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!
Finding heavy work ideas for school and home is easy with these ideas that you can use no matter how small your space is!
FREE printable Symmetry drawing activity for preschool and kindergarten kids. A fun art and math activity in one! Kids will complete the symmetrical pictures by drawing the other half.
Here's all the LDS Youth activity ideas that you'll need and you'll stay right on budget as well. Check it out!
Last summer I added Mo Willems' The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! to my classroom library. Of course, this addition was a no-brainer. Willems' books are always super popular, especially Pigeon books. Just as predicted, my students loved this book. It is the perfect length for the beginning of the year, when attention spans are extra short and students need a little break from all the procedural training they are receiving. Since I knew this book would be a hit, I decided to make it the centerpiece of back to school. I created some basic "Pigeon themed" math and literacy activities, as well as a simple craft. I used these activities intermittently during the first week and was able to glean some great info about my new students' basic math and literacy skills, as well as their fine motor skills and listening skills. One of the Pigeon themed activities was a number/number word/counting mini book. Students traced and wrote the numbers 1-10, as well as the number words 1-10. Then students illustrated a picture to go with each number. We broke this activity up over a couple of days. Students took part in a listening activity. Students had to complete a picture according to a series of questions/statements that I read aloud. (If you've every made a glyph with your students, this activity feels really similar.) Students also put together their first puzzler for the year. This puzzler focused on number representations. Students cut and glued the puzzler pieces to tell what number is represented in the box. By the end, students have a completed picture that they can color. I use various puzzlers throughout the year. This the Pigeon puzzler is a great introduction to how to complete a puzzler. Students loved making their simple, one-page craft Pigeons. All that was required was the Pigeon pattern (I used white card stock), scissors, and glue. The class Pigeons made a really quick and cute back to school bulletin board. In addition to these activities, students worked on counting/cardinality, geometry, place value, number bonds, handwriting, the alphabet, rhyming words, sight words, and more. The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! is a perfect springboard for a variety of skills. For a math freebie (from the printables featured above), click on the picture below. This freebie provides practice with ten frames, counting, and number identification. If you have not added, The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! to your classroom library, I highly recommend it. There are so many directions you can go with this book. More importantly, your students will love it and be totally engaged. What a great way to start the year, by reading a book that students truly enjoy. :) For more details about the all of the Pigeon inspired activities I used with my students, be sure to click on the picture below. Of course (like most), I'm not certain what this year's back to school days will look like. Whatever the setup, I know I'll be using The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! to help me kick off the year. Thanks for stopping by. School Is a Happy Place is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associated Program, an affiliate program that allows this site to earn advertising fees. Please know that all of the recommendations on this site are authentic and come from personal experience.
Paper Bag Dramatics: A fun activity for Team Building and Developing Community. Here's an idea that can be used just about anywhere at any time. It encourages groups to solve problems, think creatively, and work as a team.
Over 80 amazing, simple proprioceptive activities for kids. Learn benefits of proprioceptive input to calm, focus, and alert.
Use STEM engineering activities in elementary school as a fun, engaging, and meaningful way to tackle the Next Generation Science Standards.
Use letter activities like alphabet collages or letter mats to help kids learn letter recognition and to reinforce letter-sound associations. Here are over 200 material ideas that you can use for your
These crossing midline activities support development of crossing the midline plays in functional tasks like learning and self care.
Which Back to School Activities Elementary can I use for Building Community in my Classroom? Which All About Me Activities are most engaging for my students?
Free printable preschool worksheets pdf for teachers and homeschoolers. Fun preschool worksheets for math, English, fine motor skills, and more!
Add elements of sight, sound, touch, taste and smell to your preschool centers to integrate science and play while students explore their senses.
Magic words for my two year old daughter.
Fun STEM activity for outdoor play and makes a great science lesson! (Includes a printable rocket template).
What better way to learn kindness than by practicing and experiencing it firsthand! Get ready to have a blast with your students - this is a fun one!! This download includes THREE interactive SEL activities to introduce kindness ideas, invite creative thinking, and provide “real-time” practice of the trait! This is such a fun way to get students talking, creating, and engaging... all while being kind to one another! Digital download gives detailed instructions on how to play each version of the activity as well as 15 "pair matches" to be used in the activity (or for other uses in your classroom!) Looking for other kindness activities for your students? See links below: Kindness Activity and the Impact of our Words Kindness Activity - Class "Snowball Fight" "Think Before You Speak" - Interactive SEL Activity
When I started my first Activity Director job, I was only a few years out of college. While I had worked with seniors in a skilled nursing community before, nothing quite prepared me for taking on an Activity Director role. Here are a few things I wish someone had told me in those first few weeks, months, and years.
