Still Playing School: September 2014

Indian Corn Sensory Bin

The colors and textures of Indian Corn are so irresistible! It makes the perfect seasonal material sensory and fine motor play!

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All About My Feelings: Identifying Emotions with Self Portraits

Identifying emotions is an important milestone for children. Kids begin to recognize and name their own anger, excitement, and sadness. They practice reading the feelings of those around them based on facial expressions, too. We worked on identifying emotions by using a mirror to draw dramatic self portraits!


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Icy Eyeball Sensory Exploration

This spooky sensory invitation to explore was the perfect fine motor activity for Halloween! Our kids loved the combination of water beads and our frozen ice eyeballs. These treats are edible so they would also be fun in creepy drinks for a Halloween party!


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Learning with Gourds: Comparing, Sorting, and Labeling for Fall

This Fall we've played and learned with acorns, leaves, and apples! For this Autumn activity, we investigated and compared gourds to sort, classify, and label the ways they are similar and different.


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Hickory Dickory Dock Clock Craft & Time Telling Activity for Kids

I'm excited to share our Hickory Dickory Dock craft as part of Sugar Aunts' Nursery Rhymes Crafts & Activities Series. Our clock craft featured so many elements that are pivotal to the learning invitations we create: It's a fine motor activity that is created with recycled materials. It incorporates literacy and math that is adaptable to many ability levels allowing the activity to grow with your child or be available for a whole classroom of children with different ability levels. The best part is our preschooler created it and she loves it for play!

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Glow in the Dark Spider Webs

These spooky spider webs are a creative way to craft fine motor fun for Halloween. Use them for a color matching activity. Alternatively you can make and play with these without the black light but we just love kids' activities that glow

Glow Spider Webs
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Alphabet City Sorting Center Review

As an Early Childhood Teacher turned Homeschooling Mom I love to create my own educational activities for my kids but we also love to learn with the very best literacy toys on the market. You can't beat the convenience, durability, and fun of Excellerations Alphabet City Sorting Center!

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The Best Acorn Crafts and Activities for Kids

Acorns are abundant in the fall so they are perfect for autumn activities for kids. If there are no acorns where you live, we've got ideas for acorn crafts and manipulatives you can try instead! These would be perfect for a fall preschool theme!

The perfect acorn crafts and activities for kids during fall!
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Five Little Pumpkins Fine Motor Activity

I vividly remember reciting the Five Little Pumpkins poem with my brother when we were kids. Now I am thrilled that my own children enjoy it just as much so we created a fine motor retelling activity to go along with this classic Halloween finger play!

What a great way to retell The Five Little Pumpkins with kids for fine motor practice!
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Leftover Cloud Dough No Cook Play Dough Recipe

We had leftover cloud dough from our Go Away, Big Green Monster retelling activity and it was time to create a no cook play dough recipe for the 12 Months of Sensory Dough Series. We turned out cloud dough into playdough and recreated an apple themed literacy activity as well.

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Sensory Painting with Natural Autumn Materials

We love the classic process art method of painting with marbles so we used natural fall materials in the same way. All you need are sound round autumn objects that will roll, paint, paper, and a box!

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Our Family Tree: Sorting Family Members

Families are a common theme in preschool. We built our family tree with repositionable photos which led to sorting our family members to learn more about how we are the same and different.

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Pretend Play Apple Picking

Fall is in the air and we are learning all about apples! Our preschooler set up this invitation to pick, sort, and explore these baked cotton ball apples for her toddler brother in our pretend play apple orchard.


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Fine Motor Autumn Leaves Sorting

We are celebrating Fall with fine motor autumn leaf sorting! It's a fun way for kids to play while working on early math concepts.

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Applesauce Dough for Sensory Play

Fall is in the air which means applesauce, cinnamon, and apple theme sensory play invitations! We created our own Applesauce Cinnamon Sensory Dough for a fine motor preschool learning experience.


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Homeschool Planning Giveaway

Is there anything more exciting than the beginning of a new school year? I love brand new school supplies, fall weather, a decluttered homeschooling space, and a fresh start. The Ultimate Homeschool Planner from Mama Miss was the final touch we needed to get organized!


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Tips for Donating Your Hair

My daughter and I donated over 18 inches of hair (length combined) to children with hair loss! It was so rewarding and we learned a lot along the way. Here are our tips for if you are considering donating your hair.

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