1-2-3 Come Do Some Snowflake "Craftivities" With Me!

As long as we have to have winter, it might as well snow!  I'd always give my Y5's some time at our classroom windows, when the snow was falling heavily.  It's so lovely and sparkly.  They'd squeal with delight and chatter about a possible pending snow day.  I think I was as excited as they were at the prospect of a stay-at-home and snuggle day.

Our snowflake theme was a real favorite.  I'd start things out by sharing "Snowflake Bentley's" story and exquisite snowflake photographs.  If you don't own these books, I highly recommend them. 

I found that if I pre-folded coffee filters and demonstrated how to snip them into a snowflake, my students did a much better job, than when I used regular paper, which was way too thick for them to cut. 

Singing a rousing round of Frosty the Snowman got the wiggles out, and my students' behavior was really pretty stellar, in part, because they were working towards spelling the words Hot Chocolate, so they could receive that treat. 

They could earn a letter a day, which helped build self-esteem and confidence, as they worked together to achieve a goal.  I did the same thing with spelling Frosty The Snowman.  When they earned all of the letters, we'd watch the video at the end of the day. Click on the link to see it posted on YouTube.

The article today, shares some of my favorite snowflake activities.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.  

Start things out by printing, laminating and trimming a set of snowflake alphabet cards.  Use them as a border, independent center or to play a variety of games with.  I've also included a blank set so that you can program with whatever.  Click on the link to view/download the snowflake alphabet cards.

I think home-school connections are very important.  I designed a bulletin board activity each month, where students spent some quality time with their families, doing a themed-writing prompt craftivity. 

This family snowflake was the one for January.  Use blue foil wrapping paper for the background and suspend some plastic snowflakes from the ceiling for that extra bit of pizzazz.  Click on the link to view/download the Family Snowflake "craftivity."

Another awesome bulletin board involving snowflakes, is my Snowflake Writing Prompt Strips.  Run off a variety of color choices so that you will have a really vivid bulletin board.  These look wonderful on a black background spritzed with silver glitter spray. 

Students can write their resolutions, favorite things about winter, or something for your Martin Luther King Jr. activities.  I had my kiddo's write what they dreamed they'd some day be.

Click on the link to view download the Snowflake Writing Prompt Bulletin Board Craftivitiy.

One of the biggest down falls of snow with little ones, is that it's such a chore geting them dressed in all of their winter gear.

It would take some of my slowpokes so long, that by the time they waddled like a penguin out the door, the bell would ring to come inside!

To expedite things, I made up this poster of the order of how they should dress.  Before I did this, I invariably had more than just a few kiddo's start by putting their boots or mittens on first.  We've all been there I'm sure. 

Having a race to see who could be the first one dressed, or which team got lined up the quickest, really helped too.  Click on the link to print one for your hallway. Getting Dressed Poster

A matching easy reader about getting dressed is entitled: Let's Go! Let's Play in the Snow.  It's a great way to review ordinal numbers too. The packet includes traceable word cards, picture cards, a graphing extension, a compound word worksheet, as well as one on contractions.   Click on the link to grab it.

Finally, one has to make a few snow angels before everything melts.  Review 2D shapes with this Shapely Snow Angel easy reader.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.  I design and blog daily, so I hope you can breeze on by tomorrow to see all of the newest FREEBIES.

"The Eskimos had 52-names for snow because it was so important to them.  There ought to be as many for love." -Margaret Atwood

3 pages.

Here are 16 January writing prompts to help your students WANT to write, by giving them some interesting and fun writing prompts to jumpstart their creative minds, they will be excited to get down to business.  A nice plug in for the writing portion of your Daily 5 activities too.

1-2-3 Come Do Some Fun New Year Activities With Me

Each month I tried to introduce more vocabulary words to my students.  It was always amazing to me, that my Y5's had no clue what some of the simple seasonal words meant and some of my kiddo's had never even heard the words before.

With that in mind, I designed this ABC New Year booklet.  It was fun and challenging to think of words with a New Year-theme that started with each letter.  

You can make one for each student so they can trace and write the words, or you can simply make a teacher's copy and share a page a day for the first week back after break. 

As you read the booklet, have students shoot up their hand if you come to a word they are unfamiliar with, and take a moment to define it. Discuss the words and what they mean.  See if they can come up with anymore and add them to the list.