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Heavy work activities provide proprioceptive input that can help children stay calm. This list of heavy work activities contains ideas kids can use anywhere
Find out why teachers should be using icebreaker activities for small groups all year long and not just at the beginning of the school year.
Pumpkin Name Craft Activity, Fall Preschool Activity, Fine Motor Skills, Pumpkin Number Order Activity, Preschool Classroom Name Activity
'Tis the season for pumpkins everywhere! Pumpkin party games are so fun for fall festivals and activities. Here are 30 pumpkin themed games to play this fall.
These 5 fun 3D shapes activities for kindergarten are a great way for students to learn about shape attributes while having a blast.
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
Learn how to make pretend snow with only 2 simple ingredients. The perfect winter sensory play idea.
Free printable shapes worksheets for teaching kids the basic shapes. Lots of fun activities to download for FREE!
Get free printables for kids in preschool and kindergarten! Find hundreds of free printable activities for literacy, math, science and more!
These 5 fun 3D shapes activities for kindergarten are a great way for students to learn about shape attributes while having a blast.
Boggle is such a great game for pattern recognition and spelling. You can even get a little math in there with the scoring. Kids (and adults) love it! Here is a template you can use with your class. The color version is for using with your document camera, while the grayscale version is perfect for ... Read More about Boggle Template: Make a New Game Each Time!
First days of school can be stressful. There's an insane amount of pressure to make a great first impression. The administration wants you to go over the handbook of rules for the district. There's tons of forms that need to be filled out. You need to learn their names and it's hard because half the names don't match your class list. His name is Samuel but he goes by S.J. Her name on your roll says Mary, but she goes by Mary Beth. You want to start off the year on the right note regarding procedures and expectations, but you also want it to be a little bit fun, too. Yes, it can be complicated to plan out the first day. My first day was absolutely fantastic. Yes, I learned names. Yes, I went over the handbook. Yes, I went over forms. But we also did some quick exciting things that started us out on the right foot. In no particular order, here is what made my first day FANTASTIC. 1. I let my students collaborate on a story. I started a story on the whiteboard and each student could only add four words to the story. It ended up being hilarious and making ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE but no one cared. It was fun. They worked as a family. 2. That bring me to my next point--we don't call our classes, um, classes. Or homerooms. We call them families. So I have Mrs. Johnson's Family for my 1st period class and Mrs. Anderson's Family for my second period class. (Homeroom teacher names were changed for this post.) You get the idea. And it really does reinforce this idea that we need to work together like a family should. 3. I embraced and addressed my students' biggest fear. Each teacher has his/her students coming to the room with a big fear. Go ahead and address it. Since I'm the first year of middle school, the big fear is the locker. Will I ever get into it? Will I have enough time to get everything out of it? My students can't begin to learn procedures until we address the locker issue. Once they feel confident with their locker, they are ready to learn procedures. So, what did I do? I lined up my wonderful parents to come work with my students one-on-one the very first day of school on their locker. And it was the best thing for that first day. Address your students' fears with a solution. Don't think, "Oh I need to teach procedures! I'll help them with that later on in the week." No. Their Big Fear is ALL THEY CAN THINK ABOUT. Fix the fear, then they can face all the procedures and rules head on! 4. If you know me, you know that I ABSOLUTELY DETEST GETTING TO KNOW YOU GAMES. Why do I have to name a fact about myself that starts with a J just because my first name is Jordyn? Nothing starts with a J that I like! I hate jelly beans. I'm ok with jolly ranchers but they aren't anything special. I. HATE. GETTING. TO. KNOW. YOU. GAMES. I think I've made my point clear. Soooooo---what did I do to get to know them? I made a statement and pointed to two sides of the room. The students moved to the side of the room for their answer. Examples: 1. Team Cat or Team Dog 2. Would you rather travel every day or never leave home? 3. Team Math/Science or Team Language Arts? 4. Alabama or Auburn? (I live in Alabama, so this is a big deal around here. Feel free to change to whatever sports teams works for you. And by the way, the correct answer to me is the side of the room that was yelling WAR EAGLE!) We didn't do this as one big activity. I broke up the reading of the district handbook by doing a couple of these, then back to the handbook, then a couple more of these, then back to the handbook, a couple more of these, then going over forms. THEY LOVED THIS ACTIVITY! It didn't force the quiet kids to talk, but they did participate by moving. It let the other ones announce why they were on that side. It was just a great icebreaker for those of us who are anti-icebreaker. --->Do you need a GETTING TO KNOW YOU ACTIVITY perfect for the first few days? (And not icebreaker questions that tweens dislike---actually questions they enjoy answering!)
