preschool Archives - Page 5 of 20

Christmas Crafts for Kids – Egg Carton Christmas Tree

December 15, 2018 By Deirdre

This Christmas craft will be such fun to do with your kids. You will have to do some prep work to get it ready for them. Once you have the various parts cut out of them, they can put it together. It is one of those Christmas crafts that you will display year after year. We will have the tree my son created. I love seeing it out and reminiscing about how we put it together.

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Your children might enjoy looking through a Christmas themed book that features Christmas trees, while you cut out the various parts of the craft. Below you will find some of my favorites.

Getting the Christmas Crafts Ready for Your Kids

You will need to gather the following supplies

Green Acrylic Paint

Gold Acrylic Paint

Scissors

Two Egg Cartons Per Child

Glue

Buttons

Star Pony Beads

A piece of cardboard 13 inches by 11 inches in size.

The first thing you will need to do is cut out your tree shape. The tree section is 11 1/2 inches tall and the trunk is 1 1/2 inches tall. You will see below that I made the base of the tree wide and rest of the tree is a triangle. You don’t have to copy what we did.

Next, you will need to cut out the six egg carton sections. The bottom row will use one side of the egg carton base. (It has six egg cups.) The row above it will need five egg sections or cups. Then the next row will need four egg sections. A three-section row will come next. You will use the section leftover from the four-section row for the two-section row. The top section is the leftover piece from the five-section row.

Painting the Egg Carton Tree

There are three sections of the tree to paint. You will want to start with the sections that you need to paint green. All of the backs of the egg carton pieces need to be painted green. The tree part of the cardboard tree will also need to be painted green.

While they are drying, your children can paint the trunk of the tree gold. Gold paint will add a little shimmer to their Christmas crafts.

Gluing the Tree Together

Each of the egg carton rows will need to be glued onto the tree. You can glue them all on at once or wait until a section is dry before adding another row. Once you have all the sections glued on, you may want to place a book on top of the finished tree or trees. It will press then egg carton sections onto the tree and help them to adhere.

Decoration the Tree

You can decorate your tree with any Christmas themed odd and ends you have a home. We used buttons and star-shaped beads. You could also use any of the following.

Holiday Stickers
Beads
Mini Ornaments
Pom-Poms

If you like this Christmas craft, here are some more you will love:

Handprint Christmas Trees

Ribbon Candy Ornament

Fine Motor Christmas Wreath

The Stickman Algorithm Activity

December 12, 2018 By Deirdre

You have loved The Stickman shape building activity I shared with you. This week I have another activity based on The Stickman. Your children are invited to connect the events in the story in order. It is simply called The Stickman Algorithm activity.

An algorithm is the series of steps that a computer needs to follow to complete the task you have tasked it to do. Your children will discover that putting the events in a story in order is just like building an algorithm. They will need to connect the events in the story in order or the story won’t make sense.

Getting Started with The Stickman Activity

Before you have them start the activity you will need to read them the story Stick Man. The Stickman or watch the video based on the book.

Next, you will need to give each of your children a copy of The Stickman Algorithm Activity page. You can download the activity page and open it up in Acrobat Reader. Then you can print it out.

Finally, your children will need to connect the events in the story in order. They will need to start in the Start Here block by placing an up arrow in that block. They will place arrows in the blocks that lead to meeting the dog. Once they have done that, they will continue to connect the events in the story. They will draw up, down, left or right arrow to show the direction that they will go in to connect the events in the story.

When they get the block where The Stickman rejoins his family, they will have completed their algorithm.

If you like this algorithm activity, here are a few more you will love:

The Snowy Day Coding Printable

Magical Creatures STEM Coding and Drawing Page

Life Cycle of a Spider Algorithm Worksheet

Building Algorithms with LEGO

STEM Christmas Building Shapes with Stickman Activity

December 6, 2018 By Deirdre

The wonderful Christmas book The Stickman inspired this fun STEM Christmas building activity. Your children will have fun building basic shapes with sticks from outdoors, Lincoln Logs, or popsicle sticks on the free set of shaping building mats.

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If you have not read the story Stick Man to your children, you will want to read it to them. They are going to love hearing about all he goes through as he tries to return to his family. By the end of the book, Stickman does make it home just in time for Christmas. Your children will be cheering him on from the beginning of the book to its very end.

Getting Ready for this STEM Christmas Activity

The first thing you will need to decide is what type of stick your children will use to build. As I mentioned above they could use Lincoln Logs, sticks from outdoors or popsicle sticks.

You will notice that we used popsicle sticks for this activity. They were ready to use and didn’t take any preparation work.

Next, you will need to download the STEM printable set Learning Shapes with Stickman. You can open the setup with Acrobat Reader.

Finally, you will need to decide if you want to print them in color or black and white. If you print them in color, the details of Stickman, the sticks and the border will stand out.

