Presidents' Day, February Activities, & a Birthday Sale-A-Bration!

It’s my birthday and I thought I’d celebrate with you!
First, with a sale at my store this weekend and I'd like to share my newest freebie below!!

Click here for my store

Here's my newest freebie which is just in time to celebrate another special birthday in February.  It’s a short reading passage on Abraham Lincoln’s early years. Have your students compare and contrast themselves with young Abe Lincoln . You can help students by giving them topics such as family, schooling, siblings, chores, pets, activities, etc., to compare and contrast.  Click here for the FREEBIE! 

For a Presidents’ Day craft, I updated George from last year to make him even more regal.  After making the stick Presidents, I read off  facts and ask the students which president they think it is and to hold up the correct president.  I found some obvious and not so obvious fun facts about the Presidents that the kids might enjoy. 

Feel free to add additional fun facts in the comments section about either of these presidents.

George

He started school at 6 and left when he was 15 to become a surveyor.

He married Martha Custis.

He was the 1^st president.

He was 6ft. 2 in. tall.

He loved to eat cream of peanut soup and mashed sweet potatoes with coconut.

He bred hound dogs.

He was 57 when he had all his teeth pulled and wore false teeth.

He was born on February 22, 1732.

He was born in Virginia.

He is on a quarter and a dollar bill.

He is known as the ‘Father of Our Country’.

Abe

He was and inventor and the only president to hold a patent.

He was born on February 12^th, 1809.

He was born in Kentucky.

He was the 16^th president.

He married Mary Todd.

He loved animals and kids.

He is on a penny and a five dollar bill.

He loved to wrestle and have foot races.

He kept important documents in his hat.

He was 6 ft. 4 inches tall.

Facts collected from Scholastic.com and other sources.

On my b-day I  got a fabulous gift in an equally fabulous bag. I loved the pattern on it and thought it would be perfect to decorate for the 100th day.  I cut it into a giant 100 (using the side for the 1 and the back and front to make two 0s), added some streamers and put it outside my door.  My husband, 'the recycler' in the house, would definitely approve of this.  I loved how it came out and it helped make their entrance into the class a bit fancier.

I thought I’d also share another fun activity we did this month.  I was inspired by the original watercolor pin below and loved how the  paintings came out and decided to incorporate it in our poem for Valentine’s Day. The kids loved using the pink, yellow, and blue paints to create additional colors. They came out great!

Click here for original pin

Last but not least you might be interested in this Writing Paper and Prompt Growing Bundle which is 70% off- just a buck a month until the bundle is closer to completion!  Check it out by clicking here!

February Pinterest Ideas

 

 

I'm linking up with Pawsitively Teaching, Just Reed and the Inspired Owl! for this month’s Pinterest Pick 3 to give us some fun ideas for February.


February is one of the craziest months!  It’s the shortest month with so many fun holidays to learn about and celebrate! It’s nuts—there’s so much to do -- Groundhog Day, Chinese New Year, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Valentine’s Day and the 100^th day of school! I shouldn't leave out vacation and my b-day!! Woo hoo!

Hope these ideas will help you out!

The day is over, but how cute is this idea for next year? Cheers to an early spring!

Click here for the original post.

I’m loving the toilet paper crafts lately so I thought I’d include one for the Abe & George.

 

 Click here for the original post.

 

I love these next two crafts. This bookmark totally inspired me for a parent gift for Valentine’s Day and the card will be perfect!

 

Click here for the original post.

Click here for the original post.

Here's a great freebie I came across that is  perfect for indoor recess which seems to happen quite often in February!
  Enjoy!

  click here for the book!

An InLinkz Link-up

February FUN!

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?

Here is this month's FREE Color by Number.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

You can grab this Free Valentine's Day Picture by clicking here or visit my store. If your kids enjoy it, please let me know.

Stay Tuned and Follow for More Ideas!