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Terri Thompson

Shape Hopscotch Outdoor Game

May 4, 2022 By Terri Thompson

Shape hopscotch, a fun outdoor shape game, is not a new idea to us, nor is it new to this blog. (I shared it here in the very first months of this blog.)

But, I wanted to share it again for a few reasons.

First, it’s fun and we play it often.

Second, it’s easy to do and it’s a great way to get outside.

And third, both toddlers and preschoolers will love learning with this fun outdoor shape activity!

Two pictures of children playing shape hopscotch with the words shape hopscotch overlayed. You can see the children jumping on shapes drawn with sidewalk chalk on the driveway.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Set Up Your Shape Hopscotch Game

Grab a few fun colors of sidewalk chalk and a bare spot of cement.

Draw several shapes in a line; the same as you would do for a regular hopscotch game.

Get moving and learning with this fun outdoor shape activity, Shape Hopscotch. It's easy to set and so much for for preschoolers and toddlers.

I used simple shapes as a review for my 3-year old, but you could make things even harder by using octagons, polygons, and any number of shapes

Find a couple of rocks, grab the kids, and start playing.

Get moving and learning with this fun outdoor shape activity, Shape Hopscotch. It's easy to set and so much for for preschoolers and toddlers.

How to Play Shape Hopscotch

For our version, the girls took turns throwing their rock onto the shpaes. They had to hop to the shape closest to their rock.

They practiced jumping on one foot and they also had to name each shape as they landed in it.

For these two, the hopping on one foot was a much bigger challenge than naming the shape.

Get moving and learning with this fun outdoor shape activity, Shape Hopscotch. It's easy to set and so much for for preschoolers and toddlers.

Shape Hopscotch Variations

You can mix up this game any way you want!

If you’re playing with toddlers, just have them jump (or run) to each shape and then name the shapes as they stand in them. If they’re just learning their shapes, you can call out the name of the shape. This is such a fun and active way to learn shapes!

You can also call out a shape and have your kids run to that shape.

Practice your gross motor skills by hopping, standing on one foot, skipping, etc. The possibilities are endless.

The best part is that it gets you outside and gets your kids moving!

Have you ever played shape hopscotch?

Get moving and learning with this fun outdoor shape activity, Shape Hopscotch. It's easy to set and so much for for preschoolers and toddlers.

Find more shape activities here:

Get Crafty: Shape Collages

Shape Hunt

Driveway Shape Maze

10 Shape Activities for Toddlers at Hands On As We Grow

12 Shapes Themed Sensory Bins for Preschoolers at Fun With Mama

Fun Toys for Learning Outside

It doesn’t take fancy toys to learn outside. In fact, a package of sidewalk chalk is about all you need. But, if you want to kick it up a few notches, here are some fun tools and toys for learning outside.

Butterfly Paper Plate Wreath Craft

May 3, 2022 By Terri Thompson

B is for balloon, bear, and boat. And also, B is for butterfly.

We’re going to have fun with the letter B and also with butterflies with this fun craft, a Butterfly Paper Plate Wreath.

With this craft, we’ll combine a couple of different classic crafts to form one pretty wreath. It’s so much fun to make!

Let’s get started.

Create a pretty butterfly paper plate wreath with simple supplies. This is perfect for a preschool springtime unit or letter B unit.

Disclosure: CraftProjectIdeas.com provided some of the supplies we used in this project (fuzzy craft sticks and watercolors). All ideas are our own. There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Supplies Needed

Paper plate
Light blue craft paint
Scissors
1 coffee filter for each butterfly
Watercolors (We love this set from CraftProjectIdeas.com for its bright, vibrant colors.)
1 fuzzy craft stick (pipe cleaner) for each butterfly
Stapler (or tape)

How to make your Butterfly Paper Plate Wreath

Before beginning, cut out the middle of your paper plate. Depending on the age of your child, this part may best be done by an adult. Save the middle for a future craft project.

Use your light blue craft paint to paint your paper plate wreath. If you don’t want blue, use whatever color you want. We used blue to mimic the color of the sky.

