Activity for ages 4 to 6. Looking for an easy way to make handwriting fun for kids?! Print these five free handwriting activity pages below to enjoy tons of motivating practice. Love them? Grab the entire pack of handwriting activity sheets (including a D’nealian and British English set) in our shop or on Teachers Pay Teachers! Free […]
The Ultimate LEGO Book
Activities for ages 4 and up. My boys are huge LEGO fans. They could spend hours designing, building and tweaking their creations. So when I found out about a new LEGO idea book packed with inspiring projects, I knew it would be the perfect addition to our building area. This post contains Amazon affiliate links. 100+ LEGO […]
Green Apple Playdough Recipe
Activity for ages 3 and up. This amazing smelling green apple playdough recipe uses only two ingredients and makes a soft, stretchy, silky dough your kids will love. The no cook playdough recipe is great for kids to make from beginning to end – no measuring, no boiling water, no messy clean up. Playdough Recipe To make our […]
Paper Straw Necklace Craft
Have a few spare minutes to fill with a quick prep kids’ craft? Paper straw necklaces are fun for kids of all ages. And, since paper straws come in so many fun colors and patterns, it’s a perfect activity for any holiday under the sun. Getting Ready The prep for this paper straw necklace is super easy […]
Fine Motor Super Pack
Activities for ages 3 to 5. When my three year old looked at me with his big blue eyes and asked for help, “writing like his daddy”, I immediately launched into super mommy mode – pulling together 18 motivating games that would develop his hand-eye coordination, arm and hand strength and grasp. The mega pack of fine motor activities […]
Process Art with Q-Tips
Q-tips aren’t just for cleaning out nooks and crannies anymore! This process art activity uses the handy cotton swabs as paintbrushes. Who knew?! Grab a handful of Q-tips, pull out some paint, and get ready for some seriously fun process art! Getting Ready This process art activity only took a minute to set up. To prep, I simply […]
100 Free Playdough Mats
Activities for ages 3 to 6. Playdough mats are an easy way to grow kids’ imaginations, develop fine motor skills and teach important skills like counting and the ABCs. This roundup of 100 free playdough mats includes our favorite finds from across the web. They’re the perfect compliment to our popular Playdough Mat Pack! Be sure to laminate the mats […]
Valentine Counting Cards
These Valentine’s Day counting cards are a perfect math game to add to your Valentine’s Day collection and they are great for building fine motor skills too! In the mood for more Valentine’s Day fun?! Grab our V Day activity pack for kindergarten and preschool. Getting Ready To prep, I printed a copy of the valentine […]
Gumdrop Counting Cards
Activity for ages 3 to 5. These gumdrop counting cards are a fun way to help preschoolers and kindergarteners work on the numbers 1 to 10 this holiday season. Christmas is such a fun time for kids. All the new sights, smells and tastes that they don’t experience year-round are finally available for them to test and […]
Easy Fine Motor Activity for Toddlers
This crazy easy fine motor activity for toddlers is a great way to help their little hands get ready for writing later. With a new month approaching in preschool, I began jotting down some notes for the lesson plans for my toddler class. This activity was inspired by my 2-3’s class and designed specifically for their […]
Peanuts Movie Activities
My kids love the Peanuts movie so you can imagine their joy when they snagged these adorable, FREE Peanuts trick-or-treat bags at Safeway. Two of their favorite things bundled into one reusable bag?! Smile-worthy! I am proud to be a Safeway compensated blogger. Peanuts Playdough Mats With their new bags in hand, I knew it was the […]
The Stages of Block Play
Activity for ages 1 to 7. Block play is a huge deal at my house. My kids adore building with blocks and I love their enthusiasm because blocks are so open-ended and grow with children, not to mention they are an excellent toy that encourages fine motor development. My 11 month old baby enjoys filling […]
Pumpkin Count and Clip Cards
Activity for ages 3 to 5. These free pumpkin count and clip cards are a fun way for preschoolers and beginning kindergarteners to practice number recognition, one-to-one correspondence, counting and fine motor skills. And they’re a perfect addition to any Halloween or fall unit! Getting Ready I printed the pumpkin cards (below) on cardstock to […]
Apple Pie Playdough Recipe
This apple pie playdough recipe will have you craving a slice of warm ooey-gooey apple goodness. With my oldest going off to Kindergarten, I was not looking forward to the end of summer, but this sweet and spicy smelling apple pie playdough recipe had me looking forward to my favorite season before it was even done cooking. It’s […]
Free Pumpkin Puzzles Numbers 1-40
