With Earth Day (now actually Earth Month) around the corner, I'm sharing lesson plans to make crafts from your recycle bin. Today we're making recycle bin Easter egg crafts to teach early math activities of sorting and matching, plus fine motor skills. These Easter egg crafts were inspired by my toddler grandchildren, Juno, Ezra and Emmett.
free printable lesson plans on alphabet to zoology and everything in between
Recycle bin Easter egg crafts to teach early math--with free printables
With Earth Day (now actually Earth Month) around the corner, I'm sharing lesson plans to make crafts from your recycle bin. Today we're making recycle bin Easter egg crafts to teach early math activities of sorting and matching, plus fine motor skills. These Easter egg crafts were inspired by my toddler grandchildren, Juno, Ezra and Emmett.
DIY nature science detective kit for hands-on science exploration
Looking for back to school activities for kids? Here are nature science lesson plans. Make nature detective kits to explore wildlife science concepts. Use this activity to welcome kids back to school. Kids will love playing nature CSI investigators! Homeschooling parents will love this inexpensive, hands-on science lesson because all ages can participate, from toddler to high school!
You
will need one of each of these items per student:
--large
gallon size zipper bag or cheap carry-all bag to store supplies
--plastic
magnifying glass (available in bulk at Great Party, Party America or Oriental
Trading)
--cheap
one-subject notebook
--pocket
folder ($.05 -$.15 each from Walmart, Staples, Target)
--plastic
disposable gloves (choose latex free; give each student one pair)
--tweezers
or cotton swabs (both would be useful, but use cotton swabs to save money)
--3
or 4 specimen bags (snack size Zip-Loc)
--3-4
larger specimen bags (sandwich size Zip-loc)
--sheet
of label stickers
--pen
and pencil
--
roll of invisible Scotch tape
--several
pieces of yarn or string
--box
of crayons ($.25 at back-to-school sales)
--measuring tape (Printable-Ruler has a free printable measuring tape )
--free printable animal tracks cards (from Exploration America) Extend these nature science activities for kids into craft projects by having students cut and paste their own flash cards.
--free printable Animal Signs Guide from US Fisheries and Wildlife www.fws.gov/uploadedFiles/Animal%20Signs%20Guide.pdf You can download directly from here as a PDF. Check here for more animal tracking printables.
How to Use Nature Detective Kits:
Make kit assembly part of the lesson. Set out supplies in stations and give students gallon zipper bag and supplies list. This provides experience in counting, sorting and organizing. Using stickers, kids label notebook: Investigator (name)____________ or Detective (name)____________. Label bags: Exhibit A, B, C or Evidence. As evidence is collected, data and date should be added. For example: 'beetle exoskeleton 9-3-2021.
Go
on nature investigation hunts around your neighborhood, school playground or
camp. Assign students different items to investigate, native to your area.
Students should not keep living specimens, but they might bring a bug box to
temporarily house and examine a living critter. Look for evidence of living
creatures: bug carcasses, exoskeletons, fallen leaves, feathers, owl pellets,
seed pods, rocks, fallen nest, bits of animal fur, bark samples, plants,
flowers and rocks. Use nitryl gloves to collect specimens. Warn kids not to pick up insect nests or other potentially dangerous items. Rather have them sketch items in situ.
Have
students draw living creatures, homes and habitats: spider's web, bird's nest,
wasp's nest, rabbit hole, ant hill, scat (animal droppings). Students should
record when and where they observed it. Students shouldn't touch but may
observe scat(animal droppings) or dead animal remains.
Free math facts homework kit with Montessori-based, student-made activities and printables
<---Teacher Omi (grandma) has been having fun re-creating lesson plans for the grandkiddos, from materials made over my nearly 40-yr career in education. Today I'm sharing how to make a math homework practice kit I created 35 years ago and used with my Montessori students, tutoring students and in homeschool. I even trotted this out when I taught adult education. I've given you some of the activities here and for the full set of lesson plans, visit me at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.
For the math homework kit, begin with a sturdy shoebox and fill it with:
Dice
Repurpose die from game sets with
missing pieces. Or pick up a cheap set from Dollar Tree.
Set of dominoes (base
12 preferred) Students can also make domino flash cards on index cards. Write
domino dot configuration in number color from chart. To play, student selects a
domino and adds, subtracts or multiplies the two numbers. Students should write answers on back for
self-checking. Here are free printable dominoes from
First-School. https://first-school.ws/theme/printables/dominoes-math.htm
Deck of playing cards Student chooses two cards and adds, subtracts, or multiplies them. Face cards are valued as such: ace-1, jack-10, queen, 12 and king-0. You can print playing cards from Printable Board Games https://www.printableboardgames.net/preview/Playing_Card_Deck or have students design their own!
