Let's practice reading ay and ai words! Did you see our War card game for ai and ay words? Today I'm sharing a simple follow the path game that teaches the same phonics patterns. The first two games in the pack review the ay pattern (as in hay) and the ai pattern (as in rain). Each board game features just one of the patterns. When your child is ready, pull out Game 3. It includes both the ai and ay ... Read More
Spring counting mat
Today I'm offering a quick Spring freebie! Today I'm sharing a simple counting mat. Print the mat and provide your child with objects he can stack up to ten. I'll admit that my Four wasn't at all interested in doing a learning activity with me today, but when I told him we could use coins, he was game. Simply count the correct number of coins and stack them on the corresponding numbers. Getting all ... Read More
Card game for short a, ai & ay words
Print this free card game for practice with ai and ay words! My Five and I have been playing a lot of games to help him learn the common phonics patterns. So far we've played games for short vowels, bossy r, silent e, oo, and ee words. Today we're starting games that teach ai and ay. I decided to keep ai and ay together because they both make the long a sound; the only difference is where they appear in the word. ... Read More
Books about seeds and plants
These books about seeds are wonderful to read alongside your plants unit! Here are our top recommendations for books about seeds and plants! ... Read More
Free positional words activity
Try this fun positional words activity with your preschool or kindergarten students! This week our theme is Geometry. When I thought about creating a geometry game for kindergarten, I decided to focus on positional words rather than shapes. Here's a list of positional words that kids should understand: above over between under below next to close to far from near beside in out left right I chose to combine this ... Read More
Graphing worksheets
This fun math activity is a great twist on traditional graphing worksheets! Today I'm sharing a second grade activity. I don't have a second grader at my house, but my kindergartner, first grader, and third grader all enjoyed this fun variation on the traditional graphing worksheet. Is it just me, or are graphing worksheets usually boring? I remember that I always liked doing them in school because they were easy. ... Read More
Books about gardening
Check out our giant list of garden books for kids! ... Read More
Coin sorting mat
This free printable is wonderful for young children who are learning coins! This week our theme is Measurement. When we think about things kids need to measure, length is probably the first thing that comes to mind. But kids can also measure time, volume, weight, and even value. Of course, before kids can learn the value of coins, they need to be able to identify them and distinguish between them. I always find ... Read More
Place value mat
Place value can be such a fun math concept to teach! Read on for a hands-on place value activity... using nuts and bolts! Today I'm sharing a free printable activity to help kindergartners understand place value. It's my third post in our weekly K-2 Math Activities series. To make our place value activity very concrete - and add in some fine motor skills at the same time - I decided that we'd make our own base ten ... Read More
Worksheets for ee words
Looking for some activities to brush up on phonics skills? Try these free ee worksheets! I like to finish our study of each phonics pattern with some old fashioned worksheets. While I don't think they should be the primary form of instruction (since they don't actually teach - they assess), my Five enjoys them. And I like to see that he's learned the pattern well. My Five always asks for these fill in the blank ... Read More