This moon sand recipe is so easy to make! With only two ingredients, you'll be playing with this soft and sensory sand within minutes. Moon Sand This moon sand recipe is so much fun. The texture is soft and crumbly, but it also molds really well into different shapes. The kids thought it was the best thing ever! I've tested different kinetic sand recipes before (like this kinetic sand, this moldable play sand and this foam sand), but this one was BY FAR the best. And with only 2 ingredients it's also super easy to make. We loved how the

Fairy playdough recipe smells amazing and uses only 3 ingredients. Great for sensory and fine motor development and imaginative play.

Do you have bored kids at home? No problem, break out the painter's tape because these fun activities are easy to create for toddlers and preschoolers! They're perfect for busy moms and dads on a budget using cheap supplies you probably already have at home.

Over 80 amazing, simple proprioceptive activities for kids. Learn benefits of proprioceptive input to calm, focus, and alert.

Free printable shapes worksheets for teaching kids the basic shapes. Lots of fun activities to download for FREE!

Autism activities to help increase communication, fine motor skills, sensory play skills, interaction & more in your home or autism classroom!

A whole month of daily low-prep STEAM activities for kids. You are going to love all of the low-prep STEAM activities that we have in store!

50+ LOW PREP Fall activities for toddlers or preschoolers! This amazing list has everything from Fall STEM, fine motor, math and more!

40+ high energy toddler activities that are the perfect ways to burn off energy. Great indoor activities for your super active 2-5 year old.

These engaging strategies to incorporate movement in the classroom are perfect for the fidgety students & kinesthetic learners in your class!

Over 35 heavy work activities for kids, toddlers, and preschoolers that are designed to help calm and improve attention. Many of these activities can be done through natural activities your child is already doing!

Halloween potions science activity for kids. A fun STEM experiment for children who want to make their own bubbly cauldrons this October.

This is a cute activity where ESL students have to draw monsters based on the description of the body parts on the worksheet.

You don’t have to be an artist to benefit from art therapy activities. Because art therapy activities are specifically designed so that anyone can do them, regardless of their artistic abilities. A…

Impulse Control Activities for Kids: Fun activities, games, and resources that will help your kids practice self-control

FINALLY, a list of simple, no-prep, EASY outdoor activities for kids. These activities don't require any set-up and can be done at home!

Use sensory seeking activities to calm and organize sensory seeking behaviors in your "wild" child or toddler that seems to never stop...

Try these fun music and movement songs and activities for preschoolers at home or in the classroom. Fall, Spring and other activities themed to the season

Printable Dots Game

Enjoy these free printable name writing activities for preschoolers. Download the printable sheets, grab your pencils, and write!

These ABA therapy activities for kids with autism spectrum disorder will give you heaps of ideas you can use at school, in therapy, and at home!

Looking for some fun and unique art activities for your little one? Try our Van Gogh Art Project for preschoolers that will teach your child how to paint a gorgeous painting project like famous artist Vincent Van Gogh.

Here is a fantastic list of 100+ no-prep and low-prep activities and sensory bins you can easily do at home with 1 year olds.

Get your students reading and writing this summer with these fun and engaging enrichment activities for elementary grades.

These 40 bargain activities are great for kids to have fun at home.

Discover 40+ LDS Primary Activity Days ideas for youth. From crafts to lessons, find activities that inspire and enrich their spiritual path.

A great list of senosry activites for babies, 6 months to 12 months. Edible sensory activities included, such as our famous baby sand...

Make learning fun by using monthly themed homeschool activities. Learn and explore based on the seasons, celebrate silly holidays, and more!

30 Top Things To Do In Edinburgh, Scotland – best places to visit in Edinburgh including activities, restaurants, cafes & bars.