Exploring the STEM Christmas Activity

Your children can work on building the shapes in the set in a variety of ways. Let me share with you some of the ways I came up with. You will probably come up with a number of ways on your own too.

Center Activity

You can set out a bunch of sticks and the mats you want your children to work on in a center. They can work on building them on their own or with a partner.

You Build and I Build

Young children might have fun building each of the shapes with you. You can take turns placing a stick on one side of the shape. They may have trouble placing them right on the stick on the mat. That is totally okay! The goal of this activity is to learn what each shape looks like.

Talk and Build

You can give each of your children a bunch of sticks and the same work mat. As they build you can have them share how many sides each shape has. You can also have them talk about how long each side it. Once the shape is built, you can ask them to share with you things that they think of that are that shape. They may suggest objects they remember seeing in the book.

More Building Activities

Here are some more great building activities your children can explore.

First, we have a Building Alphabet Letters on the Barn Door activity.

Next, we have an activity we call Building a Playdough Taco.

Then you can explore the Building a Snowman with Household Items activity.

Finally, Building Letters with Crayons will be great to explore.

Christmas Coding- Drawing a Tree Based on an Algorithm

December 6, 2018 By Deirdre

I was looking for a Christmas coding activity to do with my classes in the computer lab right before Christmas. I didn’t find what I was looking for so I created this Christmas coding set. You will want to share it with your children at school or at home. It features algorithms created using Blockly blocks. Children do what each block asks them to. They will start with the block just under the word run and work their way down the blocks.

Before you have your children start the activity, you may want to read them a Christmas book that focuses on Christmas trees. The illustrations in the book may give them some ideas they can use when they decorate their own trees. Below you will see a list of some of my favorite Christmas books.

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Getting the Christmas Coding Set

You can download the Christmas Coding STEAM Activity – Creating a Christmas Tree. Then you can open the set with Acrobat Reader. Finally, you can print out the Christmas coding activity you want your children to work on. You will find the word green on second printable in the was designed to be green on the printable. It can print it out in black and white if you like. Your children may be able to read the word green and don’t need it in green.

Let’s Look at Each Christmas Coding Printable

You will notice that the first printable walk your children how to create the tree with a triangle and a rectangle. Then it walks them through decorating the tree. Finally, it invites them to decorate the background of their picture.

The second printable has visual clues as to what children will need to do for the first five steps. It even has the word green on the Blockly block that tells them to color the tree green. If your children can’t read the word on the block, they can look at the picture. After adding the section of the tree and ornaments, children will create a background for their illustration.

You will see that the final printable adds working with symmetry to the activity. Children will need to add ornaments. Then they will lights. Finally, they will add a star to the tree symmetrically. They will need to try to place them as closely as they can to the same place on the left and right side of the tree as they can. While this could be tricky, I think school-age children will be up to the challenge.

If you like this coding activity, here are some more your children will enjoy.

First, there are algorithm worksheets that invite your children to sequence the events of a story.

Gruffalo Coding Sheet

The Snowy Day Coding Printable

Then there is Blockly block algorithm drawing page that invites children to create a magical creature.

Magical Creatures STEM Coding and Drawing Page

Finally, there is an activity that features LEGO, graph paper, and plastic toy animals.

Coding a LEGO Maze

Turkey Coloring Pages and an Algorithm Activity

November 6, 2018 By Deirdre

Last week I shared with you a set of Thanksgiving coloring pages and algorithm activities. Due to the number of steps in the algorithms, older children will probably enjoy them more than younger children. Younger children will enjoy this turkey coloring pages and algorithm set. The first turkey coloring page walks children through how to make a simple turkey. The second coloring page invites children to illustrate a scene from the book A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting. If you are participating in the Hour of Code, these coloring pages will introduce your children to coding.

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If your children haven’t heard or read the book A Turkey for Thanksgiving, you will want to share it with them. It brings new meaning to having a turkey for Thanksgiving. Your children will love how the dinner turns out. I love to read a book to my children based on an activity we are going to do.

Before Starting the Algorithm Activity

You will need to print out one or both of the turkey coloring pages from the Turkey Coloring Pages and Algorithm Activities. They will download as a PDF. You can open it up with Acrobat Reader.

If you are having your children work on A Turkey for Thanksgiving coloring page, you will want to read them the book. You will also want to have them brainstorm what kinds of messages they want to display on their signs.

If your children are working on drawing a turkey algorithm, you may need to share with them what a wattle is. They may not be familiar with that term.

Starting the Turkey Coloring Pages

You will need to share with your children that an algorithm is the series of steps a computer works through to complete a task. They will be working through an algorithm displayed on Blockly blocks. (Blockly blocks are a coding tool created by Google. Blockly blocks are used by a number of Hour of Code sites including Code.org.) It will be great for them to know they are used on computers and not just displayed on these coloring pages.

