Celebrate the new school year with these fun back to school crafts for preschoolers featuring loads of apples, pencils, buses, and more!

Pencil Name Craft For Kids | Fun back to school learning idea. Use a free printable PDF template to cut out & make. Great for preschool, pre k & kindergarten.

Our simple Handprint Box of Crayons Craft is a great way to celebrate all the colors of the world in a very sweet back to school keepsake.

Pencil Names - Name Building Practice Printable comes with eight editable pages, containing two pencils. Each pencil has pieces for two letter names up to nine letter names. Getting Pencil Names - Name Building Practice Printable

Celebrate the new school year with these fun back to school crafts for preschoolers featuring loads of apples, pencils, buses, and more!

Looking for fun All About Me Activities for kids? Check out these 16 Hands-On All About me Learning Activities and Crafts for Preschool or Kindergarten.

Before filling up the real backpack to head back to school, you can fill up our Back to School Backpack Craft! With Free Printable Template!

FREE printable back to school themed glue dot name craft for preschool & kindergarten to practice letters and names!

The ultimate roundup of free back to school coloring pages for preschoolers and older kids - Free coloring sheet downloads!

Click here for All About Me backpack activity for back to school, first day of school, first week of school for preschool, kindergarten, 1st!

FREE Editable Name MATS perfect to use all over the classroom to help preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten kiddos learn their names.

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.

Get the kids excited about heading back to school with cute and easy School Bus Crafts and Activities to start the year out right.

Kids will love decorating a paper craft that looks just like them, with this FREE All About Me Craft Template! Includes 4 templates and clothes!

Are you looking for back to school activities, and the first week of school centers that are hands-on and focus on Friendship? Then, you will love our Back to School Activities and Centers and Preschool! This unit has been created and practiced throughout my 11 years of teaching 4K. The activities in this unit are great for children 3 1/2-6. The activities revolve around friendship books and back to school rules, routines and getting to know our school environment.

Discover the perfect All About Me preschool activity designed for young kids! Get a free printable worksheet that's simple, engaging, and ideal for emergent readers. Download now!

I used to spend so much time looking for the perfect read aloud books each month to read to my students. I have finally compiled a list on this blog post to save you so much time searching for books your students will love. I have even created FREE book companion activities you can pr

This NO PREP handprint art craft is perfect to add to your Back to School collection. All you need to do is paint your students' hand to create a pencil! Perfect to do on the first day of school and send home as a sweet keepsake.Click here to checkout my other crafts!Click here to checkout my other ...

(This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.) Free Printable First Day of School Flags – Pencil Here’s a set of free printable First Day of…

Use this first day of preschool handprint craft and activity for your little ones to decorate the room and a keepsake for parents

Oh, the first day of school! It's such a fun, but chaotic day. Most of my first days are a little bit of a blur. This is why I have to write very detailed lesson plans or I'll forget everything from that day. I always try to have the same activities for that first day

Open house is an exciting time! It’s the first time families and students see the classroom. It’s when students and parents meet the teacher for the first time. It can...

Fine Motor Activities for kindergarten: Create a rainbow fish and rainbow name to develop fine motor skills with young students

Use this all about me free printable for a birthday interview, or first day of school questions for students

Need some ideas for bible crafts on the days of creation? If so, you'll love our next creation craft for preschoolers that's very easy to assemble and initiates a great discussion on God's creation.

A collection of letter of the week crafts to do with your preschooler. The craft includes free printables and step by step instructions for A-Z.

Crayon Name Craft Activity, Fine Motor Skills, Back to School Activity, Name Recognition, Scissor Skills, Name Activities, Name Project

Send students home from their first day of school with a special name crown. Encourage family communication and begin building a classroom community as children start to learn each other's names.

No David by David Shannon is a classic book to read in kindergarten. Here are free No David activities, videos and book ideas listed all in one place.

Set a friendly tone in your classroom with these 30 "Get to Know You" games perfect for back to school or when welcoming a new student.

When we started working our way through all of the letters of the alphabet, we decided that we wanted to create something that we could hold onto and look

Add elements of sight, sound, touch, taste and smell to your preschool centers to integrate science and play while students explore their senses.

All of these organizational printables shown on this blog post are FREE! This page contains affiliate links. Read Full Disclosure

Free printable preschool worksheets pdf for teachers and homeschoolers. Fun preschool worksheets for math, English, fine motor skills, and more!

