We are going to the Zoo! You can come too!

We are going on a field trip to the zoo. So we thought it would be fun to end the year learning about zoo animals! Here is a new quilt I made this year with my little Zookeepers!

The safari band on the hat is from some leopard print boarder I cut up. It added a little pizazz!

This is a quilt I made two years ago. The yellow patch is decorated with marble paint. The idea is in my Rain Forest Adventures available  on TPT.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be posting lots of fun Zoo and Safari ideas so check back soon

Shiver Me Timbers! It’s Pirates! Plus a Freebie ARRRR!

Kindergarteners love Pirates! Here are some fun activities you can do with your little Scalawags! I borrowed a costume from a child in my class and we all got our picture taken. ARRR!

One year I put their picture on the front of their “Where's my Gold” mini book! This story is in my Pirate Pack available on tpt.

Here are two of my Favorite books to read! The book Do Pirates take Baths? we turned into a mini book for a Literacy centers activity.

The majority of our Pirate week was completed during literacy centers! We even wore Pirate hats during write room!

These are the cute little guys who graced the  covers of our books this year! The patterns are also in my Pirate Pack!

Pirate Thinking maps! Very cool and the writing I got my little pirates to do was so fun and creative. I have a few samples below!

We used pirate writing sticks to help us with our stories. I don’t have a picture of them cut out but you print them on cardstock, cut out and hot glue a skewer to the back (pointed side in the glue) then put in a vase or pot and my little pirates  used them in their writing. Here is her link for the freebie

Pirate writing sticks

These are some samples of some Pirate bulletin boards I have done in the past!The treasure chests are made from paper bags painted brown. Inside is a message of what they would buy with their gold. The writing frame is included in my Pirate Pack linked above.

Just for fun we added metallic pipe cleaners for earrings!Pirate Stew is Good For You! These patterns are included in my Oceans of Fun available on TPT.

This Jolly Pirate graph, graphed our favorite sea creatures.

News paper Pirate hats! We listed all kinds of Pirate names like “Peg Leg Peter” and “Princess Pearl” and of course a few were a bit more gory “Pirate Bloody Eye” and “Pirate Saw Leg”!

How to Make Paper Pirate hats

The last time I had an Ocean Open House we made this fun poster for our classroom door.

These little guys are the cutest ever! My team mate who teaches TK made these tp roll pirates. They are a riot! They even include real lace shirts and plastic cocktail swords! Inside is their writing about what they would buy with their treasure.

We ended the week with Pirate Pancakes!Yummy X marks the spot with a gold coin!

Kinder Caféé

My Little pirates also enjoyed wring to each other during literacy centers!

Let's write a Letter

Pirate Pete has many books in his collection! My Little Pirates love this one!

 

Kim’s throwing a SALE on TPT!! Mother’s Day Fun! ***Plus a Freebie

I’m making a quick addition to this blog post to let you know I’m joining the sale on TPT for Teacher Appreciation days May 7th and 8th! Click here to go to My Store and start saving today!

Mother’s day is next Sunday so during our literacy center time next week we will be making a fun card. The front has a pocket/flowerpot and little flowers are  put in side. I got the flowers from Lakeshore. Use your teacher coupons and save!  Lakeshore flowers You get a ton of flowers in this one little bag!  Inside the kids will write a Mother's day message.

My local Lakeshore had several fun projects today! This one my daughter made me! Their sample said “I Love you this much!”.  Really cute and easy.

This is a sample of the Mother’s day gifts we are making in class this year. I buy the frames at Michaels in the dollar bin. The children paint them and then we used beads, glitter and the fun flowers to decorate. On the back is a Mothers Day poem. I forgot to take a picture on that!

These are our spring hats that we used for our photos a better picture is on my website kinderbykim.com  March Hats

We made this really fun project today at Lakeshore too! This cool dough hardens over night and my daughter (5 years) easily made this necklace for me for Mother’s Day! The package costs $3.99 and they told me it will make 12-15 necklaces. If you you use your coupons buy one get one half off it’s only about 6 dollars for this easy no baking, no mess (really no mess) dough! I’m sold! If you are like me you all ready have beads, sequins and jewels in your craft supplies. (You have to press the jewels in then take out and put a dot of tacky glue to be sure it sticks.)

We also made a darling paper bag vase. Here is the vase pattern.

This is the May Poem for our Poetry Journals this comes from my Months and Holidays Poetry Pack on TPT. My kids will circle sight words and color as one of their activities during literacy centers

* Here is a link for the  May Poem  

Something New! Let’s write a letter!

This is my Beach Buddy Mail Center! It is one of the most popular literacy center activities in my class right now! My Children love writing letters to their friends and then mailing it in their personal mail box. A parent in my class several years ago made me this cool mail box. The children's photos are taped at the bottom of each mail slot for easy delivery. I have been busy making new stationary every month and I now have it available on TPT!

Kinderbykim's Let's Write a Letter to a Friend Stationary Pack!

The set includes 28 different cards and 8 letter writing frames.

My Children glue their friends picture on the “To” which matches the picture in the mail box. Then they write a letter inside and draw a picture for their friend.

Here is a sample letter I received. Be prepared you will get a lot of mail!

All my class photos are a Xerox copy of our class picture.Then I cut them up and put in each child’s little drawer.  I keep a big supply in this handy tool drawer from Home Depot. The best part about this center is it is so easy.I just supply the stationary and pictures and the children do the rest!

Mr.Seahorse and The Very Hungry Caterpillar! Plus a Freebie!

Eric Carle’s Mister Sea Horse! These are toilet paper rolls with tissue paper seahorses glued on. Inside they have seahorse facts!

This year we made a new project for Mr. Seahorse! Here is the cover. Inside we sorted “Cool Seahorse Facts” and “Opinions”. We created this activity to go along with our readers workshop unit “Powerful Partners” which my whole K team is using written by Kim Adsit. It is Amazing! The picture below shows how my kids sorted their facts.

Powerful Partners

The next step was to take the information they learned and write about seahorses. Then we glued it to the back. These activities were all completed during literacy centers. I did have a parent volunteer help with the reading of the seahorse facts.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Retell! This fun activity is in my Going Buggy Syllable and puppet pack. This year we made craft stick caterpillars for our retell.

After actually two fun weeks with Eric Carle we put all our activities in this pocket with Eric Carle’s picture. He is sure an amazing author!

Here is a picture of many of the activities we did. Here is a picture of Eric Carle that you can use for any activities you create.