Learning Activities for Kids

Paper Plate Layers of the Earth Project

January 9, 2019 By Terri Thompson

I would go back to elementary school right now if I could have Ms. Frizzle as a teacher. Would you?

Imagine all the adventures!

Luckily, it’s just as much fun to pick up on the Magic School Bus books and head off on a field trip. I just love these books. They’re packed full of fun, facts, and learning. And, they inspire so many fun activities.

This time we’re learning a bit about earth science with this Paper Plate Layers of the Earth Project.

Have fun learning about earth science with this simple Paper Plate Layers of the Earth Project inspired by The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth.

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This fun (and very simple) earth science activity was inspired by The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen. (As a matter of fact, this book has inspired several other project too. I can’t wait!)

In this book, the kids and Ms. Frizzle travel deep inside the earth. They (and your own kids) learn all about rocks, the make-up of our planet, caves, and all sorts of fun earth science information.

Supplies needed for this layers of the Earth activity

The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth by Joanne Cole and Bruce Degen
1 paper plate per project
Pencil
Dark brown, orange, yellow, and lighter brown craft paint
Black marker

How to Make Your Paper Plate Layers of the Earth Project

Flip your paper plate over. We’ll be creating on the bottom of our paper plate.

For most of our layers, we’ll be using the markings on our paper plate as a guide. But, to start with, use your pencil to draw the inner core in the middle of the paper plate. Paint the small middle circle dark brown.

Next, paint the outer core. use the orange paint to paint up to the circular line on your plate.

Paint the textured section yellow for your mantle and finally paint a thin strip of light brown around the outer edge of your plate for your crust.

Feel free to change up these colors. You can use whatever colors you want!

Once all your paint has dried, use your black marker to label the layers of the earth.

Your center circle is the inner core, next layer is the outer core, then the mantle, and finally the crust.

If you make this project in conjunction with reading The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth, you can learn about each of the layers and what they are made up of. This layers of the earth activity is a great complement to the book.

My Must-Have Resources for Science Fun

I don’t know about you, but I don’t always have time to prep a fun science project. That’s why I love Green Kid Crafts Discovery boxes. The boxes are packed full of projects that are fun and inviting. You can choose to get a subscription or a one-off box based off of a specific theme. Any one you choose would be a lot of fun!

Here are some of our favorites (you can purchase and find out more at each link):

Get a monthly subscription.

Kitchen Science Box

Physics Box

Find all their fun STEM and science boxes here.

STEAM Family Activities

Wouldn’t it be so much fun to get STEAM family activities delivered to your inbox? I think so! That’s why I’ve created this fun series, STEAM Family Fun, to be delivered to your inbox. After going through all the letters in STEAM each week with a fun activity devoted to each, you’ll start receiving a fun STEAM activity once a month. (And I’ll also pop up in your inbox occasionally if I’ve got other fun things to share.)

Fill out the form below to start receiving STEAM Family Fun in your inbox.

Arctic Fox Camouflage Craft

January 8, 2019 By Terri Thompson

We’ve been learning a lot about Arctic animals lately, and we decided to take a look at the Arctic fox. To show off what we learned, we came up with this fun Arctic Fox Camouflage craft.

Learn all about the arctic fox and camouflage with this fun Arctic Fox Camouflage craft and activity for kids. It's a fun way to learn!

It all started when my 4-year-old recently picked up a book about Arctic foxes at the library and requested we learn about them. Absolutely! (This tends to happen a lot, which is why my girls and I know many interesting tidbits about different animals.)

The Arctic fox turned out to be much more fascinating than I first thought. One thing that stood out for all of us was how different the fox looked in winter and summer.

This simple observation turned into a fun lesson in camouflage and how animals adapt to their surroundings.

We also did an easy art project based on what we learned to provide a visual reminder of how the Arctic fox uses camouflage.

Supplies Needed:

Construction paper (blue, white, brown)
Ruler
Paint (white, brown, green)
Scissors
Glue
Black marker

Create your Arctic Fox Camouflage craft

Before beginning the project, I used a ruler to draw a line down the middle of our blue paper.

One half for the summer and the other half for the winter. We used our white paint to create a snowy landscape for our winter Arctic fox.

