I was inspired to make these paper puzzles after reading the post by S.B. of, S.B. Creatively, she took advantage of the summer sun to create a mat where her kids practiced letter identification. We adapted it to create a few puzzles for my youngest. We created one with alphabet magnets and another with different shaped blocks from around the house.

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How to make a bleached puzzle?

You need construction paper.  The cheaper the better.  I used high quality art paper the first time and it didn’t bleach well.
A sunny …

Germs, I don’t like them but I am usually not on a “death to germs campaign” but right before our latest Quirky bundle arrived (she’s a whole 9 days old! Boy, time flies!) we were battling rotavirus with the older kids. Anybody who has struggled with rota doing its rounds through youngsters would totally appreciate this new nifty germ-killer we got in the mail. Thank you, Patricia and Purely Products for having compassion on our family and sending us our very own “germ-killer” light to review! …

We had fun this past week learning map skills together.  I was amazed at how quickly my kids grasped the concept of a map.  I think this was the first time they had to work with one!  I drew a rough map of our living room/kitchen areas, together we filled our snack cups.

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Together we looked at the map and I explained how to figure out where we are on the map and where the “landmarks” were (our couch, the dollhouse, the ktichen table, etc.).  The kids then went to the …

My daughter came home after Easter Sunday thrilled with the lesson she had learned!  She made a Gospel Fuzzies glove.  I need to preface this post by saying it is not original!  Her Sunday School teachers didn’t remember where they first found out about this activity, so if you are the creator, let me know so we can attribute you!  Basically, the concept is similar to the gospel bracelets I made in youth camp decades ago.  Each color represents a truth.  Only instead of a bracelet, my preschooler came home …

Here is another great learn-to-read, DIY resource: Sliding word cards.  We aren’t quite at the reading stage where they are useful, my daughter is still on three letter words but we are trying to transition into blending consonants.  I know she loves manipulatives like our learn-to-read cootie catcher and I am hoping that these new sliding words might help engage her mind as her hands are occupied making new words.  They were super easy to make.  These sliding word cards were inspired by the blogs, Preschool Playbook and The Snail’s …

We are using our word cards to practice writing this week.  I wrote earlier about how I love the collection of sight words from Erudition (we’re giving a game of theirs away this week).  The words have been incredibly helpful!  You can easily make your own cards, but I love that they did the work for me.  Now I can set my daughter up on the floor with our tracing tray and she can practice writing with relatively little assistance.
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To make your tracing tray:
We used a cookie sheet and I …

It is rare that all three of my kids enjoy learning at the same time, usually a learning activity is a hit with one kiddo and a bust with the other, while the other is zoned out in the corner.  This measuring activity was loved by all! What you will need:
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Ruler
Assorted Gummy Worms
Bananas

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Activity to Teach Preschool Math Concepts :
Have the kids sort the gummy worms.  Which do they think is the shortest?  Which is the longest?
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Once they have found the shortest one measure it.  Can they find any …

A friend of mine, Chelsea, has been using Headsprout to help her daughter learn-to-read and gave me rave reviews. I just had to check it out myself. After contacting Headsprout, they gave me a trial. Headsprout is an all-online system. The have a map of activities and objectives for the kids to reach. The kids use the keyboard and mouse to manipulate the letters and form words. They also have a trove of coloring sheets, mini-books, and flashcards that you can print out corresponding …

As we are working on learning our letters we have been having fun learning how to write them. Here are several ways that you can help your preschooler or kindergartener have fun while learning to write letters and words. You can also use these same techniques to practice tracing and working on any fine motor skills.
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First we have sticky sticks. These are great for tracing letters you can also use them for “dot-to-dot” activities. I drew the letters out first for my daughter, but for a …

Found another terrific free printable! Want to make your own animal matching game? This is a great resource!
Guissell over at Designing Moms created a PDF you can print on cardstock at home, have your children help color the animals, cut them out and have a terrific card set of animal Memory!  There are nine different animals, to make your set you’ll need to print the pdf two times.  Hope you have fun creating and playing this game with your kids.
Thanks Guissell!
This activity is part of our Animal Learning …