Hello, lovely parents and teachers of preschoolers! Are you tired of the same old craft activities? Look no further! This article presents you with 10 fun nursery rhyme crafts for preschoolers that will boost their fine motor skills, creativity, and language development. So, let’s grab some glue, paper, and scissors and get started on some ... Read more

Learn about France with this France preschool unit! Activities, crafts, food, songs, etc to give your child a taste of France.

30 back to school bingo boards to print for free. Use this class set to play a fun back to school bingo game and celebrate the start of school.

1-2-3 come Do Some Chrysanthemum Activities With Me “Chrysanthemum” by Kevin Henkes, is one of my all-time favorite back to school books. It’s perfect for a variety of ages, and especially wonderful as an introduction to name activities, as well as discussions about teasing, bullying and “filling buckets”. With that in mind, I enjoyed making a variety of Chrysanthemum-themed activities appropriate for PK-1st grade. I'll be sharing 3 of them in today's blog along with a sweet back to school FREEBIE. Because I like to mix math with literacy, I designed the Chrysanthemum Name Comparison Math Craftivity, where students compare their name with Chrysanthemum’s. I’ve included a simple PK version which can be done as a whole group, with an older elementary buddy, or done as homework with the assistance of a parent. There’s also a template suitable for kindergarten, 1st and 2nd, which involves some easy math, where students can show how they figured out their answer. Use the vowel, consonants and syllable posters to help explain things, then hang up for students to refer to. These can also be used as part of your display, as completed projects make an adorable bulletin board, or hung as a border on a hallway wall. I’ve included 2 “Mixing Math & Literacy” display posters for this as well. For extra pizzazz, punch a hole at the bottom and tie on a yarn "tail", or curl a white pipe cleaner and attach. There are 10 border options to choose from. Give your students a choice, or run off 2-3 of each of the worksheets so you have a nice variety in your display. Girls can add a bow to their mouse, and boys can opt to leave it off if they want. For an added splash of color, mount the worksheet on a variety of colors of construction paper before students glue their mouse head to the top. Next up, is another quick, easy and fun “print & go” name craftivity. I call them "sliders". Simply choose which name slider you want your kiddos to make. There are 6 options. I like my students to get some practice in making choices, so I run all of them off. I’ve included black and white patterns for kiddos to color, as well as templates in color, so that you can quickly and easily make examples to share. Mounting them on construction paper gives a splash of color and makes them sturdier. Run off the boxed “slider strips”, as well as the blank strips and trim. Children color Chrysanthemum, then write their name on the “slider” strip, by writing a letter in each box. If you have PK kiddos who don’t know how to write their name, you can have slider strips already written for them, or provide a name card for them to copy. I’ve included 6 matching name cards if you’d like to use these. Finally, I designed a Chrysanthemum-Inspired Class Name Booklet. At the beginning of the story, her parents explain why they named her Chrysanthemum, so I thought it would be fun to send a note home and ask parents why they chose their child’s name. Parents fill out the worksheet and their child colors it. After everyone has shared their page, collate the contributions, add the cover and you have a very interesting class-made book. Run off the "inside" pages and give children a choice. There are 7 girl-themed pages, plus 7 for boys. I share Dr. Seuss’s story “Too Many Daves”, then include those pages, along with the rose-quote poster in our booklet as well. We make several class books each month. They are always a favorite in our classroom "book" basket, and a big hit with parents at conferences. Adding a school photo to each page makes things extra special. Today's featured FREEBIE is also perfect for back to school. I not only give my students a little surprise treat on the 1st day of school, I do a little something extra special the entire week. For a quick, easy and inexpensive treat bag, fill up a Snack Baggie with Lucky Charms cereal and include my little note. There's also 2 "header" options if you want to put 1 at the top of your bag. Well that's it for today. My mom's visiting from Wisconsin, and I hear her stirring on this beautiful morning, so time to switch gears and go play outside. "Tears of joy are like the summer rain drops pierced by sunbeams." - Hosea Ballou

We've been excited about sharing all of the fabulous and free creation crafts that are perfect for teaching about our amazing creator! Grab our Creation Craft Globe for kids!

If there is one thing I have learned from working with preschoolers and now, homeschooling my own preschooler, it is that they love, more than anything else,

Two free printables for kids to celebrate back to school for the new school year. Download and print the back to school banner and questionnaire as often as you want.

Do you explicitly teach listening skills to your students? Did you know that 70-80% of our waking hours are spent in some form of communication? Of that, listening makes up about 45% of our daily communication! When I learned these statistics, I knew that I needed to be as intentional about teaching/practicing listening skills as […]

Grab these Back to school table settings with free printables so you can send your kids off to school in style!