Kids Reindeer T-Shirt Craft

Pix from Factory Direct Craft Blog

I have done kids crafts like this in so many ways for different seasons. They come out so precious and parents and kids go nuts for them! Well, who wouldn't? Practically anything made from kids hand or footprints seem to be a snapshot of their youth. They grow so fast, don't they? So, with much ado, here are the materials you will need.

Materials for Kids Reindeer T-Shirt Craft

• One plain t-shirt or each child
• Long clothes line and clothes pins
• Dark brown acrylic paint fabric medium to mix with the paint
• Fabric adhesive
• Newspapers
• Wiggle eyes
• One red pompom 
• Wet towel
• Paper plates
• Deep wash bin with small amount of soapy warm water
• Optional (at least two parent volunteers)

The Set Up: Put up a clothes line in the classroom and keep the clothes pins ready, depending n the number of kids the craft can take up a lot of space! Mix the paint with the fabric medium and pour a small amount on a paper plate. Spread newspapers on a large table and get towels and a wash bin ready. I like to keep the bin and towels under the large table-it makes for an easy clean up!

The Procedure: Have child take off one shoes and sock. They will be using both hands for the project. Help the child dip both hands and a foot in the paint and press it strategically on the t-shirt, then help the child wash up in the bin. Of course, if you have some volunteers, multiple children can be done at one time.

Make it a gift with Artful Adventures Craft Bags

After each shirt is completed hang them on the clothes line. They will need time to dry (24 hours)
After they are dry the children can glue on the wiggle eyes and the pom pom nose. Give it more time to dry on the clothes line. One thing I had done to make the process go faster was have a child hold a blow dryer on the fresh glued pieces (with direct supervision, of course).

Voila! Your finished! You can wrap them in a kid decorated bag or large sheet of paper the kids made. I guarantee it will be a hit!

How teachers are using YouTube

There are so many things we can do with our children with the help of technology! As usual, my mother sent a really great YouTube video done like you've never seen before. It was actually done as a school computer project.
This video from the small Yupiq Eskimo Village of Quinhagak, Alaska, and originally intended for the other Yupiq villages in the area.
Much to the  children, teacher, and villagers' shock, over a half million people have viewed it already!
I hope you enjoy it and I think it will give many of us some ideas for a really great project!

Hallelujah! We did it!

Conflict Resolution: What do you do when the kids argue?

Okay, so it happens and this video got me thinking about what to do when our own kids argue in the classroom.
I love to post about the fun and good times we all have in preschool, but there are clearly times where we as teachers need to step in and help kids problem solve.

"I said, NO! And I mean it!"

Conflict resolution is a beautiful thing when the kids argue. Much of the time they need a bit of help and guidance from us during an argument.
I say this because even in the happiest classrooms, it's not a matter of if, but when an argument erupts.

We would like to hear about about tried and true solutions for conflict resolution within your classroom!
So, how would you handle this situation in the video?
Would you have intervened? If so at what point?

7 Reasons Why Teachers are Such Great Bloggers

Pix from The Anti-Social Media

I was a blogger-in-bloom in 2009.  I had been a preschool teacher for twenty-years at that time and I was really just looking to share my experiences.

I got spammed by someone my first month-ahem. (By a non-teacher blogger, mind you.)

Not that I did anything wrong. Well, other than the fact that I didn’t know how to connect with others on the blogosphere. Maybe I did comment-faux-pas, who knows? 

The simple fact was that I was wholeheartedly looking for how to do this blogging stuff right.

It reminded me of my first few years of being a preschool teacher. I could tell you all about it but I believe we would all have similar stories of feelings of inadequacy.

I know in so many ways, just like blogging, teachers look to get things right because we sincerely care. Which is what really prompted me to write about why teachers are such great bloggers.

So, if you don’t have a blog, or are considering to blog, I really hope this motivates you to start!

Reason #1 Teachers are Persistent

All good teachers are persistent. Persistence leads to consistency which is needed in blogging. Most blogs wither away on the vine for lack of attention and grooming. We as teachers understand that where there is a will there’s a way. We make time for blogging just like we make time for the quiet or crying child. It’s part of our DNA.

Reason #2 Teachers are Sincere

We know that the children would never give us the time of day if we talked like a stale piece of toast. Teachers know how to jazz up dusty routines (always making the old feel new again) and have that amazing ability to teach and reach the heart at the same time. It comes with practice and sincerity. It transitions well over into our blogs, too.

Reason #3 Teachers Know How to Share

Teachers understand that sharing doesn’t come naturally. We know because we spend so much time encouraging it. Blogging requires social networking which really means that we aren’t afraid to get excited about one another's ideas. Teacher’s blog about one another’s blogs: yes, we actually do activities we say we are going to do. Sharing and blogging is a form of virtual encouragement and affirmation.

Reason #3 Teachers are Patient

Blogging takes patience. Not only the learning process but the overall netiquette involved. We have all worked with children in the classroom that have had a bit of a time making friends, socializing, or learning something new.

As teachers we are helpers one to another. We understand it takes time to learn new things and get set up on new blogging platforms. Because blogging teachers took time with me I learned about the ways I could take time with others. 

Reason #4 Teachers are Creative

Is this the only profession where you can see the same project posted one hundred different ways and we still blog about it? Did you ever wonder why? Teachers are creative in blogging or we would have gone the way of the dinosaur years ago.

Reason #5 Teachers are Inspirational

Teachers are nothing like firecrackers. We don’t put on a grand show and fizzle out in a random puff of smoke. We have an amazing ability to inspire and that has a lot to do with Reason #4. Much of our inspiration comes from the classroom and overflows into the willingness to share with other like-minded individuals. Blogging is a great outlet for us. We motivate and inspire one another!