These free pumpkin puzzles are perfect for Fall! They’re a fun way to practice counting, number recognition, matching and fine motor skills. Grab your free printable pumpkin puzzles below. I’m so excited that Fall is on its way! It’s my favorite time of year and I love sharing it with my kids. I created this […]
Name Writing Workbook
Activity for ages 3 to 5. My son knows how to write all of his letters and numbers, but the sizing, spacing, and smoothness needs a fair amount of improvement. To help him work on handwriting skills in a motivating way, I wanted him to practice writing my son’s favorite word: his name! I created this fun name writing workbook so […]
Pencil Grasp Development in Kindergartners
For ages 4 to 7. With the summer half over by now, places like Pinterest are flooded with back to school checklists and quizzes to determine if children are ready for kindergarten this fall. Scattered among those checklists and quizzes are questions about pencil grasp development. They all seem to ask, “Does your child have […]
Pencil Grasp Development in Preschoolers
Activities for ages 2 to 4. Pencil grasp development in preschoolers is a complex topic. Acquiring the correct pencil grasp is one of the most important physical skills children develop and most of that takes place during the preschool years. Children transition from holding a pencil with a very crude grasp to something that nearly resembles a more advanced, […]
Pencil Grasp Development in Babies and Toddlers
Activities for ages 6 to 18 months. Pencil grasp development begins long before children are ready for formalized writing. It begins even before even the first coloring and scribbles are put to paper, before the one you, as a parent, so proudly hang on the fridge. In fact, you might be surprised to find that pencil […]
Free Apple Tree Counting Mats
Activity for ages 3 to 5. These free apple tree counting mats are perfect for fall! Just grab some pom poms and you’re ready for some fun, hands-on practice with counting, number recognition, vocabulary building and fine motor skills. I’m absolutely in love with the fall season. It really is my favorite time of year. I […]
Fine Motor Water Activity for Toddlers
Activity for ages 2 to 5. With the summer heat coming on in full force, it’s time to cool off with a fun fine motor water activity designed specifically for toddlers! It’s a simple, easy prep, engaging fine motor project toddlers will love. Even with the summer heat, there is no reason to keep the learning […]
Ice Cream Playdough Recipe
Activity for ages 3 to 6. This simple, two ingredient ice cream playdough recipe looks and smells good enough to eat. Well, guess what? You can! My kiddos have never been more excited to get their hands on dough as they were this homemade playdough recipe and I can see why. Making Ice Cream Playdough For […]
Free Alphabet Printables
Activities for ages 3 to 5. These free alphabet printables are perfect for young learners! Help children identify beginning sounds, lowercase letters and uppercase letters with a colorful alphabet chart, clip it cards and letter matching puzzles. The free alphabet printables are a perfect compliment to our best selling Alphabet Mega Pack! What’s Inside? The free alphabet printables include: […]
Sun Ripened Strawberry Playdough
Summer is arriving and so are strawberries picked straight from the garden. This sweet smelling strawberry playdough recipe will have you craving those delicious little berries. So make sure you have a few on hand, because your kiddos will be asking for them once this homemade playdough gets into their little hands. I know mine were! Ingredients To make […]
Number Playdough Mats
Activity for ages 3 to 5. We use playdough a lot at our house. I’m very insistent that learning shouldn’t be filled with a bunch of worksheets, so when it came time to learn numbers, I created these free printable playdough mats to give my kids hands-on number recognition, counting, one-to-one correspondence and fine motor practice. […]
15 Clever Counting Cards
Counting cards are an easy prep, fun way to help kids practice number sequence, one-to-one correspondence, number recognition and {of course} counting! These 15 counting cards are our favorite freebies from across the web. They’re creative, engaging and hands-on. A perfect combo for some serious counting fun. Kids will love adding eyeballs to a batch of colorful monster counting cards. […]
Watermelon Counting Cards
Activity for ages 3 to 5. Use these watermelon counting cards to help your preschooler or soon-to-be kindergartener practice number sequencing, number recognition, counting and one-to-one correspondence in a fun way. Kids will love the entertaining, summer-themed counting cards and you’ll love the easy prep. They’re a win-win for everyone! Understanding Numbers Knowing number sequence and counting is important […]
4th of July Bracelets
Activity for ages 3 to 6. My recently turned four year old loves to get glammed up by making her own jewelry, and with the 4th of July approaching, we thought making some patriotic patterned bracelets, which is such a great fine motor activity, would be appropriate for the upcoming festivities. My daughter loves making her own […]
