Hopping from K to 2!: January 2015

FEBRUARY IDEAS

GROUNDHOG'S DAY!

With the winter we've had, I hope that the little groundhog does not see his shadow so that I can expect spring sooner rather than later!

I write this as it's still snowing outside my window, but one can hope! Here's a cute, simple craft to do with kids.

Take a pre-cut piece of construction paper (to fit the height of the toilet paper roll) and have the children draw the eyes (or use googly eyes or eye stickers), nose, and whiskers in the middle of it. Then, put some glue on the paper, roll the paper around the toilet paper roll, and use a piece of tape to secure it. Children drew ears on white construction paper with a brown/black marker, cut them out, and glued them to the inside of the roll. You could also take a flashlight and shine it on the groundhog to discuss shadows.

Here's another fun Groundhog's Day activity to do with young children. You can grab it here for FREE at my store! Hopefully, despite what the groundhog says, spring will come early!

With all the snow we've had, students have been doing a lot of GoNoodle (I've spoken about that site down below), but they also love to create their own Jackson Pollack design on the Smartboard.

I'm hooking up with Lori Ross for Terrific Tech Tuesday to share a fun indoor activity to do on the smartboard. Click on her link to find more tech ideas.

One of our favorite indoor recess activities is to create our own Jackson Pollack. Jackson Pollack was an American painter who became famous for his drip paintings. Click on the website for Jackson Pollack. Our art teacher taught my kinders about him, so they loved making their own creation.

When you click on the link, there will be a white space to the right. Just click full-screen and let the fun begin. They can start to draw by touching the Smartboard. The slower they draw, the thicker the line, and the faster they draw, the thinner the line. Every time they pick up their finger, the color changes. My kids love it!

Here's an example:

Here is one of my favorite creative writing ideas to do for Dental Health. We usually read a story (click here for a list of books) about the Tooth Fairy and the kids write what they think she does with their teeth. From K-2, their ideas and drawing are great!

If you'd like to do this activity, you can click here to grab the tooth template at my store for FREE!

Just add a picture and some construction paper and you're done!

Hopefully, you took advantage of Colgate's FREE classroom set of toothbrushes and books for your classroom. If not, scroll down below to sign up. Hopefully, it's not too late!

Here's a cute craft we did for Dental Health Month.

We decorated the front, and on the back, we wrote a dental health rule.

Here's how we did it:

PRESIDENT'S DAY

February is a great time to introduce coins and practice counting money. My kids love to use task cards so I created these and they love them. There is also a reader so that they can learn all about the coins, who is on them, and how much they are worth. Included are also printables and a money booklet for each child to take home as a culminating activity. Check out this Money Unit here.

Here's a perfect craft to go with President's Day.

They turned out super cute. These are not my original idea but I do not know the origin of it- if it's you , let me know! We created these after we learned about the presidents and we use these to check for understanding. I asked a question about a president and students raise whichever president is the correct answer. For example, Who was the first president of the United States? Who was a lawyer?