Ideas For Preschoolers Blog

Grandma Bubbles Books For Young Readers

2011-11-15T11:19:00.000-08:00

My kids love these book. I highly recommend them if your child is between the ages of 3 and 6 and starting to learn how to read. There are a few beginning reader books out there, most of which are boring, black and white, stick figure type books that the kids don't enjoy reading.Grandma Bubbles books are different in that they are colorful and have fun, exciting plots that will make the kids want to come back and read them over and over.

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They would make great Christmas or birthday gifts as well!! Give your child the gift of reading!

F is for Fish

2011-10-05T08:55:00.000-07:00

BOOKS

Here are a bunch of ideas on fish from ideasforpreschoolers.com.

FREE PRINTABLES
Confessions of a Homeschooler has many free printables on F is for Fish including tracing pages, magnet page, sorting, puzzles, counting, lacing card and much more.

Lesson Sense has many downloadable fish worksheets and coloring pages.

Here are a bunch of Rainbow Fish coloring pages.

CRAFTS
Totally Tots has a cute F is for fish craft.

All Kids Network has many different fish crafts.

Here is a Rainbow Fish craft found at Busy Bee Preschool.

MORE ACTIVITIES AND PRINTABLES
http://www.everythingpreschool.com/themes/fishing/index.htm
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/fish/
http://www.first-school.ws/theme/animals/ocean/fish.htm
http://www.123child.com/UBB/showthread.php?3979-Fish-amp-Under-the-Sea-preschool-lesson-plans

Activities for 18 Months - 2 1/2 Year Olds

2011-09-27T13:51:00.000-07:00

At age 18 months children start to learn so quickly. Their language is developing so they can usually understand you and can communicate back many words of their own.

The first things I would recommend teaching children ages 18 months to 2 1/2 years is color, shapes and animals. You can also start to introduce the alphabet and numbers. I have entire pages of ideas for these subjects on ideasforpreschoolers.com, but reading through those pages can be overwhelming. Here are a few of my favorite activities for this age group that my kids also love.

COLOR
I made color flash cards by cutting 2 index size rectangles out of each color of construction paper, writing the name of the color on one side and lamenting the cards.

Here are a bunch of games you can play with these cards as found on my color page:

Have child find the matching colors.
Pick one color card out and have the child go and find things that are that color and come back and tell you what they found, or bring the object back to you.
Gather several objects of different colors and have the child place each object on the corresponding colored card.
Hide one set of cards around the room. Give the child one of the second set of cards and tell them to go find that colored card.
Have child match crayons to the cards.
Hold up each card and ask child what color it is.
Go outside and find things in nature that are the different colors.

You can also put these cards under a clear cup, jar or tupperware and have your child put colored pom poms in the corresponding container. You can usually find these colored pom poms at the Dollar Store.

You could also use counting animals if you have them (there are SO many different things you can do with these guys. I love them.) These also come with the corresponding color cups which would be nice.

You can also use foam lacing beads. These are good for teaching shapes as well.

Don't give up if you child doesn't understand where they're supposed to put the colors right away. It will take time and you'll probably have to sit down with them and walk them through each step for the first few times of doing these activities. If you're patient, they will eventually figure it out and be able to start doing it on their own.

Another easy, cheap color game you can make involves jumbo craft sticks. Color each color on two craft sticks. Have the child find the two matching colors and put them together.

Children love felt board stories. Here's one that teaches color. Also found at Child Care Land.

Here are a couple more.

Carl the clown: http://www.preschooleducation.com/fcircus.shtml.

Here are some ice cream cone rhymes: http://www.preschooleducation.com/ficecream.shtml.

Find a lot more color ideas here.

SHAPES
I got these shape flash cards and magnetic shapes at the Dollar Store. Have you child match them up by shape and color.

Match pasta shapes in the corresponding container.

Trace small items you find around the house on index cards and have the child match the item to the shape.

File folder shape games.

Cut up shapes out of heavy cardstock and trace the shape on cards. Have the child match the cutouts to the cards.

I love this shape monster felt board story. Lot s of fun.

Find more shape ideas here.

OTHER FUN FELT BOARD STORIES

5 Green and Speckled Frogs

Old McDonald Had a Farm

5 Little Monkey Sitting in a Tree

5 Little Monkeys

Five little monkeys, walked along the shore

One went a' sailing, then there were four.

Four little monkeys climbed up a tree,

One feel down, then there were three.

Three little monkeys found a pot of glue,

One got stuck in it, then there were two.

Two little monkeys found a currant bun,

One ran away with it, then there was one.

One little monkey cried all afternoon,

So they put him in an airplane and sent him to the moon.

5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

Zoo Train

If you ride the choo choo choo to the zoo, zoo, zoo

You might see an elephant or a kangaroo

You might hear a lion or a tiger too

If you ride the choo choo choo to the zoo, zoo, zoo.

Find more felt board stories here.

E is for Elephant

2011-09-26T12:20:00.000-07:00

BOOKS

FREE PRINTABLES
Confessions of a Homeschooler has many free printables on E is for Elephant including tracing pages, magnet page, sorting, puzzles, counting, lacing card and much more.