Teaching Kids to Cut with Scissors
Activities for ages 3 to 6. Teaching kids to cut with scissors is an important life skill and helps build fine motor strength and hand eye coordination they’ll need for writing alphabet letters and words later. But if handing over a pair of blades to young kids sounds intimidating, you’ve come to the right spot. Find out how […]
Very Hungry Caterpillar Puzzles
The Very Hungry Caterpillar is one of our family’s favorite children’s stories. We’ve read it so many times that Big Brother {age 5.5} can recite the words without even cracking open the book. So I was excited to pull together a fun follow up activity for my kids: Very Hungry Caterpillar puzzles. These simple, colorful puzzles […]
Clip-On Paint Chip Names
Activity for ages 3 to 5. My almost 3 year old is obsessed with his name so, to help him practice spelling it, I headed to my local hardware store. With just a few supplies, I quickly whipped out this paint chip clothespin name activity. Its a good thing this took a mere minutes to prep […]
Calming Homemade Playdough
Activity for ages 2 to 6. Emotions have been running high for both my 3 and 5 year old, so I decided to whip up a few different calming homemade playdough recipes that would help calm raging tempers and lift our spirits. My kiddos were transformed from whiney and clingy to cheerful and cooperative as they played […]
Free LEGO Mat
Activity for ages 3 to 6. There are so many fun ways to sneak in math with this simple LEGO mat. Whether you need to practice colors, counting, number recognition, addition or subtraction, kids will happily get to work rolling, building and matching. Just print your freebie {below} and get ready for some serious fun. Getting Ready […]
LEGO Pattern Cards
Activity for ages 3 to 6. Have some LEGO fans in your home or classroom? These free LEGO pattern cards make math super fun for kids. Just print the pattern cards {below}, grab your stash of LEGOs and you’re ready for some motivating, hands-on pattern building. Getting Ready To prep, I printed the free pattern cards {HERE} […]
Tissue Paper Sight Word Craft
For ages 5 to 8. This spin on color by number worksheets is a super easy and fun way to practice sight words and celebrate the arrival of spring. My 5 year old, A, loved how her flower turned out and can’t wait for me to whip up more sight word sheets. I hope your kids […]
Alphabet Clip Cards
Activities for ages 3 to 6. In just a few minutes every day, you can help kids have an easy and smooth transition to kindergarten. These alphabet clip cards are a hands-on way to make upper and lowercase letter matching fun for preschoolers. Print your freebie and then check out 12 other must-try kindergarten prep activities below. Getting Ready Prepping […]
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Counting Cards
The simple humor in Laura Numeroff’s whitty children’s books makes them fun for kids and grown ups alike. After reading the classic “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” a few days ago, I pulled out a little surprise for my kids: a set of cookie counting cards in serious need of some chocolate chips. They were THRILLED with the […]
Building LEGO Names
What better way to get kids really looking at how letters are built than by constructing them with LEGOS?! This hands-on name activity is a great preschool work station, name game or afternoon project. Getting Ready The prep for this activity depends on the age and skill of your little builder. For my 5 year old, A, […]
Layers of the Earth Playdough
What better way to learn about the layers of the Earth than by making a playdough planet?! With just a little bit of prep, kids will be able to explore the layers of the Earth hands-on. It’s the perfect combination to our action packed Landform Activity Pack! I began by asking my 5 year old, A, […]
Rainy Day Clip Cards
Activity for ages 3 to 5. These rainy day counting clip cards are filled with all things rain: puffy clouds, weatherproof boots and oversized umbrellas. They’re a colorful way to practice counting and make a great addition to any preschool weather unit. Be sure to hop over and grab our popular Weather Activity Pack too! Getting Ready To make […]
Kool-Aid Playdough
Spring has sprung a little early in our area and we’ve been celebrating this amazing smelling rainbow playdough. To make it, simply add a packet of Kool-Aid to our delightfully squishy One-Pot Playdough Recipe. I’ve tried a few Kool-Aid playdough recipes before and they all came out a little off – either too hard, dry, or tough. […]
St. Patrick’s Day Playdough
Activity for ages 3 to 6. My kiddos have been drawn to this shimmery, shiny, glitter-filled playdough like moths to a flame. And how could they not be?! There is truly something magical about this ultra sparkly St. Patrick’s Day playdough. It lets kids’ imaginations run wild. We made two batches of playdough: glittery gold and shimmery […]
Shamrock Straw Match Up
