Indoor Games – Masking Tape

Need to bring the summer fun indoors? Here are a few ideas using masking tape to give you some quick, easy and inexpensive games to play,

Tracks- Use masking tape to make tracks for students to play with cars on. They can even help you create the track before hand. You can also use this method to create roads and teach students about traffic signals and road safety!

Hopscotch- Hopscotch can easily be brought indoors using masking tape. Just tape the squares down to create your hopscotch course. When you are done using the course, you can easily pull up the tape and throw it away. Try using this method to create a ladder for exercising. Students can then get the exercise they need without even leaving the classroom.

         

Balance Beam- Use the tape to create a couple balance beams around the classroom and watch the gymnastics fun unfold. Try challenging your students to try different tricks such as walking backwards, jumping, or maybe even a cartwheel! Just make sure the surrounding areas are clear so there will be no bumps or bruises if things get a little wobbly.

Check back in with us here for more indoor games! In our next post, we will be featuring balloons and some of our favorite indoor games using them.

Liam-asaurus-Rex

If you enjoyed our previous post with artwork from our little friend Liam, you are guaranteed to love this one as well! Not only is this craft adorable, but it’s perfect for all ages in your daycare center. You can easily change things up and use this craft for the youngest in your center and the oldest in your center. We will give you some ideas on how! Let’s get started.

Little Ones – For the little ones you can print off a dinosaur onto printer paper to make the base. Next, using just one of their hands, paint the palm and fingers the color of your choice. Now you are ready to add the handprints. Continue this process until you have as many handprints as you need.

Older Students – For older students let them draw their own dinosaur before adding the handprints. This will give them the chance to get creative and use their imaginations. You will love the unique dinosaurs that they come up with!

For a fun addition you can name each dinosaur after the student that created it. For example, Liam’s dinosaur is the Liam-asaurus-Rex. Try having the older students make up their own creative names for their dinosaurs!

DIY Lawn Games for Kids

Summer is the best time to get the kids outside so they can enjoy the sunshine. Here is a fun list of DIY lawn games for you to add to your childcare’s game time or even to your own backyard!

Lawn Twister – This one is easy to create! Just take spray paint in red, green, blue and yellow and spray circles of each color to make your board. You will have 4 columns with 6 of each color in them. You can have someone call out the color and which hand or foot should be placed, make your own spinner, or use the original one from the game itself.

Lawn Bowling – Take this classic game to the outdoors with 2 liter bottles and a playground ball. Set your pins up like normal or get creative and make crazy obstacles for the kids to try to knock down! Make sure you set this up on a flat surface so the ball stays rolling towards it’s target. You will need to fill the bottles with water or sand to make them a little more challenging to knock down. Try adding food coloring to the water or even painting the bottles to give them a fun, new look!

Lawn Tic Tac Toe – Using a square of fabric or tarp, take your favorite colored masking tape and separate the square into 9 smaller squares. The tape should look like a number sign when complete. Then you will need Frisbees or bean bags for the game pieces. You will want to have at least 5 pieces in each color to give you a total of 10. To add an extra challenge, try throwing your pieces into the squares. If the piece doesn’t make it in, then that square is still open and available for the next player to play in! Now its a game of strategy and accuracy!

Roaring Dinosaur Footprints

Take a fun step into the world of the Dinosaurs with this footprint dinosaur craft that can be used for all ages in your daycare center! This craft is super simple to achieve. Start by painting the sole of your student’s foot. You will want to do just one foot at a time to avoid a mess. Once you have painted a good, even layer have the student step down onto the center of their paper. For babies, you can do the printing for them by adding a book behind the paper and pressing their foot onto it as they are laying down.

Don't forget to clean off that foot before moving on! Some baby wipes will do just the trick!

Next, repeat that same process with the other foot. Their big toe will line up right on top of their other big toe print to create a jaw line for their dinosaur. You will want to give the paint a few minutes to dry before moving on.

