Here you go….. here are
some of my favorite Easter crafts and activities to do with my children for
the Easter Holidays. Kids love the Holidays for many reasons. But, I like to
remind my children that bottom line the Holidays are about "Family".
So, remind your children of that [...]]]>

Here you go….. here are
some of my favorite Easter crafts and activities to do with my children for
the Easter Holidays. Kids love the Holidays for many reasons. But, I like to
remind my children that bottom line the Holidays are about "Family".
So, remind your children of that fact by involving the entire family in these
fun Easter Crafts and Activities.

	Paper Easter Baskets – Fun paper craft to do with your kids perfect for Easter. These Easter Baskets are not only a fun craft to make with your children, but also are perfect to fill with treats or Easter Eggs.
	Bunny Ears for Kids – This is a super easy and a super fun craft to do with your kids in celebration of the Easter Holiday.
	Plastic Egg Bunny - Help your kids make these super cute Easter Egg Bunnies. Then hide the eggs and have the kids find all the Plastic Egg Bunnies. Fun, Fun!!
	Easter Placemat Craft – Very cute and very easy Placemat craft to do with your children. Great to use for decorations around the Easter table.
	Jelly Bean Belly Easter Bunny – A child loves Jelly Beans on Easter…. Easter just wouldn’t be the same without Jelly Beans. Here is a craft to celebrate Jelly Beans on Easter.
	Brown Bag Bunny – Okay, now this bunny is sooooo…. cute!! And, it is made out of a paper bag.
	Finger Print Egg – We all love crafts that help us remember the special quality times we spent with our children. Well, these Finger Print Eggs are no exception. Help the kids use their fingers to make these beautiful egg perfect for Easter.
	Paper Mache Easter Eggs – A beautiful and fun crafts for the kids.
	Paper Cup Bunny and Chick – The kids will love making these fun paper cup crafts. They will enjoy making them so much they will want to make them for all the Easter Guests this Holiday.
	Cotton Covered Sequin Eggs - This just might be the fanciest Easter Egg craft out there. Make these beautiful Easter Eggs with your kids.
	Felt Easter Egg Pouch – Help you kids make these felt Easter Egg Pouches. Then let them decorate the outside of the pouches with whatever craft decorations they would like. Let them fill their pouches with stickers and small Easter goodies.
	Cute Easter Chickens - Your kids will need your help with this craft, but it will be so worth it. This Chicken craft turns out adorable.
	Easter Bunny Mask – Kids love to wear masks and imagine they are someone or something else. Help your child make this Easter Bunny Mask so that he can pretend he is the Easter Bunny on Easter Morning.
	Egg Carton Easter Basket - Isn’t this Easter Basket Craft cute? And, its easy to make. Have your kids decorate them anyway they want to. They are great to use as kids’ favors for treats after the Easter meal.
	Toilet Paper Tube Easter Egg Holders – Preschoolers will love making these super easy crafts for the Easter Holidays. And, the supplies are things you will find around the house…. like toilet paper tubes.
	Easter Bunny Basket – Check out this Easter Craft that is not only fun to make, but fun to use when the craft has been finished.
	Easter Bunny Plate – Cute Easter Bunny Plate craft designed by a Stay at Home Mom…. gotta love it!!
	Sock Bunnies – Now this is a craft you will have to help your child with, but take a look at the image to your left….. isn’t it cute!! This sock bunny craft is totally adorable. And, this way you can recycle their socks that are too small for them to wear.
	Felted Easter Eggs – Check out how this mom and a bunch of children make these simply beautiful Felted Easter Eggs. Group project… gotta love it!!

easter crafts activities arts & holidays kids children parenting preschool

Fall may be a terrific time of year for fun crafts but you don’t want
to be so focused on the fun that you forget about the great educational opportunities
that the season presents. Sure, it’s great to carve pumpkins and make
Thanksgiving turkeys out of construction paper during these months. [...]]]>

Fall may be a terrific time of year for fun crafts but you don’t want
to be so focused on the fun that you forget about the great educational opportunities
that the season presents. Sure, it’s great to carve pumpkins and make
Thanksgiving turkeys out of construction paper during these months. But in addition
to these arts and crafts, you can come up with a number of different fall activities
which give your children great educational skills. In fact, there are fall activities
to cover all of the basic school subjects and then some.

Here are some educational fall activities for each subject:

Reading / Writing

• There are many different stories out there about fall.
  Look for those that are about the changing of seasons as well as those that
  relate to the fall holidays.
• Work on learning the alphabet by practicing with fall themes.
  For example, “P is for Pumpkin” is a good way to work on that
  particular letter.
• Make a fall story book. Paste leaves and other fall items
  into a scrapbook and then work with kids to write a story that relates to
  fall.

Science

• Go outside and observe the changing seasons with kids.
  Keep photo and written journals about these changes.
• Fall animals. Activities involving squirrels and acorns
  are great for teaching kids about animals and fall.