Quick, fun, no-prep SEL lesson activities that are perfect for before and after breaks or any time you need an extra fun guidance lesson

Ready to "cook up" a great first day of school? It's easy with this recipe for a successful start to the school year! PREP: ➤ Think about how you will set the tone for your classroom on the first day of school. ➤ Plan to keep students engaged and active. ➤ Prepare to build a positive rapport with students from the first instant that they become a part of the classroom community. INGREDIENTS: ➤ Warm-Up Activity ➤ Get-to-Know-You Activity ➤ Game that gets students out of their seats ➤ Get-to-Know-the-Teacher Activity ➤ Writing Prompt ➤ Extension Activity Once you've gathered your ingredients, you can get "cooking!" (CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE RECIPE!) PROCEDURE: STEP 1: Begin with a warm-up activity. Place an activity on students' desks that they can complete independently. You might try a simple survey or poster. An All About Me poster is a quick way to learn about students. You can even gather them together for an awesome classroom display. Or, a survey is a wonderful way to collect information about students. You might include questions about where students like to sit, their favorite way to learn, and activities that they enjoy so that you can start connecting with students. Another awesome warm-up activity is an "All About You" name tag. Students answer questions about themselves while coloring in a name tag based on their responses. Then, students can place the name tag on their desks to help you learn your students' names. This activity is particularly awesome if you have multiple sets of students. You can collect the name tags and re-distribute them each day during each class while you learn names. Oh, and as a bonus, you can gather them together and leave them with substitute teachers throughout the year! If you'd like to check out ready-made Back to School Warm-Ups, just click here for the poster, here for the survey, and here for the name tags. STEP 2: Mix in a get-to-know-you activity. Give students a chance to share about themselves and learn about their classmates with an engaging get-to-know-you activity. One of my favorites is a doodle-inspired mini-book. Students transform a single sheet of paper into a doodley mini-book all about themselves. After students make the mini-book it's fun to hang them on a clothesline. Then, as students finish their work during the first days of school, you can encourage fast-finishers to grab a classmate's mini-book and learn about him or her. Check out the doodle mini-book HERE. Or, you could have students create this 3-D About Me Activity. Students create an infographic-style book about themselves. After answering some simple questions, they do a little cutting and gluing to create a 3-D "About Me" display. These are especially fun because students can set them on their desks and then everyone can tour around the classroom and learn about their peers. (These are awesome for Open House too!) Learn more HERE. STEP 3: Scatter in an activity that gets students moving. Since students crave opportunities to get up and out of their seats, plan to get your class moving on the first day of school. You might have students complete a scavenger hunt or even play a learning game that requires students to move around. I'm a huge fan of this simple get-to-know-you activity that gets students moving (and you can download it for FREE here.) First, students make paper airplanes. They write their name and 3 interview questions on the wings. Then, students line up shoulder-to-shoulder and launch the planes. Next, they pick up a classmate's plane, find him or her, and ask the interview questions. You can repeat the airplane launch as often as you'd like! Find everything you need to do this activity in this FREEBIE. If you'd like to combine movement and learning on the first day of school, then you and your students will love this Back to School Doodle Infographic. First students fill in the infographic with facts about school. There are 21 facts and you can hide them around the room to get students moving. Then, they put together the infographic to make a fun and doodle-y poster! Check it out HERE. STEP 4: Sprinkle in a chance for students to get-to-know-you (their teacher). On the first day of school, students are very curious about you. They want to learn about you, so you'll want to be sure to share about yourself. You can give a simple biography of yourself, or you might try these easy and engaging activities: Create a teacher interview question along with 4 or 5 prize cards for each student in your class. Then, tape the questions and the prize cards under students' seats before class begins. During class, explain to students that they all have something under their chairs. It might be a question and it might be a prize. If they get a prize card, have students keep it quiet. Then, call on students. They can either read a question for you to answer or reveal that they won a prize. If they won, you might give them a pencil, piece of candy, or a homework pass. You can find all my favorite questions HERE. Or, you might have students complete a "Teacher Guess" about you. First, they predict the answers to questions about you. Then, as you reveal the answers, they earn points for every correct prediction. It's a fun activity that students truly enjoy! You can check it out HERE. STEP 5: Add a fun writing prompt to your back to school activities. A writing prompt is a great way to gather a baseline for students' writing on the first day of school. You might give students a simple prompt about their summer or goals for the new school year. However, I love to add a fun creative writing prompt into the mix. For example, with this writing prompt students select a setting, character, problem, and 3 random objects. Then, they need to work them all into a story. It's fun, engaging, and a great way to see where your students are starting the school year. Find this writing prompt HERE or check out this collection of 10 creative writing activities. STEP 6: Top it off with a review of tomorrow's warm-up. Set students up for success during your next day of school by quickly reviewing what they will need to do when they arrive to class. If you're planning to have students work through warm-ups like these This or That ELA warm-ups where students choose to do the "this" or the "that" activity, then you might quickly review what will be waiting on their desks when they arrive. Taking the time to preview tomorrow's warm-up is a great way to set expectations for students! If you're looking for some daily warm-ups, you might want to check out these This or That ELA warm-ups or these This or That Writing warm-ups! STEP 7: Don't forget to have an extension activity just in case your lesson ends early. I love playing games like "Move If You..." which you can find for FREE HERE. While you may never get to the extension activity, it's a lifesaver if you need it! TIPS: When you're following this recipe for a great first day of school, you might want to: ➤ Greet students at the door and answer these questions for students right away: ➨ Where do I sit? ➨ Am I in the right classroom? ➨ What should I be doing right now? ➤ Also, be prepared to manage students' behavior on the first day of school. Ensure that you have a positive classroom management system in place and ready to use if you need it! Well, there you have it, my recipe for a great first day of school. Be sure to download all the ideas with links AND the FREE airplane activity HERE! CHECK THIS OUT! I've put together a 100+ page guide for back to school for teachers. It includes tips, tools, and printables for classroom décor, classroom organization, lesson planning, community building, and planning the first day of school. It's absolutely FREE! Just click here to sign up. When you sign up, you'll get access to 6 mini-courses that cover everything Back to School including classroom design, organization, curriculum planning, and ways to build a positive classroom community. There's also a TON of exclusive freebies, bonuses, and videos! If you'd like to learn more and sign up, just click HERE. Thanks so much for stopping by, Mary Beth P.S. If you'd like MORE free resources for your classroom, be sure to join the Brain Waves Instruction club!