Activity for ages 3 to 5. I love creating fun learning activities for kids – it’s kinda’ my thing. So the moment I saw these festive green party straws, I couldn’t wait to turn them into a simple measurement and matching activity. Grab your copy of the freebie {below} and then check out all of our […]
Shape and Color Button Snake
Activity for ages 1 to 4. Our 18 month old is always on the go these days so waiting in doctors’ offices, restaurants and her big brothers’ swim practice can be tough. In need of some screen-free entertainment, I pulled out a preschool busy bag a friend had given us at a busy bag swap a few […]
Valentine’s Playdough
Activity for ages 3 to 6. Nothing says Valentine’s Day like chocolate, candy, and flowers – the inspiration for our four lovely scented playdough recipes. {We promise they will have you wishing Valentine’s Day came more than once a year.} The playdough recipes are quick to whip up and make perfect kid-made, non-candy valentines for friends and classmates. All of these […]
Winter Playdough
Activity for ages 3 to 6. These winter playdough recipes are a delightfully simple way to enjoy icy winter play indoors. Since we’ve been blasted with freezing temperatures outside, I decided to whip up a few batches of winter playdough with my 2.5 and 5 year old that would let them imagine playing in the icy cold outdoors without […]
Frozen Puzzles
Activity for ages 3 to 5. Many kids {including my own!} are big fans of the movie “Frozen”. In this activity, Disney’s famous characters, Elsa and Olaf, come to life when preschoolers put together a Frozen puzzle that gives them practice counting from one to ten. The project makes a motivating preschool math station or busy bag. Enjoy!! Getting […]
Playdough Snowman in a Mason Jar
Activity for ages 2 to 6. My kids are always saddened to watch their snowmen slowly melt away but, with this sparkly snow playdough, they’ll never worry about their snowmen’s drooping smile again. After mixing up a batch of the dough, both my 2.5 and 5 year old had so much fun creating families of snowmen […]
Must Try Homemade Playdough for Christmas
Activity for ages 3 to 6. These homemade playdough recipes are perfect for Christmas! They’ll have little bakers whipping up batch after batch of delicious smelling treats. Chocolate, candy cane, sugar cookie, orange clove, and egg nog dough – they all smell so real, even I was tempted to take a nibble! For most of […]
Q-tip Snowflakes
Activity for ages 3 to 5. Busy bags are an easy way to entertain the kids when you’re on the go. Make them once, throw them into your bag, and you’re ready for some screen-free distraction in doctors’ offices, on planes and in restaurants. Just like last month, I teamed up with some of my […]
Glow in the Dark Playdough Recipe
Activity for ages 3 to 6. This glow in the dark playdough recipe is sure to make playtime exciting. Just by adding one simple ingredient and a backlight to our one pot play dough recipe, we put a fun twist on our standard dough that really gets imaginations flowing. Glow in the Dark Playdough Recipe To […]
Free Printable ABC Book
Activity for ages 3 to 5. Making an ABC book is a fun, hands-on way to introduce children to letters and help them understand how those letters are used to make words. This free printable ABC book takes all of that learning one step further by introducing kids to art techniques including apple printing, car painting and […]
Pumpkin ABC Tracing
Activity for ages 3 to 5. Pumpkin letter tracing is a fun fall ABC game and fine motor activity in one. As kids trace alphabet letters with candy pumpkins, they build hand-eye coordination, hand strength and letter formation skills they’ll use for writing words later. Pumpkin fans will love this festive ABC game! ABC Game Prep […]
4 Playdough Recipes for Fall
Activity for ages 3 to 6. Looking for a playdough recipe that’s perfect for fall? These homemade playdoughs are scented with real apples, pumpkin, and spices. Use them in a pretend bakery shop, play with some free playdough mats or stamp them with alphabet letters… the possibilities are limitless. Each playdough recipe makes enough for 2-3 children […]
One Pot Playdough Recipe
I’ve tested a lot of different playdough recipes – cooked and uncooked, scented and not… But this one is my hands-down favorite because it comes out bright and squishy every time. The one pot playdough recipe requires a few minutes of stovetop cooking but I promise it’s worth the step. Most squishy no-cook playdough recipes call for boiling water anyway […]
15 Arts and Crafts for Kids
Arts and crafts for ages 3 to 8. Arts and crafts are a fun, easy way to keep the kids entertained. These 15 colorful projects are sure to get plenty of “oohs” and “aahs” from little artists. They’re fun to make and pretty to look at – a perfect combination! 15 Arts and Crafts These projects are […]
Cut and Paste Shape Game for Kids
Activity for ages 3 to 6. Are you looking for a fun way to help kids learn about shapes? After doing a contact paper shape sort and shape hunt a few weeks ago, the kids and I were excited to try this new hands-on shape game for kids. It’s easy to prep and can quickly be tweaked to work with […]
