Fathers Day Activities Plus a FREEBIE

Father's Day is a little over a month away so I wanted to give you a few ideas (including some FREE ones) that you can Pin to save for later so that your not searching at the last minute to look for something new! 

This Father's Day Flip Book Craftivity is fun, easy, and will go right along with the other cards, gift ideas, and crafts that you have planned for your kids to do for their dads, uncles, and grandfathers this Father's Day. 

Six tabs provide information that show just how much your Preschool or Kindergarten littles know about and love their special someone while incorporating beginning writing practice at the same time. 

Let me show you  a closer look!

There are actually six different covers that you can choose from for this activity. Both male and female students can choose to make one for their mom, aunt, or grandma. Your fast finishers can make multiple ones! 

I had my five year old (who's not yet in Kindergarten) make a sample so that you can see the steps students need to take to complete this project. 

Start by having them pick a cover and color it. 

Then they can grab a pencil and fill out the beginner writing portions of all the pages included. The first page has the "All About" and "Favorites" tabs. I know you can't see it in this picture, but she thinks her dad loves to do dishes! Woo-hoo, lol!

The next page encourages students to write about something their dad, uncle, or grandfather dislikes. My daughter knows my husband well...she wrote that he dislikes fits! Then she drew a picture of her brother and sister throwing fits - ha!

Next, students will draw a portrait of their special person. For the record, he doesn't own a pair of yellow pants, but maybe she wishes he did?!

Then they will write out what dreams their special person has. I like this Big Dream!

Finally, they write 5 reasons why they love their father, uncle, or grandpa.

Time to cut it all out! Simple cutting and easy assembly allows for all students to happily succeed.
Throw some math in there, and have your students practice measuring by laying out the tabs from shortest to tallest!

Glue the tabs together to make a flip book!

Now your students can take turns reading their flip books to their peers before taking them home to make their special someone feel extra loved!

You can get this activity here: Father's Day Flip Book

Before I give you a FREE DOWNLOAD, let me show you some Father's Day ideas I found on Pinterest that I loved:

With the end of the school year quickly approaching, I know that many teachers are already starting to get things organized and ready for this Back to School this fall.
Here's a FREE DOWNLOAD for you to print out now that will be a perfect addition to your Back to School plans.

FREE BACK TO SCHOOL DOWNLOAD

-Til next time

     

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Bek

Fairy Tale Emergent Readers - Plus a FREE DOWNLOAD

I LOVE teaching Fairy Tales! Today I want to share my absolute all-time favorite resources with you, as well as give you some activity ideas, some YouTube videos your kids will be sure to fall in love with, and a Little Red Hen FREEBIE (which will be at the end of the post)! 

**This post contains affiliate links.**

Fairy tales are my favorite books to read to students. I especially like to read different versions of them that allow us to compare/contrast. Have you seen the ones that are told by an unexpected character from each story. These are just some of them from the collection. But there are a lot more available too. 

Here are links to my top 5 favorites, but you can browse through all of them here.

-Seriously, Cinderella is SO Annoying:

The Story of Cinderella as Told by the Wicked Stepmother

-Honestly, Red Riding Hood Was Rotten: 

The Story of Little Red Riding Hood as Told by the Wolf

-Believe Me, Goldilocks Rocks: 

The Story of the Three Bears as Told by Baby Bear

-Trust Me, Jack's Beanstalk Stinks: 

The Story of Jack and the Beanstalk as Told by the Giant

-No Lie, Pigs (and Their Houses) Can Fly: 

The Story of the Three Little Pigs as Told by the Wolf

-THERE ARE TONS MORE!

If you really want to have your kiddos rolled up in giggles, try this one:

GOATilocks and the Three Bears

(Ok, I laugh just reading the title!)

My students like to create their own fairy tales and also reenact their interpretations of the well known ones. I happily noticed that they were falling in love with them just as much as I was. 

However, when they would go to the reading carpet to look at the variety of fairy books I had laid out, they were only skimming the pictures. 

I needed fairy tale books that were more at their level. 

So I ordered some from online. All kinds of them at a variety of levels. I was so excited when they arrived, but to my disappointment, for most of my students, the words were still too hard and the sentences still too long. 

I decided to create my own miniature versions of classic fairy tales (& fables & folk tales-but those are for a different time!) that are at simple levels...levels that even beginner readers could handle. 

 I bundled them together (there are 16 fairy tale readers total) so that if you're interested and want them for your classroom, you can access them all in one simple download - Fairy Tales Emergent Readers Bundle.

They are also available individually as well! They include the following stories: 

-The 3 Billy Goats Gruff

-Little Red Riding Hood

-Snow White & the 7 Dwarfs

-Cinderella & Friends

 -Sleeping Beauty

-Jack & the Beanstalk

-Goldilocks & the 3 Bears

-Rapunzel & Friends

-Hansel & Gretel

-The Princess & the Pea

-The Ugly Duckling

-The Little Mermaid

     

 -Rumpelstiltskin

 -The Gigantic Turnip

-The 3 Little Pigs

-The Elves & the Shoemaker

(This last one is perfect to read during your Christmas week of activities!)