Reason #6 Teachers Think Outside the Box

Perhaps our own children rub off on us a bit. Thinking outside the box requires looking at solutions and problems in new ways, even if it means getting out of our comfort zone. A good blog stands out from the others through presentation and the angle in which it’s presented.

The same requirement stands for good lesson planning.

Reason #7 Teachers Are Willing to Be Transparent

Blogs are liked for their personality, authenticity and ability make others want to engage. Interestingly enough, these are the attributes of a child’s favorite teacher. How many of us have gone the extra mile; at story time, by being the butt of a joke for the sake making an upset child laugh, or  regularly reminding the children how much you care about them being happy and safe?

Find out more reasons why teachers should blog

Our children are the first ones to call a phony a phony.
As adults, we learn to think it but not say it. I have always felt that  a teacher falls somewhere in between.

It’s a blessing to yourself and be self aware. It’s a gift to others to be transparent enough to share yourself openly without hurting feelings.

When a teacher finds the right balance in a blog; and we usually do, it’s a beautiful thing.

How to Have a Sugar-Free Halloween for Preschool Kids

Screams, howls, and groaning; It’s Halloween, but really it our preschool kids on too much sugar. That eerie feeling in the pit of our stomach is not the excitement but the knowledge that every year we got through the same thing regarding sugar and the kids in the classroom.

It’s time to channel Susan Powter and ‘Stop the Insanity!’ So, is there really such thing as a sugar-free Halloween in our own classroom without the kids knowing? I say there is. We made it so fun and got the parents involved that the kids didn’t notice they weren’t screaming from the sugar rush.

Here are a few things we did to make the Halloween pleasant and fun and practically sugar-free everyone. And it you don’t have tons of volunteers, just make a few modifications.

How We Make a Practically Sugar-Free Halloween for Our Preschool Kids 

Get a fun Halloween Music CD.

Sugar-Free Goodies: Put together small bags of “Yummy Earth” (Sugar Free Candy) Candies in Halloween Goodie Bags (Distribute them after the Party).

The way Halloween haunts me: Kids on sugar!

Apple Float Activity: Fishing for Apples, Float real apples in a large tub of water with mini fishing rods (with magnets on the end). (Stick a paper clip through a golf tee and shove it in an apple, do this a couple times per apple) Float the apples in the water and allow the children to “fish them”. They loved it! Be sure to use small size red apples.

Kids Crazy Glow Water: We make this one ahead of time and turn out the lights on one side of the class room and have it sectioned off a bit with a black sheet and black light. The water is in a larger water table for all the kids to use. We keep this well supervised.

The Slime Pit: We use a cornstarch and water mix to make ooze called the slime pit. We put Halloween trinkets in there like spiders and such and later on add an extension such as food colors to allow the kids to mix colors.

Less Treats More Fun: Much later in the day we have a few Halloween stories and some carrot cake. The kids also vote on some of the same activities we had inside to bring outside (except for the Crazy Glow Water, of course).

By the end of the day we are really worn out.
But at least our eardrums aren’t ringing....

We hope you'll give it a try, we are pretty sure you'll feel brilliant that you did! 

Ha! Out-smarted Halloween this year, baby!

Kids Ocean Wave Bottles Craft

 

There is nothing like taking a bit of the beach home with you. As a California girl, myself I love to bring the ocean into the classroom to share with the children.

I used to make wonderful wave bottles for used plastic water bottles, however, times being what they are businesses use much less plastic (great for our environment), but not when it comes to the durability of our kids projects.

The families and I found a great option that the children love; we use these ocean bottles as staple pieces in the classroom, as well gift ideas! Here is a craft I guarantee your preschoolers and families will love!

How to Make Kids Ocean Theme Wave Bottles

More Ocean in a Bottle Ideas!

Cheap clear baby bottles (We go to a local Dollar Store)

Bags of small shells (Any dollar or craft store has these)

Soft clean sand or washed pea gravel (Just enough to settle nicely on the bottom of the bottle)

Small Rubber Sea Creatures (Optional but the kids love them)

Large container of Baby Oil (Optional-give you that wave effect)

Blue Food Color or Bio Color

Silver Glitter (Optional but very pretty)

Masking Tape

Funnel

Water

Procedure: Keep the lids and allow the children scoop in a couple spoonfuls of sand or gravel. Allow children to select 3-5 shells depending to the size and one sea creature to place in the bottle.

Have the children mark a halfway point with the masking tape on their bottle. Let the kids add in their water to the mark and funnel in the baby oil almost to the top. Be sure they are holding it securely so it won’t spill.

Add in one drop of food coloring and a dash of glitter. Now securely tighten the bottle with the bottle plug minus the rubber nipple.

There! Now you're kids have captured the ocean in a pinch!

Sandwich Bag Science for Kids

Keep kids cool in the warm weather with this simple and fun project we like to call, Sandwich Bag Science!
We like to do it in groups of three or four with the kids holding the bags up over their head. On a nice hot day I like to have them 'hypothesize' what they think could possibly happen before, during, and after we finish.

Here is what you'll need for your groups:

• Sandwich bags (one per group)
• Rubber bands (for tying bags)
• Water
• Sharp pencils (plenty of them)

Thank to Scribbit for the pix and inspiration

Procedure: I tell the children as little as possible about the project. I have them fill the bags with water, tie them with a rubber band and get in groups with plenty of pencils. What I will ask them is what will happen if they poke a pencil through the bag. How many times could they do it, etc. The children often marvel that the bag could be pierced in the first place. I only have one rule during the project. The kids must hold the baggie up over their head as they work.
At the end of the project I will often tell the children to double check and count how many pencils they got into their bags by taking them out of the baggies and doing a re-count. That's usually when the squeals begin!
It gets them every time....
Ah...my favorite part.