Dinosaurs

Do you use drama and role play to support kids' understanding? Digging for dinosaurs is a great learning opportunity to discover the work that paleontologists do. It is lovely to feel the thrill of finding a bone hidden in the sand. You can create a simple fossil dig activity by hiding dinosaurs in sand or a more elaborate one using a dinosaur excavation kit - these are perfect if you are home-schooling. There are also dinosaur skeletons that you can use to set up a dinosaur fossil excavation site. The resource Digging Up Dinosaur will provide you with ideas for engaging activities for your dinosaur project. 

After a hands-on excavation activity, your kids may be motivated to learn and read about these fascinating creatures. Dinosaurs provoke so many questions. You can start a project by asking your kids what they want to find out. Some kids might want to learn more about Dinosaur Fossils and the work that paleontologists do and the tools they use. 

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles, and not all of them were ferocious meat-eaters. Kids love finding answers to their questions by investigating and digging deeper into the lives of different types of dinosaurs. Dinosaurs were magnificent creatures, some of them were as tiny as a bee hummingbird while others were giants. There are Fact Booklets about Tyrannosaurus Rex, Apatosaurus, Triceratops and Stegosaurs.  Use the fact booklets and craft activities included to make a stunning coolest dinosaur display! Challenge your kids to convince others that their dinosaurs are the coolest. They can write a story or draw a comic strip. The perfect way to use the new drawing skills they learned using a How to Draw Dinosaur resource. Nothing gets young children excited about learning like dinosaurs so spend time converting the classroom into a Dino Dig! 

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May 2023 Products

Teaching your child about cultures and traditions is important to help them develop an understanding of others. Use resources about Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day and Memorial Day to teach kids acceptance of traditions. On May 5th, you can share the appreciation for Mexican culture and heritage with your kids.  Cinco de May is a colorful festival that commemorates the Mexicans' victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5th, 1862. When you are teaching kids about a holiday, you can make a decision to focus either on culture or traditions, or both. Make sure that your lesson plan and resources meet the objectives. 

On the second Sunday of May, kids have a chance to celebrate important women in our lives. This idea began in America when Anna Jarvis held a memorial service for her mother on May 12th 1907. Your kids can make the day meaningful by creating thoughtful crafts for loved women in their lives. Start the week before the celebrations to give your kids time to learn about the celebrations and the resource Mother’s Day How to Draw is a great addition to complete the Fact Booklet about the celebrations. 

Have you got time to include another tradition in the May classroom? Memorial Day is an American holiday honoring men and women who died while serving in the US military. It was originally known as Decoration Day. Late May was chosen to honor people who died as the flowers used to decorate graves would be in full bloom.  Many families are visiting cemeteries or memorials, and taking part in parades. Memorial Day is observed on the last Monday of May. Use my Fact Booklet Memorial Day to support kids’ learning about this special day.

 

What Next? Check out the June blog posts for ideas for Summer activities next month!  All products are found in my store:  

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Reptiles and Amphibians

Discovering the richness of the animal world is one of the most rewarding and pleasing experiences that you can introduce to kids. Animal classification is a great way to explore different animal groups and their unique behaviors. Learning to distinguish between different types of animals is not only great for science lessons but also a great way to introduce geography lessons into the classroom. Kids can explore habitats as well as different areas where animals live. 

Reptiles and amphibians may at first glance appear very similar to each other. Explicitly pointing out the differences between the two groups of animals is vital and it will lead to a deeper understanding rather than simply memorizing which animals belong to which class of animals. 

Providing your kids with the chance to draw amphibians and reptiles will help them to discover some differences and similarities between the two classes of animals. Amphibians such as frogs and toads can live both on land and in the water while reptiles such as snakes and alligators have lungs and an outer covering of horny scales or plates. They often lay their eggs on dry land while amphibians such as frogs and toads lay their eggs in the water. Amphibians are born with gills so that they can breathe underwater. Frogs and other amphibians such as newts and salamanders and the charming axolotls develop lungs and legs later in life. 