Social Studies

• Use the holidays such as Columbus Day and Thanksgiving to teach kids about
  history.
• Explore how different cultures explore holidays in different
  ways to teach kids about diversity.
• If you taught kids about Labor Day early in the season, you can reinforce
  these lessons by bringing them back up again. Point out that work
  and community are important educational areas at all times of the
  year.

Other subjects

• Music. Kids love music and they learn a lot from it so
  incorporate fall themes and music this season. One great activities making
  musical shakers out of gourds by cleaning them out and filling them with beans.
• Motor skills. The arts and crafts that are associated with
  fall themes are good lessons in and of themselves because they teach kids
  motor skills which are an important part of the rest of their education.
• Environmental lessons. Kids can learn environmental lessons
  during the fall months by getting out and exploring nature. Take kids hiking
  or camping before it gets too cold and use it as a way to teach them about
  how to treat the earth kindly and why that’s important.

Technorati Tags:educational, preschool, fall, autumn, activities, learning

Do you use the terms
“fall” and “autumn” interchangeably? If so, you are
just like most other people in America who agree that the two words are meant
to mean the same thing (the season that comes after summer and before winter).
But there is another school of thinking which [...]]]>

Do you use the terms
“fall” and “autumn” interchangeably? If so, you are
just like most other people in America who agree that the two words are meant
to mean the same thing (the season that comes after summer and before winter).
But there is another school of thinking which says that autumn and fall are
two subtly different seasons. How many people agree with this depends on where
in the country you are living. In some places, the seasonal shift between the
two is too subtle to warrant a difference in the name. But in other places,
such as New England, there is an obvious difference between autumn and
fall and people will tell you that this means there are five seasons
instead of four.

One of the
best ways to explain the difference between autumn and fall to your preschooler
is to use different crafts during each time to reiterate the important lessons
of that time. For example, since what’s most exciting about the autumn
weeks is the colorful leaves, you should enjoy lots of crafts that are related
to the leaves. Get outside with your preschooler and note the beauty of the
leaves and the changes that are taking place and how exciting it all is. Explain
that this feeling is related to autumn. Hiking and other activities which get
you outdoors are all a part of experiencing and enjoying autumn.

As the weeks go on, it will
get colder. Note the difference in the weather and explain that it’s fall.
One of the easiest ways for your preschooler to understand that it’s fall
is that you can point to the leaves now falling off of the trees. Your preschooler
is able to associate the fall of the leaves with the season fall. Point to this
difference to note the shift between the two time periods. You can also transition
to new crafts that don’t focus so much on the colorful leaves of fall.
Start planning for Halloween crafts and Thanksgiving crafts since these are
what you will mostly be doing during the fall. You will probably also spend
more time indoors which you can explain to your preschooler is something that
you do in fall and winter.

Of course, in most
places, people think of fall and autumn as the same season. If you think that
your child is too young to understand the subtle difference, you may not want
to harp on it. But if your child brings it up, asking about the difference since
you use both words, feel free to discuss it. Even if your preschooler
doesn’t quite understand the subtleties, looking for the differences is
a good exercise in observation.

Fall is a terrific
time to incorporate leaf crafts into kids’ daily activities.
You can take kids outside to get some fresh air and physical activity while
they collect the leaves. Then you can come indoors again and keep them busy
with the crafts. Leaf crafts are fun and they [...]]]>

Fall is a terrific
time to incorporate leaf crafts into kids’ daily activities.
You can take kids outside to get some fresh air and physical activity while
they collect the leaves. Then you can come indoors again and keep them busy
with the crafts. Leaf crafts are fun and they also help to build motor skills
in young children. Plus leaf crafts can be used in conjunction with learning
other lessons like how the seasons change.

There are many different
leaf crafts for kids and you can probably think up many more
on your own but here are a few to get you started:

• Leaf
  rubbings.
  Take a leaf and place it on a table or desk. Cover it with a blank piece of
  paper. Kids can use charcoal or crayons to rub over the paper and the impression
  of the leaf will come out. This will seem magical to young children who can
  then draw or decorate the new leaf. A variation on this is leaf tracing.
• Leaf
  scrapbook album.
  Use construction paper and yarn to create a scrapbook. Kids can glue their
  leaves to each page to create their own album. One variation on this is to
  create a fall story, writing the text underneath each leaf on the page. Another
  variation is to have children glue one leaf on each side and to describe what
  is the same and what is different between the two leaves that are facing each
  other.
• Leaf
  Strings.
  For this you’ll need string or yarn and the leaves as well as a hole
  puncher. Punch holes in the tops of the leaves and then string them to make
  a decoration. Eventually, the leaves will crumble and fall off; you can use
  this to reinforce lessons about the changing of seasons and the way leaves
  fall off of trees.
• Leaf
  Wreath.
  All you need for this one is the leaves, some glue or tape and a paper plate
  or other round shaped object. Have the kids glue or tape their leaves to the
  plate to create a wreath (cut out the center to make it more wreath-like).
  Add decorations such as ribbon, glitter or coloring. Variations on this leaf
  craft include the Thanksgiving Wreath in which you write “things you’re
  thankful for” on the leaves or on the center of the plate where there
  aren’t any leaves.

