Working with kids and young adults who are oppositional can be challenging. Being oppositional might mean refusing to do work, breaking rules, and engaging in other challenging behaviors. The truth is, many kids can be oppositional from time to time, so many of these strategies work with all learner

Fun science activities for kids to learn the Five Senses: taste, see, listen, hear, touch; for kids of all ages from preschool, kindergarten, to school age.

500 science activities for each month of the year, with season themes, for kids from preschool kindergarten to high school. Making teaching STEM easy.

Study the human body anatomy with kids by making an anatomy model with these free printable life-size human body organs!

In this digital learning world we find ourselves in, a lot of teachers are looking for ways to connect with our students. (You can read more distance learning tips here on this blog post.) We all need a central location to share lesson links, share assignments, and communicate. One way to make this fun and […]

10 inexpensive rewards to use in your middle school 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!

Have you been wanting to try stations in your Secondary ELA classroom but aren't sure where to start? Read through this quick post where we share 8 station ideas and how to use them with your ELA students.

Truth is, finding virtual dissection and labs isn't as hard as it used to be. We have a list of the best Virtual Dissection and Labs for Homeschoolers!

Have you ever thought about using wordless videos in your speech therapy lessons? It increases engagement! Start with these videos...

My school doesn’t cover interval notation in its curriculum. We focus primarily on inequality notation, although I tend to use the more specific set-builder notation. Each representation ha…

We are currently doing a short study of the human body. We recently finished up our unit on the Brain and Nerves, and here are some of the activities we did and resources we used.

Learn what is under your skin with a fun life-size human body project for kids. Download FREE skeletal system bones and organ printables!

Get your teacher life organized with 200 free Google Keep headers! This note-taking system will revolutionize the way you teach.

Have you ever had a class that just tried your patience day after day? Have you ever felt like you could walk away from teaching forever tom...

Games are a tried and true way to engage students. Whether teaching in-person or remotely via a live session like Zoom or Google Meets, teachers know that games, brain breaks, and icebreakers are an awesome way to get students actively involved in learning. With the ever-changing landscape of education, I thought it might be nice to compile some versatile activities that challenge students in really fun ways. Best part? These activities are very low prep and work in a variety of settings. These activities encourage students to listen, solve problems, be creative, and practice critical skills. They're designed to be easy to do with little to no prep. You can easily add one of these games to any lesson as a warm-up, closure, community building activity, or lesson extender. GAMES & ACTIVITIES ⭐How Many? Give students a category and then challenge students to see how many different things they can fit within that classification. At first students will respond with obvious ideas. However, as they brainstorm, their ideas will stretch and their creativity will grow. Students can jot their ideas down on scrap paper and earn points for each unique response when they share out. Here are some categories to get started: occupations, things that are slimy, things that roll, animal noises, articles of clothing ⭐Listen Carefully: Read a short passage out loud to students. Then, have them answer questions based on what they can remember. Make it especially fun by awarding points for every answer that students get right. You can change up this activity by reading two versions of the same story. Mix up some of the details in the second version for students to listen for. Give this activity a try with the passages in this set of FREE Brain Bursts. Add your information below and then check your inbox! ⮟⮟⮟⮟⮟⮟⮟⮟ ⭐Silly Silent Spelling: Practice spelling words in a super silly way. Explain to students that you are going to be giving them a practice spelling test (definitely NOT the real thing). Just like a typical practice test, they'll listen for the word and write it down. However, here's the catch: you're only going to silently mouth the words. Students will need to read your lips to figure out what word they will need to write down. Of course, figuring out a word from a silent cue is not easy. That's what makes this fun. Students will write down some wild guesses as they spell their way through this game. ⭐One Word: Pose a fun question to the class and have them all think of a one-word answer. Then, give every student a chance to share their responses as you call on each of them. Here are some questions to get started: --- If you were a type of dessert, what would you be? --- Where do you feel happiest? --- How would a soccer ball describe its day? --- Where is somewhere that you would like to visit? --- What would be the perfect gift for you? ⭐Mystery Item: This activity is quick and easy to play. To prepare, write 5 or 6 clues about an object. Make the clues gradually increase in their specificity. Then, read the clues to students as they jot down their guesses for the mystery item until you reveal the answer. ⭐Punchline: Start telling a joke to students, and then have them guess the punchline. Find a ton of jokes for kids here. ⭐Strike a Pose: Explain to students that they are going to pretend that they are in a photograph. They will need to imagine that the photo was taken at the height of the event. All they have to do is strike a pose after you give them a situation. For instance, you might say, "haunted house," and then students would freeze in a pose that shows them frightened or terrified. Here are a few situations to try: Dentist Office, Roller Coaster, Last Day of School, Scary Movie, Food Fight, Race ⭐Timed Writing Activities: Engage students with a creative writing prompt. Then, "amp up" the fun factor by adding a timed element. Challenge students to race the clock as they write as much as they can in a fixed time period. Find my favorite prompts here. ⭐And Then...: This is a listening game for the entire class. Students will need to listen to and add to a growing story. You'll start the story with an opener like, "At the zoo, I decided to open the lion's cage, and then..." Next, you'll call on a student to explain what happened next. That student will add one line and the phrase "and then" before selecting another student to add to the story. ⭐Listen and Draw: Students love this activity! To prepare, create a simple illustration filled with shapes and designs. Then, write out the directions for students. Have students complete the activity on a piece of paper. Read each direction to students and challenge them to replicate the illustration you instructed them to draw. (These are included in the exclusive freebie below.) ⭐Class Pet: Pretend that you have a new class pet. Explain to students that they will need to guess the type of animal. Students will need to ask questions and write their guesses on a piece of paper when they think they have figured out the new class pet. ⭐Add the Ending: Engage students as they practice writing and storytelling skills with this activity. First, students will listen to the beginning of a story that you read to them. Then, they'll take over the writing and complete the story. The story starters are a fun way to motivate students to write. ⭐Alien, Tiger, and Cat: Here's an improvisational theatre game that works in the classroom. Explain to students that they can be one of three things: an alien, a cat, or a tiger. If they choose to be an alien, they need to hold their pointer fingers next to their head (like antennae) and say "bleeb, bleeb." To be a cat, they need to rub their wrist along their face (like a cat cleaning itself) and say "meow." Finally, to be a tiger they need to push their hand forward with a claw stance and roar. On your cue, every student will choose and act like an animal. The goal is to get everyone to choose the same animal (which is nearly impossible, but fun to try). ⭐Rapid Recall: Create a list of random words. Then, read the list of words to students. As you read the words, you might have students put their hands on their heads so that you know for sure that they aren't taking notes. Once you've read the words to students once or twice, wait about a minute before letting students write down every word that they remember. (Find ready-made lists in this complete resource.) ⭐Finish the Fact: Share the beginning of a fact with students. Then, challenge them to complete the fact. Have them share their guesses before revealing the complete fact. Find a collection of random facts here. Want a free set of virtual classroom activities designed to be NO PREP and NO COPIES? Just add your name and email below. ⮟⮟⮟⮟⮟⮟⮟⮟ BONUS: Here's one more idea: ⭐Paper Airplanes: Help students practice following directions by challenging them to fold a paper airplane by following your directions. To get started, choose a paper airplane design to have students fold. Then, have students take out a piece of paper. They'll need to listen carefully to each of your directions to make their paper airplane. Wishing you tons of fun in your (virtual) classroom, Mary Beth P.S. Find a TON of ready-made activities HERE.

