Procedures: Learning to Use Glue
Teaching young children how to use glue can be as simple as a song and strong visual instructions. Just click on the image to download a copy of this song. My co-teacher, Patty, has a wonderful additional line I have never heard - "It is strong!" The children...
Rock Puzzles
This is the coolest idea from my colleague, Patty. She calls them rock puzzles. It is very simple. You find nice sized, flat rocks. Wrap the rock in a towel and bam! Break a piece or two off with a hammer or another rock! How to use the rock puzzles: Put four...
Make a 3-D Game Board!
This is another idea I shared in my Summer Institute. It is one of my favorite math activities - a hand-built 3-D game board. The best part - the children get to construct it. Base - a shoe/boot tray. This one is from Target and is copper. I have used cheap black...
Easy Peasy Game Boards
In my Summer Institute I shared some of my favorite math games. I love simple game boards for a wonderful way to practice counting and 1-to-1 correspondence as they move their game piece. It builds the life skills of patience and waiting. I found that children love...
~Fairy Tale Magic ~
Me oh my! How magical fairy tales are as a curriculum organizer. It still amazes me how well the fairy tales carry all the major facets of curriculum. Take a peek at my Goldilocks and the Three Bears: Click on image to view a larger version. I have sought out and...
Easy Beautiful Embossed Metal
This is a super easy and fun project. It requires adult supervision. What you will need: metal foil sheets (Dick Blick 12 aluminum sheets for $2.84) wooden styluses or pencils newspapers optional: cardboard frames (Dick Blick 12 white for $3.68) Here are the...
Woo Hoo! Welcome to my New Digs
Oh my word! I am so excited to welcome you to my new cyber home. Jeni has made some real magic in her design of my site. I am so grateful for her hard work and amazing talent! I would like to give you a tour! Ready?! Let's check out the magic here! Let's start...
Homeschooling in France: French Fibre Festival
For the last 3 weeks, I have invited you into our homeschool & daily life in rural France. You can see those posts here & here & here. I've been posting the "extra" photos that go along with those posts on my own blog - you can see those here. This is the...
DIY Color Matching Game
I saw this in my colleague's classroom. I love how simple it is! Easy peasy. This is a great activity to have in a basket like the photo below or you could set it up like a Montessori tray. What you will need: paint samples (2 of each color you use) clothespins...
Homeschooling in France: Our Village & Countryside
For the last two weeks, here at Fairy Dust Teaching, I have been giving you a peek into our homeschool & daily life in rural France. You can see those posts here & here and even more photos on my blog, Handwork Homeschool. Today, we're going to take a little...
DIY Sand Blocks
It is super simple to make your own sand blocks - and on the cheap! These are wonderful for a Music center. You can do group music as you can make a class set for under $25. Woo hoo! What you will need: 60 coarse grit sand paper wood blocks (wood craft section of...
Dramatic Play: It's Brain Smart!
Dramatic Play is not only a source of wonder and magic -- it is good for cognitive development! Pretend play requires the ability to transform objects and actions symbolically; for example, pretending to be mommy or a doctor; pretending a bowl of nuts and leaves is...
Homeschooling in France: The Secret Garden
Guest Blogger: Elizabeth des Roches Blog: Handwork Homeschool Last week, here at Fairy Dust Teaching, I introduced my family & gave you a glimpse of our days at home. You can see that post here & more photos on my blog, Handwork Homeschool. Welcome to our...
Reggio Inspired: Ramps & Texture
Guest Teacher: Kati Nash Reggio Inspired Blog Series For months friends had been exploring ramps and their relationship to the objects that travel down them. After exploring with different objects in our classroom from wooden spools to water, friends began making...
The Making of a Clay Fairy House
One day, while a few children were exploring clay, the notion of building house emerged. Several children pulled out some of the log blocks. Pieces of clay were placed in the log "forest" as one child called it. The piece with the hole in this photo was created for...
