New Activities to go with Pete the Cat!

I have finally finished some great colored shoe theme, math, language and art activities.  I think everyone is going to like them!  I got great high top converse looking shoe clip art from Ashley Hughes!  She is awesome if you have not checked her out.  You can find here on TPT too!

Here are a few samples of what you will get if you buy my activity bundle.   Since the author of the blue cat book (we all know which book that is by now I hope!) does not want us to use his book name, I will refrain!  I titled my games, "FOLLOW MY FEET!"  That way no one gets upset.  Personally I would be happy if teachers all over were reading my books and making activities to go with them!  At least we have Pinterest to share them right!  I have a huge Pete board there if you would like to stop by and grab some inspiration.

                                                    

Click here for: Pete the Cat PINTEREST Boards

So back to my games included in the Follow My Feet Games...I created a very basic game that will expose your young students to how to match and how to play a clothes pin clip game.  If you feel they are not read for that you can use a math counter or chip to mark the correct color match answer.  

I am going to cut these cards apart, laminate and then use clothes pins.  I like my students to start getting their fingers strong for writing.  This game can be used for color assessment too.  After completion, we ask the student to rains their hand or come find a teacher to show.  They practice naming the colors and then I can easily see if they can identify colors, match colors, or even if they can name color words at all.  It gives us a good sense of what a child knows coming into our class for the first time.  It is also a good way to teach following directions with our materials.  This activity will be out when we begin school.  I am looking forward to seeing how they do with it!  I have included a blank card that is all black line so you can print it 3 times and color it yourself to save on ink!  Trying to think of everyone!

This activity is for my returning students who already have mastered colors, can name some letters, and are ready to work on basic sounds.  This activity is to be used with clips and in clear plastic sleeves with dry erase markers.  I think having it in two places gives more students a chance to work on letter sounds.  Both activities with these cards will give fine motor strength too.  I have found these sleeves to be pricey at Lakeshore and Amazon, but I have also used regular, clear page protectors and they work great too!.

The counting clip game is going to be on my math shelf.  Our classroom has shelves with activities that we use on small rugs on the floor.  I have gone from 1-12 for this activity to extend it for kids who already know 1-10.  I have found preschoolers sometimes have a hard time going higher all at once so we work on 11 and 12 for a while and then add the teen numbers in other ways.  This game too could be in a plastic sleeve with a dry erase marker,  or cut apart with clothes pins.

My new favorite game is having my students up and looking for things, whether it be a letter or number hunt, science finds, or in this case hunting for colors.  I have created cards with the color words on them for your students to find and record in two different ways.  On the recording sheet, younger students can make and "X" or a tally mark and then color the shoe to match the color they find.  Older students who are writing, can find the shoe, and write the color word on the line and color the shoe.  I know kindergartners have to read color words very early on in my district to participate in worksheets and homework activities.  this will help them on their way and get them a little fun writing practice!  These get cut apart and hidden in the room!  I have included one page that just has black line to save you on colored ink.  I got that great idea from many hours of researching what types of thing I wanted to create for other teachers!  Have a parent take them home and color them in for you!

I saw the last activity on my Pinterest hunts and I cannot remember who to link it to.  I loved it so I make shoes for your students to design.  After that, Take photos of your class with their legs spread apart about a foot individually.  Print them on a full sheet and add the shoes to them to make a funny picture, or up in the hallway as meet my class!  It is funny to see them in huge high top shoes!  

I hope this gets you wanting to stop over and buy some of my new products on Teachers Pay Teachers!  If you have never gone to the site...WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!!  Go and grab some easy centers or activities to start your year off right!

Sneak Peek at my New Photo Find Games!

I am so excited to unveil my new preschool/kindergarten activities for science that I am working on.  I can't get them done fast enough!  They are write the room science hunts and they are going to be so cute!  I have awesome graphics from Erin Bradley Designs and after huge searches for wild animal photos that don't come with HUGE price tags I have almost finished my first one.  I have to print it out in the morning and add photos to the directions and it is a go!

Just to give you an idea of how these science "Photo Finds" will work...I have created cameras with animal photos under them.  The activity will be a little like hide and seek.  You will hide the paper cameras around the room with animal photos underneath them and your students will hunt, and record what they find on a cute clipboard you will provide them.  There are 3 levels of writing this will cover too.  My recording/hunting sheets include just making an "X" by the animal photo, tracing the name of the animal, and independently writing the name of the animal next to the photo on the clipboard.  I know my students are going to love this.  They are always jumping in to be in pictures.  I  also know that write the room is one of their favorite choices during our "centers time."

I am heading to bed but this will be up on Teachers Pay Teachers tomorrow so check it out and let me know what you think!

Play Dough Mats for Preschool

I have worked all year long and never got the time to get my activities up on TPT!  I have tweaked and researched and I am finally ready to share my stuff!!!  I make things that I want to use and that I know other preschool/kindergarten teachers will use.  I love all of the cute things I that I have seen and I thought to myself, you know, I can do this too!!!  I have included a preview of the product with some pictures of my students using them.

I began the year by making play dough activities.  I wanted to change up my play dough and make it a bit more educational and meaningful.  I had kids in my class who were using their creativity, and they were strengthening their fine motor, but seemed to need more.  I started with the play dough mats.  Here you can see how much fun these can be!

My students love rolling out the "worms" for the numbers and then using a real plastic knife and cutting off cylinders for the marshmallows in the mugs!  I have also had fun using these during teacher evaluations.  My bosses love that I can sit and assess as they are learning!  Shocking, right?!

Here is a sneak peak into my other great play dough mats...

                                                         Flower Play Dough Counting Mats

This game is my favorite one... Play Dough Pizza Math Mats!!!  I found the greatest clip art from the 3A.M. Teacher!  It was calling my name.  I have not used this one yet but I cannot wait to try it.  I am going to print it and try it out with my twin girls!  I know they will love it!

                                                       Play Dough Pizza Math Mats

 I hope you love these.  I know your students will!  Enjoy!

Magna-doodle fun for preschoolers!

We were playing in our living room this summer when my four year old came up with this great activity that combined 2 of my favorite classroom toys.  She was using her dress up doll made by Melissa and Doug.  She also had out our family Magna-doodle.  

This is the doll.  They are wooden and the outfits are magnetic on the back.  My daughter added the dresses to the Magna-doodle and then made her own paper doll in the dress.  GENIUS!  She made several of these and had a blast trying all of the outfits.  I am going to try this out in my classroom soon.  I think it is perfect for practicing drawing people.  She loved trying all of the dresses.  

Oh, and if you do not have this Melissa and Doug doll, grab one for sure.  I see them all the time at stores like T.J. Maxx,  but online I have searched them and they are only like $10!  It is a great investment.  I have a really old one and the kids in my class love it.  They have a boy version too!  There are several to choose from too.

Great first week station activity

I was working on activities for my new students in my kindergarten prep class and found this on Pinterest.  It was perfect for making writing fun!  And as you know..I am all about making it fun!  So for one of my first writing activities this fall, I am putting this out.  I used an old foam die I had and just used card stock an a glue stick.  I put out 2 dry erase boards and 2 of these cute new half sized dry erasers.  It was easily the most popular activities we had out last week.  Try it and watch them enjoy!  Our dice included circles, straight lines, curly lines, zig-zags, and more.  You can be creative!