While you are waiting for your wreath to dry, flatten your coffee filters. Use watercolors to paint a design on each coffee filter.

Paint a bulls-eye design (like we did above), splotches, stripes, squiggles, a solid color, or any design you desire. Get creative. Have fun!

Paint as many coffee filters as you want butterflies. We used two coffee filters per wreath, so that we could have two butterflies on our wreath.

Let your coffee filters dry completely.

Once your coffee filters are dry, it’s time to turn them into butterflies.

Take a fuzzy craft stick and bend it in half.

Gather your coffee filter in the middle and spread out the two sides (your wings).

Slip the middle of your coffee filter into your bent craft stick. Twist your craft stick both above and below your coffee filter to hold your butterfly’s shape.

Bend the two ends of your craft sticks a little so that they look like antenna.

Finally, it’s time to attach your butterflies to your wreath.

I found it easiest to use a stapler. All it took was one staple next to the craft stick to hold the butterfly in place. You could also use tape to attach your butterflies. Unfortunately, glue does not work well in this situation.

Once your butterflies are attached, your B is for Butterfly Wreath is ready to be hung up! Such a pretty kid-made decoration!

Create a pretty paper plate butterfly wreath with simple supplies. This is perfect for a preschool springtime unit or letter B unit.

You may also like one of these paper plate crafts:

A is for Apple Paper Plate Wreath

Paper Plate Tambourine Kids Craft

Phases of the Moon Mobile

Beach Themed Paper Plate Wreath at Rainy Day Mum

Create a pretty butterfly paper plate wreath with simple supplies. This is perfect for a preschool springtime unit or letter B unit.

My recommended craft supplies

This butterfly wreath is easy to make with a few craft supplies. Many of these you probably already have on hand. If not, keep a few in the craft cabinet so you can do more crafts with your kids.

Find and Tally Sight Words Activity

April 28, 2022 By Terri Thompson

Since my youngest daughter is heading into first grade in the fall, we’ve been focusing a lot on ways to learn sight words.

She’s got a great handle on some, but as you know, there are many to learn.

We’re trying to keep up the practice over the summer, but I definitely want to keep things simple.

That’s where this fun Find and Tally Sight Words activity comes in. It’s easy to prep. Simple to do. And, it’s fun.

Learn sight words with this fun reading game that adds a little math in with your reading practice with this Find and Tally Sight Words activity.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

How to set up your Find and Tally Sight Words activity

This activity was so easy to set up.

I started by making a list of sight words that my daughter needs to learn. I chose only six because I didn’t want her to be overwhelmed by too many.

Next, I made it into a pretty chart to make the activity all the more appealing. But, this is not at all necessary, you can just grab some paper and jot down a few sight words leaving room for your sight words.

Now it’s time to tally sight words!

Now, it’s time for the fun. Let’s practice our sight words!

Give your child the chart and a book. They need to go through the book and make a tally mark each time they find one of the words.

It can be slow going and they may not get through the whole book. We didn’t. Our focus was on sight word identification and not reading, so we just did a few pages. We’ll read the book together later.

At the end, add up the tally marks. Which word did you find the most often? The least?

Learn sight words with this fun reading game that adds a little math in with your reading practice. Sight Word Tallies is easy to set up and fun to play for your beginning readers.

Can I give you a quick word of advice?

I made the mistake of not comparing my list of sight words to the book when I did this with my oldest. Oops. It was a lesson in frustration. Page after page and no sight word in sight.

Take the time to make sure the sight words are actually in the book you’re using. The activity is so much more fun when you can actually find the words!

I loved this sight word activity because it was easy to prep and fun to do. Plus, it added in a bit of sneaky math practice with the tally marks.

We’ll do this fun Find and Tally Sight Words activity over and over again for a fun way to practice our sight words.

Learn sight words with this fun reading game that adds a little math in with your reading practice. Sight Word Tallies is easy to set up and fun to play for your beginning readers.

