Dollar Store Capes!
It was a room full of Kings and Queens of Hearts. To make it proper - each child made their own cape and crown. Oooo - the fun we had! (These would be so great for a birthday party!) To make the cape - all you need is a plastic table cloth from the dollar store. ...
Make a Love Bug
I work at a local museum and today they had the sweetest project - Love Bugs. Create the bug out of paper and doily hearts. Add googly eyes, pipe cleaner legs. . . whatever details catch your fancy! I think a love bug would be the perfect little Valentine!
Saturday Senses – The Sense of Movement
I am amazed as I sit down to write about each sense how much there is to say. I could write an entire book on each sense!! The science of this sense could fill a week of posts. There was no way to put everything in but I encourage you to google sense of movement to...
The Sweet Delicious Details of Life
Where does love live? On February 14? We celebrate love every Valentine’s day with chocolates, bunches of roses, little notes of love and oh yes, those expensive fufu meals. But is this really love? Maybe this is the mass market wrap it, stamp it and sell it...
Make Your Own Math Games – Fit for Royality!
The following math games are wonderful for number recognition, one to one correspondence, counting, taking turns, and beginning addition. Addition - the game of friendship! This is a fun little game to play and easy to make. It has three objectives - to practice...
Make a Love Bird
This is a lovely project for Valentine's - making little love birds out of watercolor paper. The sweetest part is writing on the back of the birds the things you love. Isn't gratitude a wonderful way to honor Valentine's day? I will do this with my class when I...
Heartfilled Animals!
This is an adaptation of a common kindergarten art project. Normally, we use heart doilies and create different creatures. Recently, I have found oodles of scrapbook paper on clearance at Tuesday Morning. I adore the funky feeling of the printed papers! So fun! I...
The Queen of Heart's Tarts
The Queen of Hearts she made some tarts all on a winter's day; The Knave of Hearts he stole the tarts and took them clean away. The King of Hearts called for the tarts and scolded the Knave full sore. The Knave of Hearts brought back the tarts and vowed he'd steal no...
Saturday Senses – The Sense of Touch
We need 4 hugs a day for survival. We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth —Virginia Satir On the most basic level, the sense of touch (the tactile sense) helps us to define what is self and not self. It is a picture of boundaries. ...
Chinese Blossom Tree
The object of education is to teach us love of beauty. Plato I adore that the classrooms of Reggio Emilia hold aesthetic beauty as an important part of respecting the child and their learning environment. Waldorf education honors the child with objects made from the...
Calligraphy Scrolls
This is a special project that a family of one of my students shared. The father had been taught calligraphy from his grandmother. He showed the class how to make a few numbers in Chinese.
Making Shadow Puppets and A Shadow Puppet Theater
It is so perfect to shadow puppets to our exploration of shadows as we discuss groundhog's day. You can make a simple shadow puppet theater out of a cereal box. It is cheap and every child in the class can have their own theater. Begin by cutting windows out of both...
Making Painted Plum Blossom Trees
The Chinese Plum Blossom tree is considered to bring good luck and hope. I have done this project with four year olds with great success. It helps to tell the children that we are not painting the whole tree - just a section of it. What you will need to paint...
Sipping Education
“Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel” Socrates Recently a friend of mine told me she had roasted her own coffee. Immediately, I was going to try it myself. As an avid and committed coffee drinker, I love the process of making coffee. ...
Saturday Senses – The Sense of Life
Welcome to the first installment of a twelve week series on Rudolf Steiner's model of the twelve senses. Interestingly, the skills children need to succeed in school are formed by the four lower senses - the sense of life, the sense of touch, the sense of movement...
How to Draw a Panda Bear
This drawing project looks great using just black and green watercolors. I just love how unique and individual each child's drawing turns out. What you will need: Sharpies, white cardstock, black and green watercolors (I used a liquid concentrate). How to draw a...
Make a Panda Bear Habitat
During our China unit we study the panda bear and learn a bit about it's life cycle. The children love seeing the newborn panda photos - so pink and appears hairless! I think it is important to have the children create the habitat of the animal we are studying. It...
How to make a Counting Set
Inspired by the Chinese abacus (which they called suànpán) I adapted the Montessori Teens Board to create our own little counting set. My objective is to teach the teens - a requirement of my school district. I had my students make their own set today. They loved...
Making Red Lanterns
You will need white cardstock, black sharpies, red copy paper, red yard, red watercolor paint, crayons, stapler, and single hole puncher. Step 1: Let the children draw a design with black permanent marker. Step 2: Color with crayons. I used a special crayon for...
Make Red and Gold Sparkly Playdough!
2 cups of flour 2 cups of colored water (I used Wilton "Red Red" Food dye - is bright red!) 1 Tbsp. of cooking oil 2 Tbsp. cream of tartar 1 cup of salt Directions: Place all of the ingredients in a medium size pan. Cook on medium heat and stir it until the playdough...
Who is it that teaches?
Today I read this passage from Parker Palmer's book, "Courage to Teach." It nails what I have been thinking about and I wanted to share it: The question we most commonly ask is the "what" question - what subjects shall we teach? When the conversation goes a bit...
The Twelve Senses
Welcome to Saturday Senses! For the next twelve Saturdays I will feature one of the twelve senses. I am absolutely passionate about this model and what it provides in understanding how we process life. Actually, it is incredible to me that at the turn of the last...
Good Teaching Scents!
According the Rudolph Steiner, the sense of smell has a direct impact on memory and thus is a great ally in the educational process. However, he does warn to not over do it. I think it is important to find subtle smells and use sparingly. Remember that an adult's...
How to Draw a Bird
I think it is such an important skill to teach children how to draw. It develops so many critical skills for learning - eye/hand coordination, dexterity, spatial perception, understanding of basic shapes and lines, the ability to observe as a means of knowledge - to...
Kid-Made Sight Word Bingo
This is so cool! I love it! My friend and colleague, Joyce Flynn, came up with the best idea for sight bingo. I like it so much better than a purchased bingo game. Here's how Joyce does it: 1. She gives each child a piece of white paper and a marker. 2. She...
My Home, My Address
During August, we talked about how we each live in our own home. One of the projects we did was to make a paper bag house or apartment building (depending on where you lived). We then set up a little city with our "homes." The photos below are from that first...
Storytelling Pathways: Walking the Fairy Tale
This is a great way to help children with retelling a story. It builds comprehension, sequencing and it is fun! It is simple - on a long piece of bulletin board paper - draw a winding path. At the beginning of the path, draw a visual clue of the first event. I did...
How to Teach Simple Finger Knitting
This is such a great skill to teach children. It teaches rhythm, eye/hand coordination, and a deeply refined level of fine motor skill. One of my students this year has not been overly excited about any project. After learning how to do simple finger knitting - she...
Hibernating Bear Dens
Art is such a powerful way for children to own information. In science when we learn about an animal I try to find a way for the children to recreate that animal's "habitat." I read and talked about some of the facts about the hibernating bears. The children love...
Winter Sparkle in Block Play and Dollhouse Play!
One of my favorite things to do is to add special fabrics and trims to the block and dollhouse during different seasons and fairy tales. This week we are deep into the story, "The Mitten". I have added sparkling fabrics and a wonderful iridescent garland for snow,...