Now we are ready to add on the details of our dinosaur. Grab a wiggle eye and place it in the upper middle section of the top foot to add some life to the dinosaur. Let’s not forget to add his teeth! Add a line of teeth in a zigzag formation towards the heel of each foot to make a roaring dinosaur effect. You can also add to your dinosaur by writing words like “ROAR” or “T-Rex”! For older students, let them take their decorating to the next level by having them draw on a body for their dinosaur.

POPular Summer Snacks for Sunny Days

These cool and refreshing snack Pops are perfect for summer time with your kiddos! In just a few simple steps you can create healthy snacks to help kids cool down on a hot summer’s day. Not only will you love the easy set up with just a few ingredients, but your children will also love the great tastes of these pops!

Banana Pops – Banana Pops are the perfect replacement for your normal unhealthy ice cream bars. Just unpeel your bananas and cut them in half. Take your popsicle sticks and stick them in the cut end of the banana. Then, you will want to place them in the refrigerator for an hour.

After that you can pull them out and add on your chocolate. You can use dark chocolate to keep it healthy! Try adding on different nuts, coconut or even a few sprinkles to add on some extra flavor and color. Your children are guaranteed to go bananas for these pops!

PureFUN! Juice Pops – Take your juice to the next level by creating PureFUN! Juice Pops! You will need to start by setting up your cups. You can use whatever size you think would make the right serving for your children. Now you can take the PureFUN! Juice flavor of your choice and pour it into each cup. Once each cup has been filled, cover the tops of the cups with aluminum foil and punch a popsicle stick through the top of each one. Place the pops in the freezer and wait for them to freeze. Now you have the perfect summer treat that can be changed to a variety of different flavors!

Try adding fresh fruit to your cups before adding the juice to give your popsicles a little something extra!

Watermelon Pops – This is probably the most simple option of our favorites. You will need to go ahead and cut up a watermelon into slices. Then take a few cookie cutters in fun shapes and cut out of the watermelon slices with them. After you have all of your shapes cut out, stick a lollipop stick into the bottom. Now you have a quick and simple treat for students to enjoy! They will love seeing all the different shapes used. This is perfect for getting little ones to choose a healthier option too!

Summer Sandals

 

Looking for a craft that could be used for all ages in your daycare center? This craft is perfect for you! With just paint, construction paper and chenille stems you can easily create this adorable craft with your students. That includes the babies too! Our 4 month old friend, Liam’s, feet are pictured above.

Start by painting the bottoms of your student’s feet. Then print them onto the construction paper. For students that can stand, you may find it easier to do one foot a time. This way they can stand on one foot while painting and printing the other. Be sure to clean that foot before moving on to the next one. Otherwise you may end up with footprints across your classroom floor!

Next, cut out each footprint in the shape of sandals. You will want to make sure that there is enough room between each foot when printing to cut around the footprints.

Allow the paint some time to dry and then it’s time to make the straps. You can do this by folding the chenille stem in half. The fold will go in between the big toe and second toe. The other side of each strand will go on each side of the middle of the foot. You can pre-punch holes before hand or use the metal center of the stems to puncture the paper and stick stems through.

You could always hot glue the chenille stems into place if you want to avoid making cuts in the footprints!

Now you have an adorable craft that can be done with all ages in your center.

From Plastic to Planters!

It’s the perfect time to bring some of that beautiful greenery inside to enjoy! Here’s an easy craft to do with your students that will definitely sprout some imagination.

Here’s what you will need: Water bottle, Construction Paper, Markers, String, Hole Punch, Soil and a Plant of Your Choice

Step 1. Cut the water bottle just below the bottom of the label. You will want to keep the end that has the cap on it so you can drain the water inside if needed.

Step 2. Decorate your water bottle planter. You can get creative here! Try wrapping with construction paper and decorating with stickers or markers. If you have the time you could even paint them!

Step 3. Take your hole punch and make a hole below the top rim. Add a string through the hole to provide a hanger for your planter.

