he, we, all, etc.

 The only extra thing needed is a pen or pencil!
Excellent activity for fast finishers or when there are a few extra minutes in the day.

So enjoy part of this activity FREE, only on here on my blog!

 

Be sure a visit my

Christine Maxwell Hand to Heart TpT Store

to see other products I have for

Halloween!

 

Don't forget to Follow, you never know when I will add another free activity!



Free Bingo Game 0-15 for Fall, Halloween and Thanksgiving!

This free colorful, fun math activity will help to introduce students to the concept of playing Bingo, or provide practice for proficient players. Great to play during fall, Halloween and Thanksgiving.

My First Bingo 0-15

 

This game includes 3 pumpkin board templates, a nine grid, a twelve grid and a sixteen grid. Also included are little pumpkin calling cards 0-15, plus directions and suggestions for playing.

 

I've added little leaves, jacks and turkey pumpkins cards as an extra surprise to create some excitement. I used candy corn as my counters to mark the numbers and when a picture card is show each student gets a piece of candy to eat!

 

You will need to write the numbers on the pumpkin boards. 

 Another way to use this activity is to give each student a pumpkin and have them write the numbers in the various squares. For example, you assign the numbers 0-10 on the 9 space grid pumpkin. They use a pencil to write the numbers first, to make sure they have written them correctly, and then trace over them with crayon or marker.

 

This product can also be printed in grayscale to save colored ink!

When playing the game, students can trade cards for each different game.
 The children look forward to practicing their numbers and I get a good visual evaluation of their progress.

Enjoy! 

New Activity, Free Back To School Bookmarks, Papers, Papers and More Papers

I love creating educational activities and products for children!

 

Being a former scrapbooker and cardmaker, sometimes I can mix the two ideas.

I have many lovely reams and bundles of papers!

Papers in glorious solid colors, plus beautiful designs, prints and

delightful holiday patterns!

 

When I created my newest activity

Fall Pumpkins and Leaves Number Matching Color or Black & White

which is 50% off for 48 more hours,

I was thinking about all those different papers and decided to have some fun with them!

 This activity is a great way to practice number matching with a fall theme of pumpkins and leaves! Just laminate and use over and over every year!

 Introduce or review the concepts of number matching. This activity can be used, even if only a few number concepts have been introduced. Then add the other pieces as they are learned.

Great center or group activity too! Download Preview to see the complete activity.

 

The product can be printed in color

or black and white to save on ink!

I printed the black and white set on bright colored cardstock.

I also ran them on some printed design papers just for fun! 

I love the extra touch added to the activity!

Cute, cute, cute!

I found you need to be careful about the design or printed papers,

some children will be too distracted by the print, while others will learn to

focus on the activity and tune out the designs.

 

I have a new FREEBIE that I am sharing for Back To School.

Free Back to School Bookmarks.

Color, black and white or shades of gray to color.

Make every child feel special !

Enjoy!

 



International Talk Like A Pirate Day!

 

International Talk Like A Pirate Day

is a parody holiday started by the Pirate Guys, Cap’n Slappy and Ol’ Chumbucket. It is held annually held on September 19, this fun holiday encourages people to talk and dress like pirates.

 

 They state, "Before we go any further, there's something we need to be clear about. Pirates were and are bad people. Really reprehensible. Even the most casual exploration of the history of pirates (and believe us, casual is an accurate description of our research) leaves you hip deep in blood and barbarity. We recognize this, all right? We aren't for one minute suggesting that real pirates were in any way, shape or form worth emulating.

So what is it exactly that we're celebrating here, if not pirates? What, you're wondering, is the point? 

 The point is, there is no point. And that's what's fun about Talk Like a Pirate Day specifically, and talking like a pirate in general."

 

Ahoy Me Hearties!

Arrrr and shiver me timbers mates, I do have some pirate products to share.

The first is a FREEBIE! 

FREE! Mardi Gras or Pirate Bookmarks for Pirate Day. 

 

In my TpT Store they come with the words in a variety of colors.

 

A popular way to create special memento pictures of each student during the year! This set of frame attachments has Pirates.

Pirate Picture Frame Attachments For First Day, 100th Day, & Last Day of School 

 *NOTE: The sword can be cut away from the pirate's hand, if you would rather it not be there!

 

Pirate Ship Wheel Frame and Pirate Speak Scrolls

is a fun activity to see and write pirate language!

Celebrate Pirate Day with this Pirate Theme bulletin board set.

It includes 3 different size Pirate ship wheels to frame student pictures,

plus 20 scrolls with Pirate Speak.

The words are: Arrr, Ahoy, Me, Hearties, Mates, Thar, Be, Crew, Shiver, Timbers, Welcome, Aye, Captain, She, Blows, Booty, Treasure, Yo-ho-ho, Buccaneers, and Aye Aye.

Mix and match the scrolls to make a variety of titles or have the children use them in a creative writing activity!

 

You can't have Pirate Day without a

Pirate Hat!