1-2-3 Come Travel Around The World With Me! Woo Hoo! Having spent over 200 hours researching & creating, plus a small fortune on graphics designing things, I’m so excited to post this jumbo “labor of love”, "Travels Around The World" packet, which features the awesome talents of 38 clip artists! This super-fun packet is extremely versatile, as everything stands alone, so you can mix & match creating a unit that is tailored specifically for your class, or use pieces and parts with lessons you already have implemented. I think my students, favorite part of our Travels Around the World is making the cereal box suitcase, which can be done in class or for homework. The sky's the limit of how you want to design them. We add 2 file folders to make a drop down interactive "briefcase" of sorts, which includes a pocket for their passports, tickets and boarding passes. The extra files are a great way to keep everything neat & organized and provide space for them to glue on a variety of activities that we do. My kiddos absolutely LOVE collecting the "suitcase stamps/stickers" to decorate with. They get a few to start out, then receive more as we travel to the various countries. Others I use as a motivational & behavior modification incentive, which is very successful. Another huge hit is making a passport. There are 4 options, including a passport specifically for "Christmas Around The World" traveling, as well as a huge variety of passport stamps, which they also enjoy collecting. The train tickets and plane, bus, & boat boarding passes. are also a huge hit. Via a letter, students are invited to come travel with the gingerbread man, who makes a speedy tour guide. "Gin" keeps them apprised of places they should visit by sending postcards. I had an absolute blast designing these from real photographs & stamps from those countries. There are 3 from each country, as well as "color me" postcards, so that students can practice "point of view" writing in a fun way. A set of gingerbread-themed posters announce where children will be traveling and how they will get there. The 6 countries included in this packet are: USA, Mexico, Canada, Sweden, Italy & Germany. I've included a variety of maps, which come in color to use as posters, plus black & white for students. They come labeled & unlabeled, so you can use them as an assessment tool as well. My personal favorite activity, is the "Snap & Scrap" journal, with a Christmas-themed page, as well as a generic counterpart. I've included several pages of interesting information about how each country celebrates Christmas, should you want to do the "Christmas Around the World" theme. The "snap" part, is a camera craft featuring a lens "booklet", with pictures specific to that country. You can opt to do just the camera(s), or hinge them with a piece of tape to the "scrap" page, so that it flips over to reveal the information underneath. Each country also comes with factual information, which is incorporated in the "Fan Of Fun Facts For _________" craftivity. The title is a double play on words, for the craft opens like a fan, and students quickly become "fans" of these super-interesting facts. Later, check comprehension by playing "Name That Country?" by reading a fact and having students tell what country it came from. "I Spy A Country" is another game you can play to help reinforce map skills. Teachers jot down 3-5 clues on the poster, then students write down their dated-answer on their worksheet. X number of correct answers and they receive a "super spy" stamp for their suitcase. I've also packed in a lot of travel-themed writing prompts, such as making an itinerary, which provides a vocabulary building opportunity. Students can also do a "Sightseeing Check It Out Then Check It Off" list, flag booklet, and travel journal. There are several options for the travel journals as well, from a "color me" text it page, to a cut & glue class-made book. They are different enough so that you can do them all, or pick & choose what's appropriate for your kiddos. The beauty of this jumbo packet is that it's very versatile, so you can mix & match things to do individually, as a whole group, with a partner, in small groups, or for homework. The projects can also supplement other geography activities you already have implemented. Besides social studies, many items practice a variety of other standards like graphing, weather, telling time, comparing & contrasting & research, with a bit of math tossed in for good measure. There are also a variety of ways to use the packet. Teachers can give the information, or students can pick a country and research it independently. The "Travel Bucks" are a fun way for students to give their presentations, as they become "travel agents", who share highlights about their country, in the hopes that their fellow classmates will use their travel cash to buy a trip from them. Top sales certificates & suitcase brag tags add to the fun, and are a wonderful incentive. An easy-peasy writing prompt for any age, is the "ginger-gram", where students fill in the blanks with a country they would like to live in, as well as one they would not. Older students can explain why. Another simple writing activity is the "Travel Quilt" craft, which