A World of Colors

It's that time of year that the world around us is popping with lots of color. Our family has been able to spend a lot of time in the yard recently, and we're loving it! Children Mack's age are taking so much in as they explore the world around them. They are feeling, touching, smelling, seeing, eating (some things they shouldn't!), and really getting to discover life. This has been such a fun age for us to hear Mack's version of all the things...

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A Poet Tree

It's hard to believe that April is winding to a close, but you still have time to celebrate National Poetry Month. Dust off that mini Christmas tree that you have stuck in a closet, and make a "Poet Tree" out of it! If you don't have a Christmas tree handy, cut some branches off of a tree outside and spray paint them a fun spring color. Stick them in a vase or jar with some rocks to keep the branches in place, and you'll have a tree fit for some...

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Charlotte's Web of Words

My name is Amanda and I have a confession, I've never read Charlotte's Web. Can it be that an elementary school teacher, not to mention the daughter of two teachers, a lover of animals, and the wife of a former farmer, hasn't read this American classic? Yes, it is true. However, in honor of Charlotte's 60th birthday this month, I am reading the book to my class and loving it! Most of my students have read it some years ago so they are amusing...

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Self Potraits

I'm always looking for creative ways to teach writing lessons. Some children are natural born writers, and others need a little direction. I've found that children are often better writers than they think they are. Sometimes it just takes some out of the box teaching! When teaching creative writing such as narratives or poetry, it's important to include a lesson on similes and metaphors. Great authors gift us with the use of similes and metaphors...

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Mommy & Me Mondays: Keeping little hands busy with a mini aquarium

Like most women I wear many hats.  Probably too many at times!  The hat that fits the best and is comfy and cozy is the one of Mama.  That is what my 19 month old Mack calls me.  He is a wild and crazy little boy who is constantly wanting to play and explore.  It’s tough at times to switch hats between teaching 10 and 11 year old students to this little guy, but I’m up for the challenge!Mack is a counting machine these...

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Lil Sprouts celebrate Earth Day with the Lorax

Simply Sprout hosted a Lorax party for Earth Day where our preschool friends learned about conservation, recycling and keeping the earth clean. They learned a few lessons from our friend the Lorax and had a lot of fun along the way. Learning to Recycle with the Lorax The little ones learned all about different recyclable materials and how to sort like objects. They sorted the paper, plastic and metal and put them into the corresponding bins...they...

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The Whole World in Our Hands

We celebrated Earth Day in our classroom by making a piece of recyclable art and terrariums. Creating and growing are two of our favorite things around here at Simply Sprout, and what better time of year to celebrate them than Earth Day! In our house and classroom we have a scrap paper baskets. My students' goal is to always use the scrap pieces of paper before we get out new construction paper. Their task was to make a mosaic globe, and a piece...

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Celebrate Earth Day with the Lorax

Dr. Seuss' Lorax has quickly become a classroom favorite of mine. It's silly tone teaches us all about a serious subject,  our environment and pollution. The Lorax and his beautiful Truffula trees are such a colorful inspiration for Earth Day, and they are the perfect inspiration for a sensory bin. We have mentioned the benefits of sensory bin exploration  in previous post. So in case you missed it let me give you a brief description.A...

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Litter Bugs

We can't seem to get enough of this Earth loving theme! Here's a quick project that makes great reuse of your trash. Does your family recycle? We sure hope so. If not, what better time to start this healthy Earth habit! This activity is an excellent way to engage children in a conversation about recycling. Point out how your family or classroom sorts items to be recycled. Let the little ones look through the recycling bin and choose some items...

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