We then used our brown and green paint to create our summer landscape

The Arctic tundra is not lush and green in the summer. Instead, you will see more dirt and rocks with low-lying plants. (This picture from National Geographic is a good example of what you would see.)

Once our painted landscapes were complete, use cut simple fox figures from our construction paper.

We made the winter fox from white paper and the summer fox from brown paper. We then used our black marker to draw the details.

My preschooler observed that the Arctic fox was both brown and black in the summer, so she added some black stripes and patches with the marker.

Once the paint was dry, we glued our foxes onto the correct landscape.

We then used our marker to label the different scenes summer and winter.

Once we were done we had a great reminder of how the Arctic foxes uses camouflage and adapts to its surroundings with this fun Arctic Fox Camouflage craft.

Note: This post was first published on January 23, 2014. Updated and republished on January 5, 2019.

Read a Great Book About Arctic Foxes

You can find out so much about arctic foxes in a good book. Here are some great choices of nonfiction arctic fox books, plus one fun fiction choice!

Arctic Fox: A Day in the Life: Polar Animals by Katie Marsico

Elementary Explorers: Arctic Foxes by Victoria Blakemore

Arctic Foxes: Animals That Live in the Tundra by Maeve T. Sisk

Nora: The Arctic Fox Fairy (Rainbow Magic Fairies) by Daisy Meadows

Are you looking for more kids activities?

Join our fun Facebook community, Creative Family Fun for Busy Families, for daily activities that are great for kids and families. We’ll chat, share, and have fun. It’s a safe and private place to share ideas for family and kids activities.

I’d love for you to join me! Just click the link below, request to join, and answer the questions (they’re easy, I promise). Come join the fun! Join the Creative Family Fun for Busy Families community here.

One Fish Two Fish Number Match

January 7, 2019 By Terri Thompson

I haven’t met too many kids who don’t like Dr. Seuss books. My girls definitely love them.

It’s hard to choose a favorite, but One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish is definitely on the top of the list.

It’s very nonsensical, but great for new readers.

The book is also so much fun for a read aloud, and would work great paired up with a fun math activity, like this One Fish Two Fish Number Match Game.

This One Fish Two Fish number match activity is a fun way to practice numbers and counting. It's a fun math game for preschool and kindergarten.

This game is simple to prep and it’s fun math practice for your preschoolers and kindergartners.

Grab your copy of the book and let’s get started making our One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish number match activity!

Supplies Needed:

Red Construction Paper
Blue Construction Paper
Scissors
Black Marker

How to make your One Fish Two Fish number match game:

You will need 10 red fish and 10 blue fish. You should be able to get at least 10 fish from each piece of construction paper.

To make it more simple, create a simple template for yourself. Cut out one fish and trace it to make the rest of your fish.

Once you have your fish cut out, write the numbers 1 through 10 on your red fish. Use dots to represent each of the numbers on your blue fish.

Ways to play:

Mix up your blue fish, then mix up your red fish. Have your child match each number fish to its corresponding dot fish.

Play a memory game. Flip over each of the fish. Take turns choosing fish. Turn over one blue fish and one red fish. Do they match? If not, try again.

Use the number fish to count small manipulatives (such as mini erasers, coins, or pieces of cereal). Choose a number fish, then count out the correct number of item.

Count the dots on the blue fish and say the number out loud.

Can you think of other ways to play this One Fish Two Fish number match activity?

This game also works well as a simple busy bag. Slip your fish in a basket or bag and it’s ready to play anytime your child needs some number practice.

One Fish Two Fish Number Match is easy to prep and fun to play. It’s a great way to practice number and will probably inspire many readings of the book.

If you liked this post, you may also like one of these math games:

Skip Counting with the Cat in the Hat

Wacky Mixed-Up Hundred Chart

Making 10 with Green Eggs and Ham

Apple Counting Rocks

One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish Size Sorting Activity at Inspiration Laboratories

Fun hands-on math resources

When we practice math at home, we love to play games. These games are so much fun and a great hands-on activity. Plus, it’s a great way to combine a family activity with learning. Check out some of these awesome math games below:

Are you looking for more kids activities?

Rainbow Writing Spelling Word Practice

January 2, 2019 By Terri Thompson

Sometimes you just need a little color in your life. It makes everything so bright, cheerful, and fun – even spelling words.

