Free Printable Winter Olympics, Summer Olympics Lesson Plans

Teacher Planet has an Olympic-sized database of free printable worksheets on the Winter Olympics and Summer Olympic Games. Worksheets cover reading, creative writing, research, health, history, geography, social studies, science and math activities. Of particular interest to physical education teachers are the Olympic Games simulation activities. Instead of being mere spectators, kids can recreate the Winter Olympics and Summer Olympics at home or at school.

The Lesson Lady on Teachers Pay Teachers offers a 10-page set of free printable Olympic Games worksheets, including coloring pages, a reading game, sports word scramble puzzle, a Winter Olympics and Summer Olympics word search, Sudoku puzzle, word bank trivia and several Olympics creative drawing pages. Teacher Vision has an entire collection of free printable Summer Olympics worksheets and activities as well as lesson plans on Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where the XXXI Olympic Games will be held. Users may print up to five activities for free and then must pay for a subscription. ABC Teach has loads more free printable Olympics lesson plans across the curricula in math, science, writing, reading, phonics, science, social studies, history, geography and more.

Then visit Activity Village for a host of free printable Olympic Games for kids activities

Free Printable Valentines Day Lesson Plans

Valentine's Day, celebrate Feb. 14, usually represents a party, candy and cards for children, So how about some free printable Valentine's Day coloring pages, cut and paste, games, lessons, puzzles and activities? Here are some websites to check out for free Valentine's Day printables. Use in school or homeschool. Tie in with your regular curriculum.

Teaching Heart is a one stop site in itself. You'll free printable Valentine puzzles, games, crypto-grams, candy heart spelling pages, valentine grammar, valentine counting, math, sorting, matching, concentration and bingo, valentine lined writing paper, comprehension, printable booklets, file folder games, puzzles connect-the-dots and so much more. Teaching Heart is always adding more as well, so be sure to explore this link.

Coloring Book Fun is a comprehensive source of coloring pages indexed and cross-referenced for ease of use. There are 100s of links for coloring pages on favorite characters like Hello Kitty, Scooby Doo, and lots more. Just about any character that your students or children may like is listed here. There are links to just about any holiday or event that you might want in a separate list as well. There is no site fee and most of the pages appear directly from their icons without the use of Adobe or PDF. We explored this link recently when our youngest was home for a week with bronchitis.

Disney Family has gobs of free valentine printables. this website features really nice images of the crafts and well-detailed instructions. Look for free prinable Disney character crafts: Frozen, Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, Toy Story, Pixar--print crafts of all your favorites. You'll love the learning-themed Valentine's Day activities as much as the cute crafts.

Check out these links for all your valentine fun and learning!

Free Printable Chinese New Year Lesson Plans, Crafts

Chinese New Year falls at a different time each year on the Western calendar. In the 12-year Chinese zodiac, a different spirit animal is honored as are people born under that animal sign (for example, in 2016, 2004, 1992, 1980, 1968, 1956 and on back through the multiples of 12). 

To celebrate, greet each other with the traditional Chinese New Year blessing "Gung Hay Fat Choy!" Chinese New Year is part of the Spring Festival and ends with the Lantern Festival. Looking for free printable Chinese New Year of the Monkey activities? Here are CNY crafts, coloring pages, greeting cards, Spring Festival lesson plans, Lantern Festival crafts and more. Print Chinese zodiac crafts, animal crafts, party decorations, CNY games and puzzles and lots more.

The best place to start is Enchanted Learning for free printable Chinese New Year of the Monkey activities, crafts and more. Enchanted Learning is super-educational with free printable maps, social studies lesson plans, worksheets, mini-booklets to color cut and paste, coloring pages, history activities, animals of the Chinese zodiac crafts, to name a few.

How about a free printable coloring book of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac along with their Chinese symbol. Animals that represent Chinese New Year are Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Ox, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig (in that order). 2017 will by Year of the Rooster, 2018 will be Year of the Dog (and so on).To find out which animal you were born under, count backwards or forwards from the current year or add or subtract multiples of 12. For example, if you were born in 1964, the closest Year of the Monkey is 1968, so count backwards four years to 1964, Year of the Dragon.