Marshmallow Geometry
Activity for ages 4 to 6. Marshmallow geometry is a fun way to teach the names and characteristics of 2D shapes including triangles, rectangles and squares. Kids love having the chance to build 2D shapes with food and grown ups love watching children practice important math skills. It’s a win-win! For a printable version of this activity, […]
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Sticker Match Up
Activity for ages 3 to 5. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is one of our favorite alphabet books for kids. The silly rhyming story helps little readers learn the names of letters as they dance up the side of a coconut tree and then come crashing down. One afternoon, I pulled together this simple ABC activity for my 4.5 […]
Race to Twenty LEGO Game
Activity for ages 4 to 5. My boys are big LEGO fans so I love using them to sneak in some reading and math practice when I can. This LEGO Game: Race to Twenty was a low prep, fun way to help Big Brother {4.5} work on those tricky teen numbers. Getting Ready I pulled out ten […]
30 Must-Have Kids’ Craft Supplies
Supplies for ages 3 to 7. Need a ready-for-anything kids’ craft box? Throw these 30 must-have supplies in a large plastic tub and you’ll have everything you need in one spot. And, for a little project inspiration, check out some of my favorite kids’ craft finds from across the web. Enjoy! This post contains Amazon affiliate links. Pipe Cleaners – Wondering how to use […]
Color Mixing with Playdough
Activity for ages 3 to 5. We love to play our favorite color game to practice the names of colors and do lots of color mixing experiments to see what happens when we mix together two of the primary colors {red, blue and yellow}. Of all the color mixing we’ve done, our play dough color game was one of […]
Tissue Paper Butterflies
Activity for ages 4 to 8. The sun is shining, thermometers are climbing and that can only mean one thing… spring is on its way. This spring-themed butterfly craft project can easily be modified for preschoolers to second graders and is a perfect compliment to our popular bugs and butterflies math and literacy unit. Getting […]
100+ Preschool Activities
Activities for 3 to 5 year olds. I love finding preschool activities that make learning fun for my kids – science projects, math games, ABC games… you name it, I’m a fan. That’s why I was excited to pull together a list of more than 100 of my favorite hands-on preschool activities from across the web so that I could find tons […]
Valentine’s Day Fine Motor Gluing
Activity for 3-4 year olds. Before kids learn how to write, they need to develop the hand strength and hand-eye coordination they’ll need to make their pencil do what they want it to do. That’s why there are so many fine motor activities floating around on Pinterest. The more kids practice – the better they’ll […]
Conversation Heart Letter Tracing
Activity for ages 3-5. I’ve seen tons of fine motor skills activities on Pinterest lately. Beading projects, scissor cutting, play dough trays… They are all great for building kids’ hand-eye coordination and muscle strength so that they are ready to write on their own later. Conversation Heart Letter Tracing is a great way to build those […]
Fine Motor Activities for Preschoolers
Fine motor activities build the hand-eye coordination and strength kids need to write words later. These creative fine motor activities are sure to be a hit with preschoolers. They’re the perfect compliment to our best selling Fine Motor Super Pack! Our first activity is a classic – have kids practice colors, patterning AND fine motor skills by stringing […]
Squeeze Bottle Salt Writing
Activity for ages 3 to 7 This activity is perfect for developing fine motor skills. This salt writing project was a creative and fun fine motor skills activity perfect for building the hand muscles my boys will use later when they’re writing. I was excited to play it again at home. To Prep The prep […]
Turkey Baster Squeeze
Activity for ages 2 to 5. This fine motor skills builder is perfect for the Thanksgiving season! Turkey Baster Squeeze is a great way to help kids develop the fine motor skills {hand strength and hand-eye coordination} that they’ll need when they write later. Try it out and then hop over and snag our print and play […]
Sneaky Squirrel’s Snack Patterns
Activity for ages 3 to 6. A few days ago my toddler and I spent the afternoon gathering a ton of acorns for various crafts. In a rush to make dinner, I left our loot in the wagon outside. Later that evening, when I sent my almost 4 year old out to collect our autumn […]
Pumpkin Paper Clip Vines
Activity for ages 3.5 to 5. Fine motor skills can be practiced year round! Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays so it’s probably no surprise that we have already started playing pumpkin-themed activities. First up on the list were these pumpkin paper clip vines – a low-prep way to strengthen kids’ fine motor […]