Easy DIY Name Center
I saw this idea in one of my colleague's rooms and loved it at first sight. It is so simple and super cheap to make. It is a great letter matching game and the clothespins help build fine motor skills. What you will need: a couple packages of clothespins a sharpie...
Homeschooling in France: Part One
Guest Blogger: Elizabeth des Roches Blog: Handwork Homeschool My good friend Sally, here at Fairy Dust Teaching, asked me if I'd like to share a bit about my homeschool & life in France. "Sure", I said, "why not?" Today, I'll be giving you a glimpse into our time...
Reggio: Ramp Investigation
Guest Teacher: Kati Nash Reggio Blog Series Hi! My name is Kati and I am a teacher in a Reggio-inspired preschool that serves the most at-risk children in our school district. Our school is unique in that we have private, philanthropic funding but remain a public...
Reggio: Scissor Storage!
I love this simple but highly effective why to store and display scissors - in a brick! Who knew! This photo was taken in one of my colleague's classroom. So cool. It looks so natural and provides a clear place for children to reach for a pair of scissors!...
Alphabet Play
This is a lovely idea I saw in my colleague Kati's classroom. I had to make one for my class and share it with you. It is easy to set up. Put the printed pages into page protectors and slip into a binder. (I have included a cover for the binder.) You will need the...
Black Bean Sensory Tub
Materials: black beans and lentils lavender large glass discs (Dollar Store) little felted wool balls (Hobby Lobby) spoons and tongs little baskets tins and other containers on hand Skills: Scooping beans with the spoons. Pouring beans into the basket. Filling the...
Storytelling in Blocks
Oh my word! I was so excited to discover a lost thumb drive with photos from my classroom in 2007-2008. I thought I had lost all of my photos when my first laptop crashed. My daughter found a random thumb drive and . . . well . . . a treasure trove of photos! One...
Creating A Chandelier
I love, love, love the look of the "Reggio-Inspired" chandeliers. It was one of the must-do projects with my new class. I wanted to start with a "natural" base. Well . . . it just so happened that my son had a big pile of dead bushes in his backyard. Viola! A...
Glue Multi-Media Paintings
This is a very fun way to produce a process based painting. I love the texture and dimension it produces! I begin with a canvas that the children have previously painted. These canvases were painted with red, yellow, and orange paints. What you need: glue liquid...
Block Habitat Constructions
Block play is so rich. It can expand to include so many different kinds of constructions. In my block center I have the following materials (in addition to the blocks): large river rocks moss covered "rocks" (floral department) green grass (floral department - holds...
Two Years Later – Miracles Abound!
Two years ago Easter Sunday, my eldest daughter mysteriously lost all ability to walk, hold her head up - - she became like a limp rag. It took nearly 5 months to figure out - she had an aggressive form of MS. She spent nearly four months in a hospital bed. At one...
Markets in Nice
I must admit, I adore the open markets. There are so many! Here is a little flea market in Nice: Okay this is not a market but gee whiz - the blue in Nice is amazing. We sat next to the sea and . . . well . . . experienced such warm and glorious sun. Look at the...
Going South!
It is 7:00 a.m. in the morning and it is time to say good-bye to Paris -- for now. I loved our little flat in the Latin Quarter. So bohemian. There is something about the train station that is always so exciting. I love the European trains. We headed south to Nice,...
A Little Paris Sparkle. . .
It was misting as we walked around the corner. Damp, dark and cold. I wondered why I was out in the rain to see this famous landmark. I am sick. This is crazy. Nothing could prepare me for the amazing view of the Eiffel tower sparkling. It was stunning! It was so...
Paris Coco Style
If Coco Chanel loved Angelina's - surely I would. And further more, Audrey Hepburn loved this place. It was a must do. My friends and I were running late. We hopped on the Metro and quickly found ourselves lost. It was 6:15 p.m. and Angelina's closed at 7:00 p.m....