DL-TK has free printable Chinese New Year of the Monkey activities, monkey crafts, games and CNY lesson plans. Then scamper like a monkey over to Activity Village for a banana tree full of printable Chinese New Year crafts, games, puzzles, Chinese lunar calendars, CNY greeting cards, jigsaw, stories and more. Click to find animal specific activity pages. Here's the Year of the Monkey page with monkey-themed prinatables. And here's the page with free printable Spring Festival and Lantern Festival crafts. Plus, help kids get organized with free printable 2016 animal calendars. Many of the animals of the Chinese zodiac are featured--mouse (rat), dog, sheep, chick (rooster), rabbit and a mischievious monkey, perfect for Year of the Monkey.

And no Chinese New Year is complete with free printable animals masks to monkey around with! The ones from Animal Jr. are totally adorbs!
Here are some nifty masks from ancient China to print for CNY. Printables 4 Kids has more cuteChinese New Year coloring pages, zodiac activities, animal masks, monkey crafts and masks and other goodies. For educational Chinese New Year printables, visit Apples 4 the Teacher. There are free printable Chinese New Year coloring pages, including animals of the Chinese zodiac, maps of China and a Chinese flag to color.
Learn all about the culture and history of China, the Spring Festival, the Lantern Festival and other Chinese traditions with free printable games, puzzles, worksheets and word searches.

Teachers, parents, homeschoolers, religious educators, Sunday school teachers bookmark First-School and visit frequently. For Chinese New Year, First-School has free printable Lantern Festival crafts, Spring Festival activities, Chinese zodiac coloring pages, math games from China, Chinese history and literature lessons and so much more. Activities are geared from preschool to third grade.

Free Printable Advent Crafts, Christmas Activities

Are you looking for religious Bible Christmas crafts for children to make during Advent? You'll want these free printable nativity scenes. Children can color Bible characters and assemble an Advent manger scene. Here's a free printable Bible Christmas manger scene with cut and paste coloring pages to put on paper towel tubes. Catholic Icing has eight coloring pages that you can click and print directly from her blog. Each page features Mary and Joseph, donkey, angel, wisemen, shepherds, Baby Jesus, camels. Download the set from the website.

Hart of the Mountain has free printable nativity scenes with Bible character finger puppets. Activity Village offers free printable Bible Christmas nativity scenes that kids can color, cut out and assemble. Make a shoebox diorama stable. Scroll down for more manger scene crafts including a nativity mobile. words cards, and games.

Prudent Baby is a blog with a complete set of free Advent manger scene printables. Cute Bible characters people these nativity scenes. Love to Know has free printouts of Bible Christmas nativity scenes to color, cut and paste and assemble. Scrapbook Scrapbook has a darling free printable Advent manger scene with Mary, Joseph, Jesus, angels, animals, wisemen and shepherds. There's even a printable stable and manger.

Free Printable St. Lucia Day Activities, Christmas Around the World

Advent is the Christian period of preparation for Christmas. Several Catholic feast days fall during Advent: Dec. 6 is St. Nicholas, Dec. 12 is Our Lady of Guadalupe and Dec. 13 is St. Lucia (or Lucy) Day, says School of the Seasons. Here are free printable St. Lucia Day activities. Advent is a great time to learn about Christmas traditions around the world. St. Lucia was from Sweden. St. Lucia is the patron saint of Scandinavia (Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark). So on her feast day, explore Scandinavian Christmas celebrations.

Reenact St. Lucia story. Legend tells of a period of great hunger and snow storms in Sweden. St. Lucia is said to have brought warm food and drink to the needy. She appeared dressed in white with a halo of light around her head. On St. Lucia Day the eldest girl dresses in white, wears a lighted wreath halo and serves sweet rolls and cocoa to her family and neighbors. You could reenact the story or bring baked goods, Christmas cookies and holiday treats to neighbors. Remember especially the elderly, unemployed, lonely or handicapped. Thrifty Fun shares traditional St. Lucia Day recipes.

Make St. Lucia Day crafts and games. Willow of Wonder has a free printable St. Lucia Day crownand recipes for sweets. Catholic Mom has Sunday gospel lesson plans for the entire liturgical year. The December page features printable activities for Advent and feast days that fall during that time. There are puzzles, games, crafts, wreath activities and more. Making Learning Fun has free printable St. Lucia crafts, coloring pages, paper dolls, puppets and 3D stand-up crafts.

