jgarcia's blog

Enjoy some fun, easy-to-implement activities this Thanksgiving and be thankful! Children develop fine motor skills, build vocabulary, express gratitude, and internalize print concepts as they cut, color, glue, and talk turkey! 

Who doesn't love Jingle Bells? This collection of jingle bell crafts, rhymes, and songs will have children ringing and jingling in no time. All that's needed are a few simple materials to get the merriment started! 

‘Tis the season to be jolly, so this week’s focus is on one of the season’s jolliest characters: Jolly Old St. Nick, also known as Santa Claus. The week’s literacy lesson connects to How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss, the classic children’s favorite about an anti-Santa Claus who grows a heart.

Seasonal trees, such as pine and pear with partridge, set the stage for this week of the Holidays and the Five Senses theme. Children are introduced to the long and short i sounds. They also practice spelling CVC words, identify the letters in their names, count, add, and order numbers. This week's literacy activity is based on the book A Wish to Be a Christmas Tree.

The holidays and your five senses theme continues this week with a focus on baking. Baking is a fundamental part of holiday celebrations and lends itself to all sorts of sensory experiences. Plus, who doesn’t love to learn surrounded by cookies, pies, pancakes, and gingerbread?