There are three complete hats, each with a different skull picture on the front. Also included is a hat template page for tracing on colored paper and then adding one of three different skull designs.

The skulls clipart goes from simple to more detailed for a variety of ages. Depending on the ability of the child, the skulls can be just the square shape, they can be cut around or even detailed cutting.

 

 Thar also be a booty of activities and treasures online at

Stuff For Junior Pirates! 

 

Yo-ho-ho Buccaneers and Crew until next time!

Creating Stories with Your Children

When my daughters were born

I wanted to get them excited about reading, writing and learning,

so that they would have a lifelong love of and desire to learn!

 

One of the ways we did this, was that my husband and I started reading with them from birth, plus we created simple Little Learner Books with their pictures to be shared over and over again!

 

This is a front cover of the color book.

 

It was a time when the instant pictures were popular so it was easy to put a book together.

Computers and phone cameras today, also make it easy peasy!

 

We did a variety of different topics; colors, numbers, shapes, letters, family, etc. anything to help make the learning process fun!

 

The books were not fancy, just pieces of cardstock that were stitched or

bound on the left side.

 

So for the color book they would find something of that color for each page, then we would talk about what they would say and want us to write down.

 

It wasn't long before they were "reading" these little stories and

sharing them with everyone!

 

This one was a favorite story!

 

Melody loved bunnies and had a large collection of stuffed rabbits! So as the story

progresses a new bunny was added until the very last page 11,

"Melody has too many bunnies!".

 

As I looked back on them over the years,

 I realize that they have many things I could have/should have done differently.

But....there isn't always enough time in the day to make it perfect,

 just enough to make it fun! 

 

Take the time with your children to create stories and memories that can be shared and

well loved with the passing of time.

Tiny Books!

Do you need some activities to make your teaching year successful or have items in your TpT wishlist, that have been sitting there? 

 

Try this new educational activity, Tiny Books!

 

Christine Maxwell Hand to Heart

 

Well, I have added a new search label in my CUSTOM CATEGORIES!

Tiny Books

I have several different topics of booklets listed and I plan on adding many more!

 

Tiny Book of 2D Shapes Print, Fold, Cut and Glue.

 

This is a quick and easy way to introduce or review shapes. The six shapes included are circle, square, triangle, rectangle, rhombus and hexagon. Simply print, fold, cut and glue.

Directions: Run the two booklet pages, printing on the front side only. The six colored shape examples can be run colored or grayscale. There are three sets to each sheet, but each child only gets one set of six pictures for their booklet.

Activity: Pass the two pages out to each student. They are to fold each sheet in half on the dotted line and again in half on the dotted line. Place the two pages together with the title on the front and The End page last. The booklet then gets stapled or glued together on the left side.

The booklet shapes maybe traced or colored during introduction or review. Pass out the set of six pictures strip to each student. They cut the six pictures apart and glue them in the box on the correct shape page.

 

Tiny Book of Solid Shapes Print, Fold, Cut and Glue.

 

Another easy way to introduce or review solid shapes. The six shapes included are sphere, cone, cube, cylinder, pyramid, and rectangle prism. Again simply print, fold, cut and glue.

 

These two booklets can also be found in a money-saving bundle too!

 2 Tiny Books of 2D and 3D Shapes Print, Fold, Cut and Glue.

 

 

There is a money tiny book called

Tiny Book of Money.

 

Here is a simple intro or review of money. The six money pages included are penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar and dollar. Plus there is a money poem for each one, to help them remember the amount it is worth!

 

The tiny book of colors which I have talked about in a previous blog post called

Tiny Book of Colors.

In this activity are the colors; red, yellow, blue, green, orange, purple, brown, black, white, and pink.

 

The newest tiny book is  

Tiny Book of Numbers, Counting, Writing and Ten Frames.

 

The quick and easy way to introduce or review numbers. Plus each child will have a great take home and review booklet to keep! Included in this activity are the numbers 1-10.

 

Each of these books can also be cut apart and used in centers, magnetic boards or with Velcro! 

As shown in this picture!

 

 I always like to give my Followers something extra for following my blog and social media! All my media links are included in the blue strip line under the Blog header picture too!

 

So be sure and Follow, you never know when I might post a new freebie to enjoy!



Best Year Ever

If you teach in a classroom, homeschool, preschool, daycare, afterschool, roadschool, worldschool or are a parent, grandparent or sitter and need fun educational activities and products for children. you need TeachersPayTeachers!

Visit my

Christine Maxwell Hand to Heart TpT Store.

I have a wide variety of activities for all subject areas,

plus decor for your educational settings!

Click on the drop down menu and go to "Most Recent" to see the new products I've added.

 

This makes me smile!

I realize this poster doesn't include the homeschoolers or roadschoolers,

but it is very real for

PreK, first grade, second grade, third........ 

 

I just uploaded a new

Tiny Book of Numbers

which is becoming a popular line of activities in my store!

Click on Tiny Books in my CUSTOM CATEGORIES to find others, 

plus I will be adding many more!

