Square Dog Craft

One of the very first math crafts I made for you here on the blog is still available. This one is very special to me so I wanted to remind you of it and leave it largely unchanged, even though it is a little different than how I would make it today. It takes me back very clearly to a very particular moment in my first dedicated From the Pond workspace and all the excitement of being able to make for you more freely and creatively. I remember the music that was playing, the tea I was drinking, and the excitement I felt for the future of From the Pond!

It is still free both on the original post and here and I have created some additional printable pieces for you in case you would like to put together a display in your classroom and encourage some math discussion!

Use pencil or crayons - or paint them! Water colors are great because they dry fast.

Students will cut, arrange the shapes and glue into position. They can use a crayon to add extra detail. 

Talk to your students about the shapes they have used - squares, circles and half-circles.

• count the shapes
• arrange them in an array and count the rows and columns
• talk about symmetry
• encourage the students to make other pictures using simple squares and circle - use pattern blocks too  

I hope you love making square dogs with your little ones!

in Google Drive: Square Dog Display Word Cards

Square Funny Dog Craft

SHARE:

2D Shapes, Craft for Kids, math craft

Picnic Ants Finger Play

Have you enjoyed the free printable finger plays I have offered you recently? I love making them and have created one for you today with a picnic ant theme. It could be used early in the school year when you focus on the a letter sound. 

We love finger plays in the early childhood classroom! They help you provide:

• a simple engaging text that students can participate actively in
• a literacy experience - students can point or follow along with the text and demonstrate pre-reading skills
• a language experience - students are exposed to topic vocabulary and rhyme
• an integration of listening, language and literacy
• a re-focus opportunity and a joint experience that will help build classroom community
• fine motor and movement
• a fun transition between longer lessons

This finger play is short with simple, repetitive actions - ideal for new kindergarten students. It will be easy to remember and the repetition of actions will encourage them to connect to it quickly.

Picnic Ants the finger play is here ready for you in Google Drive.

It concludes with students folding their arms or bringing them together in their lap - perfect for behavior management when you are settling them on the carpet. 

Project it onto your classroom electronic board to use it as a literacy or reading activity. As you collect more of our finger plays you can add them together in a folder and let your students read them in the classroom library.

A blackline version is included for you too. Have students color it and take it home to share with their families. This makes a great literacy link between home and school. 

What a great time to read more texts with an ant theme or character. Here are some from our home library:

• The Wonderful World of Ants by Philip Bunting
• Tiny Ant - A Tale About Finding Your Voice by Claire Freedman and Claire Powell
• Hey, Little Ant by Phillip and Hannah Hoose

Find more insect/bug teaching ideas over on our website page.

<

SHARE:

Finger Play

Friends

I made a few friendship quotes for you today! I hope you're having a great week!

You may also like to explore some friendship and kindness resources and ideas we have on our collection page!

SHARE:

Friends, thoughts

Rainbow Bulletin Board Letters

I created a bright and happy classroom display using our new Rainbow Bulletin Board Letters and some simple sun crafts! 

Our bulletin board letters and numbers are a great solution for creating engaging classroom displays. Use them on boards, windows, halls, displays and classroom doors!

Write your title on a scrap piece of paper and use our Quick Print Guide (in the printable file) to write a list of page numbers you need to print. 

Alternatively you could print multiple sets of the letters, and store them ready-to-go in an alphabetized index box for any future title you make.

Student art or craft always looks amazing displayed in the classroom!

To make these simple suns, simply provide for your students:

• yellow paper circles
• strips of yellow paper
• black and pink oil pastel
• scissors and glue

Have students draw a face for their sun before chipping the paper strip to create rays. 

Paper chipping is a great early paper craft skill to learn for students practicing using scissors. Once they have sun rays snipped, they glue them around the edge of the circle. This is a great opportunity to do a mini-lesson on using the glue stick and applying just enough glue!

If you're interested in creating this display you can find the letters over in our TpT store!