Here are a bunch of free activity pages from Home School Share that include a poem about elephants and many other pages on the letter E.

CRAFTS
Totally Tots has a cute E is for Elephant craft.

Busy Bee Kids Crafts has a cute elephant craft that has clothespin legs and a pipe cleaner trunk. They also have a cute paper plate elephant craft and a hand print elephant craft.

Super Heroes and Princesses has an elephant craft made out of tissue paper, based off of the book, Elmer's Special Day.

GAMES
Elefun is a very fun game for all ages. An elephant blows butterflys out of it's trunk and the kids try to catch as many as they can in a butterfly net.

BABAR

MORE IDEAS AND PRINTABLES
http://www.first-school.ws/theme/animals/wild/elephant.htm
http://www.everythingpreschool.com/themes/elephant/index.htm
http://www.busybeekidsprintables.com/Zoo-Animal-Printables.html
http://homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com/search/label/Letter%20Ee

Leap Frog Letter Factory

2011-09-20T12:28:00.000-07:00

Leap Frog has many great products. Here's a great DVD that we have that teaches kids their ABCs.

Here's a site I just found, Running With Scissors, that has Leap Frog ABC flash cards to go along with this movie. Cute!

Education Cubes

2011-09-20T12:13:00.000-07:00

I just found this idea and love it!

You can customize these photo stacking blocks to teach different concepts. Make a game out of learning!

Education Cubes came up with this idea and has over 200 printable inserts for these cubes for members. Becoming a member on this site is a $12 one time fee.

More on this to come if I decide to purchase these fun blocks.

Displaying Artwork

2011-09-14T09:48:00.000-07:00

Here is a simple idea. To display my kids' artwork, I use yarn and clothes pins. The yarn is tied around 2 nails and nailed to the wall. The clothes pins hold up their artwork nicely.

D is for Dinosaur

2011-09-13T19:42:00.000-07:00

BOOKS
What better way to introduce your theme than with a book. We read all about dinosaurs in a child's encyclopedia. Here are a bunch of other great dinosaur books.

DINOSAUR TRAIN
You can't have a preschool dinosaur theme without watching Dinosaur Train on PBS Kids. Here's an "Dinosaurs A to Z" song from Dinosaur Train.

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Here's a lesson plan from Dinosaur Train to go along with this "Dinosaur A to Z" song.

Here's the official Dinosaur Train website on PBS Kids that has games, videos and free printables.

Here are some more free printables and activities from 1+1=1, some based on Dinosaur Train.

Here are some Dinosaur Train Lesson Plans based on various Dinosaur Train episodes.

FREE PRINTABLES
Confessions of a Homeschooler has many free printables on D is for Dinosaur including tracing pages, magnet page, sorting, puzzles, counting, clip cards, lacing card and much more.

2 Teaching Mommies also has many free printables on the dinosaur theme including Spin & Graph, Size Sort, Beginning Writing/Cutting Practice, Shadow Match, Spelling Page and much more.

Tired Need Sleep also has a bunch of cute ideas for this theme as well as free printables including shape craft, file folder games, lacing cards and more.

File Folder Fun has some cute dinosaur file folder games.

This Dinosaur Bones page from PreKinders was fun for my preschooler to color, cut out and put together, figuring out where each part goes like paleontologists do today with real dinosaur bones.

Here are some fun kits of dinosaur bones you can dig and put together.

CRAFT
Dinosaur "D" from Totally Tots.

Many more craft ideas on Totally Tots.

DINOSAUR TOYS AND ACTIVITIES

MORE IDEAS AND PRINTABLES
http://tiredneedsleep.blogspot.com/2010/03/letter-dd-lapbook.html
http://www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/DinosaurPrintables.htm
http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/dinosaurs.htm

Alphabet Tree

2011-09-13T15:26:00.000-07:00

I love this idea from Confessions of a Homeschooler.

Every week we have a letter of the week with themes that go along with the letter. At the end of the week we read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and put the letter that we learned that week (upper and lowercase) on the coconut tree.

I modified the idea form the above website in that I put the alphabet crafts letters that we make from Totally Tots on the tree instead of the printable letters provided by Confessions of a Homeschooler. It just gives me a place to display my preschooler's art and makes the tree personalized and fun.

C is for Chameleon

2011-09-13T13:15:00.000-07:00

BOOK OF THE DAY:

FREE PRINTABLES
Preschool Corner has many fun ideas and printables based off of the book The Mixed-Up Chameleon including color match up cards, crafts, hidden letter page, size sort, puzzle, counting and more.

CRAFTS
My preschooler loved making this fun mixed-up chameleon collage from Preschool Corner page.

This 3D Pascal Papercraft was also very fun.

Totally Tots has a fun "c" chameleon craft that we also made and hung on our alphabet tree.

SCIENCE ACTIVITIES
We did the last science activity on the Preschool Corner page, but instead of using transparency paper, I traced this chameleon on a plastic zip-lock bag with a permanent marker, cut it out and attached a popsicle stick to it. We went outside and got to see how a chameleon changes colors to blend into its environment.

