14 Ideas from 2014

2014 was a great year!!

It's not often I set goals for the year and actually follow through with them but this year I actually did. I set out to do some writing and a few creative projects and actually finished them!! I had a great year at school also and thought I would share some of the most popular activities from school.

Here are my top 14 activities from 2014.

1. Classroom Village

2. Pebble Matching Easter Eggs

3. Woolen Noodle Counting

4. The Very Hungry Caterpillar Cushion

5. Bark Painting

6. Outdoor Easter Mud Pies

7. Chocolate Dyed Brown Bear Puppets

8. Black Sensory Spaghetti

9. Handprint Aprons 

10. Ball Rolling Painting

11. Printed Bean Bags

12. Mother's Day Beads

13. Cutting Station

14. Handprint Tea Towels

It was actually hard to choose 14 but I think these are my favourites for different reasons. See you next year with new ideas, activities and fun.

Happy New Year to you and your families and thank you for your support over 2014.

Niccola

Christmas In The Classroom

Reindeer Food

This is a favourite activity that I do each year. The children enjoy making the reindeer food and of course it is fun to take home and sprinkle on the lawn on Christmas Eve. I download the little poem from the internet- there are hundreds to choose from and attach it to the bag. I have tried paper bags, but the little plastic zip lock bags are great for my little kids- less mess!!

I put out oats, glitter in shakers and Christmas confetti.

The children spoon, mix and shake to make it just right.

The reindeer love this combination!!

Playdough Christmas Stocking Counting

I cut down some plastic bottles and attached some Christmas stockings. These had numbers on them. The children put the correct number of playdough presents in the stockings.

I added some extra number cards, pegs and some little Christmas decorations to further enhance the activity.

I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas.

Niccola

Outdoor Christmas Fun!

Here in Australia we have just broken up from school for our Summer holidays. The weather is perfect and we are enjoying the outdoors. This activity was great fun and covered numerous learning areas...sorting according to colour and number, counting and number recognition and it was a good fine motor activity.

If it is too cold where you are living to play outside you could make this into a fun bath time activity.

Cut out Christmas tree shapes. I used old plastic file dividers in 3 colours- red, green and yellow.

Write the numbers 1-5 or 1-10 depending on your child's age.

I bought these water spray bottles at IKEA for $1 each and they happened to be the colours I wanted.

I put the Christmas tree shapes and the water bottles in the water trolley.

The children pegged the trees to the clothes line, in order from 1-5 or randomly. They identified the numbers as they pegged them on the line and then squirted the numbers in order. They loved aiming at their favourite number and squirting it.

It was a great activity to teach and reinforce numbers and it was a fun outdoor Christmas activity.

See you next Tuesday

Niccola

Handprint Tea Towels

Printed Tea Towel

This is a gift that the children can make for their parents for Christmas that is easy to make and a lovely keepsake.

I have done tea towels before, however this is the first time I have done a hand print Christmas tree.

As most of my class are 3 years old, they have pretty small hands so I had to do something that required multiple prints to be effective.

Each child knew they needed 6 hand prints to make the tree and enjoyed counting along.

We started with one hand print in the middle of the bottom row and then built up around it.

Once the hand prints were done, the children printed a base for the tree and a star on top.

When using fabric paint, you need to heat set the paint by ironing it once it is dry. (I always put a scrap of material over the artwork so nothing comes off on my iron.)

Wrapping Paper

The children used circle foam printing sticks and red and gold paint to create their wrapping paper.

When it came to wrapping, we tried to wrap the tea towel so it resembled a Christmas cracker. Finally, we wrapped the cracker in some clear cellophane and attached some ribbon.

I think the parents will love their gifts.

Niccola

Vegetable Printing Nativity

Each year I try to think of new and different Christmas activities and ideas.

I think this is one of the cutest Nativity scenes ever !!!

It is simple, easy for young children to do on their own and can be done with every-day household items.

You will need three different sized potatoes (one large, one medium and one small ) and one carrot.

Get the children to print Joseph, Mary and Jesus.

Use the carrots to print the stable.

When they are dry, glue on little faces, a star and of course some glitter!!

Get the children to draw faces and possibly some farm animals and an angel.

Last year my Nativity was super simple as well. You might like to have a look here....

Niccola

Santa Pop Sticks

Here are some quick counting Santa's to make with or for your child. These counting Santa pop sticks could be used in a variety of ways.

Children could ...put them in the correct order

                        ...play with them in the block area

                        ...use them in playdough

                        ...count with them

                        ...identify the numbers

                        ...put them in trucks

                        ...attach them to boxes, cylinders or stands

                        ...make a Santa village

                        ...play with them !!

You will need 10 large pop sticks and some red, black and white acrylic paint.

This is how I painted them.

I hope you enjoy making some counting Santa's and that your child has fun learning with them.

Niccola