Love to Learn Linky #16

Happy Thursday and welcome to the Love to Learn Linky! This week, I am featuring a few of my favorite posts from last week. Here they are:

I use my laminator all the time, so I'm definitely going to try this great idea from Teaching Mama to laminate fall leaves and play various learning games!

I love this fun indoor game that combines letter learning, imaginative play, and gross motor skills from Mom Inspired Life.

This post by Super Mommy Club has a great collection of Thanksgiving activities for toddlers and preschoolers, including crafts, printables, activities for fine and gross motor skills, sensory play and more!

Get a copy of these free emergent reader printables from Stella 123

If you need some inspiration and ideas for teaching your preschooler at home, check out this post from Suzie's Home Education Ideas

If you were featured, grab a button!

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Visit my co-hosts to see all the other features!

20 Quiet Time Activities for When Turkey Makes You Sleepy from Left Brain Craft Brain
Tons of Fun Ideas for Kids from A Little Pinch of Perfect
Kids' Turkey Handprint Multimedia Masterpieces from One Time Through

LOVE TO LEARN LINKY

Now it's time for some more links! I hope you'll join me and a couple of friends for a brand new linky party!

Bloggers, link up your posts every Thursday and watch as we round them up and share them all over the place.

Almost anything goes, we're just hoping your activities teach kids (or us!) something. (science, art, cooking, behavior, crafting, parenting, etc...)

The Love to Learn Linky is Hosted by:

Totschooling: Viviana is a blogging mom to a toddler and a preschooler, sharing ideas and resources for early education. She specializes in unique, hands-on printable activities that are educational, fun and inspire creativity in young minds.

Left Brain Craft Brain: Anne is an ex-engineer, current stay-at-home mama writing about crafty ways to encourage creativity (and brain power!) in our kids. Each of her projects gives kids the chance to learn about a new subject and do something crafty at the same time.

A Little Pinch of Perfect: Katie combines creativity, play, and learning for the perfect mishmash of fun activities that keep kiddos entertained throughout the day. She wholeheartedly believes in the power of play and feels that all activities naturally provide a fun way to learn.

One Time Through: Sue is an Elementary School Teacher currently on leave to be at home with her preschooler son.  She shares ideas for connecting and learning with kids through meaningful, play-based activities that nurture curiosity and creativity.

Love to Learn Linky Etiquette:

• Posts should be about educating our kids in any way - science, art, cooking, crafts, behavior, parenting, etc. Please keep them family friendly and please no Etsy shops or giveaways unless they are relevant to the topic.

• Upload your direct post link to the InLinkz widget. Link up to 3 posts.

• Like the hosts on Facebook: Totschooling, A Little Pinch of Perfect, Left Brain Craft Brain and One Time Through.

• Or follow the hosts on Pinterest: A Little Pinch of Perfect, Left Brain Craft Brain, Totschooling and One Time Through.

• Post our button on your site.

• By linking up, you agree to have your images shared with credit.

Link up and grab a button!

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An InLinkz Link-up

Turkey Feathers Number Matching Game

Turkey themed activities are a fun way to learn while getting ready for Thanksgiving. Here is a Free printable number matching game that will get your preschooler to practice number recognition, counting, and number quantity concepts.   

This Turkey Feathers number matching game includes numbers 1-10 and 11-20, and kids can match number to number, or number to quantity. 

I recommend that you laminate this game so it can be played over and over again. Just print off the pages, laminate, and then cut out the feather pieces on the cut-out pages. You can also use Velcro to attach the pieces.

Here is the laminator and velcro that I use (affiliate links):

Click here to download your Free Turkey Feathers Number Matching Game

This activity is part of the Thanksgiving Math & Literacy Pack FREE for Subscribers:

5 Toddler-Friendly Ways to Decorate a Pumpkin (Love to Learn Linky #15)

As an annual Halloween tradition at our house, we always carve a pumpkin. And by we I mean I carve the pumpkin while the kids watch and try to eat the pumpkin parts that I cut out. It's not much of a little kid's activity. So today I am featuring easy, toddler-friendly, no-carve pumpkin decorating ideas that kids can really get involved in.

1. Paint the Pumpkin

Pumpkin painting is great for all ages and simple enough for even the youngest of kids.

Tips: Make sure you use tempera paint or any kid's washable paint. To help the paint adhere to the pumpkin, make a 50/50 mixture of school glue and paint. If you don't add glue, the paint will flake off after it dries. 

For a fun way to combine pumpkin painting and science, check out this Fizzle pumpkin painting activity from Toddler Approved.

2. Decorate the Pumpkin with Stickers

Stickers are very good for developing fine motor skills, and let's face it, all kids love stickers. I sure challenged my kids with these tiny stickers I bought at the dollar store.

You can make pumpkin decorating into a learning activity with this alphabet pumpkin idea from I can Teach my Child.

Here is another great literacy pumpkin idea from The Imagination Tree using letter and number stickers, plus check out the learning games you can play afterwards!

As an alternative to stickers, here is a neat idea from The Educators' Spin on It using a decorative tape called washi tape.

3. Make a Glitter Pumpkin

Glitter pumpkins look gorgeous, but they are a bit messy, so you might want to do this activity outdoors like we did. Have your child use a paintbrush to spread glue all over the pumpkin, then sprinkle glitter!

You can add even more bling to the pumpkin like in this idea from Domestic Goddesque. 

4. Glue Things to the Pumpkin

You can glue almost anything to a pumpkin! Pom poms, googly eyes, scraps of construction paper, tissue paper, buttons, feathers. 

Tip: I recommend using tacky glue, craft glue, or glue-all when gluing things to a pumpkin. 