My preschooler also loved "catching flies" with her long sticky tongue. This idea can also be found on the Preschool Corner page. Basically I added a piece of Velcro to the end of a party horn and made "flies" out of black felt. She would blow the horn and see how many flies she could catch.

MORE BOOKS

C is for Caterpillar

2011-09-12T14:23:00.000-07:00

C is for caterpillar theme is based off of the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Start by reading this book to your preschooler/s.

At the bottom of this Confessions of a Homeschooler page there is a free printout that has pictures that go with The Very Hungry Caterpillar book. This website suggested using them as lacing cards. I printed these out, laminated them, put flannel on the back and used them as a flannel board story.

FREE PRINTABLES
Confessions of a Homeschooler also has many free printables on C is for Caterpillar including tracing page, magnet page, dice game, clip cards, letter matching, counting, graphing, lacing card and much more.

Very Hungry Caterpillar Tot Book from 1+1=1.

CRAFT
This cute little caterpillar is made out of an egg carton.

MORE CATERPILLAR BOOKS

MORE IDEAS AND PRINTABLES
http://www.first-school.ws/theme/animals/insects/caterpillar.htm
http://www.adaycare.com/PreschoolCurriculumSample4.html

B is for Butterfly

2011-09-12T14:10:00.000-07:00

FREE PRINTABLES
Confessions of a Homeschooler has many free printables on B is for Butterfly including tracing page, magnet page, dice game, clip cards, letter matching, counting, graphing, lacing card and much more.

CRAFTS
Butterfly "b" craft from Totally Tots.

Balloon Butterfly

BOOKS

MORE IDEAS AND PRINTABLES
http://www.squidoo.com/butterfly-unit
http://www.everythingpreschool.com/themes/butterflies/index.htm
http://www.kidssoup.com/Butterflies/butterflies.html
http://www.first-school.ws/theme/animals/insects/butterfly.htm
http://www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/ButterflyPrintables.html

B is for Bee

2011-09-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

FREE PRINTABLES
2 Teaching Mommies has many free printables for this theme, including a bee color book, the life cycle of a bee, writing/cutting practice, size sort, letter match, patterns, counting clip cards and much more.

The Homeschool Club also has a a ton of ideas for this theme including craft ideas, games, printables, snacks and more.

CRAFTS
Cute B Bee craft found at Totally Tots.

Here's a wooden bee painting kit I found at Michaels.

BOOKS

FINGER PLAY

Bee Hive Fingerplay

Here is the bee hive
(Cup hands together)
Where are the bees?
(Peek into hive)
Hidden away where nobody sees.
(Hide hive behind back)
Watch and you’ll see them come out of the hive.
(Bring hive back out front)
1…2…3…4…5…BUZZ!
(Open fingers one by one. Fingers become the buzzing bees)

MORE ACTIVITIES AND PRINTABLES

http://www.first-school.ws/theme/animals/insects/bee.htm

http://www.everythingpreschool.com/themes/bees/index.htm

http://www.kidssoup.com/Bees/bee-crafts-activities.html

A is for Apple

2011-09-12T12:45:00.000-07:00

FREE PRINTABLES
Confessions of a Homeschooler has many free printables on A is for Apple including tracing page, magnet page, dice game, clip cards, letter matching, counting, graphing, lacing card and much more.

2 Teaching Mommies has many free printables for this theme, including crafts, letter matching, counting activities and more.

Apple Parts printable

CRAFT
Cute apple "a" craft found at Totally Tots.

BOOKS

FELT BOARD STORY
5 Red Apples
5 Red Apples and 5 Little Apples

MORE IDEAS AND PRINTABLES
http://www.everythingpreschool.com/themes/apples/index.htm
http://www.kidssoup.com/Apples/Apple_Activities.html
http://stepbystepcc.com/foods/apple3.html
http://www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/ApplePrintables.htm

Do-A-Dot Art

2011-09-12T11:53:00.000-07:00

These Do-A-Dot Art Markers are perfect for my art loving preschooler. I am always looking for different, new, fun things for her to help encourage her in this area. These "markers" are more like paint without the brushes, water and huge mess. My preschooler is really enjoying making "dot art."

Calendar/Weather Chart

2011-09-12T11:42:00.000-07:00

Love this calendar/weather chart I got for preschool for my daughter this year. We start every preschool day with the date and weather. It's helping her understand the days of the week, months, how much longer until certain special days (like birthdays), what yesterday, today and tomorrow mean and what the weather outside is like.

A is for Alligator

2011-09-12T11:24:00.000-07:00

I love the preschool idea of having a letter of the week. Here are some ideas for you to incorporate for the "A" letter of the week.

A is for Alligator

CRAFTS
I love these alphabet craft ideas found at Totally Tots.

Turn an "A" into an alligator (made from craft foam).

Love this idea of making an alligator out of an egg carton.

BOOKS

LOVE this fun book, The Lady with the Alligator Purse, that goes right along with this alligator theme.

