Are you looking for some contraction activities? Find foldable organizers, game ideas, and online links to make your contraction lessons fun.

Emotional animals kids game is a simple activity your kids will enjoy while you teach them about different emotions and feelings.

Teach your kids how to make their very own marshmallow catapult using common household supplies. How to construct a marshmallow launcher.

Pancit Molo is a Filipino dumpling soup with shredded chicken in a richly flavored broth. A steaming bowl of this hearty and delicious soup will keep you comfy and warm on a rainy day.

(697) Rainy day food

How to make an indoor boomerang out of paper. What a fun boredom buster science and engineering project for kids when they are stuck inside!

Graham FrancioSe

12+ I Spy Game Printables. Fun I Spy activity free printables for a rainy day, road trip, classroom party activity for kids.

well, it hasn’t been much of a winter. the kids are stuck in this whole “there’s a little bit of snow outside, but not enough to play in the snow” and “it’s not …

Beautiful Saturday Darlins, The last few years I have been trying to take notice of each season's natural light. I try to see if I'm able to guess what time of year it is without a calendar. A fun challenge, especially on the west coast! I've come to a lovely little conclusion that... it's the *winter's* beautiful light I love most. Photos all...Pinterest The way it warms a chilly room is gorgeous! My Design tip: Use light to cast a space by opening curtains and move your pieces around to catch the light of the particular season. Hop over to my Saturday's Designing with Vintage series on Second Shout Out blog & shop vintage lighting to cozy up your space. Enjoy a beautiful winter weekend... xo, me

Grab a free copy of the Pictionary words to create your own game cards for kids to play at home or in the classroom!

Valentine's Day is almost upon us again, so I decided to post some activities I've done this week and last week that could be used for a Valentine's theme. If you look at the Kodaly Corner blog (linked on the right...a collaborative blog I contribute to), there are some more Valentine's activities if you're interested. I have no idea where I learned this song, but my students love it! I've been using it this week, and I plan to link it to Saint Saens Carnival of the Animals Aquarium movement and the book Swimmy. The game is simple. On the first day I discuss with the class what the name of a group of fish is (school) and why do small fish travel in large groups (to not get eaten by big things like sharks). The first time we play, I lead, walking around the room with my hands swimming like fish fins and singing the names of students in the song (in place of Suzy). Each new student joins the line behind me (hands on shoulders or just walking) until the entire class is part of the school of fish, and for the last time through the song we sing, "Oh, everyone, everyone, we love you!). My students today spontaneously started giving each other hugs. Feel the love, people. On another day when we play, the newly called student becomes the leader and must stop at their chosen person when we sing the long "Oh" so the class knows whose name to sing. If you want to, you could have each new leader be in charge of singing the last phrase of the song as a solo to assess singing voices. After the game was over, students froze with a shark fin on their heads. I then played the half step Jaws theme at various tempos and pausing at different times. Students put the notes in their feet moving when the keyboard was playing and stopping when the music stopped until all had returned to their carpet spots. One little boy today said, "I LOVE this part!" Either the same lesson or another lesson the same week, I use the book, Swimmy (which shows the idea of a school of fish and different predators). I usually read the book the first time with the Aquarium music as accompaniment in the background. Then on another day when I introduce the Aquarium music, I ask where they've heard the music before and students can usually tell me from the Swimmy book. I then introduce briefly the idea of the Carnival of the Animals piece in which the composer wrote small songs to represent different animals. So what animals does this song represent do you think? Then I introduce a listening map for Aquarium. Here is a simple one. To further familiarize the class with the piece, we make our own Aquarium. Half of the student use blue scarves with partners holding opposite ends to make the water waves, (you could do green seaweed as well if you need to) and the other half use bright, colorful scarves to pretend they are the fish swimming in the aquarium. Then they switch parts and the water students become fish and vice versa. We, of course, talk about moving like the music sounds. This will lead to learning about legato (and then staccato when we move on to doing the Kangaroo). So, you could use these activities during Valentine's week, or not. It doesn't have to be Valentine's themed. By the way, my meyersmusic visuals website I used to have set up is now defunct, but Blogger doesn't have a good way to post full-sized visuals for you to print out and use. I'm in the process of changing the visuals website over to a Weebly website which allows me to post not just picture files, but also other document formats. Check back and you'll find some of my older blog visuals reposted to the new site soon. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone. "Oh, Kodaly, Kodaly, we love you!"

How to make popsicle stick bow and arrows (or mini bow and arrows) that are perfect for a rainy spring day or to add to Valentines!

Explore archidave's 11230 photos on Flickr!