This is a quick and easy way to introduce or review numbers. Plus each child will have a great take home and review booklet to keep! Included in this activity are the numbers 1-10.

 Directions: Run the three booklet pages, printing on the front side only. The ten little number examples can be run colored or blackline.

Activity: Pass the three pages out to each student. They are to fold each sheet in half on the short dotted line and again in half on the long dotted line. Place the three folded pages together with the title on the front and The End page last. The booklet then gets stapled or glued together on the left side.

The booklet numbers and ten frames can be traced or colored during introduction or review. Pass the set of ten little pictures to each student. They cut the ten pictures apart and glue them in the box on the correct number page.

Other ways this can be used is to laminate, cut the pages apart, put Velcro on the number boxes and the little picture cards so that children can match the number of objects to the correct pictures or set it up on a magnetic board.

 

Tip: How to get TPT credit to use on future purchases by leaving feedback on Paid products!

 To do this, go to your My Purchases page, you may need to login to TpT. Beside each purchase you'll see a Provide Feedback button. Simply click it and you will be taken to a page where you can give a quick rating and leave a short comment for the product.

I truly appreciate your feedback!  



WORLD TEACHERS' DAY

I celebrate all types of teachers on this special day!

 

 

 

I have many activities for fall and Halloween, just use the CUSTOM CATEGORIES on
 the left sidebar of my store to help find what you are looking for!

 Also notice in the top of my store under the four featured activities is a dropdown menu with five choices to click on; Best Seller, Most Recent, Rating, Price and Alphabetical. In Most Recent you will find the newest products and activities that are working their way up to best seller!

Christine Maxwell Hand to Heart

 Good luck and happy shopping!

Picture Frame Attachments for the First Day, 100th Day, & Last Day Of School!

A popular way to create special memento pictures of each child during the year is to use picture frame attachments! I have a wide variety of themes in my store and I am always making more!

This one is called

School Picture Frame Attachments

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. There are extra pictures for added decoration. You can use the extra pieces to write your name or grade level to add to the frame! 

 

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. The example frame shown is 11” by 14.”

Picture Frame Themes 

Have the child hold the empty frame with the pictures attached, centered in front of their face and smile! You take their picture and they will have a wonderful remembrance keepsake! 

This activity is fun for teachers, parents, homeschools, daycares, preschools, and even roadschoolers!

Back To School Stress

Feeling overwhelmed with back to school, especially as a first year teacher or a new homeschool educator. Reach out to another staff member or homeschooler for help!
A good peer is always willing to come to the rescue and
help you keep your head above water!

 If you see a teacher or new homeschooling teacher "drowning" in the classroom, maybe you can throw them a few lifeline tips to help them tread the educational water.

b and d Reversals Posters Visual Cues

Sometimes lowercase b and d can be confusing for children and some adults, knowing the direction of each letter, especially when doing reading and writing activities! I have created an activity to help give a memory trigger for the letters.

 

This cute new product is a set of visual cue posters to help with letters

b and d Reversals Posters Visual Cues.

Visual cues can be helpful with remembering the correct ways the letters are formed.

Lowercase b has a baby patting his belly. This is to help remind students that lowercase b has a belly. The circle for the letter is on the right side of the stick and belly starts with the letter b. 

Lowercase d has a baby with a diaper. This is to help remind students that lowercase d has a diaper. The circle for the letter is on the left side of the stick and diaper starts with the letter d.

 

Enjoy these two freebie posters in color or black and white!

 

To find other parts of this product or to purchase the smaller student sizes for individual reference, click on the link above!

 Click on the Preview to see the complete activity!

Puzzles, Puzzles and More Puzzles

Puzzles are such a fun way to introduce, practice and evaluate learning skills! I have many available for different learning concepts, but the most popular one is

Antonym Puzzle Match-30 Opposite Matches.

 

 They can easily be adapted for a variety of ages. Start the littlest learner by only using concepts introduced and starting with very simple examples!

The instruction page has several games to play using these pieces. For example, give each child a puzzle piece, making sure that another child has the matching piece. The students then scramble to find their match.

 

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

Don’t have time to cut puzzles? You may have a valuable, untapped resource, in your student’s parents! Many parents work and are unable to help with activities or projects in the classroom. This is their time to shine! Simply send home the puzzles after laminating, with directions about how you want them to be cut. The puzzles come back with both the student and parents proud to be involved in helping the teacher!

 

Most of my puzzle activities have curved corners to keep children from being poked. I know it takes longer to cut them out this way, so if you are in a hurry simply cut them straight across for square edges!

I have a free product that give you a chance to use some of the different puzzle activities I have available.

 

FREE! Puzzle Match Sample Pack

This free product has 42 puzzles that include the concepts of solid shapes (cone, cube, sphere, and cylinder), hour time (12:00-5:00), antonyms or opposites, rhyming, homonyms/homophones, time sequence, size sequence, and things that go together. 

Enjoy!

I have many other types of activities like this, just look under
Puzzles and Games.