Learn about St. Lucia Day. Here is a collection of free printable St. Lucia lesson plans from Bright Hub Education. Here a St. Lucia themed printable lessons from Lesson Planet. There are maps and activities on Sweden, too. PBSKids has an Arthur episode with activities featuring George and D.W. celebrating St. Lucia Day.

Celebrate St. Lucia Day as part of Advent. Pro Teacher has created a printable December Holidays unit. These activities focus on Advent and Christmas and take you though St. Nicholas Day, St. Lucia Day and other December activities. There is a free printable Advent calendar, Advent house and other activities. Loyola Press has a plethora of free Advent resources and printables.

Free Printable Hanukkah Lesson Plans, Games, Crafts, Decorations, Activities

Hanukkah, the Hebrew Festival of Light, spelled Chanukah, is not Jewish Christmas. It is also not the most important of the Jewish holidays. But it does have a special place in the history of the Hebrew people. Here are free lesson plans, coloring pages, puzzles, games and activities to help celebrate and understand this winter holiday. These links have free printable Hebrew activities for all Jewish holy days.

Bitsela has free printable Jewish greeting cards, clipart, even a free card-making function you can use free on your computer. You can print the Hebrew alphabet, numbers and other uniquely Jewish items. Tzivos Hashem offers great learning games and free Jewish activities for Hebrew school students and those want to explore Judaism. Check out the free printable Jewish holidays coloring pages.

Chabad Jewish Kids has an awesome assortment of Hebrew printables, coloring pages, crafts and activities. Torah Tots has a free printable Jewish holiday coloring pages for Chanukah and other lesson plans. There are Star of David crafts, dreidel crafts as well as games for all aspects of Hanukkah. There are educational puzzles and jigsaw puzzles and lot of great online gaming fun as well. Apples 4 the Teacher has free printable cut and paste Chanukah crafts, coloring pages, puzzles, games and other crafts. Check out the cut and paste Menorah.

Teach-nology features complete units of free printable Hebrew holiday lesson plans.. There are plenty on Chanukah, including free Jewish acrostic poems, crossword puzzles, worksheets, crafts, dreidel patterns, menorah cut-outs to help kids understand the Festival of Light.
Lee Hansen free printable Hebrew coloring pages, Torah paper dolls and Chanukah clipart. First School years gives a nice assortment of free printable lessons and follow-up activities introducing students to Hannukah.

The Toymaker has free printable Jewish paper dreidel, gelt (money) box, greeting cards, 3D paper menorah, Star of David, another Chanukah box and booklet to guide the menorah prayers. Here are free printable Jewish crafts from Free Kids Crafts. ABC Teach has free printable Hanukkah worksheets, coloring pages, featuring the menorah, dreidel, latkes, apples and honey and Jewish symbols. Make a countdown to Chanukah booklet with printable word searches, puzzles, word scrambles, color and write prompts, bookmarks and more.

DL-TK-kids has free printable Chanukah crafts, bingo games, decorations, greeting cards, Star of David crafts, Menorah crafts, coloring pages, domino games, memory games and more. Everything you need to celebrate the Festival of Light is right here. For more holiday crafts visit this author's blog at Free Printable Holiday.

Free Printable Christmas Around the World Activities: Germany

Looking for Christmas around the world activities? How about a global hop to Christmas in Germany? Here are German holiday activities. First a little history: Ancient Germans were druids that worshiped nature. They celebrated Winter Solstice or Saturnalia from which come many Christmas traditions.Then warring Saxon, Hunnic and Teutonic tribes brought their gods of Valhalla. From them come week day names--Thursday (Thor), Friday from his vengeful wife Freya and Wednesday from brother Woden (also known as Loki the trickster). They worshiped the sacred oak, which became a deity because it was so large.

Then in the 800s, St. Boniface (also called St. Winfred) brought Christianity from Ireland. Ireland was a world educational center in the 8th century, since the Roman bishop Patricus (St. Patrick) Christianized it in the 4th century. Boniface, a Benedictine monk went as a missionary to pagan Germany. At the Hessian village of Fritzlar, St. Boniface confronted pagan worshipers at a sacred oak dedicated to Thor. They planned to sacrifice a child and its mother pleaded with St. Boniface to save her child. Boniface took an axe to the oak and dared Thor to strike him dead if he could. As St. Boniface chopped, a mighty wind knocked the  tree over. From its roots sprang an evergreen tree, the symbol of Christ and everlasting life. Awed by the miracle, many converted to Christianity. 