Here is a gorgeous idea combining painting, glitter and gluing things on the pumpkin from The Imagination Tree.

It doesn't have to be craft supplies that you glue to the pumpkin. Here is a creative idea from A Little Pinch of Perfect, making a sensory pumpkin!

Go on a nature walk collecting Fall leaves and try out this clever decorating with nature idea from Stir the Wonder.

5. Hammer Things into the Pumpkin

This is one we haven't tried yet, but it sure looks fun!

Pumpkin Fine Motor Activity from My Nearest and Dearest

Cookie Cutter Pumpkins from Modern Parents Messy Kids

If you were featured, grab a button!

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Visit my co-hosts to see all the other features!

STEAM Bored Jar: 48 Activities That Can Be Prepped in 5 Minutes or Less from Left Brain Craft Brain
50+ Toddler Activities for the Busy Toddler in Your Life from A Little Pinch of Perfect
20+ HAUNTED HOUSE Activities for Kids from One Time Through

LOVE TO LEARN LINKY

Now it's time for some more links! I hope you'll join me and a couple of friends for a brand new linky party!

Bloggers, link up your posts every Thursday and watch as we round them up and share them all over the place.

Almost anything goes, we're just hoping your activities teach kids (or us!) something. (science, art, cooking, behavior, crafting, parenting, etc...)

The Love to Learn Linky is Hosted by:

Totschooling: Viviana is a blogging mom to a toddler and a preschooler, sharing ideas and resources for early education. She specializes in unique, hands-on printable activities that are educational, fun and inspire creativity in young minds.

Left Brain Craft Brain: Anne is an ex-engineer, current stay-at-home mama writing about crafty ways to encourage creativity (and brain power!) in our kids. Each of her projects gives kids the chance to learn about a new subject and do something crafty at the same time.

A Little Pinch of Perfect: Katie combines creativity, play, and learning for the perfect mishmash of fun activities that keep kiddos entertained throughout the day. She wholeheartedly believes in the power of play and feels that all activities naturally provide a fun way to learn.

One Time Through: Sue is an Elementary School Teacher currently on leave to be at home with her preschooler son.  She shares ideas for connecting and learning with kids through meaningful, play-based activities that nurture curiosity and creativity.

Love to Learn Linky Etiquette:

• Posts should be about educating our kids in any way - science, art, cooking, crafts, behavior, parenting, etc. Please keep them family friendly and please no Etsy shops or giveaways unless they are relevant to the topic.

• Upload your direct post link to the InLinkz widget. Link up to 3 posts.

• Like the hosts on Facebook: Totschooling, A Little Pinch of Perfect, Left Brain Craft Brain and One Time Through.

• Or follow the hosts on Pinterest: A Little Pinch of Perfect, Left Brain Craft Brain, Totschooling and One Time Through.

• Post our button on your site.

• By linking up, you agree to have your images shared with credit.

Link up and grab a button!

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An InLinkz Link-up

Roll the Dice Art Game Inspired by #CreativeGalaxy #AmazonKids

My 3 year old daughter loves anything to do with art, so I am always on the look-out for creative and fun art projects to do with her. We recently had the opportunity to review a very interesting new show on Amazon Prime Instant Video, called Creative Galaxy, which inspired us to come up with this fun roll-the-dice art game!

Creative Galaxy is made from the same creators as Blue's Clues and Super Why! which are two of my daughter's favorite shows, so I knew she would love it. Plus, it's all about ART!

This is an interactive art adventure series geared at preschoolers (although I have a feeling older kids would enjoy it as well) featuring the adventures of Arty and Epiphany, as they travel around the galaxy solving problems with art and inspiring creative thinking, learning about art history, famous artists, and even a bit of architecture!

In every episode, Arty and his friends strive to solve a particular problem with art. This is important because it shows how useful art can be in everyday life, how art is basically all around us even if we don't realize it, and how you can fix or solve any problem by being creative. This is a great life lesson that can be extended to all future career paths, even the ones not involving art. 

Another really great part about this series is the live-action pieces at the end of each episode which shows real kids re-creating each of Arty's projects. It makes you feel as if you are doing the project along with them, and shows kids and parents the tools and steps they need for each activity. 

Needless to say, my daughter absolutely loves Creative Galaxy! And it really inspired us to make some fun art projects. Here is one of the projects we made, based on an episode about art games. 

How to Play:

I had some wooden cubes from the craft store that I turned into art dice. I drew numbers 1-6 on one, 6 colors on another, and 6 different craft materials on another. (If you don't have wooden cubes, you can print copies of this blank paper die) Each player takes turns rolling the 3 dice and adds the craft material (the amount and color specified by the dice) to the project. Then the next player rolls the dice and does the same thing, according to what the dice says. 

This is a super fun game that encourages creativity and spontaneity!

You can make the game simpler by using two dice instead of 3, maybe just colors & craft material, or just numbers & craft material. Also, you can play with just 3 craft materials instead of 6, and just draw them twice to cover the die.

Materials Needed:

• 3 to 6 different craft materials. We went crazy and used 6, but you can easily just use 3 and write them twice on the die. The materials we used were pom poms, pipe cleaners, playdough, stickers, craft sticks, and markers.

• 2 or 3 wooden dice (or print copies of this blank paper die) and draw/write colors, numbers & craft material on each die. You can do 2 dice with just color and craft materials, or just numbers and craft materials. We did all 3. 

• paper

I took turns with my daughter rolling the dice and adding to the project. We had a blast figuring out what to make with each roll of the dice!

My daughter loved this game and didn't want to stop playing. Here is the finished product:

For tons more art ideas and inspiration, check out Creative Galaxy on Amazon Prime Instant Video. You can watch the first episode for FREE. Happy crafting!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.