Step 4. Add your soil and your plant of choice. Now you can hang it up and enjoy!

Don’t forget to water your plant as needed!

“Bee” Strong and Courageous Craft

My mom is a preschool teacher here in Georgia and her class is the Honey Bee Class. This week they made the sweetest craft using a verse from the bible, Joshua 1:9, and a few thumb prints to make three bees. The verse reads “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Her students will be graduating preschool in just a few days. What a perfect reminder for them as they move on to Elementary School of what they can “bee” as they continue to grow!

She started by writing out the letters how she wanted and then copying the page for each student to have. You could also let the students do the words themselves depending on their age group.

Each bee is a finger print. The top one is hers, the middle her assistant’s and the bottom one is the student’s. All she did was paint the thumb with yellow paint, printed them where she wanted and then let them dry. She then took markers and made each bee unique.

Spring Cleaning Around Your School – Get Your Students Involved!

Looking for a helping hand for wrapping up spring cleaning in your classroom? I know of a few little helpers that would love to be of service! The chore of spring cleaning can easily become a game for students when we get a little creative with our classroom cleaning. Here are a few ideas that can get your students involved and help you cross some things off your list.

Have students sort out pencils, crayons and markers. They can go through items like these and take out the ones that have seen better days. Try placing one on each table and having the students take out bad crayons, dried out markers or broken pencils. The first table to complete their box and have it repacked neatly wins!

A favorite of mine from my own elementary days was when our teachers would bring out the shaving cream! It’s a blast for the kids and perfect for cleaning off tables. All you do is spray shaving cream on the desks or tables. Students can then free draw, play games like tic tac toe or connect the dots, or even work on spelling or math problems. Try writing a problem on the board and having students solve it in their shaving cream.

Tip! Want to avoid getting shaving cream on their clothes? A can liner makes the perfect cover. Just flip it upside down and cut three holes for their head and arms. Voila! Now they have their own artist’s smock.

Clean up for this activity is a breeze. Once the shaving cream has dissolved just wipe the remainder off with a paper towel. Now you have clean tables and an activity that your students will be talking about all summer long!

Spring Cleaning Around Your School – Get Reorganized!

 

 

It’s time to get reorganized! We encourage you to take this on one spot at a time. Trying to tackle the entire room at once can become overwhelming. Break it down and get excited over the accomplishments for each day. You can even stick papers in a bin and take them home to organize if needed. Now, lets get started on conquering those piles we made in our last post!

First we need to think about where these piles will go. You may find it helpful to invest in a few bins, shelves or organizers. This way you can make sure everything has a place to stay for the entire year. It will make things easy to find when you need them too! You can even try adding small plastic baskets to drawers for better organization.

Need help remembering where things go? Want to make sure everyone else knows where to find things and where to put them away? We suggest that you label everything! You can go the cutesy route and get some decorative labels or even just take some tape and write on it with a sharpie. Either way it is guaranteed to help keep things neat and organized all year long!

You can take this a step further by color coding materials. For example, all red folders for math will go in the red bin and all blue folders for reading will go in the blue bin. It may take a bit of work now, but it will save you a lot of time in the future!

What are your favorite classroom organizing tips and tricks? Let us know in the comments below!

Spring Cleaning Around Your School – Let it Go!

Spring has finally arrived! That means it’s time for a good Spring Cleaning in your classroom! For the month of April we will be sharing with you all of our favorite spring cleaning tips and tricks. We want to help you enjoy your summer as long as you can. Follow these steps and you will be able to have a stress free end of the school year as well as an easy set up for the beginning of the next school year!

This might be a hard concept for some teachers, but our first tip involves getting rid of some things. Here’s the rule; If you haven’t used it all year, then let it go! These items are only cluttering your cabinets. You can get started by separating items into piles. There will be a pile for things to keep, a pile for trash and one for donations. By making a donation pile you can pass on the stuff you aren’t using, that is still in good condition, to a teacher in need. It makes giving things up a little less painful when you are giving it to a good cause!