Celebrate Christmas around the world with German holiday activities. Make Christmas tree ornaments from green felt. Stitch two pieces together and stuff. Decorate with sequins, ribbon, glitter, silk flowers, buttons and beads. Make Christmas tree shaped sugar cookies. Or mix marshmallows, butter, Corn Flakes and green food coloring. Shape like evergreen trees. Or buy Christmas tree Little Debbie cakes.

Gift-givers differ in traditions of Christmas around the world. In German holiday activities, St. Boniface isn't the Christmas gift giver. That task belongs to the more whimsical Kris Kringle with his assistant Black Pieter (also called Krampus or Ruprecht). He's a chimney sweep and an imp--good children get gifts, bad kids get coal or a switch for chastisement. Kris Kringle is good Christmas cop, Krampus is the bad cop. Kris Kringle appears fierce at first, but ends with a jolly laugh. Celebrate Krampus and make "coal cookies" Blend chocolate syrup, cream cheese, crushed chocolate-filled Oreos and chocolate chips. Form into lumpy balls. Leave them out for Krampus to sweeten his mood. Or wrap and give as gifts from Krampus!

Elsewhere in Germany, the Christkindl (Christmas angel) brings gifts. Children write to Christkindl for gifts and decorate their cards with sugar to make them sparkle. Have children make Christmas cards by folding blue construction paper and decorating with glue and glitter. Add sparkly colored sugar to Christmas cookies and leave out for the Christkindl.

Another Christmas around the world tradition says Martin Luther, a German monk. saw that snow and moonlight made evergreen tree glow. Luther was reminded of the light of God's love. He cut down a small tree and decorated it with candles. Martin Luther also wrote the Christmas carol, Away in the Manger. Have children thank God for his love as they decorate the Christmas tree. Gather and sing carols around it. Make chart of activities to practice loving kindness. Make cut paper snowflakes. Fold white paper in fourths then thirds, like an ice cream cone. Trim off excess to make a square. Cut designs using printable patterns. Cut part way through along the fold. Decorate with glitter.

Learn "Silent Night' in German "Stille Nacht." Legend says Father Joseph Mohr, of Oberndorff, Germany who was dismayed to find that mice had eaten through the organ bellows one Christmas Eve. There would be no music for midnight mass. Father Mohr went to baptize a newborn baby, and was moved by the sight of mother and child. He hurried home and penned this best-loved Christmas hymn. Kappelmaster Franz Gruber wrote the melody for guitar and it was sung Christmas mass. Make connections between English and German words--Stille (still) Nacht (night), Schlaf (sleep) Gottes (God) Sohn (son) Bruder (brother).

Make a gingerbread house. Read the Grimm Brothers' "Hansel and Gretel" print gingerbread house patterns and decorate your homes like the witch's cottage. Make you own gingerbread or glue graham crackers to a box. Decorate with candy. Make gingerbread men also. Make the stable in Bethlehem and decorate with animal crackers. For holiday greetings of Christmas around the world, learn to say "Froehliche Weihnachten' (froy-leek vine nahkten) meaning of course, Happy Christmas to all!

Free Printable Literature Lessons from Scholastic Book Clubs

Scholastic Books - the Clubs, the Website and the Products Run, don't walk to find your nearest Scholastic Book Fair or catalog or go online to http://www.scholastic.com/ . If you haven't accessed the deluge of great inexpensive and free resources at Scholastic, then what are you waiting for? Review of one the finest companies dedciated to promoting literacy, education and learning. Read More

Free Printable Jesse Tree Pattern, Ornaments

 Advent is the Catholic Christmas liturgical season leading up to Christmas. For four weeks, we pray, fast, read Bible passages on the gospel Christmas story and give alms to the poor. The theme of Advent is to prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus. One way is to pray an Advent calendar. Another, related to the Advent calendar is to follow a Jesse Tree.

The Jesse Tree is an ancient visual aid the shows the lineage of Jesus. The basis comes from the Old Testament Bible passage "a root shall spring up from the stump of Jesse's lineage." This Bible foretells the birth of the Messiah and that He will come through Jesse, King David's father. . During Advent, symbols are hung on the Jesse Tree to represent Bible characters and people in Jesus's family tree.

