St. Patrick's Day Exploration Centers and Toddler Trays

Are you looking for independent work stations for your child for their toddler time, exploration, learning centers, or quiet boxes?  Here are some St. Patrick's Day inspired ideas. Each link leads to a collection of ideas, we have only chosen one picture to highlight here.

Playing House

Motherhood Moments

Second Story Window

 

Princess and the Tot

Simply Centers - Bit o' Math Blarney

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Muffin Tin Playing, Learning, and Skill Reviewing Activities

Thanks to Michelle from Muffin Tin Mom, families all over the blog world are using tins for serving more than just muffins.

More than just for eating, muffin tins are a great tool for organizing materials and teaching basic skills in new and creative centers.

When starting a Lego project with her son, Muffin Tin Mom sorts the small pieces into muffin tins to make the project more manageable.

Making Learning Fun explains two early childhood games that use muffin tins to teach basic skills.
Using tins, picture cards, and pom poms preschoolers can practice visual discrimination.
The second game using tins, dice, and pom poms effectively practices counting and color recognition.

At Happy Brown House muffin tins and colorful foam stickers are the materials needed to practice sorting skills.

Growing Book by Book explains 4 great games for practicing literacy skills with elementary students: Toss and Answer, Match-a-Roo, Three in a Row, and Sort-a-Roo.

The Wonder Years encouraged collaging by providing interesting materials in a muffin tin.

Meaningful Mama uses coins, cards, and muffin tins for a skill review activity than can be adapted to whatever skill you are teaching.

Pre-K Pages used a muffin tin to create a magnet exploration station.

Here's to never having too many muffin tins in your collection!

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Math Center Activities for Early Elementary Age Students

Plugging away at some of my New Year goals, I have been busy organizing submitted ideas back into the folders where they belong in my email account.  It is enjoyable because I have run across many interesting tips and ideas from our dear readers.  So, today's list of math center suggestions comes to you courtesy of an organized "Math Submissions" folder!

A Crafty Escape turned basic math concepts into a playful learning experience by setting up a grocery store game.

  

Keri, from the Home Teacher, created Number-a-Day pages for her daughter and was so kind to share the free printables with us as well.

Keri also put together a Mission Addition math adventure activity aimed at familiarizing young children with the basic concepts of addition.

Teaching Two used pattern blocks to put together an engaging math center.

Making Merry Memories talked about patterns while making a special felt quilt square.

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Easter Themed Learning Centers & Games

Put together a rhyming Easter treasure hunt mission for your little learners using the inspiration from A Lil Bit of This - A Lil Bit of That.

A Mama's Two Cents Worth created a downloadable center egg game appropriate for preschool age children.

A List Maker's Life put together a Build a Bunny game to practice counting and taking turns.

 

This egg hunt skill building activity is appropriate for reviewing any concept in the classroom.  It worked with second grade students, yet was also fun with preschool age children.  Just create appropriate questions for the age you are addressing.
 

The First Grade Sweet Life put together a Sentence Scramble center and shares the printable recording sheets in her post.
 

Explorations in Learning shares the set up for their Easter themed writing workshop station.
 

Teachology has a great link list of suggested Easter themed lessons that would be appropriate for learning centers.

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Learning with Candy Hearts

Welcome! New to ABC and 123? Please check out our FAQ in the sidebar.

Hello blogger world! It's me again, Rachelle from What the Teacher Wants! I have more fun with food activities for you to do with your kiddos!

What in the world can you do with all of these?!?

In my 1st grade classroom, I like to practice ABC order with Conversation Hearts.
Not sure how to introduce ABC order? Click here for a previous post about it on my blog!

Don't want to buy those chalky tasting Valentine's Day treats? No worries! Use this instead:

{Click the picture to download both}

For more fun ideas to do with Candy Hearts,

go to this link from my blog!

Candy Heart Math EXPLOSION!


What other fun ideas do you have for Valentine's Day?

Please share!

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Thematic Thursday: Cocoa Cafe' Thematic Center

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Please check out our FAQ in the left sidebar.

For today's Thematic Thursday we wanted to share a thematic learning center with you and include several suggestions for skills to develop through this activity.  If you have set up a thematic center in your home or classroom we'd love to share it in a future post.  Send us your pictures, a link, and a list of skills your center supports.

Welcome to the Cocoa Cafe'

Thanks to Kelly from Doing Life Together for sharing this with us. 

You will want to check out Kelly's post for information about where she found this idea, the materials she use to set up her center, and  more pictures. 

Social Skills
~Working Together
~Listening: Taking orders
~Manners: please, thank you, pardon me, etc.

Math Skills
~Counting: count out cups, marshmallows, straws, etc.
~Money: identifying coins, counting coins, taking money, making change
Obviously, these skills will depend on children's ages and ability levels
~Comparison Skills: Talk about more and less
~Sequencing: Offer different size cups and have children organize the cups by size

Language Arts Skills
~Writing: Write a menu for the cafe'
~Creative Writing: Come up with clever drink mixes and names
~Come up with a name for the Cocoa Cafe'
~Make advertising signs for the shop
~Write receipts for the cocoa customers
~Follow up the play time with a journal or creative story using the Cocoa Cafe' as the setting

Social Studies Skills
~Ecomonics: Introduce the assembly line process to children. 
Give each child a different job for putting together a complete cup of cocoa.  Talk about how many cups of cocoa a can be put together in the same amount of time with group assembly versus individual assembly.
~Talk about supply and demand.  Discuss how pricing may impact sales in the Cocoa Cafe'

If you set up your own Cocoa Cafe' learning center we'd love to see pictures.  In fact, send us your pictures and we would be happy to put together a post showing them all off!  If you think of other great skills to practice using this play center we would love to see your ideas in the comments.  Enjoy!

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