When your students read these little books, have them use gel highlighters to highlight sight words that you have or are currently working on. Or blends, or whatever you want them to focus on. 

Whenever I read a Fairy Tale to my students, I like to also show them the matching YouTube channel CoolSchool's videos! They are fun, silly, and perfect for comparing and contrasting. Plus, they'll have your littles rolling on the ground in giggles!

There are many types of videos on the CoolSchool channel, but we focus most on the FairyTale (& Nursery Rhymes...but those are for a different post!) ones with Ms. Booksy, who not only narrates the story, but jumps right into the story herself...literally! 

Here are a couple of our favorite...although they all are really good:

Jack & the Beanstalk:

Little Red Riding Hood:

If you're looking for math and literacy activities to go with your Fairy Tale units, I have a few that will go with the more common ones used in classrooms. Most of the activities were made with the Common Core standards in mind.

This Goldilocks & the 3 Bears Math & Literacy Bundle includes over 100 pages of emergent readers,  vocab reinforcement, labeling activities, fact/fiction practice, counting & pattern practice, and so much more! 

     

     

Here is a Rapunzel Math & Literacy Bundle of Activities. It includes 75 pages. There is even a Spanish emergent reader included! 

     

     

I also have a Cinderella Math & Literacy Bundle and a Three Little Pigs Math & Literacy Bundle, too!

Don't forget to also introduce your kiddos to Fables & Folk Tales! 

I've created fable and folk tale emergents readers, which I'll talk about some other time.

Remember that FREE DOWNLOAD I have for you? Well, it's a The Little Red Hen emergent reader! Before I send you off to download it, here are some ideas that you can use along with it. 

These craft ideas are simple and involve supplies you most likely already have! (I hate having to go out and purchase a bunch of stuff I only wind up using once a year.)

From GluedToMyCraftsBlog.com:

From A Spoonful of Learning:

 From IHeartCraftyThings.com:

 From GluedToMyCraftsBlog.com:

 From HomeMadeSpeech.com:

Ready for a FREEBIE?! 

This Little Red Hen Reader has easy to read text and includes 20 pages. Many of the pages are repetitive so that littles can experience even more success when reading! Take a peek at some of the pages...you can download it absolutely FREE using the link below!

GET IT HERE: The Little Red Hen FREEBIE

And here's CoolSchool's matching video to go with it! (It starts at minute 17:09)

I hope you enjoy these resources as much as I do. 

May they keep your littles reading!

If you're looking for even more Fairy Tale ideas, follow my Fairy Tales Pinterest Board!

-Til next time

          

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Bek

Polar Themed FREEBIES and Activities

It's Polar Habitat time! 

One of my favorite themes to incorporate in the classroom.

To get you started, I have this FREE quick-print Polar themed Color-by-Number just for you!

There's also information inside the download about how you can get your hands on even MORE Polar Habitat fun.

Need more FREE resources? How about these Penguin Poetry pages...

What else can you do to bring your Polar Unit to life?

Do you need more art ideas?

This Polar Bear Print is a favorite of mine, 

from the Preschoolers Want 2 Know blog...

Or what about these cute egg carton penguins from KiwiCrate...

Cute, Cute, Cute!

Don't forget fun games for your classroom:

I ordered this game from MPMSchoolSupplies.com to go along with our Polar Animals unit. This game offers a fun way for students to develop logical thinking skills and spatial reasoning abilities. Plus, let's admit it, it's just downright adorable! 

The back of the box gives an example of what the game and pieces looks like: 

The blue tray was quite a bit smaller than I was expecting, but then I realized that if it were larger, then the pieces would have to be larger and that might make it more difficult for students to use.

Five penguin ice floes are included of various shapes. The penguins slide up and down on the pieces, causing the pieces to take a new form. This alone take the game to a whole new level!

Did I mention already how CUTE the penguins are? Ok, just checking!

 A Challenge Book is included for kids to use. It offers Starter, Junior, Expert, and Master challenges. As well as...answer keys! (Phew, thank goodness, haha!)

Students must work to put the penguins in the matching places on the blue game tray.

Directions are included in the front inside cover of the Challenge Book:

This is what Starter challenges looks like:

Here are some Junior challenges:

And a sample of Expert challenges:

And finally, some of the Master challenges:

Thank goodness for Answer Keys! {wink!}

 My kids wanted to instantly start with the Master challenges, but quickly learned they needed to start with the Starter ones first. This is my son, who is going into 2nd grade, attempting to solve some of the Starter challenges. He didn't realize at first that the penguin his right hand is touching, slides up and down the ice floe, creating a new shape for the piece.

 It took him a good fifteen minutes before figuring out the first Starter challenge! Even my husband took a stab at helping him out. (Were we just making this more complicated than it needed to be? Or do we as a family just need more practice on our logical thinking skills, lol!)

I loved watching him think as he worked. It's actually a lot harder than you may think! Take a try yourself, you might be surprised!

I very highly recommend this game! It's a ton of fun and will be a great surprise to pull out during our Polar Animals unit. I'm thinking the kids can do it at indoor recess as well.

You can find Penguins on Ice and other games like it under the Critical Thinking Games tab at MPM School Supplies.

Wishing you tons of Polar Winter Fun!

~Til next time

           

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Bek