Math
flashcards for each fact family Purchase at Dollar Tree or discount
store or better yet, use free printable math flashcards from First School https://first-school.ws/theme/printables/flash-cards/numbers-shapes.htm.
Tablet of small stickers, shape
punches or mini-stamper marker—Students create flashcards by writing math
facts (problems) in color code on one side. On the back, they illustrate
with punched-out shapes, stickers or
stamps (5 stars plus 5 stars, for example). They write the answer on the back.
Pencil,
eraser and scrap paper squares—students write out fact families (say the
nine times tables). Then they draw story problems to illustrate and quiz each
other. For example, the student draws three groups of seven apples for 3x7. Þ Toddlers draw marks and practice
counting.
100
chart and bingo marker or dry erase marker Laminate and attach to the
inside lids of the math kit. Student uses bingo marker to practice skip counting
by different numbers. From there, she memorizes multiplication tables (which
are just the series of number in skip counting). The 100 chart helps the
student find number patterns, too. Þ
Toddlers bingo “stamp” each number as they count.
Yarn strung with 100 plastic beads. This homemade abacus is a great visual for math operations. Give student a problem, like 7x8. She counts out and adds seven groups of eight. Þ Give toddlers large beads to string, for fine motor skill practice.
Food
snacks with little pieces. Students use fish crackers, fruit snacks,
breakfast cereal, raisins, candies, pretzels, marshmallows, to demonstrate math
facts and equations. Let children make their own trail mix and write the recipe
as math problems. (6 raisins + 10 pretzels + 5 Cheerios +3 Cheez-Its). When done, they get to eat the treats!
Animal costume patterns for craft projects, dress up, learning centers
Dress up is a crucial part of learning play in preschool classrooms and Montessori learning centers. If you homeschool, dress up should be part of your practical life, dramatic play and even science learning centers. The more hands-on and interactive the lesson plans, the better children learn.
My most recent post gave ideas for a children's literature book party. One book party activity is for children to dress up as characters from books. Here are ideas to make simple, no-sew DIY animal costumes, using your recycle bin and some basic household scraps. These are perfect for preschool science learning centers, kids plays, story party activities and children's theater. Get more Montessori bang by having children create costumes themselves. Click here for free printable animal costume patterns.
For basic animal costumes, you will need.
* blanket sleeper (zippered pajamas with covered feet). Use an old one or pick one up second hand. Choose sleeper color based on the type of animals it will be used for:
--green: frog, dinosaur, gecko, snake, lizard, dragon, caterpillar, parrot
--yellow or tan: baby chick, tiger, leopard, lion
--red: ladybug, bird, fox
--pink: pig, shrimp, flamingo
--black, brown, white or gray: cat, dog, donkey, horse, cow, squirrel, raccoon, guinea pig, hamster, rabbit, penguin, spider, groundhog, woodchuck, chipmunk
--orange, blue or purple: bird, fish, butterfly
* knit hat in matching color
* five old socks in matching colors
* recycled cardboard from cereal boxes or packaging
* glue dots or self-stick Vel-cro
* sharp scissors
* assorted fabric scraps, pom-poms, feathers, faux gems, ribbon, sequins (optional)
Now
* Draw design details with permanent marker on sleeper: lines, circles, stripes, spots wings etc.
* Use glue dots or Vel-cro to add embellishments to sleeper: sequins or faux gems are great for fish scales or birds. Glue faux feathers on for bird wings. Glue ribbon on for stripes. Pom-poms can be fish scales or hair on curly-haired puppies.
* On two socks (or old old knit gloves) draw black lines on toe ends simulate paws or claws. Draw circles on the palm to look like paw pads (socks make great improvised mittens).
* Stuff one sock with recycled rags for a tail. Sew it to the back of the sleep or hot glue it on. You can also glue a large pom pom on the back for a fuzzy tail.
* Make ears using the remaining two socks and the knit hat. Stuff the socks halfway full of scrap fabric. Cut two small holes in the hat for ears. Push open ends of socks through holes and tie knots in ends so socks won't slip through hole.
Montessori says lesson plans should allow children maximum creativity in open-ended, hands-on, interactive activities. Encourage them to make up their own designs for animal costumes. You could make these in collage or art learning centers also. Once children have made costumes they might write their own scripts for plays about their characters. They might also act out preschool children's literature selections based on animals.
Here are free printable animal masks to complete costumes. Engage the youngest learners making masks, to keep them productively involved and make them feel part of the activity.
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