This resource covers information on the proprioceptive sense and includes proprioception sensory activities for kids.

Yay!! I am so glad you are here. Do I have something that is going to rock your world! This is how to make 30 Quiet Bins for $9!! You love the idea of quiet time (what Mama doesn't?), but you don't want to spend hours setting up that quiet time (what Mama does?) ---

Don't let papers take over your classroom.

Brain bins are what I call morning tubs in my first-grade classroom. They include open-ended materials that my students use to explore, create, build, and-

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.

I took a regular paper bag, turned it inside out and made a mountain out of it. I painted the top with white acrylics and the river with blue. I left an opening on the back - it was our cave. I taped the mountain to a tray and put green colored rice around it. First my daughter did not even notice the cave, she just played with the animals. They ate the grass and drank water from the river. When she got bored with it, I turned the tray around and she saw a cave full of minerals. I found the recipe for the minerals here but I changed it a little bit. I took Himalayan pink sea salt and colored it with food coloring. I squeezed a few drops of food coloring in a zip-lock bag with a little bit of salt. I was supposed to get bright transparent crystals but mine were a little muddy and dark, probably because I was using pink salt instead of regular white salt. I spread them on a paper towel and when they were dry I poured glue from a hot glue gun over them to get them to look like gems. My daughter took all of the gems out of the cave right away. As she looked through them I was naming gems that I knew of the colors that we had.

Brain bins are what I call morning tubs in my first-grade classroom. They include open-ended materials that my students use to explore, create, build, and-

Have you made bubble foam yet? Turning it into bubble foam trucks is even better! This easy sensory bin from Busy Toddler is a must try.

EASY apple playdough recipe is a fun playdoh to use with an apple theme or hands-on activities for September that will delight the senses!

Sometimes a transformation of a humble object is just beyond creative and that is just what today’s idea is. The soft, white Q-Tip can be used to make a spooky skeleton! I never would have th…

The human brain is a paired organ; it consists of two halves that look alike. What is brain lateralization? Brain lateralization is just the fact that the two halves of the brain are quite different from each other. Both sides have different jobs that they do, and each side is highly specialized in those functions. For example, you may be aware that the left side of the brain is specialized for language. Crossing Midline, or "cross lateralization": We talk a lot in OT about "crossing midline". Crossing midline simply means that a a child reaches across their body with either hand (such as to use his/her left hand to reach across to the right of their body and vice versa). Think of it as if there is an imaginary vertical line down the center of their body, and crossing midline would mean moving a hand or foot across that line to the other side of it. Well, what does this do in terms of brain function? When a child crosses midline, new connections are made between the right side and the left side, and both sides then are working together, rather than independently of each other. It integrates the 2 sides of the brain, and organizes the brain for better concentration and problem solving. This is needed for reading and writing, as a child must cross midline when reading and printing from left to right across a page. Many self help skills require being able to cross midline, as well as sports activities and other daily skills. The ability to cross midline develops as bilateral coordination skills develop. The child learns to coordinate their stronger hand (used for specialized skill) with their helper hand (the hand that they use to assist the dominant hand). See an earlier post titled "Bilateral Integration/Coordination," dated 6-8-13 for activity ideas for improving bilateral coordination. This is an example of a child reaching across midline. You may notice that children who have difficulty reaching across midline often stop in mid-reach and switch hands. Keep in mind that when a child routinely switches hands, each hand then gets equal practice, and true hand dominance does not develop or may be delayed in developing. You may also notice that they turn their trunk to reach toward the opposite side instead of reaching across it. This lack of trunk rotation limits crossing midline, and one way to work on this would be to work on core stability (see earlier post, "Postural Control and Shoulder Stability for Fine Motor Skills," dated 6/3/13 for more info on how to do that). Also, they may exhibit difficulty visually tracking a moving object from one side to the other or have difficulty following along from left to right when reading. "Right handed" child completing a coloring task. Note that the crayons are located on the left side of the paper. Same child- note that when he changed colors, he picked up the crayon with his left hand, because they were to the left of the paper. This is not a child who readily crosses midline. The following are activities that you can do with your child to encourage crossing midline: -Complete sorting or reaching and placing activities: have your child pick up items that are on the right side of them with their right hand, and reach over and place them on their left side (and vice versa). Sort objects into containers in this manner, place pegs in pegboards, etc. -Complete worksheets or draw on large sheets of paper for which the child has to draw a line from one side of the paper to the other. -Cone or cup transfer: Transfer/stack cones or cups with the right hand from right to left and from left to right. Switch hands. See top photo above for example. -Complete cross crawls: in standing, pick up left knee and touch right hand to it, and then right knee and touch left hand to it, and continue on in this manner, alternating back and forth for a number of repetitions. -Place a long line of masking tape on the floor. Have your child walk along the tape line, scissoring their legs (stand with each foot on each side of the tape line, walk along the line by crossing one foot over the other and stepping on the opposite side of the tape line). Can also do this with their hands while in 4 point along the tape line on the floor, or up a tape line on the wall. -Check out Brain Gym- many of the activities that are Brain Gym based are related to crossing midline. Find out more about this here: http://www.braingym.org/index Here is a link for 10 free Brain Gym Activities: http://sspw.dpi.wi.gov/files/sspw/pdf/sascevanshandouts.pdf