I've got a little Secret Code Spelling sheet here. I have the students write each spelling word then draw the picture for each letter next to the word to make a code. I use this as a Word Work center, but if you need a time filler - or something for your sub plans, this sheet could be put under the document camera and done whole group with the spelling list for the week. For a variation, you can have the kids mix up their spelling words and write the code only, then give it to a classmate to "break the code". Not matter how you do it, my students like this one:) Click on the picture to go to my Teachers Pay Teachers store and download this for FREE. While you are at my store, check out some of my new and best selling products including: My Original Writing Center - My best selling product! Don't miss this STEAL: Sight Word Mega Bundle Read It, Build It, Write ItAll 220 Dolch Sight Words Included Reader's Toolbox of Reading Strategies Sight Words Superhero: Everything You Need to Motivate and Reward Sight Word Recognition Sight Words Superhero Add-On Pack: 130 Pages of Sight Word Games and Activities! And MUCH more - click here to see more great products! And, don't forget to follow my store to get a free kit each month!!! Past "Follower Freebies" include" Click here to see how to get free kits each month: Mrs. Gilchrist's Follower Freebies

This list of 100 things to do on a rainy day will be sure to keep you busy next time you feel stuck inside with the rainy day blues.

Creative ways to beat cabin fever

What’s better than a creamy, real vanilla-flavored milk pudding on a rainy day in the fall? Indulge in this delicious homemade comfort food today!

A simple recipe for a basic crumble topping perfect for an easy family dessert. Only 3 ingredients and quick to make. It can be frozen and used at a later date.

As a potential homeschooling parent you no doubt have plenty of questions. Or maybe you know someone who homeschools and you are curious. Each of these are real questions that most of us have been or will be asked at some point. 1. Is homeschooling legal? The short answer, yes it is legal. The long answer is, well, long. Some states regulate homeschooling quite a bit, some states a small bit, and some have no regulation at all. The best place to find the most current homeschooling law is http://www.hslda.org/hs/default.asp Just click on your state’s picture, and the laws and current legislation (if there is any) will be shown to you. 2. Is your day like “regular school?” Well, first we have to define “regular.” In my house what we do is normal and “regular.” But, if you are referring to the standard eight hour day, with multiple times of standing in line, getting permission to go to the bathroom, waiting in line 25 minutes to go to lunch and then only getting 20 to eat that lunch, then the answer is no. But, this is different for every home schooling family. Some people may want to school for eight hours, I personally only do three. Some people may want their kids to stand quietly in line for 25 minutes for lunch. We just try to do this at the checkout at Kroger. 3. Don’t you have to have a degree to be a teacher? Well, if you are teaching in a public school the answer is yes. But, since we are answering questions about home school, I will refer you back to question number one. It depends on the state you are in. Some states have different opinions on this. 4. How do you handle all their classes when you have children in multiple grades? Again, the answer depends. If you take a unit study approach you may school all the children together – you know like they did waaayyyy back when public schools were started. Everyone sits together and hears the lessons for the day, and then will break apart to work independently in areas like reading and math. If you take a work book or text book approach, then each child will have their own set of materials, and you would work with each child separately, at different times. See how the answer to this is dependent on the individual homeschooling family? 5. How do you differentiate being a teacher from being a parent? Being a parent is no different from being a teacher in that, we are both responsible for the instruction and encouragement of the children we are responsible for, however, as a parent, we have a bigger responsibility to our children, for we see immediately the results of the children learning and unlike a teacher who manages a classroom of 20-30 children, that changes every year. As parents, we have both the time and emotional investment to understand and learn how our children best learn and are able to more easily adapt to each of our child's needs without having to sacrifice the needs of the individual over the whole. 6. Don’t you think they need to be in “real” school? Ahem. I will try my personal best to not to be offended. After, all my kids are learning “real” phonics and “real” math. I am not really sure what answer to give here, as the question is not asking anything specific. It is more like a derogatory statement about homeschooling in general. Ask a real question, get a real answer. 7. How could you possibly homeschool if ____________? (Fill in blank with whatever circumstance you can think of.) If someone wants to homeschool, they can generally figure out a way. This question is typically referring to different circumstances like single parenting, special needs children, gifted children, etc… I have a special needs child. I have a friend with an extraordinarily gifted child. Our homeschools look different. Some people may need to school when they are not at work, so their school may be in the evening. I school during the day most days and during the late afternoons when I have morning appointments. So, you really learn how to work it out according to the needs of your family. Got something to add? Be sure to let me know and I will keep this updated (serious and snarky questions allowed hehe)!

After my tween grew out of some of the activities in our old bored jar, I made her a bored jar fit for a tween! It's filled with ideas to keep her occupied.

We've written this article to give our readers extensive advice on how to shower while living the van life (or living on the road).

Our pick of fun rainy day activities picked by parents are easy to do, budget-friendly and use things you most likely have around the house.

Wondering what to do and see in Helsinki? This little Helsinki guide by a local offers you ideas off the beaten path!

Help kids learn about Canada with our free printable Canada themed I spy activity with Canadian pictures to hunt and find.

The other week, Owen learned how to fold these paper ninja stars from a friend at church, and he has been making tons of them! Great project for a rainy day. All you need is some paper, and you’re ready to go. We added Sharpies too for decorating the ninja stars with fun designs. We […]