Here are some more books on alligators:

FELT BOARD STORIES
5 Hungry "Alligators"
5 Little Monkeys (teasing Mr. Alligator)

COLORING PAGES
http://www.first-school.ws/theme/animals/reptiles/alligator.htm

MORE PRINTABLES
http://www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/AlligatorCrocodilePrintables.htm

LDS Preschool Curriculum

2011-09-12T09:27:00.000-07:00

This is a great website that has free preschool curriculum based off of LDS themes.

http://confessionsofaslackermom.com/category/preschool-curriculum/

If you are looking for a more spiritual approach to preschool, this site incorporates church related themes with a letter of the week. For example the "A" theme is about Adam and Eve from the bible. The "A" packet has a scripture on Adam and Eve for the child to recite and memorize, a song about Adam and Eve and the story of Adam and Eve to tell the child. There are also several worksheet activities based on the theme and letter of the week.

Thanks for sharing this great resource with us!

Preschool Snack Ideas

2011-03-19T11:51:00.000-07:00

My girls were going through a growth spurt, constantly coming to me during the day saying they were hungry. I finally had an idea of how to solve the problem so they could get their own snacks and I wouldn't have to come up with something off the top of my head. I put a bowl in the pantry and filled it with snacks that I put in small snack baggies. I also filled one of the drawers in the fridge with snacks that had to stay refrigerated. The girls were allowed to take one snack from the pantry and one from the fridge each day.

Non-refrigerated Snack Ideas:

* Ritz crackers
* Fish Crackers
* Apples
* Fruit Snacks
* Peanuts
* Pretzels
* Peanut Butter and Jelly Slices
* Granola Bars
* Raisins
* Graham Crackers
* Muffins
* Bananas

Refrigerated Snack Ideas:

* String Cheese
* Canned Peaches put in snack size tuperware
* Canned Pears
* Applesauce
* Baby Carrots
* Burrito/Quesadillas Slices
* Yogurt
* Cheese Squares/Slices
* Celery Sticks
* Grapes
* Strawberries
* Tomato Slices
* Mini Pizzas

These are just a few easy simple ideas for snacks that you can have ready before hand, that preschoolers can get themselves.

Cardboard Slide

2011-03-19T11:31:00.000-07:00

Here's an idea. We had these long skinny boxes that we cut in half, put at the top of the castle and used as a long slide. My preschoolers spent hours sliding their small little people toys down the slide. We also put marbles down which was also fun, but a little messy.

This would also be a fun track for toy cars.

Puppet Theater

2011-03-19T11:22:00.000-07:00

One of the fun features on the castle we made for the girls (see Castle Playhouse post) is the puppet show window.

Telling stories with puppets is a fun activity for preschoolers. They love telling stories themselves and watching and learning from adults putting on puppet shows.

Here are some fun puppets for preschoolers. We have the princess puppet as you can see from the pictures.

Click Here for more resources on puppets.

Castle Playhouse

2011-03-02T09:34:00.000-08:00

My husband made a playhouse castle for the girls for Christmas. They absolutely love it. They spend hours playing in it on the upper story every day.

It has several neat features. On the bottom floor there is a dress up closet behind some curtains on the right side of the castle. The girls dress ups are hung on hooks and there is a plastic dresser for the small items like hats, crowns, gloves, necklaces etc. There is also a mirror in the dress up closet.

On the other side of the bottom floor, there is the puppet show window with the puppets stored in these pockets right below the window on the inside. There is also a toy organizer from Ikea on the bottom floor on the left. The inside bottom floor also has these Ikea lights, along with a string of Christmas lights that are all turned on by a remote control button.

On the top floor there are two rooms. One is a kitchen with a play kitchen set with play food. The other is a large play area where the girls like to play with their princess castle toy sets and baby dolls. The castle also has this treasure chest and mirror from Ikea.

Making the Castle

While we were working on building the castle for Christmas, we kept it a secret from the girls by hiding it behind a huge black tarp. They never tried to go behind it. We blocked it off with the couch, tree and ladder just in case they ever got too curious.

It was actually not as hard to build as I thought it would be. After the initial cutting was finished it was just a matter of putting it together.

We used 4 sheets of plywood and a bunch of 2x4's, 1x4s and 2x2s. We used about a sheet and a half of 5/8" particle board for the second story floor. The whole castle measure's 8'x4' with the towers sicking out 10".

We cut steps into the side of the castle (see first picture) where you climb up with a 1' stool at the bottom. We wanted to make it a little hard to get up so kids who were too young to be up there by themselves anyways, couldn't climb up on their own. We can also take the stool away if we don't want kids playing up for some reason.

Painting the Castle

To paint the castle the stone look, we used three shades of gray; dark, medium and light. We first sponged on the darkest followed by the lighter colors. We then painted the lines using the medium gray.

Building the playhouse castle was a fun project for my preschoolers and they sure love it. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Not only does it keeps the toys and the room more organized, it keeps the kids entertained and playing happily.

Preschool Bus

2011-03-02T04:58:00.000-08:00

My daughter brought this home from preschool at the beginning on her school year. I love it! What a cute idea for all you preschool teachers out there!

Preschool Shows

2011-03-02T04:50:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite kids TV shows is "Word World" on PBS. I love movies and shows that teach kids something and this is definitely one that does.

The word animals, Sheep, Duck, Dog, Ant, Pig etc. run into some kind of problem as they go about their days in word world. They find and sound out letters and end up solving their problem by "building a word".