These bring back memories....*sigh*

If you enjoy learning about different artists in your homeschool, you will love learning about 8 of our favorite artists!

Mess free toddler activities to do at home indoors with 2, 3 & 4 year olds. Easy, fun minimal prep toddler learning activities for maximum engagement

This blog post explores innovative and engaging lesson plans for any novel unit... ranging from task cards to book instagram pages to a novel podcast project. Student choice is key here, and students can find something they would like to complete in order to convey their reading, comprehension, and

Fall in New York City is a special time. The leaves on the trees turn the most beautiful shades of red and orange, and the air has a crisp, fresh smell.

Fall Crafts for Kids that are fun and educational. Great for September, October and November to celebrate cooler weather in all grades.

Six early finisher activities for students who complete their classwork long before everyone else. These activities are inspired by works of art with a focus on art history.

ALL ABOUT EARTH Get ready for a month filled with so many fun activities to teach your kiddos all about our planet Earth . I teach this unit in April so it coincides with Earth Day. I’ve loaded up this blog post post with read aloud book ideas, free videos you can share with your students,

Back to School Scissor Activities for the preschool classroom! Fun and engaging free scissor activities for your students!

A place value Cheerio tower? Genius!

Looking for a leaf template for your next fall craft project or activity? Below you'll find 5 different fall leaf types in all different sizes - Maple, Oak, Hawthorn, Aspen and a simple leaf shape. There's 21 different printable pages and they’re all free for you to download and print! RELATED: Fall Leaf Art These printables are for personal and school use only. Do not copy, republish, upload or alter these files. If you would like to feature these printables please provide a link back to this webpage. What to do with these leaf templates: Use the leaf template as a