Technorati Tags:leaf crafts, children, kids, crafts, activities, fall, preschool

October
just might be the most fun month there is as far as fall preschool themes go.
It’s early enough in the year that there are still plenty of outdoor activities
that can be done with preschoolers. It’s also early enough in the year
that you’re not suffering the stress [...]]]>

October
just might be the most fun month there is as far as fall preschool themes go.
It’s early enough in the year that there are still plenty of outdoor activities
that can be done with preschoolers. It’s also early enough in the year
that you’re not suffering the stress of the upcoming winter holidays so
you can relax some and really enjoy creative lessons with your kid(s). But it’s
a busy month with a lot of fun kid-oriented activities (mostly centering on
Halloween) so there are plenty of different things that you can incorporate
into the day to keep things fun and interesting.

Halloween
is the big October theme that you’ll probably spend a lot of
lessons focusing on. There are many fun things that you can do with this theme.
Art projects galore spring from Halloween. Witches’ hats and pirate swords
can be made from construction paper. Counting and coloring activities can be
done with pumpkins and goblins. Halloween songs are almost countless in number.
But there are also plenty of lesser-known things that you can teach kids using
this theme. For example, even though your kids are going to be eating lots of
candy during this time, you can teach them about the importance
of nutrition. This is where moderation comes in and kids can learn
that it’s okay to indulge sometimes but not to go overboard. Similarly,
haunted houses and scary Halloween themes can be used to teach kids about good
fear vs. bad fear. Think outside of the costume box when you’re
coming up with Halloween theme activities this October.

October may be a
great month for holiday themes but that’s not all that’s going on
in October. In most places, the weather is changing dramatically with leaves
turning colors and falling off of the trees. This makes October
a terrific month for lessons about the weather, nature and seasons.
This is good for science lessons and can be incorporated into art activities
as well. If it’s warm enough to get outside with the kids, you can have
them do observations about the changing weather. Fall animal themes
are also great in October. For example, squirrels may still be seen
out and about which is great for lessons about how animals store food and how
some hibernate in the winter. This even lends itself well to lessons about how
our own bodies change in the winter.

As you can see,
October is a fun month that allows for many different preschool themes. Like
all other months, these themes are great for art, reading, writing and singing
activities. However, they are also great for teaching social studies and science
lessons. See what October lessons you can find out there and
then expand on them with your own creativity to make October a fun and
educational month for the kids.

Technorati Tags:preschool fall themes, october, seasons, themes, preschool, kids, children, activities

What better time
to teach your child about fall than when we’re right about to enter the
midst of it? Fall is a great teaching tool because it applies
to so many different areas of life. Not only do kids learn about the seasons,
but they also learn about the [...]]]>

What better time
to teach your child about fall than when we’re right about to enter the
midst of it? Fall is a great teaching tool because it applies
to so many different areas of life. Not only do kids learn about the seasons,
but they also learn about the nature behind the seasons changing. As kids get
older, these lessons can be used again and again in different ways. For example,
as adolescents, they will learn about literature and poetry and the images and
lessons of fall will play a big part in that. And when it comes time to learn
hard lessons about death and loss, your kids will have a better grasp on it
if they can compare it to the changing of the seasons.

One thing
that you can do with your child is to keep a journal throughout the season.
This may be a written journal, a photo journal or both. You may keep
it daily, a few times each week or just once per week. Each time that you go
out, you will focus on looking at certain things in the neighborhood. For example,
there may be a big tree at the end of your block that you journey out to each
day. You’ll take a picture and write down observations about what you
see. At the end of the fall season, your child will have an entire book of observations
that he or she made. You will be able to see how the trees changed, how the
weather altered, and what other differences took place because of the changing
of the seasons. This will really help to reinforce the seasonal changes that
your child might not be able to see on a day-to-day basis. Plus, this
kind of observation is great for developing a science background for your child.

Of course, it’s
not just the changing of the leaves that fall is all about. Another
important fall lesson is that it’s a time when we normally start to eat
different foods. Watermelon and other summer foods are out and we eat
more squash and pumpkins. We may also eat more stews and foods for warmer weather.
Learning about fall foods will help your kids to learn about nutrition
and how we eat different things in different seasons to give our bodies a well-rounded
diet. Kids can also learn about cooking during the fall months and cooking is
great for all sorts of different lessons that kids need to learn. While cooking
fall foods, you’ll have reason to discuss what importance the different
foods have to different cultures and you’ll have an open doorway for teaching
your child about important fall holidays like Thanksgiving.

By teaching your
child about fall from a young age, you’ll be teaching him or her many
different lessons. Learning about the change of seasons will be the most important
of these lessons because it will apply learning to understand the seasons (or
cycles) of life. But there will also be many minor lessons learned that will
help your child with different areas of life for years to come.

Technorati Tags:fall activities, preschool, children, kids, fall, autumn