Thursday 29 January 2015

Letter and Number Heart Puzzles (Love to Learn Linky #27)

My daughter has always loved puzzles. She gets very excited when I come up with something new for her to put together and solve. With Valentine's Day coming up, I recently created this free printable set of heart puzzles for her to practice letters, letter sounds, numbers and counting.


Letter & Number Heart Puzzles

These puzzles include two levels of difficulty:

2-piece heart puzzles:
- matching uppercase and lowercase letters
- matching number to quantity 1-15

3-piece heart puzzles:
- matching uppercase and lowercase letters, as well as pictures that begin with each letter sound
- matching number to quantity, and number words 1-15



For a set of winter themed puzzles, try these Snowman Letter Matching Puzzles:

Check out these other heart-shaped learning activities from the Love to Learn Linky:

Light Up Circuit Valentines by Left Brain Craft Brain
Valentines Heart Hide & Seek Game by A Little Pinch of Perfect
Valentine Sight Word Delivery by Growing Book by Book
Sprinkle Math Fine Motor Activity by Sugar Aunts
Valentines Counting & Color Sorting by Teaching 2 & 3 Year Olds
Valentines Fine Motor Activities by Pre-K Pages
C is for Color Connections by Eager Ed
Heart Number Puzzles by Mom Inspired Life
Valentine Name Puzzle by How Wee Learn
Valentine Counting Activity by Spark & Pook

LOVE TO LEARN LINKY


Visit my co-hosts to see their posts and features!

Valentines Day Learning Activities from One Time Through
Penguin Crafts & Activities for Kids from A Little Pinch of Perfect
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.
http://www.alittlepinchofperfect.com/ 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, as well as positive parenting tips.

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.



  • Post our button on your site.

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

Link up and grab a button!
Love to Learn Linky





Monday 26 January 2015

Groundhog Day Shadow Matching Activity

Match the groundhog to its shadow! Here is a fun little free printable activity for toddlers and preschoolers to practice visual discrimination skills while celebrating Groundhog Day.

Groundhog Day Shadow Matching Activity

There are several ways to do this activity depending on your child's age and skill level.

1. Easy - Print off 2 copies of the color cards and cut them out for your child. (laminate if you wish) The child then finds the matching pairs.
2. Medium - Print the shadows and the color cards, cut out the color cards for your child. (laminate if you wish) The child then places the color cards on top of the matching shadows. 
3. Advanced - Print the shadows and the color cards. The child cuts the color cards on their own and glues them on top of the matching shadows.
4. Alternative - Print 2 copies of the color cards and play the classic memory game!



Wednesday 21 January 2015

Valentine's Day Q-Tip Painting Printables (Love to Learn Linky #26)

My 3 year old daughter really enjoyed the Christmas themed q-tip printables I made, so I decided to make some for Valentine's Day. Painting with q-tips is a different and fun way of painting, and it's great for fine motor skills!

Valentine's Day Q-Tip Printables

Love is in the air! These Free Q-Tip Printables include giraffes, ladybugs and fish couples. Perfect way to celebrate the holiday!

Just print these sheets, grab some q-tips and paint, and you have a quick & fun activity for your preschooler!

Valentine's Day Q-Tip Printables


Check out some more awesome Valentine's Day art activities from the Love to Learn Linky:

Valentine Sculpture for Kids by Left Brain Craft Brain
Secret Message Valentine Painting by A Little Pinch of Perfect
Tissue Bleed Valentine Hearts by Powerful Mothering
Paper Towel Stained Glass Hearts by Simple Fun for Kids
Valentine's Day Alien by JDaniel4's Mom
Simple Heart Resist Art by mama.papa.bubba
Rainbow Heart Suncatchers by Fireflies and Mud Pies
Pine Cone Love Bugs by Fireflies and Mud Pies
Valentine's Nature Suncatchers by Raising Wild Ones
Valentine's Tin Foil Painting by Little Bins for Little Hands

LOVE TO LEARN LINKY


Visit my co-hosts to see their posts and features!

Kids and SNOW: Best Books & Fun Activities from One Time Through
Frozen Inspired Glitter Slime from Left Brain Craft Brain
Easy Play Ideas for Kids with Things Found in the Kitchen from A Little Pinch of Perfect
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.
http://www.alittlepinchofperfect.com/ 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, as well as positive parenting tips.

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.



  • Post our button on your site.

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

Link up and grab a button!
Love to Learn Linky





Saturday 17 January 2015

Conversation Heart Valentine's Day Printables

There are so many learning activities you can do with those little candy hearts that you see everywhere this time of year. I created some free printables specifically for use with these conversation hearts. This is a fun way for preschoolers to practice counting, patterns, color recognition, and letters while working on fine motor skills!