It's cute and fun and my kids love it.

Another great Preschool kids show is "Super Why", also on PBS.

In each episode one of the "super readers" has some problem that they don't know how to solve. All the super readers get together and solve their problem by "looking in a book." They pull out a book, jump into it, read it and see what they can learn from it and how they can apply it to helping them solve their problem.

Another cute show my kids enjoy.

There are many other fun preschool shows out there like Curious George, Clifford, Dinosaur Train, etc. You can find them at pbskids.org. There are also fun games and activities for kids to do on that site.

Hooked on Phonics

2011-03-02T04:48:00.000-08:00

I purchased the Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Kindergarten reading program for my daughter before she was three. I felt that she was too advanced for the preschool addition since she already knew her letters and sounds. We worked together and she started sounding out words. I was amazed at how fast she picked it up and how she was reading before her third birthday. Here is a video of her reading the first book in the series at age three and a half (several months after she first started reading).

Although these books are good for beginning readers, they don't have very exciting story lines and the pictures are all in black and white and not very fun to look at. That is why I also recommend Grandma Bubbles Books. We have both and my daughter definitely prefers Grandma Bubbles Books. She never complains about reading them like she does her Hooked on Phonics books.

KidsSoup

2011-03-02T03:57:00.000-08:00

Kidssoup.com is full of awesome resources for preschoolers. There are several different themes and each theme has craft ideas, activities, games and other resources. The illustrations are so cute and the information is great!

For access to all of the printable resources, it's only $2.15 a month! I ordered a year membership and printed out and laminated so many great resources in that time. I organize all the resources by theme and put each theme in its separate folder in a filing cabinet. Now, if I want to teach my kids about farm animals, I pull out the farm folder and we're set to go!

Star Fall

2011-03-02T03:49:00.000-08:00

When my daughter was 2 1/2 years old I taught her how to use a mouse. I then set her loose on starfall.com. It is full of learning activities for kids. It's an awesome site. I can't say enough good things about it. My daughter knew all of her letters and sounds long before she was three. She was sounding out simple words like "cat", "dog", "rat", "pig" etc. and even read her first book before her third birthday.

After she knew all of her letters and letter sounds she found all of the books on that site and started reading those. She learned about rhyming, days of the week and month, holidays and so many other things. I'd definitely recommend this site to all preschoolers. Even just having them play around on the site for 15 minutes a day can sure teach them a lot.

Counting Animals

2011-03-01T12:24:00.000-08:00

These little animal counters are great for many things. You can sort them by color or by animal type. You can count out how many you have of each color or animal type, or count out a certain number of both. You can also put different numbers on cups and count out the corresponding number of animals.

My preschooler is learning to add and subtract with them these animals. Sometimes she'll come up to me and say, "Mom, what's 2+3?" We'll pull out the counting animals, make one group of 2 and one group of 3 and I'll have her count them all together.

I-Spy Quilt

2011-03-01T12:08:00.000-08:00

I made matching "I-Spy" quilts for my preschoolers a while back. They love them.

To play:
One person says to the other, "I spy with my little eye, Snow White (or whatever)." The other tries to find the person or object and then it's his or her turn to pick something out to ask the other person to find. You could also make it a little harder by describing what you see. "I spy something that is brown and yellow and swinging in a tree." This game could go on forever since there are so many things to see and find.

Making Coloring Pages from Photos

2011-03-01T11:14:00.000-08:00

My girls love to color. They ask me practically every day if I can print out a coloring page for them to color. Click here for a bunch of printable coloring pages.

Also, how fun is it to make your own coloring pages from photos! The kids can color pictures of themselves! Here is a video and written instructions on how to do it. It's super fast and easy! You just need Photoshop.

http://video.about.com/graphicssoft/coloring-book.htm

Make coloring pages from photos

1. Open photo in Photoshop.

2. Duplicate background layer - Layer/New/Layer via copy (ctrl+j)

3.With Layer 1 selected: Image/Adjustment/Desaturate (grayscale)

4. Copy Layer 1 - Layer/New/Layer via copy (ctrl+j). Click on new layer--name Layer 2

5. With Layer 2 selected: Image/Adjustment/Invert

6. Layers Palette--Change to Color Dodge. Filter/Blur/Gausian Blur. Radius arrow all the way to the left. Gradually move slider to the right. If the photo reappears, nudge to the right. Once you’re happy, click OK.

You can also make a coloring page Photoshop action so all you have to do is click one button and have it make a coloring page for you.

To make a coloring page action:

1. Open a picture.
2. Go to your Actions pallet (Window->Actions if it's not already open)
3. Click on "Default Actions" folder (should be at the very top).
4. At the bottom of the actions pallet there are several icons. Click on the "Create new action" icon (the paper folded at one corner..next to the trash can).
5. Name your action (Coloring Page Action) and click "Record". Your action is now recording.
6. Follow steps 2 through 6 above.
7. After completing step 6, go back to your actions pallet and click the "Stop playing/recording" icon at the bottom (the gray square on the far left).
8. You now have your coloring page action. Open up another picture, click on your "Coloring Page Action" and hit the "Play Selection" icon (the sideways triangle).
9. If you don't like the amount of Gausian Blur, you can go to your history panel, click on the step before Gausian Blur (should be called Blending Options, yes it should turn everything white), then go to Filter->Blur->Gausian Blur and slide the slider over until you like it. That's all!