You may also like one of these sight word activities:

Sight Word Islands – get outside and practice your sight words on the driveway.

Sight Word Pick and Spell – a fun game that is similar to bingo

3 Easy Ways to Practice Sight Words – the easiest ideas ever!

Practice writing your sight words in a Dragon Sensory Writing Tray from Inspiration Laboratories.

Choose a great book for this activity:

We found success using a book that my child was already familiar with. I’d suggest you turn to your own library of books for inspiration.

You’ll want a book with several instances of the sight words you’re working on. Do check to make sure the sight words you need are in the book!

Here are some great options:

Beautiful Daffodil Crafts for Kids

April 27, 2022 By Terri Thompson

I always feel so hopeful when I first see signs of spring flowers. Don’t you?

It won’t be long until all those colorful spring flowers bloom.

Even if you still have awhile before the flowers bloom, these daffodil crafts will brighten up your home.

Celebrate spring with these beautiful daffodil crafts for kids. These spring flower crafts are so simple and so much fun to create.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Daffodil crafts for kids

You’ll find a wide variety of daffodil crafts in this list below.

There are ideas for kids of all ages. You can make a fun 3-D crafts, or a beautiful card to send to a friends.

Whether you use a paper plate or some recycled materials, let’s grab our supplies and get started creating.

Daffodil Crafts for Kids

Your kids will love to welcome spring with these beautiful daffodil crafts.

Beautiful daffodil pinwheels :: St David's Day craft

Photo Credit: nurturestore.co.uk

Have fun playing with this beautiful daffodil pinwheel that you make yourself.

Paper Plate Daffodils

Photo Credit: www.herecomethegirlsblog.com

Turn paper plates into a bouquet of daffodils.

Potato Stamped 3D Daffodil Craft

Photo Credit: www.iheartartsncrafts.com

Use potato stamps to create this pretty daffodil craft.

3d Pop Up Daffodil Card - Red Ted Art's Blog

Photo Credit: www.redtedart.com

Make a pop-up daffodil card to send you to your friends.

Create a Spring Daffodil Picture

Photo Credit: rainydaymum.co.uk

Cut and glue to make a pretty daffodil picture.

Pop Up Daffodils

Photo Credit: kidscraftroom.com

Turn paper plates and cupcake liners into gorgeous pop-up daffodils.

Daffodil Thumb Print Salt Dough Keepsake

Photo Credit: www.learningandexploringthroughplay.com

Make pretty salt dough daffodil keepsakes.

Spring Art Project for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Photo Credit: rainydaymum.co.uk

Paint pretty daffodils with this simple art invitation.

DIY Daffodil Clay Pots or Candle Holders 14

Photo Credit: www.muminthemadhouse.com

Create a gorgeous clay daffodil candle holder.

Spring Daffodil Craft

Photo Credit: clareslittletots.co.uk

Make this beautiful 3-D daffodil craft.

Cupcake Liner Daffodil Art

Photo Credit: kidsactivitiesblog.com

Turn cupcake holders into a simple daffodil craft.

Spring crafts :: beautiful daffodil bunting

Photo Credit: nurturestore.co.uk

Decorate with a beautiful daffodil bunting you made yourself.

You may also like one of these crafts for kids:

Beautiful Spring Art Projects for Kids

Butterfly Paper Plate Wreath

Rain and Raindrop Crafts for Kids

Awesome Sun Crafts for Kids

Wind Chime Crafts for Kids

Celebrate spring with these beautiful daffodil crafts for kids. These spring flower crafts are so simple and so much fun to create.

Enjoy a spring book while you create

Combine one of these beautiful daffodil crafts with a book for a wonderful family activity time. Here are a few books you may like:

Panda Reading Pointer Craft

April 25, 2022 By Terri Thompson

A reading pointer is a great tool for beginning readers. It helps them track the words on a page and trains the eyes to follow along.

You can grab any sort of reading pointer, but if you’ve got a kid that loves animals, they’re going to definitely love this fun panda reading pointer.