Free Conversation Heart Printables for PreK

These conversation heart printables were so fun for my 3 year old that she didn't even try to eat the candy!

Here is what's included in this pack:

-Alphabet capital letters A-Z
-Color sorting hearts
-Patterns
-Counting 1-10
-Tree and flowers




Wednesday 14 January 2015

Thawing a Frozen Heart: Sensory Science for Kids (Love to Learn Linky #25)

It's no secret that my kids love Frozen! In fact, their favorite part of the movie is when Anna gets turned into ice and they come to the realization that "an act of true love will thaw a frozen heart". Since Valentine's Day is coming up, I thought it would be fun to do a sensory and science activity where they can thaw Anna's frozen heart! 

(If you're new to the blog, also check out our Frozen Learning Pack and Frozen Alphabet Cards!)

Thawing a Frozen Heart: Sensory Science for Kids

This activity was so easy to set up, and it was great for introducing my 3 year old to science concepts such as phases of matter (ice/ water), temperature (hot/cold) and buoyancy (float/sink), all while pretending she was rescuing her favorite Frozen character, Anna!

What you'll need:
-ice cube tray
-water
-hearts cut out of red construction paper

1 - First I cut out 16 hearts from construction paper. (however many ice cubes your tray holds) The fastest way to do this is to take one sheet of red construction paper and fold it in half and then in half again and keep folding until you get a square small enough to fit in an ice cube tray. Then you can cut several hearts with one cut. I got all 16 in one shot by doing this.

2 - Fill the ice cube tray with water and add a heart in each space. 

3 - Let freeze overnight.


The first thing I did was let my daughter touch and play with all the frozen hearts. This was a great sensory experience and she really enjoyed it!



Then, we tried several ways to thaw the hearts: 

1- Putting one frozen heart in a glass of water and letting it sit there. (You can even have one glass of warm water and one with cold water and see which one melts faster)



2- Putting one frozen heart on a plate and using a dropper to pour drops of water on it.



3 - We also tried thawing one heart by holding it in our hands and letting body heat melt the ice.


\
4 - Another thing that we didn't try but would have been fun is adding salt to the frozen hearts and observing what happens.

The heart that was floating in the glass of water finally thawed and we realized it wasn't floating anymore. It sank to the bottom! Apparently, paper hearts do not float.



More Frozen Ice Activities:
Frozen Fractals Art Activity by A Little Pinch of Perfect
Melting Elsa's Frozen Hands by Happy Hooligans
Frozen Fractals Ice Sculptures by Happy Hooligans
Elsa's Ice Castle Science Play by Preschool Powol Packets
Frozen Water Magic Science by Preschool Powol Packets
Sven & Kristoff Ice Block Races by Mom Endeavors
Frozen Ice Castles from Sand Castle Molds by Kids Activities Blog
Frozen Sensory Tub by Nurture Store
Frozen Sensory Play with Shaving Cream & Ice by Learn Play Imagine
Invitation to Build: Elsa's Ice Palace by Left Brain Craft Brain (not real ice but just as cool)

LOVE TO LEARN LINKY


Visit my co-hosts to see their posts and features!

A 5 Senses Valentine's Day for Kids from One Time Through
25 Valentine Process Art Projects from Left Brain Craft Brain
25+ Easy Heart Crafts for Kids from A Little Pinch of Perfect
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.
http://www.alittlepinchofperfect.com/ 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.



  • Post our button on your site.

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

Link up and grab a button!
Love to Learn Linky





Tuesday 13 January 2015

Free Winter Printable Pack for Toddlers & Preschoolers

Winter is in full swing and my girls are starting to get restless from spending more time indoors. This Winter themed printable pack will be great to keep them busy and learning on those cold winter days! This pack is designed for toddlers and preschoolers to develop early learning skills such as alphabet and number recognition, counting, letter sounds, letter cases, size, shapes, colors, patterns, visual discrimination, prewriting, scissor skills, puzzles and more!