Today we’re going to practice our spelling words with rainbow writing. This is a method I learned from my girls’ teachers over the years. They use it to learn everything from names and phone numbers to sight words and now spelling words.

It’s so easy and so much fun that your kids will want to use it to practice their spelling words all the time.

Let’s grab a few supplies and get started.

Add a little color to your homework with this fun way to practice spelling words, Rainbow Writing. It's a fun way to learn!

What is Rainbow Writing?

Rainbow writing is a fun way to use repetition to help practice spelling words and sight words. It’s a simple process where you use multiple colors of pencil or crayon to create a fun rainbow effect when you write.

How to set up this rainbow spelling activity

You will need some lined paper and colorful writing utensils.

We used crayons, but you can also use colored pencils or colored gel pens. (If you use markers, beware! Your words may end up looking brown and not rainbow colored.)

You’ll also need your child’s list of spelling words.

Rainbow Write Spelling Words

Choose 7 or 8 colors.

Start writing your words with one color, then keep writing over it with each additional color.

When you get done, your words will look like rainbows.

Use this method to write each of your spelling words.

If you’ve got a kid who loves rainbows or just need to brighten a dreary day, try some rainbow writing the next time your child needs to practice spelling words.

Helpful Hints:

You’ll want to write your words bigger than normal to have room to trace with each color. Use two or three lines instead of one to write the words.

If you don’t want to use paper for this project, you can also practice rainbow writing with colored chalk on a chalkboard.

This method isn’t just for spelling words! You can use it to practice sight words, letters, numbers, or even math facts.

How have you used rainbow writing?

Rainbow writing is a fun and effective way to practice spelling words or sight words. Here's how to do it. It's so easy and fun!

Buy the 31 Ways to Practice Spelling Words Ebook

You can purchase a printable form of this book for $7.50 The book is designed to print and turn into a half-page size booklet. It’s perfect to keep at your homework station. Your kids can flip through and find a fun way to practice their spelling words.

The ideas will be convenient and ready to use. No need to turn on the computer every day for ideas.

Most activities require little to no prep time. And, if you make sure you have all the supplies on the Master Supply List (included in the book) on hand, you’ll be able to do any of these fun spelling word ideas any time.

Click here for my sales pages or on the image below to purchase for $7.50.

Paper Plate Addition Game

December 30, 2018 By Terri Thompson

Practice makes perfect, right?

I know that’s true when it comes to math. Practicing addition, subtraction, and multiplication all help your child become proficient.

It always seems like the default way to practice math is with flash cards. But, today, we’re going to ditch those flash cards (for good) and practice math with this fun Paper Plate Addition Game.

It’s easy to make and you can play it over and over again.

This simple paper plate addition game is a great hands on tool to help your child practice math skills while having lots of fun.

Supplies Needed for Paper Plate Addition

Paper plate
Black marker
One or two dice
Small sticky notes
Small manipulatives, such as buttons, mini erasers, or coins

Make a simple DIY paper plate addition game to help your child practice math skills like addition and subraction. Fun for the classsroom and home.

How to Make This Math Addition Game

Use your black marker to draw a line across the center of your plate. Next, draw a line to divide the top half in half again. See the picture above for an illustration.

Write a plus sign on one of the sticky notes. If you also want to practice subtraction, write a minus sign on another sticky note.

Place your sticky note on the line dividing the top half of your paper.

Gather your dice and your buttons. It’s time to for some math addition practice.

How to play Paper Plate Addition:

Roll one die. Place that number of buttons in the first section of your plate.

Roll the die again. Place that number of buttons in the second section.

Add the two sections together and put the correct number of buttons in the bottom half of the plate.

Remove the buttons and play again.

You can play over and over again as much as you want!

More ways to play:

Practice subtraction: Roll two dice to find your numbers in the top section. Subtract the numbers and place the correct amount of buttons in your bottom section.

Add bigger numbers: Use two dice instead of one to add bigger numbers.

Practice specific math fact families: Are you practicing +2 facts? Always start with 2 buttons in the first section and roll a die to find the second number. Then add the two together. You can practice any set of math facts this way.

How would you use this paper plate addition game?

Learning Activities for Kids

Paper Plate Layers of the Earth Project

Supplies needed for this layers of the Earth activity

How to Make Your Paper Plate Layers of the Earth Project