Use a craft stick to make this simple panda reading pointer for kids. It's a fun tool for beginning readers and animal lovers!

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Also, CraftProjectIdeas.com sent me some of the supplies used on this project. All ideas are my own.

Supplies needed for your panda reading pointer

Jumbo craft stick
White craft paint
Black craft paint
Black felt
Glue
Small googly eyes

How to make your panda bear reading pointer

First, paint the entire front and back of your craft stick with white paint. Allow it to dry completely.

While your paint is drying, cut two small circles from your black felt to use as your ears.

Once your white paint is dry, add your details with the black craft paint. Add two ovals for the eyes and a small circles underneath for the nose. Draw your simple mouth details. Finally, add two half circles under your face for your paws. Let all your black paint dry.

If you need something to do while your waiting for paint to dry, read a great book about pandas! Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas by Natasha Yim is a fun choice. It’s a Chinese American retelling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

After your paint is dry, glue your felt ears to the back of the top of your craft stick.

Attach your googly eyes on your eye ovals. I found that using self-sticking googly eyes made this step really easy!

Once your glue is dry, your reading pointer is ready to use! Let this cute panda help your child practice reading.

Make this simple panda bear reading pointer for your beginning readers.
Yield: 1 Reading Pointer

Panda Reading Pointer

Panda Reading Pointer

Make this simple panda reading pointer out of a craft stick. It's a great tool for your beginning reader.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Active Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Difficulty Easy
Estimated Cost Under $5 (depending on the supplies you already have on hand)

Materials

  • Jumbo Craft Stick
  • White Craft Paint
  • Black Craft Paint
  • Black Felt
  • Small Googly Eyes

Tools

  • Glue
  • Scissors
  • Paint Brush

Instructions

  1. Paint your entire craft stick with the white paint. Let dry.
  2. While your paint dries, cut two small circles out of your black felt for your panda's ears.
  3. Once the paint is dry, add details with your black paint. Add two ovals for your eyes and a small circle for the nose. Add a simple mouth and two half circles for your paws. Let dry.
  4. Once your black paint is dry. Glue your two ears to the back of the craft stick at the top.
  5. Add your two small eyes to the black ovals.

Notes

If you don't have any black felt you can use craft foam or black card stock instead.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

  • Apple Barrel Acrylic Paint Set, 18 Piece (2-Ounce), PROMOABI Assorted Colors I
    Apple Barrel Acrylic Paint Set, 18 Piece (2-Ounce), PROMOABI Assorted Colors I
  • Creativity Street Peel and Stick Wiggle Eyes Multi-Pack, 60 -Piece Pack (AC3437-02)
    Creativity Street Peel and Stick Wiggle Eyes Multi-Pack, 60 -Piece Pack (AC3437-02)
  • Darice Jumbo Wood Craft Sticks – Natural Color – Perfect for Craft Projects – Sturdy Wood Sticks Used for Kids Projects, Classrooms, Home, Garden and More – 5 3/4” Long, 80 Per Pack
    Darice Jumbo Wood Craft Sticks – Natural Color – Perfect for Craft Projects – Sturdy Wood Sticks Used for Kids Projects, Classrooms, Home, Garden and More – 5 3/4” Long, 80 Per Pack
© Terri Thompson
Project Type: reading pointer / Category: Crafts

You may also like one of these animal crafts

Cardboard Tube Panda Craft

Arctic Fox Camouflage Craft

Panda Mini Notebook Craft

The Cutest Panda Crafts for Kids

Panda Corner Bookmark at Red Ted Art

Use a craft stick to make this simple panda reading pointer for kids. It's a fun tool for beginning readers and animal lovers!

Use your panda bear reading pointer with one of these great books:

It would be so much fun to use your new reading pointer with a great book about pandas.

For nonfiction, try National Geographic Readers – Level 2: Pandas by Anne Schreiber.

Or, if you’re up to chapter books, try Magic Treehouse: A Perfect Time for Pandas by Mary Pope Osborne.

Here are some other books you may like:

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