Then you can walk your children through what they need to do on blocks one block at a time.

If you like this coding activity, here are some more you will love.

Little Miss Muffet Coding Activity and Printable

Coding Activity- Going on a Bear Hunt

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Algorithm Activity

Gruffalo Coding Sheet

Help the Pirate Find His Treasure

Computer Coding Free Printable STEM Activity

STEM Coding for Kids- Building Cup Stacking Algorithms

ABC’s of How to Read Binary with Printable

Thanksgiving Coloring Pages and Algorithm Activity

November 1, 2018 By Deirdre

A computer uses an algorithm to complete each task you give it to do. That algorithm is a series of steps that the computer needs to do completely to finish a task. One way to teach your children about algorithms and coding offline is to have them create a drawing. This set of exploring algorithm Thanksgiving coloring pages features a Mayflower page, a cornucopia page, an I am Thankful for page and Thanksgiving table page.

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Before you start this activity with your children, you will want may want to read them a Thanksgiving-themed children’s book. Below you will find some of my favorite Thanksgiving books.

Getting Copies of the STEM Coding Drawing Activity

You can download a copy of the Thanksgiving Coloring Pages and Algorithm Activities. It can be opened with Acrobat Reader. Then you can select which of the drawing activities you want your children to work on. Finally, you can print it out.

Exploring the STEM Coding Worksheet

You will want to have your children work their way through the algorithm. They will add what each block tells them to. They will start with the first block and work their way through the algorithm.

When they have added the key elements of the picture, they can decorate the background of the picture.

Once they have finished drawing their picture, you can have them go through the algorithm and double check they have included everything they needed to. If they have forgotten an area, they can go back and add it.

If you like this coding activity, here are some more you will love:

Little Miss Muffet Coding Activity and Printable

Coding Activity- Going on a Bear Hunt

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Algorithm Activity

Gruffalo Coding Sheet

Coding the Planets in Order

Life Cycle of a Spider Coding Printable

Thanksgiving Tangram Puzzles for Kids

October 30, 2018 By Deirdre

Tangram Puzzles are a great way for kids to explore shapes. Children will need to slide, rotate or flip shapes for them to fit into a tangram puzzle. This set of Thanksgiving-themed tangram puzzles features a Native American or Indian, a turkey, and a boat. Your children will have fun using homemade, printed or store-bought tangrams with these mats.

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Before your children explore the tangram puzzle mats, you may want to teach them a Thanksgiving-themed children’s book. Below you will find some of my favorite books with a Thanksgiving theme.

Getting Your Set of Tangram Puzzles

You can download the set of Thanksgiving Tangram Puzzle Workspaces and open them up with Acrobat Reader. The set was designed to be printed out on a color printer. If you prefer to print them out on a black and white printer, they will have feature a lot of grays.

You will also find a tangram pattern in the set. You can print the set onto Thanksgiving-themed scrapbooking paper or fall themed copy paper if you don’t want to make a set or use a store-bought set.

Exploring the Tangram Puzzles

There are a number of ways you could share these puzzles with your children. Below you will find a list of ways that I came up with. You may come up with other great ideas. If you do please take a moment and share them on my Facebook page or in a comment below.

You could place them in a center or put them out on the kitchen table for your children to explore one at a time.
You could have them explore all of the puzzles at the same time. Then they can decide which was the easiest and which was the hardest to do.
You could put them out on Thanksgiving Day. Your children could work on them while you are working on the Thanksgiving feast.
You could put them out a school Thanksgiving celebration for children to work on with their parents.

If you like this tangram activity, here are some more you will want to explore:

Halloween Puzzles for Tangrams

Fall Themed Puzzle Mats for Tangrams

Fox in Socks Puzzles for Tangrams

Challenge Cards for Tangrams

Drawing Five Little Pumpkins Based on an Algorithm Worksheet

October 24, 2018 By Deirdre

Your children probably love the book the Five Little Pumpkins. (It is one of my son’s favorite book of all time.) If your children are like him, they have already memorized the book. This Five Little Pumpkins drawing activity invites your children to create their own illustration of the rhyme. It also introduces your children to coding. The worksheet asks them to draw various parts of the illustration by following the algorithm’s steps.

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If your children haven’t heard the book or the rhyme before, you will want to read them the book. The Five Little Pumpkinsis a great one to share. The illustrations are a lot of fun. Your children will love each of the pumpkin’s facial expressions.

Downloading Your Five Little Pumpkins Worksheet

The Five Little Pumpkins Based on an Algorithm Worksheet worksheet can be downloaded for free. You will need to open it with Acrobat Reader.

The “when run” blocks gray coding looks great when printed out on a black and white printer.