Well, today was the first official day back for teachers in my district. Our students return this Wednesday so I guess it's a good thing that I can FINALLY say that my classroom is in order and LOOKS like a real classroom again! It's taken so much longer than I had anticipated and it seemed like each time I completed a task that two more popped up. Now that all of the setting up is done, I am so excited to share the finished product with you. One of the biggest projects to undertake was creating my Wall of Fame in my classroom. I am so excited with how it turned out. This is one of the few times that something looks exactly like I pictured it in my mind. I designed the banner using Keynote on my Macbook and then had it made on Vistaprint. I bought chevron ribbon from Hobby Lobby and decorated the clothespins myself. There is glitter EVERYWHERE! It looks amazing and I can't wait to start displaying student work here! I ran out of glue so I used spray adhesive instead....I am still finding glitter in my kitchen! I cut the ribbon different lengths so that I wouldn't run out. My mom was nice enough to tie the bows for me. I used a glue gun to attach the glitter clothespins to the ribbons. A finished ribbon! It turned out exactly like I pictured it. I am so EXCITED! After completing the Wall of Fame, I started to create some extra bulletin board space in my classroom and hallway using Azure Blue paper and multi-colored chevron duct tape. It is the cheapest and easiest way to create new display space in your classroom. All I did was staple the paper to the wall and podium and then outline the paper using the duct tape. Trying to brighten up my hallway. I'm going to use this bulletin board to display my hallway expectations. This is the front of my podium. Another important area of my classroom is my self-assessment table. I do not pick up papers at the end of my class. Instead I have students self-assess their learning from that class period and turn in their work in designated baskets. I use a ranking system of Novice, Apprentice, Practitioner, and Expert in my classroom. It is probably one of my favorite things that I instituted in my classroom last year. I worked over the summer to revamp my system and decided to upload the finished product to my store. Click here to check out this amazing self-assessment system for your students! After finishing the self-assessment table, it was time to set up and decorate the back walls of my classroom. I call this space my Wall of Wisdom. Usually the Wall of Wisdom only contains posters that I have bought from our local school store, but this year thanks to Vistaprint I was able to create one of my own. A few of my favorite pieces of advice to share with my students. This is the banner that I designed. I also got this design in business card size so that I can staple it inside each of my student's agenda. Next was getting my teacher space organized. Trying to organize my things and space was a very long and tiring process. It's crazy to think of the things that you accumulate in just a year. I used pink chevron fabric from Hobby Lobby to create a table skirt that went around my desk and side table. I love it! After getting this attached to my desk and table, it was on to getting rid of the clutter and going into super organized mode. Before the de-cluttering process :( After the de-cluttering process :) I don't know what I would do without my teacher toolbox and calendar from School Aids! This just might be the most organized this bookshelf has ever been...I'm hoping it stays this way. I also repurposed an old teacher toolbox and updated it to match the theme of my big toolbox. This toolbox will contain classroom management rewards like my student punch cards, stickers, student shout outs and more.If you want punch cards for your students, click here to check them out! Here's a sample of my positive behavior punch cards! This thing needs a little excitement added! Much, much BETTER! The final beast I had to tackle in my classroom was my office. It sometimes reminds me of Ariel's cave from The Little Mermaid because there is no telling what you will find in there...especially as the year progresses. Seriously, it was so bad that I didn't even take a before picture! At least you get to see the finished, amazingly organized office! :) I moved my filing cabinet into my office because it was just taking up space in my classroom. You can actually see the top of the desk :) If you look real hard, you can see that my shelves slightly resemble a shelf in Walmart...I may have gone a little overboard :) Here are just a few more peeks to see from around my classroom. I created this memo board to display computer expectations in my classroom. This is a perfect example of my OCD. My construction paper is sorted and labeled by color. A poster that I created on Vistaprint that I will be using on the first day of school Seriously the best way to display learning targets. It makes so much sense for the kids. Thanks Pinterest! :) Another way to promote positivity in my classroom by allowing the students to give each other shout outs. You can buy this product in my store if you click here! I won these books as part of a grant from First Book. I have enough copies to give each of my students! Last, but not least I have to show you the awesome Common Core planning product that I bought from Study All Knight. She has this flip chart available for all ELA grade levels. You should go check it out! I hope y'all like the finished product as much as I do. Like I said earlier, it was a very long process and I wanted to give up so many times, but I am so glad that I pushed through. Now the real test begins. I'm really hoping that once school begins in two days that I can continue blogging regularly and sharing what happens in my classroom.