The pack features:

• letters  in upper and lower case
• numbers 0-9 
• punctuation - question mark, exclamation, at sign, period, ampersand, hashtag, comma
• approximately half-page-sized, and capital letters a full page size. We sized them so the largest letter fits on the page (capital W) and the rest are in proportion to this. To make smaller or larger letters, experiment with your print-ratio settings, e.g. print at 70%, 110%

In addition to this display you can use them creatively in your classroom for just about anything! Why not:

• create an alphabet line
• display a classroom welcome - Welcome to our class! for example
• devise a themed motivational message - We have a rainbow of opportunities, for example
• use them in alphabet activities - laminate and use with dry erase markers for rainbow writing or play dough mats

SHARE:

Bulletin Board, Craft for Kids, sun

Watermelon Coloring Page

We have some lovely free summer coloring pages ready for you over in our dedicated website - Pond Coloring Club!

Some quiet coloring time in the afternoon is a great way for little ones to relax and be mindful after a busy day outside. Our pages may also serve as a catalyst for drawing ideas - encourage them to draw their own interpretation or extend upon the page with additional features, patterns or words! 

In the summer category of the club you'll find mermaids, watermelons, pineapple, crabs, whales, fish, sandcastles and more.

 

Some ideas:

• use marker to outline the main parts of the page and fill with soft pencil or pastel
• flip the page and write a story
• read some summer themed picture books 
• use coloring time as an opportunity to build language - many less-social children will happily chat and talk while engaged in an activity like coloring or drawing where eye contact is not a focus
• display your child's work no matter what it looks like and tell them how proud you are that they've tried so hard

If you are not yet a member of our free coloring club may I let you know that it is very simple to join - just sign up with your email!

SHARE:

Coloring Page, Summer

Color Sorting Activity Mats

We love color sorting activities when new students are visiting the classroom or having a structured orientation to school. They are perfect for days when students need some quiet time or when big emotions take over. 

Color sorting is a great early visual discrimination activity, ready for reading too!

They are almost instantly prepped - just place the mats and math teddy bears or counters on a table to invite students to freely access them. You will not need to explain the activity, avoiding unnecessary management and additional language processing. 

Students will use their natural curiosity and sorting skills to start distributing colors. Often, more creative play ensues and lots of language. What starts as a ‘sort’ ends up being an interactive experience as students gather to sit and play. 

You'll notice some students sorting, some lining up, some creating a little story or interaction. It's a great opportunity to observe and listen for language and early math skills.

We have 2 sets of color sorting cards to help you get prepped in no time! Just print and laminate the game mats and team with bears or counters. Your learners may like to pretend the counters are candies/lollies for the ice cream cards!

Honey Bear Color Sort Cards

Ice Cream and Bear Color Sort

If you need more or different visual discrimination activities for early reading, take a peek at our website category page!

SHARE:

Learning to Read, Visual Discrimination

Sweet Ice Cream Wallpaper

I had fun making a fun new version of one of my earliest screen wallpapers for my computer this weekend and would love to share it with you! 

I've softened the colors and added some more hearts along with a few extra sweet words! I hope you love the new version!

I find adding a new fun wallpaper to my screens helps put me in a positive mood for a fresh new week and I appreciate that so many of you have said that you feel the same too! 

Simply download the images from google drive from the links, store them on your camera roll and choose them for your screen saver and/or wallpaper!

I love sharing these designs here from my blog, but please be reminded that they are for your personal use only and you cannot redistribute them, use them commercially or on-share them.

Here they are:

Sweet Ice Cream Computer Wallpaper

Sweet Ice Cream Phone Wallpaper

Have a lovely day and a sweet new week!

SHARE:

Summer, wallpaper

Addition Review Worksheets

We have some sweet new pages to help you review a huge range of addition strategies within your multi-level class! They have an ice cream theme to make them fun and engaging!

Students will add the numbers, or find the missing addend to solve each ice cream sum.