Keep in mind that the more you let go of, the more room you have for new material! You can check out www.purefunsupply.com for all of our teacher resources, arts and crafts, classroom furniture and more! Be sure to check back in for more Spring Cleaning tips for the classroom.

Shamrock Snack

This adorable snack is both festive and easy! Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a little Shamrock Snack.

Here’s what you will need: Pretzels, Rolo Candy, Green M&Ms, Lollipop Sticks (optional), Baking Sheet and Pan or Plates

Start by placing 3 pretzels together with the bottoms touching as seen in the 3rd picture. Next, take a Rolo and place it on top. You will want to warm the Rolo a bit so that it can be easily smushed without breaking the pretzel.

Tip! If you do not have access to an oven, try placing them by the window to get a little warmth from the sun. Just keep an eye on them so they don’t melt!

With your Rolo in place, smush a green M&M into it’s center. You can then add the lollipop stick to make it stand up.

You will want to let the Rolos harden after construction. Place them in a refrigerator for faster results. Again, if you are doing this in the classroom, you can place them out of the sunlight and allow the candy to harden.

Now you have a sweet, Shamrock Snack to hand out to your students, or even help them create in class!

Sickness Prevention

It can be challenging to keep your little ones from catching the illnesses that spread easily in classroom settings. This is especially true in the cold weather months! We want to help you avoid those sick days at home with a few of our favorite tips and tricks that will help keep you and your students germ free and healthy!

1. Wash your hands. This is a simple step but often a missed one. Washing your hands thoroughly and often will help you to decrease the amount of germs that you will encounter during the day. It is important that you remind your students to wash their hands more often and show them how to do it correctly. You can even provide a hand sanitizer for quick germ prevention throughout the day.

2. Sanitize your classroom. The more often you can do this, the better. This can mean cleaning your tables, toys, diaper changing stations and more. Sanitizer Wipes or Sprays are perfect for a quick clean up. We suggest making this a weekly event to ensure a clean classroom environment.

3. Build immunity. It is important to have an overall healthy lifestyle to help fight sicknesses and ultimately prevent them. By eating healthy, exercising regularly and getting enough sleep, you can build your body’s immunity. This will give your body the extra strength it needs to fight the germs that you encounter every day.

Have a sickness prevention tip that works well in your classroom? We would love to hear from you! Just leave us a comment down below.

Books!

 

How To Motivate Students to do their Best Work in 2015

Looking for ways to get the best work out of your students in 2015? Here are a few things you can do to motivate them to give their best effort.

Set Goals- Goal Setting is a great motivator for students of all ages. Each individual student should have goals to reach that meet their specific learning abilities. You can even make class goals! To make this even more effective, you can make a goal sheet so that the goals become visual to the students. They will enjoy seeing themselves climb to new heights and reach each goal along the way. Incentive pads are a great way to inspire and track progress as well!

Show Enthusiasm!- Your Students will be inspired by your excitement. By showing enthusiasm, students will feed off of your attitude and mimic your excitement. You can also get them excited about learning by making things fun! Turn the activity into a game or an art project. You can even allow students to work together as a team. They will then be inspired by one another to do their best!

Expect Their Best Work- Let students know that you are aware of their potential and that you want to see their very best effort. You can create a positive competition by having children compete with their best record or best score. Make sure that you allow a chance for improvement when they fall short. You can give them feedback that will encourage their best work and help them to obtain it. Be careful not to discourage and always keep it positive!

Give Praise- When students give their best work, let them know! Be specific when telling them what you like or when you see improvement. Make sure to give praise when effort is being made. This will inspire students to continue in their work and not give up on it.

Reward Good Work- Students love to be rewarded for their hard work. This can be achieved in several ways. You can give prizes like stickers, badges and awards or hang good work on the wall for all to see. Maybe they get to go to the treasure box or even attend a special pizza party during snack time. They will love earning prizes and bringing things home to show Mom and Dad.