For individual practice have children write that day's words in their writing journals or student-made dictionaries. This makes a wonderful Daily 5 word work activity too.  Click on the link to view/download the New Year's Alphabet Booklet.

Since the New Year revolves around time, I thought it would be interesting to design a New Year easy reader, that takes a child from noon, on New Year's Eve, to ringing in the New Year at Midnight. 

You can send the booklet home to be completed with their family, and then returned, or have this ready to go on students' desks for their first day back after break.  Children trace and write the digital time to the hour + draw the appropriate hands on the analog clock. 

The story ends with a writing prompt about what children did on New Year's Day and how they celebrated.   Click on the link Happy New Year Telling Time Booklet.

I've made 3 matching Happy New Year cards to go with this booklet.  They make a nice little surprise tucked on or in their desk when they return from break.  Click on the link to grab them.

Venn diagrams are an easy and fun way to help students understand the concepts of comparison and contrast.  They are a great precursor to help students write that type of paper, and are extremely helpful for the visual learner.  Click on the link to take a look at 7 Venn diagrams with a New Year's theme.

Finally, my first graders especially enjoyed making class books. 

Students complete the writing prompt and share their page with the class; collect, collate add a cover and you have a student-made book for your classroom library. 

I had a special book basket for these.  My students enjoyed looking at their endeavors.  You could really see the improvement that happened as the months flew by and the basket filled up. They are great to share during parent visits and conferences too.

 Click on the link to view/download the 3 writing prompt pages for a New Year's class book.

For 16 more writing prompts for January, click on the link. These are great for the writing portion of your Daily 5, or interesting ideas for your students' writing journals.

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I hope you can pop back tomorrow for the newest FREEBIE. Wishing you a blessed New Year!

"I think in terms of the day's resolutions, not the years'." -Henry Moore 

1-2-3 Come Do Some New Year Craftivities With Me!

I wanted to get some “Happy New Year!” items designed and posted before you leave for Christmas break, so you can get a few things ready for when your kiddo’s return, before you take off that teacher hat and truly relax.  

Start things out by leaving a bookmark on or inside your students' desks, as a sweet surprise when they come back.  I've taped a lollipop on the back of mine, that they can quietly suck on while they do their morning tabletop lessons.  Click on the link to print some off now.  Happy New Year bookmark.

The Place Value “Happy New Year!” craftivity can be done as a whole-group or independent center. Students trace and write the numbers, cut them out, arrange them in correct order to form the New Year and then glue them under the appropriate place value “door.”

The last door helps children practice subtraction as they subtract the year they were born, from the New Year, to get their age. It’s self correcting, because they know how old they are!

Before hand, demonstrate yours on the board to review how this is done. Even when I was in my 20’s children always thought that was so “old!” Click on the link to view/download the Place Value New Year craftivity.

Some of my kiddo’s had not mastered counting backwards from 10 to 0, so I designed the New Year’s Glitter Ball Slider to help them practice.   Even little ones are familiar with the New York, Times Square countdown ball, so this was a great Segway.  

I’ve also included a strip to count from 20.   Add some silver glitter for that extra bit of pizzazz. I had my kiddo’s crouch down and then jump up and yell “Happy New Year!” when we got to zero. Click on the link to view/download the Happy New Year Countdown Slider.

When one thinks about the New Year, it’s inevitable that a few resolutions come to mind. This was a new word for my Y5’s, so I presented it as a promise to themselves, of what they’d like to improve on.  

With that in mind I designed some New Year word art craftivities last year, using Tagxedo, one of my favorite educational sites. You can set this up as an independent computer center for students to think up their own designs and words.

The packet has a list of 68-positive "resolution" words + an ABC booklet for students to "improve" alphabetically.

Click on the link for this great verb reinforcement tool and vocabulary builder.  New Year's Word Art Craftivities.

For more parts of speech practice,  I know your kiddo's will enjoy playing the Fractured New Year writing prompt game.  Students take turns rolling the dice to fill in a word from the adjective, noun or verb list, which creates a hilarious story. 

When everyone has completed the game, have students read their stories aloud, and enjoy all of the giggles.  Click on the link for Fractured New Year fun.

Finally, I’ve also designed a New Year's graphic organizer for students to fill in with some interesting writing prompts.

  Children can draw a picture of themselves or glue a photo to the center oval.

Thanks for visiting today. Feel free to PIN away. I hope you can stop by tomorrow for the newest FREEBIES.

"Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passsed." -Cavett Robert

10 pages.