Learning about the origin of words can also help kids to classify animals. Amphibian comes from the Greek amphi which means both and bios. The perfect way to describe amphibians since they can live both on land and in the water. The word reptile comes from Latin reptilis which means creeping. If you spend time watching snakes and lizards you can understand why this is a suitable name for these creeping scaly animals.

If you have the opportunity to watch some reptiles and amphibians in their natural environment that is fantastic. Otherwise, a great exercise is to describe the skin of a reptile and an amphibian. How does it feel to touch a snake? Snakes are often described as slimy but their skin feels dry and scaly. Amphibians have thin and smooth skin. Their skin helps them with breathing. 

Read and discover the remarkable lives of these animals while you enjoy the weather warming up there are signs of spring starting to appear all around such as frogspawn in your local ponds! 

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April 2023 Products

April is such an inspiring month and many great things are happening both in the classroom and outside. Take time to explore how nature changes from blossoms and new leaves to warmer temperatures. There is a new energy in the classroom so make sure to take this energy and use it to explore our Earth, Climate Change, Easter and the remarkable world of Oviparous animals.

Taking place on the 22nd of April each year, Earth Day offers a wonderful opportunity to support kids thinking about their environmental footprint.  This year, the theme is “invest in our planet”.  You can talk with your kids about ways to encourage people to care and take responsibility for making our Earth a place that protects all species. How can we encourage businesses and governments to provide opportunities for everyone? How can you help? Big questions! Yet, sometimes little kids can come up with Big Ideas. The overall aim of Earth Day is to spread the message that it is important to take action and that everyone can do something. Use a fact booklet about Earth Day and Climate Change to encourage kids to learn and explore environmental issues. Make a display with poems about our Earth and writing samples. Art and craft activities are an important part of making the celebrations of our Earth extra special.

Easter falls in April this year. This a perfect opportunity to plan a project about oviparous animals. There are several ways that you can introduce oviparous animals to your kids. You can use fiction and/or fact books with easy-to-understand and clear explanations of oviparous animals. After a short introduction, kids can continue to learn more about oviparous animals using a fact booklet. 

Filling in a fact booklet with your own findings is exciting. A fact booklet is a perfect way to practice reading and if you have a child who is reluctant to write, they can draw oviparous animals and practice their drawing skills instead. How to draw Easter and How to Draw Oviparous animals are great ways to further enhance kids’ skills and confidence. Hope you have a wonderful April full of sunshine-y days. 

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Farming in March

Spring is full of opportunities to teach fascinating facts about nature! Exploring farm animals is a popular topic and many young children are familiar with some animals. Even if you live miles from grazing cows and quaking ducks, young children have probably seen or heard about farm animals. Many books as well as songs for toddlers feature animals living on farms. Learning the names and vocabulary at a young age helps kids to develop important skills such as categorizing things in the world. A young child might begin sorting animals by putting brown cows and black-and-white cows in the same category. 

Learning about farm animals is fun! Using fact booklets help children to build their vocabulary and knowledge about animals living on farms, for example, sheep, goats, horses, cows, chickens, ducks and pigs. Talk about the baby names for farm animals and discover the fun of using onomatopoeia to describe different sounds that farm animals make such as the clip-clop of horses’ hooves. Let kids explore the range of products we get from farm animals. You can make a display in the classroom with empty packaging and photos of products. 

You can start the project by letting your kids tell you what animals they already know. Ask your kids to identify which animals can be found on a farm. Ask them if they know of any other animals that might live on a farm. Show your kids real photos or videos of the animals that they are interested in learning more about. Encourage creative thinking by using open-ended questions and use story-writing prompts about farm animals. 

With a combination of independent learning and reading and hands-on activities such as craftivities and visits from local farmers young learners can develop various skills. Small-world sensory play is an amazing way to explore the farm animal theme deeper and to solidify learning as well as further develop their imagination and creative thinking.  

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