Inspire the innovators of tomorrow.

Fantastic dot activities to go along with the book "The Dot" by Peter Reynolds. STEAM inspired projects perfect for young kids.

Hide those ugly wheelie bins once and for all by using one of the methods here. Whatever your space and budget allows, there's an option that will work brilliantly for you... If I look outside

These fine motor activities use various materials for hands-on and engaging learning for your kindergarten students.

A few weeks ago our little daredevil had her first x-ray due to a little jumping on the bed incident. Yup 1 little monkey jumping on the bed, she fell off and bumped her head… broke her clavicle. Well ever since, she has been fascinated with the bones inside her body so there couldn’t be […]

What to do with tiny fabric scraps aside from bottom of the basket or bin. Do join me on the blog today for my crafty answer...

A simple to set up toddler activity using rice. Toddlers love having a rice bin - easy sensory play that costs little to no money to set up & lasts forever.

Printable playdough mats are the perfect way to help inspire creativity with very little guidance. We have created 5 PRINTABLE playdough mats for parents.

Ideas come at the least expected moment. The other day I was working on Re- project #3 and I had no idea what to do. So there I was on my table staring at my art bin where I keep all my tools & stuff. The shape & the color of every items were screaming for my attention and I got lost in details of each object. Before I knew it I abandon Re- project #3 and worked on something totally out of plan.

A super quick easy cloud dough sensory bin recipe for hands-on learning and fun in your preschool, pre-k, or kindergarten classroom.

Find out how to make this fun balloon powered car and test out how far you can it travel. A balloon car is an awesome physics for kids.

Steckbrief zum Thema "Das bin ich" für Mädchen.

Grab free science worksheets for preschool through middle school. Add a printable science worksheet to your experiment or science homework.

Sind sie nicht wunderschön, diese Papiersterne? Gerne zeige ich dir, wie ich sie selber gemacht habe. Schwierig sind sie nicht, aber es braucht einen kurzen Moment eine gewisse Konzentration, damit es gut kommt:-) Ich habe die Sterne aus Kraftpapier (120g), von Opitec.ch und aus schwarzem Tonzeichenpapier und aus einem alten Notenheft gemacht. So bin ich vorgegangen: Die Streifen zusammenleimen. Beide Seiten, dann entsteht ein Kreis. Stern hinlegen und sich freuen. Seid herzlich lieb gegrüsst Frau *Zauberpunkt ♥

Get inspired by 25 craft rooms that are simply gorgeous! From organization ideas to decor, these craft room ideas make getting creative easy.

Follow our directions to make colorful dyed pasta that’s perfect for your kids to play with in sensory bins or to use for crafts and...

If you are looking for a colorful hands on sensory activity, here's how to dye rice with rubbing alcohol, food coloring, and rice! We used this for our homeschool preschool, and it's easy to store and reuse. Even though it's pretty, it's not edible. Start to finish this took about 25 minutes for 5 colors,

Articulation therapy can be tedious and repetitive! Read low-prep ways to keep your students motivated with articulation card activities.

Faced with bins of old lacrosse tournament t-shirts my boys refuse to part with, I decided to make their favorites into art.