Here are free printable Jesse Tree devotional activities. Each night, have children color one symbol place it on the Jesse Tree. Do this as you light candles on the Advent wreath and candles and read and pray from the Advent calendar. The Jesse Tree ends by adding images from the O Antiphons, another ancient Advent to Christmas series of prayers.

Life Your Way has a set of free printable Jesse Tree ornaments with Biblical symbols. ERIERCD has several pages of Jesse Tree coloring pages to print free. Print in black and white and have kids color. Jesse Tree ornaments include apple tree (Adam and Eve). Ark and rainbow (Noah), tent (Abraham), cradle (Sarah), coat (Joseph), stone tablets (Moses), Harp (David), ladder (Jacob), tambourine (Miriam), crown (Solomon), anchor (Ruth) lion and lamb (Isaiah), mallet (Deborah), trumpet (Joshua), lion (Daniel), well (Rebecca), house (Elizabeth), lily (Mary) hammer (St. Joseph) Chi Ro (Jesus). The Reformed Church in America has more free printable Jesse Tree symbols to color. Catholic Icing has more printable Advent Jesse tree crafts. 1+1+1=1 has a free printable Jesse Tree booklet with devotions, prayers and crafts to make.

The Jesse Tree can be made in many ways. In times past, it was a Christmas tree. Some families use a tree made of paper or a cloth banner with detachable ornaments. In our family I use a small table top tree with child-made ornaments and symbols. We add one each day.

Free Printable Veterans Day Lessons and Activities for November 11

Veterans Day is also Armistice Day, which commemorates the end of World War One, November 11, 1918. Armistice Day is also called Remembrance Day. Here are free printable WWI lesson plans to help kids remember this epic epoch in history. There are lessons on America in conflict in World War II, Vietnam, Korea and Persian Gulf, too.

PBS did a documentary called "The Great War" and created free World War Ones lesson plans based on that show. Here are printable lesson plans based on Ken Burns' "The War" and still more from PBS Perilous Fight (both WWII documentaries).

Vicki Blackwell has compiled a huge assortment of free printable Veterans Day activities on her website of that name. Use for Memorial Day, 4th of July, American and world history. You'll find worksheets, quizzes, coloring pages, mazes, scavenger hunts, crossword puzzles, web activities, word games and links.

US History Site is a comprehensive website covering American history. You'll find free printable World War I lesson plans, maps, charts, diagrams and activities to explore Veterans and Armistice Day.

DL-TK has a massive collection of free printable Veterans Day lesson plans for preschool and early elementary. Print patriotic crafts, coloring pages, poppies (WWI memorial), In Flanders Field poem booklet, puzzles, worksheets and more. The Lesson Plans Page provides free printable WWI worksheets and lesson plans. Use for all ages, but especially preschool and younger elementary children.

History has free WWI lesson plans, videos and activities. Explore the places, faces, battles and weapons, history and outcomes of this "war to end all wars." Education World has free printable Armistice Day lesson plans, primarily for elementary and middle school age kids.

Mr. Donn has more free printable World War I worksheets and lessons. Apples for the Teacher hasfree printable WWI history themed writing prompts and social studies lesson plans.

Whatever you do this Veteran's Day, be sure to thank a veteran. Send a card, visit a senior home or VA hospital, call a relative. Let them know you remember and appreciate them. And wear your poppies.

Free Printable Veterans Day, Armistice Day Lessons

Veterans Day is celebrated November 11. It's also called Armistice Day and Remembrance Day. We honor veterans, military and those who've died. We remember World War One, which truce was called on November 11, 1918. Here are free printable Veterans Day coloring pages. Images include American military, patriotic themes and WWI history.

Edupics has free printable Remembrance Day coloring pages. There are also over 100 military pictures to print and color. There are images of soldiers, weapons, vehicles, sailors, uniforms and insignia. Pictures are realistic and detailed. They cover wars from different countries and times in history. There are sections on printable WWI and WWII coloring pages.

Apples 4 the Teacher has several sections with printable coloring pages for holidays. Veterans Day coloring pages are linked here. Here's the site's free printable Social Studies lesson plans page. There are printable coloring pages of flags, presidents, famous people, American symbols and history.

Raising Our Kids has a really nice assortment of free printable Veterans Day coloring pages. These could be used to make homemade cards for American national patriotic holidays like 4th of July and Memorial Day, too.