Practice place value with this fun craftivity.  Students trace, write, cut and glue the numbers under the appropriate "doors" that flip up, to reveal the year.  Students practice subtraction by subtracting the year they were born, from the New Year to get their age. 

5 pages.

I made these every year as a Christmas gift for my students.  I've also done these as a whole-group activity with 4 to 13 year-old's.  You can also use a pipe cleaner bent over the head and hot glued on either side of the ball.  Add a pom pom on each side to cover the "ends" and wahla you have ear muffs.

1-2-3 Come Do Some Winter Craftivities With Me!

Hopefully things are winding down this last week of school before Christmas Break.  If you're looking for a few last-minute things for your kiddo's to do, you've come to the right place.  Here are some quick, easy and simple activities, I think your students will enjoy. 

Since the 3D cylinder shape was always the "toughy" for my Y5's to wrap their heads around,  I tried to do several projects each month involving that shape.  The cylinder-shaped Santa windsock, was one of their favorites.  I made Santa's beard by tracing their hand once and then cutting it out 4 times.

Children work on a flat surface; when they are done, then help them roll their Santa into a cylinder shape.  Pulled-cotton and glitter, add those finishing touches. Punch a hole in the top, tie a yarn loop, so it can hang from the ceiling. 

Review the triangle, oval, and circle shapes as well.  If you have your kiddo's do a craft on party day, these are great as a whole-group, or independent center activity. 

To expedite things, make sure you trace and cut their hand prints the day before. Click on the link to view/download the Keepsake Hand Print Santa

Quite a few of my favorite Christmas Stories involve mice, so I thought it would be fun to design a sweet treat for my Y5's, featuring this Christmas character.  You can review the oval shape with this craftivity as well.  His ears are heart-shaped.

I don't buy peppermint candy canes for my kiddo's, as when we graphed whether they liked peppermint or not, most of them did not. 

This was true every year, so I looked for the flavored candy canes.  You can get a box of a dozen at The Dollar Store.  Wiggle eyes and a pom pom nose added extra pizzazz.

You can make these for your students as a gift, but I liked doing them as a craftivity the last day of school.  I used silver wallpaper for a sparkling effect.  You could also glue metallic wrapping paper to tag board.  Click on the link to view/download the Christmas Mouse.

Another peppermint activity I call "Me Mints."  I made the larger one out of a sturdy 8-inch paper plate.  Students striped the edges.  Enlarge a photo, cut into a circle and mount it in the center of the plate. 

Wrap with clear cellophane.  (You can buy it by the roll at The Dollar Store.)  Twist the ends and tie with curling ribbon. 

These make a super bulletin board boarder, or have students glue the "greeting" to the back and suspend from the ceiling. 

I also made a "Mini Mint" ornament template for you. Run off the peppermint candy.  Students color with markers and glue to a circle of tag board. Follow the above directions to complete this "Awww-dorable" craftivity.  Click on the link to grab this FREEBIE.

Finally, Wally,The Wallpaper Snowman, would be fun to do on the last day, so that you would have some winter decorations up when your students return from Christmas vacation. 

If you look closely, you'll see that Wally's face is textured.  I made the circles out of embossed wallpaper.  You can buy a roll of white textured wallpaper for less that $5, or visit a paint, wallpaper, or home-decor store, where they sell wallpaper, and ask if you could have or buy a sample book. 

I used these sample books for die cuts, banners, backgrounds, and stationery for my students to write on.  I've included 4 winter writing prompts so that students have a choice.

Children write a rough draft and when they have finalized it, they write it on the circle and glue it to the back of Wally.  These look wonderful dangling from the ceiling.  Click on the link to view/download Wally,The Wallpaper Snowman Writing Prompt Dangler.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.  I design and blog daily, so I hope you have the time to drop by tomorrow for even more FREEBIES.

"I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year." - Charles Dickens from A Christmas Carol

7 pages.

Packet includes a paper plate "Me Mint" perfect for a December bulletin board border + a smaller Me Mint ornament. 

8 pages.

Look closely and you will see that the snowman's face is textured, and made out of embossed wallpaper.  Wally, the Wallpaper Snowman looks terrific dangling from the ceiling, as there is a writing prompt on the back.  (There are 4 to choose from in the packet.)

14 pages.

Equal parts of non-menthol shaving cream and Elmer's glue, will make an awesome-snowy frosting, that really puffs up when it dries! The results are simply amazing.