Exploring the Five Little Pumpkins Algorithm

If you have explored coding with blocks or used another one of our coding worksheets like the Magical Creatures Coding Drawing Activity, your children may be ready to do this on their own. If this is the first time they explored coding, you will want to do this together.

You will want to start by telling them that the “When Run” block means this is where the algorithm starts. If this was written for a computer, it would mean go.

Then you will want to walk them through each block. Make sure they do what each block says to do before they move to the next.

When they get to the draw the background block, you may want to brainstorm what kinds of things can be drawn in the background. They might want to add any of the following:

witch
moon
grass
spider
ghost
stars

If you like this coding activity, here are some more your children will enjoy:

Magical Creatures STEM Coding Algorithm Drawing Activity

Coding the Planets in Order

Life Cycle of a Spider Coding Printable

Coding for Kids- The Day It Rained Hearts

Let a Unicorn Help You Learn Hand Washing Steps Worksheets

October 22, 2018 By Deirdre

Exploring the hand washing steps is a great way to help children learn about preventing illnesses and spreading germs. Your children will also learn about sequencing and building algorithms. (You know I love to explore coding and algorithms.) This set of Let a Unicorn Help You Learn Hand Washing Steps worksheets will be fun to explore. They would be a great part of a health unit or during flu session. Your children will have fun filling in the missing words or drawing pictures of each step.

Reading books to children that feature the theme you want to work on with them is a great idea. It helps them build their background on the theme. It also gets them excited about the activity you will be doing. The new Zoey and Sassafras book explores the effects of germs on a unicorn. It is called Unicorns and Germs. Zoey, Sassafras (her cat) and her mom have to find a cure for the unicorns infection. This amazing book walks children through the research that is done to figure out just what is infecting the unicorn.

My Thoughts on the Book

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I love that the Unicorns and Germs book shares big ideas with kids and lets them see just how research is done. It doesn’t assume they need things simplified. It is a chapter book. You may need to read it to your children a little at a time. Although your children may not want to wait to find out what happens to the unicorn.

Getting the Let a Unicorn Help You Learn Hand Washing Steps Worksheets

You can download a free set of the Let a Unicorn Help You Learn Hand Washing Steps Worksheets and open them up with Acrobat Reader. The fill in the blank activity includes an answer key.

Exploring the Worksheets

You may want to go over the hand washing steps with your children before starting the activity. They may not be familiar with the turn off the water with a towel step. My students at school insisted that you will get germs on your hands again if you don’t use a towel. It hadn’t been a part of the sequencing and building an algorithm lesson I share with kindergartners and first graders every fall. It was added in because it made sense and they insisted it needed to be a part of hand washing steps.

You can have your children work on their own one or both of the worksheets. Another option is to have them work with you to fill in the blanks or draw the pictures.
When they have finished the worksheet, they can walk you through each of the steps. I think have you retell the steps will really help them learn them.

If you like this activity, here are some more you will love:

Magical Creatures STEM Coding Algorithm Drawing Activity

Coding the Planets in Order

Life Cycle of a Spider Coding Printable

Coding for Kids- The Day It Rained Hearts

Brown Bear, Brown Bear Coding Printable

Disclaimer: I was sent the Unicorns and Germs to review by my friend Asia. I would have said it was wonderful even if she wasn’t my friend.

Magical Creatures STEM Coding Algorithm Drawing Activity

October 16, 2018 By Deirdre

You could say that coding is creating a series of steps that a computer needs to complete to finish a task. One way to teach your children about algorithms and coding offline is to have them create a drawing. This STEM coding magical creatures worksheet gives your children the steps they will need to draw a unique creature of their own.

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The book Miss Turie’s Magic Creatures was the inspiration for this activity. It shares the story of a little boy looking for a pet. Miss Turie’s shop is filled with all kinds of amazing creatures. Some are too scary and some just don’t fit what he is looking for. By the end of the book, he does find one he wants to take home. Your children will recognize many of them from the Harry Potter movies, Greek mythology, and books about cryptids.

Before you start this activity with your children, you will want to read them the Miss Turie’s Magic Creaturesbook. (I found it really inspired the students at my school when we did this project.) Your children will be able to get some ideas for their creatures by viewing the ones in the book.

Getting Copies of the STEM Coding Drawing Activity

You can download a copy of the Magical Creature Coding Algorithm Drawing Activity and open it in a PDF. Then you can print out as many as you need.

Exploring the STEM Coding Worksheet

You will want to have your children create one part of their magical creature at a time. They will want to start with the head. Then they can draw the body. They will continue to add various body parts to their creature by following the algorithm.

When they have the basic areas of their creature’s body draw, they can add ears, a tail, wings, or horns.

Once they have finished drawing their creature, you can have them go through the algorithm and double-check they have included everything they needed to. If they have forgotten an area, they can go back and add it.