Coloring Book Fun has a free printable patriotic themed coloring pages. These simple images would make good preschool holiday activities. Little ones can color them for greeting cards to give to senior citizens.

DL-TK has free printable Remembrance Day coloring pages and crafts. There are also mini booklets to use as coloring books. There are Veterans Day word searches and puzzles and poppy crafts. Coloring.ws has more Veterans Day coloring pages to print free.

Here are free printable GI Joe coloring pages from Educational Coloring Pages. 101 Coloring Pages has more GI Joe coloring pages to print free. Print a coloring book for kids to teach them what Veterans Day is and why we celebrate it.

Free Printable All Saints Day Lessons and Activities

Free Printable Catholic Saints Coloring Pages November 1 marks the Catholic holy day of All Saint's, making October 31 All Hallow's Eve (or Halloween). Use these free printable activities to explore Catholic saints, holy days and All Saint's Day and Halloween. read more

Free Printable 'Dia de los Muertos' (Day of the Dead) Activities

El Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, commemorates the lives of beloved dead. Day of the Dead is the Latino version of Catholic All Saints Day and All Souls Day, November 1 and 2. Dia de los Muertos traditions include creating family altars to honor the dead, visiting loved ones' graves and having picnics at the cemetery to be near the departed. Human skulls and skeletons are integral Dia de los Muertos symbols. Items are designed to look like skulls: candles, food and sugar skulls. People paint their faces to represent a skull (called a calavera). Some Halloween traditions developed from Day of the Dead but unlike Halloween, Day of the Dead isn't about scaring people. It's a religious holiday, culminating the Catholic holy days with pre-Columbian Aztec, Mixtec, Olmec and Toltec rituals of Mexico. If you need free printable Day of the Dead lesson plans to teach students about this popular cultural holiday, read on. Use for homeschooled, public and parochial schooled kids.

Tiki Chris at Flickr has designed awesome free printable skull patterns from one basic skull template. Print these in black and white for students to color. Or print the basic skull template and have a calavera skull decorating contest! This would make an excellent art or social studies project. Using one basic pattern, students can exhibit their creativity in design. Kids will love making connections with this beautiful heritage art from Mexico.

QuestConnect.org has free printable Dia de los Muertos lesson plans and activities to thoroughly explore the Day of the Dead. Make papel picado banners, sugar skulls and skeleton crafts. Kids can learn the geography and culture of Mexico with an Oaxaca puzzle. Arty Ness has free printable Day of the Dead coloring pages, art projects, crafts with skeletons and skulls and more. Mr. Donn has a plethora of free printable Dia de Los Muertos lesson plans and activities. Use these for history, culture, geography and social studies lesson plans for middle school age kids.

Enchanted Learning has free Day of the Dead lesson plans to print. A-Z Central has a whole website devoted to Dia de los Muertos activities. Print and make crafts. Listen to music. Learn about the culture of Mexico. Play games. Learn to make recipes and foods from Mexico. National Geographic has vocabulary lessons on Day of the Dead. There's an awesome picture gallery.

Many parents, particularly Christian parents, don't celebrate Halloween. But don't mistake Day of the Dead skull for Halloween and ignore this rich, cultural festival. And don't let the skulls and skeletons freak you out. They show honor to the dead, not ghoulish fascination with death. These are as reverently handled as the nativity scenes at Christmas. And educators, if you teach ESL, please consider hosting a Day of the Dead party for students. It's good to learn about each other's cultures plus it makes Hispanic students feel more at home

Free Printable Cut and Paste Scale Model Castles

Cut and paste activities make ideal educational tools. 3D models and dioramas are excellent book activities for reading response lessons. How about some free printable paper castles and 3D castle models for kids? History teachers and homeschool parents will love these hands-on history crafts.

Gamemaker has created a 13 page free printable castles models, perfect for dioramas, medieval world history, social studies and rainy day fun. When this author homeschooled her kids, the eldest daughter made a 3D model of a medieval abbey from waffle boxes. These free printable castle models would have been a perfect addition to social studies lessons. The castle model is labeled accurately with keep, towers, bailey, gate house, merlons and flags. Castle is neatly drawn to scale, includes user-friendly instructions that are perfect for all ages. 