I posted on Instagram last week pictures of preparing agar for my go-to first week of school lab: testing the 5 second rule. It’s a great lab for back to school because students are super engaged and it’s a good way to review variables and how to set up a controlled experiment. I had a ... Read more

Why I don't review the syllabus on the first day of class in high school and what I do instead. Fun first day of school activities and icebreakers!

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

Learn the parts of the brain for kids with a fun brain activity and FREE printable brain worksheets! Clever human body activities for kids!

Free LEGO® Printables! Free Fire Safety Printables with a LEGO Theme (9 pages) Exploring Emotions with LEGO® faces - 7 pages Exploring Emotions with LEGO® Faces (3rd-6th Grades) - 6 pages Writing Prompts with a LEGO

I recently assigned a one pager final project to my sophomores for their culminating Night project. I wanted to combine as many rigorous ELA content ideas as possible, while also designing a fun project for students that provided them with a bit of choice. This Night one pager project was the perfect way to finish the memoir!

Kids will love learning about the components of blood with this fun and memorable activity - make a blood model!

If you (or your preschooler) has ever asked the question, "what is blood made of?", you must check out this fun activity to learn about the parts of blood.

A bundle of free zones of regulation printables that you can download and use as a supplement to the Zones of Regulation curriculum.

Looking for new Magna Tiles designs to try? Here are our favourite Magna Tile ideas to build, with printable cards for inspiration.

Learn how to practice rhythms with this budget-friendly and fun rhythm game in your elementary music classroom.

Learn about the human digestive system for kids twith this memorable digestion experiment. ZANY human body project making poop!

14 cognitive behavioral therapy activities for kids to help little ones recognize their negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones.

Challenge your young learners to use these colorful cups, tubes, and balls to build their creations on the light table. It's art; it's engineering; it's fun!

Explore the 5 senses for kids with fun, engaging five senses activities like edible skin layers, dissecting a cow eye, mystery bag, and more!

If you need assistance on how to edit and/or utilize Digital Interactive Notebooks in Google Slides for your classroom, you have come to the right place! In these videos, I will be referencing the Editable Digital Interactive Notebook Templates in this post. This digital Google Slides resource provides editable Interactive Notebook Templates that you can

Have a chatty class? Do your talkative students get louder and louder during small groups until it feels like chaos? Do they talk when you'r...

Texting In The Classroom Texting in the classroom. Usually just hearing that makes you annoyed. It is no secret that our students are saturated in a world of technology. As educators there is imme…

How to create hidden messages and pictures using invisible ink and the science of oxidation!

Brain breaks are an effective way to increase focus, support self-regulation, and boost a child's learning in the classroom (or home).

Learning about the human anotomy is fun and easy for kids with My First Anatomy game. Identify, match, and learn! We are fearfully and wonderfully made!

Transforming your third teacher (room) is something that can be as simple as focussing on just one area in your room and can change how your children interact instantly with each other and the materials!

This calming sensory activity provides deep pressure and proprioceptive input for your child (the cookie dough) to help decrease stress and calm nerves.