Winter Learning Pack for Toddlers & Preschoolers



This FREE Winter Learning Pack features 45 hands-on activities, and it is available for Free to all email subscribers. Here is what's included:

Literacy Activities:
-Cut & Paste the Missing Letter
-Letter Sound Matching
-Sight Word Matching
-Word tracing
-Letter Sorting
-Matching letter cases
-Labeling Snowman Parts
-Circle all the letter W
-Circle all the things that begin with W
-Word puzzle
-Sight Word tracing and cut/paste

Math Activities:
-Numbers 1-5 Puzzle
-Numbers 1-10 Puzzle
-Numbers 11-20 Puzzle
-Counting 1-5
-Counting 6-10
-Cut & Paste the Missing Number
-Number to Quantity Matching
-Patterns
-Cut & Paste in Order from Smallest to Biggest
-Sorting by Size
-Shape Matching
-Color by Number

Pre-Writing:
-Trace the Shapes
-Trace Horizontal Lines
-Trace Vertical Lines
-Maze tracing
-Word Tracing
-Snowman Tracing

Visual Discrimination:
-Matching Snowmen
-Matching Winter Kids
-Matching Snowflakes
-Sorting by Color
-Sorting by Picture
-Circle all Winter things

Scissor Skills:
-Cutting straight lines
-Cutting zig zag lines
-Cutting & pasting numbers & letters
-Cut & Paste Build a Snowman

Puzzles:
-Word Puzzle
-Numbers 1-5 Puzzle
-Numbers 1-10 Puzzle
-Numbers 11-20 Puzzle


This Winter Printable Pack is FREE for all Totschooling subscribers!


What can I expect as a Subscriber?:
-You will receive free printables that are not available for download on the website. This includes holiday and seasonal packs, as well as other themed activity packs.
-You will get access to a growing collection of Board Book Printable Activities.
-You will receive 2-3 emails per week with new posts, freebies, sales and additions to the site.
-You will receive a special subscriber discount for the Online Store.
-Your information will never be shared with anybody else.


Wednesday 7 January 2015

15+ Snowman Learning Activities for Preschoolers (Love to Learn Linky #24)

The Love to Learn Linky is back in business after a much-needed holiday break! It's great to be back and to share some more amazing posts. Here is a fun collection of Snowman learning activities, including literacy, math, sensory and science!


15 Snowman Learning Activities for Preschoolers

Literacy

Snowman Letter Matching Puzzles by Totschooling

Name Snowmen Preschool Craft by Fun-A-Day!
Snowman Sight Word Bingo Craft by The Imagination Tree
Read a Word, Build a Snowman by Teach Mama
Snowman Listening Game by Pre-K Pages
Preschool Do a Dot Printables: Snowman by Crystal & Co.
My Snowman Emergent Reader Pack from Free Homeschool Deals
Color Matching Snowmen by From ABC's to ACT's

Math


Build a Snowman Dice Game by Toddler Approved

Snowman Counting & Number Recognition Game by mama.papa.bubba
Snowman Addition by Handmade Beginnings


Sensory

Melted Snowman Slime by Little Bins for Little Hands

Snowman Sensory Bag by mama.papa.bubba
Magic Foaming Snowman by Fun at Home with Kids

Science


Winter Science: Melting Snowman by Little Bins for Little Hands

The Snowman Experiment by Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas
Snowman in a Bottle by Teach Preschool


LOVE TO LEARN LINKY


Visit my co-hosts to see their posts and features!

Paint Doctor from Left Brain Craft Brain
Wintry Boredom Busters for Preschoolers from One Time Through
Frozen Inspired Winter Crafts and Activities for Kids from A Little Pinch of Perfect
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.
http://www.alittlepinchofperfect.com/ 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.



  • Post our button on your site.

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

Link up and grab a button!
Love to Learn Linky




Friday 2 January 2015

Free FROZEN Alphabet Cards

My girls absolutely love the movie Frozen and anything to do with it. So I created these FREE Frozen themed Alphabet Cards to help them learn their alphabet and letter sounds. We also play a lot of fun educational games with these cards. The possibilities are endless!

FREE Frozen Alphabet Cards

These FREE Frozen Alphabet Cards include 26 images and words, one for each letter of the alphabet, featuring either a main character from the movie, or an object or idea with a movie scene as the image.

Just print them out, laminate each sheet, then cut out the cards. Here are some ideas for playing with these cards:

-Create an alphabet flip book that you can look through and practice reading the letters and/or words.
-Hang the cards on the wall to create a decorative alphabet chart.
-Play a memory game: make 2 copies of each card, lay them face down and play the classic game.
-Play a bingo game: Lay down a set of 9 or 16 cards to create a large bingo mat. Then, call out letters and have the child put a token on the correct card.
-Talk about each character or what is happening in each picture. Great for language development, imagination and memory.

These cards are excellent for many different stages of development. For toddlers it is a good introduction to the alphabet. Preschoolers will benefit from practicing letter sounds, and emergent readers can use these as simple words to practice reading.


If you enjoy this printable, take a look at our


For a set of fun, DIY personalized ABC cards, take a look at our guest post,