Included are 15 different pages (24 altogether):

• add 1 or 2 within 5
• add 1 or 2 within 10
• add single digits
• doubles (up to 5)
• doubles (up to 9)
• near doubles (up to 9)
• add within 20 (3 pages)
• missing addend to make 5
• missing addend to make 10
• missing addend to 10
• missing addend to 20
• 2 digit without trading
• 2 digit with trading

9 of the pages are repeated - these feature an alternative style - 2 numerals to add rather than a numeral and dot pattern. Use the dot pattern pages for students who need support to develop mental strategies and the numeral pages for those more confident.

Our activities are perfect for little learners - clear, uncluttered and skill-specific - we hope you love this new set!

SHARE:

Addition, Math Worksheets, Summer

Learning Teen Numbers

Learning teen numbers can be a point of difficulty for some of our little learners. Implement the essential repetition needed with engaging activities and visuals! Our Math Pack games combine essential skills, conceptual visual elements and fun engagement! 

Here you can see our Number Robots helping students see teen numbers partitioned into a full ten and additional ones.

To play, they take a robot card and build the number with ten frame pictures. Use this activity in math centers, groups, rotations or as a fast-finisher.

 

This game is part of our Numbers 11 to 20 Math Pack and is available in our store.

Other ideas:

• ask students to draw their own representation of a teen number - using symbols, pictures or collection
• ask students to make teen numbers using place value blocks
• do daily counting practice and emphasise the teen (some students may hear fourteen as forty, adding additional confusion in their counting and number sense)

Learn more about our Math Packs over on the website.

SHARE:

Math Center, Teen Numbers

Place Value Games

Teaching our littles ones to understand place value can be made more engagaing and hands-on with some activities and games from our Math Pack series.  

Race to 100 is one game in our Math Pack 25. It can be used together with the other 4 games provided or you can use it as a stand alone independent activity to consolidate place value concepts as students build a set of exactly 100. 

To play, students each have a mini game mat and roll and add 'ones' to their cute character - trading every time they get to ten. The first to 100 wins! 

This game could be used in a structured game rotation program, as a math center or in guided math. Once taught, it could make a fantastic 'fast-finisher' activity for revision - put it in a little tub on your math help and let students access it when they have a few minutes to fill.

Over on our website you can find more information and links to all our  Math Packs for Kindergarten

<

SHARE:

Place Value

Crab Teaching Resources

In the free coloring club library today we added a crab themed page. Your students can research and then draw or write to record 3 facts about crabs!

You can find out how to join our free club over on the information page!

If you'd like more printables, reources and ideas for teaching with a crab theme have a peek at our website page which gives you quick links to find everything!

SHARE:

Coloring Page, Summer

Free Sunshine Craft

Back in 2017 I launched a whole week of sunshine related goodness to bring you some joy each day! Today I want to remind you of one of the blog freebies - the you are my sunshine flip-flap craft! 

Your little ones can color, cut and glue the sun together and give it to someone to brighten their day. Alternatively they can be used in interactive notebooks or within a creative paper craft classroom display. A version without words is also provided.  

Find the template in Google Drive: Sunshine Flip Flap Craft

We have a growing range of sunshine related resources if you are looking for lesson ideas to complement this craft. Find them over on our website page.

<

SHARE:

Craft for Kids, sun

A Sweet Year

One of my favorite themes in our classroom display in a day series is the Sweet Year ice cream set. It just had a quick 'freshen up' to bring you more value and options. 

The printable accents and message board are versatile and can be used:

• to create a bulletin board display
• as door decor
• to display student names
• to welcome people to your learning environment
• as labels or name tags

We recently added ice creams without faces and an additional size option - 2 to a page.

All pieces are provided in a blackline option (print on bright color paper) and an editable MS Powerpoint version so you can type student names.

A display like this will bring a smile to the faces of all who enter your classroom and set you up ready for a sweet year!

Find this pack over in our store ready to print!

SHARE:

Classroom Decor, Door Displays