practices adjectives in a unique way. Even younger kiddos can do this, and completed projects make an awesome bulletin board. The "Peace is in our hands" craft, is also quick & easy, with lovely results making a terrific hallway display. This craftivity really helps children wrap their heads around the "big picture" of their "personal geography" and their cut out hand prints add that keepsake, finishing touch. I've included a poster for the center of your display, as well as a suitcase sticker kiddos can earn upon completion. Because my kiddos are learning about seasons, weather and appropriate clothing to wear, I designed the "Pack It Up" suitcase craftivity; where they color, cut & glue various clothes suitable for a particular country, to a "suitcase" page; while older students simply list the items they want to take. The suitcase opens to reveal several pages of the different things they packed for the various countries that they visited. Besides a “Christmas Around the World” theme, you can use this unit all year long, as I have matching generic counterparts. Start whenever you want, then in December, board the “Holiday Express” & add the activities of how these countries celebrate Christmas. Lessons are easily diversified for various classroom abilities & grade levels. Simply pick what’s appropriate for your kiddos. "Travel Tweets" are also an interesting way to get students enthusiastic about writing, as is the "Welcome To Our House" booklet, "Airport Adventures" and "Whooooo Do You Want To Travel With?" color-me worksheets. Besides black & white versions for students, I’ve included colorful templates, so you can quickly make samples to share. There are also graphs, Venn diagrams, posters, a song, and some worksheets, which can also be used as assessment tools. As you can see there's a ton of fun for you to choose from including some puzzles. These come in color for an independent center, as well as BW so kiddos can make their own, as they practice recognizing & sequencing numbers from 1-10, or skip counting by 10s to 100. Click on the link to zip on over to my TpT shop to take a look. Travels Around The World. Today's featured FREEBIE comes from the packet and is a "Merry Christmas From Around The World" poster and coloring card, which includes an alphabetical list of how 28 countries say "Merry Christmas" , with 4 links to other websites with more countries. Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by. My feet have hit the floor running, as there is much to do, and not enough time in the day to get it all done. But I will endeavor to slow my pace and enjoy the journey, making sweet memories, as we decorate our blessed home for Christmas. Wishing you and yours a special day. "Maybe Christmas" he thought, "doesn't come from a store." "Maybe Christmas perhaps, means a little bit more!" -Dr. Seuss From "The Grinch"
The first week of school sure is a busy one! I work hard to balance the mandatory paperwork with games, hands-on activities and team-building fun. Even with bigger kids, it’s important to keep them moving throughout the day and providing a variety of activities. 1. Marshmallow Tower For this activity, you’ll need the following materials […]
Check out these fun activities from Award Winning Author/Illustrator Jarett Lerner to do at home or in the classsroom. Includes comics, drawing, and more.
Discover over 45 vestibular activities that can calm, regulate, and improve attention in your child. Plus, get vestibular exercises for...
Boost Your Preschoolers' Fine Motor Skills with 25 Fun Pincer Grasp Activities! Engaging and easy-to-follow, these activities will help strengthen their hand control and dexterity. Let their tiny
The Kindergarten artists and PreKinders also created some artwork inspired by Mondrian. The PreKinders glued down black lines creating squares and rectangles they then colored some of their shapes …
It is the first week of kindergarten! What do I teach? I get this question all the time! I am so excited to put together this page together for you. I’m sharing our favorite first week of kindergarten read aloud stories and the free coordinating printables I made to go with them. Plus I will s
These human body for kids activities allow children to learn about the heart, muscles, lungs, 5 senses, bones organs, cells, and so much more!
Have you tried using Collaborative Posters in the Classroom? Collaborative posters are a fantastic way to build a culture of teamwork and unity in your
Following the directions is a skill all kids must learn. Why not make it more fun with this FREE Follow the Directions Activity Pack? These printable worksheets will take them around the town, to animal habitats, through their own bodies, and more!
These printable cutting practice strips are an easy way to help your young learners work on their fine motor and cutting skills. Find more Cutting Practice Packs HERE. *The free download button can be found at the END of this post. Printable Cutting Practice Strips You’ll find horizontal lines, vertical lines, zigzag lines, and ... Read More about Printable Cutting Practice Strips
Target all kinds of developmental skills with these low-prep, low-maintenance Teletherapy Activities in your next virtual therapy session!