Goldilocks and the Berenstain Bears

2011-03-01T10:49:00.000-08:00

(Written by a 3 year old)

Once upon of time there's an old girl. And her name was Goldilocks. And she was walking to the Berenstain's house. And she say "Hello? Anybody home?" But she stepped inside. And she saw all things that she can. She saw the mommy's food and the baby bears food and she broke baby's chair. I mean she one day there was a old Berenstain bears stepped inside and they saw what Goldilocks did. And she breaked baby's chair chair. And she hide when the Berenstain bears come. And she sleep. And she handled. And she reached up to humma. The bears came home and see what Goldilocks did. And baby bear saw someone broked her chair and went upstairs and see Goldilocks. And she went Berenstain bears. She run downstairs and run out the bed and run and run and never come back. The end.

Grandma Bubbles Books for Young Readers

2011-03-01T10:29:00.000-08:00

Teaching your preschooler to read? Grandma Bubbles has written and illustrated some cute, fun, colorful, engaging stories that are great for getting young kids excited about learning to read.

I sometimes have a hard time getting my 4 year old motivated to read. It seems like a battle every time I suggest she try to read a word or two. She loves to read Grandma Bubbles Books, however, and will pull them out on her own to read to her younger sister.

Her younger sister (age 3) is also learning how fun reading can be with these books.
Here is a video of them reading the Kit and Glug series together.

Order you set today at http://www.grandmabubblesbooks.com/. Follow her blog for other fun ideas and information.

ALSO, her latest book was just released, "Princess Fun." My girls LOVE this book. They say it is their favorite.

Let's Play Music

2011-03-01T10:15:00.000-08:00

I enrolled my preschool daughter in a fun music class, "Let's Play Music." This is a three year program for 4-7 year olds that teachings early music skills. When kids are this young, their fingers aren't developed enough for playing the piano, but these are also the years when they learn the most. This program focuses on teaching kids music concepts, theory, etc. while they are at the age where they want to learn. They learn through play. It's a really neat program and my daughter has really been enjoying it.

Click here to see go to the "Let's Play Music" site and see a video that goes over what they do in this three year program. You can also find a teacher near you from that site.

One of the things the kids do is learn puppet shows that are put to different classical pieces of music. It's really fun and my daughters love to listen to the music and tell the stories with their puppets. There are also hand signs for each puppet. Here's a video of my daughter putting on the Aladdin puppet show. The puppet pieces are below.

Build it Tall

2011-03-01T10:05:00.000-08:00

Legos are great toys. There are so many things you can do with them. You can build something different every time. Kids learn to use their imagination and pretend play.

Mega Bloks are great for younger kids. Same concept as Legos, just bigger, making it harder to swallow or lose pieces.

Cooking Fun

2011-03-01T10:01:00.000-08:00

Preschoolers love to help in the kitchen. Even though it takes twice as long, try to let them. Kids are not only learning new skills, they're spending time with you.

My kids love to make rice crispies with me. They're super fast and easy to make. Heres' a recipe:

Rice Crispies

Ingredients
8 cups rice crispies (any brand)
1 lb. mini marshmallows
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Directions
1. Begin by melting the butter in a large pan, on low heat.
2. Once butter is melted, begin stirrin gin the marshmallows by doing 1/4 bag at a time. Stir constantly!
3. Once butter and marshmallows are completely melted (no chunks), remove the pan from the heat, and begin pouring in the rice crispies 2 cups at a time. This is when you have to be fast about it. The marshmallows will begin to thicken, so stir constantly.
4. Once all the crispies are in and mixed, pour the chocolate chips in and mix quickly.
5. Immediatlely mold the mixture into a greased pan.
6. For light and fluffy treats, do not pack them down.
7. Serve warm.

Word and Letter Recognition

2011-03-01T09:49:00.000-08:00

Letter magnets are great. There are so many things you can do with them. Have your child point to specific letters in a group, name letter sounds, build words etc.

For some reason, playing with magnets on mom's refrigerator or on a white board is a fun, exciting thing.

An idea for helping your preschooler learn to read is to write words on index cards and attach a magnet to the back. Start with site words and easy three letter words that the child can sound out. Ask the child to find a certain word. Make silly sentences out of the words and have your child read the sentence they made. My daughter loves to do this. It gets her laughing so hard. "The mom pan ran to the pig" etc. She's having fun and learning to read and compose sentences at the same time.

Here's another silly sentences game that you can purchase that my daughter also loves to play.

Easy to Make Learning Games

2011-03-01T09:33:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of new games you can make to add variety in your teaching.

Make a small hole in the center of a paper plate. Thread a bobby pin through the hole. Cut off a piece of straw the size of the bobby pin and hook in onto the bobby pin. There are so many things you can use this for. If your child is learning letter, write letters around the plate, name a letter and have the child point the bobby pin to the correct letter. You can change this up for numbers, shapes, words (hard or easy), anything new you want to teach the child...addition, subtraction, math games, learning music notes etc.