Gamemaker has also made a free printable model of Neuschwanstein Castle in the Clouds. This German Cinderella castle is the poster child for fairytale castles. Neuschwanstein is one of the late Medieval castles in baroque renaissance style. 

For more cool medieval castles and knights stuff, you can visit the Gamemaker at his website Storm the Castle. Use these free printable castle models for dioramas, history lessons, engineering and design activities or a social studies unit on medieval times. It's always good in any unit to incorporate as many different subject areas. Cutting and assembling paper crafts hits the STEM components. 

Visit About History for heraldry designs for medieval castles, coat of arms patterns and castle graphics. Add battlements, merlons, flags, mullioned windows and other details to your castles. 

Check out the free printable medieval castles, paper crafts and coloring pages from Skipton Castle in Yorkshire, England. Built in the 12th century Skipton Castle is beautifully preserved. The website includes free printable castle models paper crafts, knights, activities on kitchens of medieval castles, Elizabethan lord and lady and more free printable heraldry activities. DL-TK has a bunch more free printable medieval fantasy crafts.

Free Printable Reading Games, Online Spelling and Reading Games

Parents, does it worry you how much your kids play phone or online games? Do you worry that their reading skills will stagnate if they play too many online games? Well, here's a workaround--turn them on to online word games for kids and Internet reading games. Here are free online games for kids, including word games, reading games and spelling games. These reading games can be played on computers or cellphones. Teachers, use these online games for kids to boost not only reading skills, but spelling, grammar, syntax, vocabulary and writing skills. Playing online word games helps visual tracking, perceptual acuity and typing skills, too.

No matter how educational free online games for kids are, parents should still limit time spent gaming. 15-20 minutes of play between tasks is fine. Two hours sitting at the computer or playing on their phones is too much. Gaming should also be done in proportion to outside time and physical activity. For every hour spent on the computer, at play or work, there should be an equal amount of active time. So, here are the best educational free online games for kids to improve reading skills.

ABCya offers Super Word Toss, one of several free online games for kids to teach reading skills. These word games help children work with synonyms and antonyms to learn word meanings. Check out the other word games, reading games and spelling games on this site.

Arcademics has loads of educational free online games for kids. Visit the homepage to find reading games, spelling games, word games, math games and more.

Gamequarium is another educational site with thousands of free online games, There are over 1,500 reading games and nearly 1,000 ELA (English Language Arts) games, including reading games, word games, vocabulary games and spelling games.

From Addicting Games (another free online games site) comes Whizz Words and Whizz Words Deluxe. Kids will learn reading skills playing these crazy fun word games. These spelling games teach kids lightning-fast reflexes, quick thinking and super spelling skills. Whizz Words games combine the concepts of Boggle and Yahtzee. Players have limited time make words from a set of letters but they can only earn points in one category-- 3-letter, 4-letter, 5-letter and so on. The trick with these spelling games is to figure out which letter combinations offer the most of any given word length and then make only words of that length.

Free Printable Labor Day Community Helpers Coloring

Labor Day is celebrated the first Monday in September in the US. It remembers the social and economic contributions of organized labor, unions and workers. Here are free printable Labor Day coloring pages of workers, jobs, occupations, careers and community helpers. Use these coloring activities for preschool lesson plans or Labor Day parties. Teachers and homeschoolers, start your school year off with a social studies unit on career awareness that explores community helpers, workers, occupations. Teach the history and importance of Labor Day.

Apples 4 the Teacher has free printable occupations coloring pages. Click the link on the right side of the page for more occupations coloring pages. Variety includes disc jockey nurse, road worker, surgeon, gardener, painter, photographer, plumber, cobbler, policeman and tailor. I like how pictures reflect variety of blue collar and white collar workers, service, business, artisans and tradespeople.

First-School offers free printable careers coloring pages featuring occupations of police officer, mail carrier, janitor, teacher, fire fighter, chef and many more. Edupics has almost 400 free printable professions coloring pages. Super Coloring Pages has many more occupations and workers coloring pages to print in different categories: education, politics, service, helping professions and more. Hello Kids has a nice collection of educational jobs coloring pages featuring realistic, detailed pictures of people in their jobs.

Use these links to create a booklet of Labor Day activities for school, homeschool, church, day care, scouts or 4H groups. Help students become good citizens and community helpers themselves with these activities.