Here's another simple game you can make. Get 2 small styrofoam cups. On the top of one write "at". On the other write different letters all around that can make words with "at" as their ending, "b, c, m, r, f" etc. <See photo below> The child turns the inner cup to the different letters and reads the words, "bat, cat, mat, rat, fat" etc. Do this for harder rhyming words. You can also write numbers around the inner cup and place corresponding amount of dots on the outer cup and have the child match the correct number of dots to the correct number. This can also be used for shapes, colors, etc.

Developing Writing Skills

2011-03-01T08:09:00.000-08:00

It takes a lot of hand eye coordination, practice and muscle strength before kids can learn to write. You can start teaching them these skills by having them trace their finger along a path, trying to keep their finger between the lines.

After they've mastered this, have them trace the path with a pen or pencil. Then have them trace a path that makes a letter.

Kids like new things so instead of tracing on paper, maybe try having them connect dots to a letter you write on a white board.

There are many different things kids can do to practice their letter writing. Have them trace their letters in a pie tin filled with a little colored sand. Make letters out of playdough. Make pudding and have the child write letters with their fingers in that on a cookie sheet. Trace letters with string. Print and laminate large letters and have the child trace them with a toy car.

Dinosaur Museum

2011-03-01T08:01:00.000-08:00

We took some preschoolers to the Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum in Utah. It was really fun to learn about the dinosaurs and they had a lot of fun activities for kids to do there.

There was a large stuffed dinosaur body and different body parts with velcro on the back that the kids could put on the body where they belonged.

Fossil rubbing.

There was a large trough full of sand, water and plastic dinosaur toys that the kids could play in, build, dig up dinosaurs etc.

Lots of caves and nooks to explore.

Plastic dinosaurs to play with.

Dinosaur shape match puzzle.

At the very end there were large enclosed areas full of sand that the kids could go in and dig for dinosaur bones with their own shovels and brushes.

There was a ton of things to do at the dinosaur museum. It was a fun place to learn about dinosaurs and to take preschoolers on a field trip get away.

Alphabet Center Pocket Chart

2011-03-01T07:36:00.000-08:00

This alphabet center pocket chart is a great resource for teaching preschoolers the alphabet, letter sounds and matching words that start with the sounds to their corresponding letter pocket. It comes with 156 picture cards and a number of different games you can play with this fun pocket chart.

Word Recognition

2011-03-01T07:19:00.000-08:00

One thing you can do to help your preschooler learn words as they start to read is to write out the words of objects around the house on sticky paper and place them on the corresponding objects. So for example, if you have "d-o-o-r" written on a paper placed on the door, the child will see that every time they open the door and will learn to recognize that word as being "door". When they start to read they won't have to sound the word out because they will already know it.

Learning to Love Reading

2011-03-01T07:14:00.000-08:00

It's so important to instill a love for reading in your child at a young age. Learning to love reading will help them throughout their life.

Make sure you have children's books in your home, whether they are library books or some of your own. Reading corners are fun for preschoolers. You can make one with just a basket of books and a bean bag chair. Encourage them to "read" in their reading corner.

Also make sure you are reading to your preschooler. This is so important. It will not only help enlarge their vocabulary, improve their grammer and help them learn about new people, places and things, but it will teach them that reading is fun and important.

If you have a child that doesn't enjoy reading, try picking out different books until you find some that appeal to them. Make reading daily part of your routine, maybe even reading in the same place at the same time each day so your child knows it's coming and looks forward to it.

Color, Number and Shape Match

2011-03-01T07:03:00.000-08:00

Here are a few fun activities for kids when teaching them the colors, numbers and shapes.

Get some Styrofoam cups. Cover the outside and inside with colored construction paper. Have the kids put colored pom poms or foam beads in the matching colored cup.

I like these "Beads 2 Lace" because you can also put each shape in a cup and have the preschooler match the beads to the correct cup by shape.

Put numbers on some Styrofoam cups. Have the child count out the correct number of pom poms or foam beads for each cup.

Get a bunch of different kinds of pasta. Place one piece of each kind in a cup. Have the child match the rest of the pasta to the correct cup.

Water Party

2011-03-01T06:51:00.000-08:00

We got my girls this princess tea party dinnerware set one Christmas.

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They love having "water" parties with their dolls and each other outside

Preschoolers can have a lot of fun pretending with these fun play sets.

Paper Doll Fun

2011-03-01T06:42:00.000-08:00

My mom made these paper dolls for my girls one Christmas. They love them. They pull them out and play with them all the time.

She printed the paper dolls out in black and white from http://www.makingfriends.com/f_Friends.htm, colored them, laminated them, cut them out and put little magnets on the backs. You can use a simple cookie cutter sheet that is magnetic for these fun paper dolls.

Lowe's Build and Grow Clinics for Kids

2011-03-01T06:37:00.000-08:00

Saturdays at 10am, Lowe's has a Build and Grow clinic for kids.

My husband stopped by there one Saturday morning to get some supplies and the girls saw a bunch of kids working on their projects off in a corner. With some encouragement from the girls, my husband took the girls over to the group and the person in charge said they were just finishing up but they had a few extra kits the girls could bring home and make.

My preschoolers loved building these kits (with help of course). They even came with free aprons and safety goggles. You can sign up for the Build and Grow clinic and see what they'll be making at http://www.lowesbuildandgrow.com/.

"Painting" on Sidewalk

2011-03-01T06:25:00.000-08:00

You'd be amazed at home entertaining it is to be able to "paint" on the sidewalk for preschoolers. Just give them a bowl of water, some different spounges and paintbrushes and send them outside on a hot day. My preschooler will "paint" for hours. They can even "paint" the house, windows etc.

Sidewalk chalk is another fun thing for them to do outside.

Bubbles!

2011-02-28T23:33:00.000-08:00

My girls love bubbles! They can't get enough of them. They would have me blow bubbles all day long they had their way. I finally got smart and got this bubble machine blower that blows bubbles for you.

Now the kids can have "gazillions" of bubbles blown constantly blown at them until the solution runs out or the batteries die...whichever comes first.

One thing I really don't like about bubbles is how messy they are, especially when the preschooler wants to blow them him/herself. Sticky bubble solution ends up everywhere, clothes, carpet, furniture, hair...you name it. That's why I was really excited when I found this next bubble product.

What a great idea! A bucket with a handle that has three small slots at the top that the bubble wands can fit in. The kids can dip them in and pull them out and blow until their heart's content. If the bucket gets tipped, there is little if any spilling of the bubble solution. I am a fan.

Bubbles are also fun to make. Click here for several different recipes.

Make giant bubbles by using a gallon of bubble solution (or more) and dipping in different objects with holes, i.e. clothes hangers stretched out, nets etc. Be creative. Let the kids try different objects to see what kind of bubbles they make, if any. It could be a good experiment for them.

You could also make a large batch of bubbles solution, pour it into a wading pool and use a hula hoop to make huge bubbles. It's sure to be a hit with the preschoolers!

Playdough Creations

2011-02-28T23:07:00.000-08:00

Preschoolers love to play with playdough. Not only can it keep them entertained for long periods of time, it can be educational as well. Find some fun cookie cutters pieces to help with this.

Here are some letter and number cookie cutter pieces that will help them learn their alphabet and numbers as well as some other playdough shape sets.

There are also many different play-doh playsets that will help your child with their pretend play adventures.

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You could also make your own playdough which is very fun and easy. Here are some recipes for playdough and glurch, which is another fun substance for kids to play with, kind of like silly putty.

PLAYDOUGH

2 cups flour
1 cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tarter
2 cups of water
2 tablespoons oil
Food coloring

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring until stiff. Allow to cool, then knead.

Here's a recipe for "Glurch". It's kind of like silly putty. It's pretty cool stuff. I've never made it before but the lady who gave me the recipes gave Adalie some to play with. She loved it.

GLURCH

Mix together: 1 1/2 cups water and 2 cups Elmer's glue (Food coloring can be added to the water also, if you want to color your GLURCH).

In a separate bowl dissolve: 1/3 cup hot water, 1 tsp Borax.

Slowly add Borax mixture to glue mixture. Feel the coagulation take place. Work with hands. You will have extra liquid left. For more GLURCH, mix additional 1/3 cup hot water and 1 tsp Borax. Stir into glue mixture. Repeat again.

Preschoolers Telling Stories

2011-02-28T22:10:00.000-08:00

My preschool daughter loves to tell me stories. She'll usually illustrates her stories on a white board while I type them on the computer. She's even started her own blog that has some of the stories she's written as well as other things she likes to do. She tells me exactly what to write for her blog. I think both encouraging preschoolers to tell their own stories and maybe even helping them start a blog helps them learn that writing can be fun.

Here are two of my preschooler's stories:

Peter Pan Story

Once upon a time there was boy named Peter Pan. He could fly with Tinkerbelle. He had a hat and he has some hair. And he flew off making a big circlle all around but suddenly Tinkerbelle came. She was glad. She had a hat too. Not like the same as Peter Pan. She could fly too. She had some hair. Little bit of hair. They zoomed off together. All the way she do this do do do. Suddenly she saw some dots came. Peter Pan say, "Those aren't dots. Those are marks from the evil Captain Pete. He's trying to shoot us." "These are dots actually." "Noooooo I don't think so." He just around and around and then he stopped. "They are dots. I don't see anyone shooting. Guess you're right Tink." Boom! "Those are fire works." That's the end mommy.

Kit and Glug

(Based off of Grandma Bubbles Books for young readers which my daughter loves to read)

One day a little boy named Kit was up in a tree house. He said, "Glug where are you?" And he was no where. "Are you in the monster truck?" But he was no where to be found. He heard a "Zzzzzzshhhh zzzzzzshhh." "He must be sleeping in the truck." Meanwhile he slid off the string to his tree house. Then he saw he was sleeping in the big enormous truck. He was closing his eyes and he yelled to wake him up. "What?" "Are you impossible?" "I'm not your right monster." "Oh no!" So he draw a silly monkey ears on him with his pen. "Ahhhhhhh." And he rode off in their monster truck all the way home. That's the end.