Math, STEM, Winter

Winter-Themed STEM Activities

Looking for fun ways to incorporate STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) into your child’s play, try these fun winter-themed STEM activities! These activities use common household supplies, so you should have most, if not all, of the supplies on hand.

Five Winter-Themed STEM Activities:

Make your own fake snow science experiment

1. Make your own fake snow 

Make fake snow in the warmth of your home by combing shaving cream and baking soda! This science experiment is “snow” much fun to make. Your preschooler will love playing with their fake snow.

"Falling Snowflake STEM Activity" image of hands holding string that paper snowflakes slides down on.

2. Falling Snowflake STEM Craft

Looking for a quick and easy STEM activity to add to your winter lesson plans? Try this falling snowflake STEM activity! This activity is easy to throw together, but a great way to teach about gravity (Science), and inline planes (Engineering). You’ll need a straw, ribbon, and paper.

Winter cup stacking activity for toddlers and preschoolers

3. Winter Cup Stacking

Give your child some snowflake stickers and let them decorate plastic cups. Then they can have fun stacking the cups, and of course, knocking them down too!

Fizzing winter-themed science experiment

4. Winter Fizz

Combine blue glitter, baking soda, and vinegar to create a wintry-looking fizzy science experiment! Fizzing experiments are always a favorite in our family.

sample of winter-themed preschool math worksheets

5. Winter Theme Math Worksheets

Included in this free, printable PDF packet are 6 math worksheets that focus on numbers 1-10, numerical order, and counting.

Christmas, Math

Free Printable Christmas Activity Book

This free printable Christmas activity book is perfect for preschoolers, transitional kindergarten students, and kindergartners! The activity books is 25 pages long and include math (number recognition and counting), tracing, alphabet (letter tracing, fill in missing letters, and letter recognition), mazes, spot the differences, coloring, connect the dots, and other fun activities! The last page is a template for an elf stick puppet craft that your child can make!

Free printable Christmas Activity Book

What you’ll need to complete the workbook:

  • the printable Christmas Activity Book (download at the end)
  • printer (pages are black and white)
  • paper
  • pencil
  • crayons

Craft Supplies for Elf Stick Puppets:

  • crayons
  • 2 craft sticks
  • glue
  • scissors

If you like the activities in this free Christmas Activity Book, I also have a space-themed activity book for sale on Amazon: SPACE THEMED ACTIVITY BOOK

Free Printable Christmas Activity Book Printable PDF:

More Free Printable Worksheets Available:

Rhymes and Poems, STEM, Teaching themes

St. Patrick’s Day Preschool Theme

My family loves St. Patrick’s Day! Every year the leprechauns visit and stir up some trouble while we are sleeping. It is such a fun adventure to see what they got into during the night! My son always makes a leprechaun trap that we leave out, but so far, the leprechauns have outsmarted us! Even if leprechauns don’t come make mischief at your home, you can still get into the spirit by wearing green and incorporating some of these fun St. Patrick’s Day preschool theme books, activities, and worksheets into your little one’s learning.

St. Patrick's Day March 17

Preschool St. Patrick’s Day Theme Resources–

BOOKS

St. Patrick’s Day — 17 stories about leprechauns, St. Patrick’s Day, shamrocks, and lucky four-leaf clovers!

Rainbows — 5 stories about rainbows!

CRAFTS

Paper Chain Pot O’ Gold Rainbow: form a rainbow out of a paper chain and hang your pot of gold from the end.

Leprechaun Paper Bag Puppet: create a cute leprechaun puppet from a paper bag and construction paper.

Tissue Paper Rainbow: make an awesome rainbow out of tissue paper, cotton balls, and construction paper!

Shamrock Friend: print out the free template to make your own shamrock friend craft.

Rainbow Cloud: make a cute cloud rainbow craft out of a paper plate and crepe paper.

RHYMES

Five Little Leprechauns: In this cute little rhyme, the leprechauns are on the hunt for a rainbow. Try this one with your preschooler and see if they find their rainbow!

Five Little Shamrocks: Find out what shamrocks need to grow.

Leprechaun, Leprechaun: movement rhyme set to the tune of Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear.

STEM

Color green hunt

Edible Rainbow: Make a free-standing rainbow out of marshmallows, a pipe cleaner, and cereal. This a yummy and fun STEM activity!

Color Green Hunt: Take a look around your home for green things. Try and find something green that you can wear, a green fruit or vegetable that you eat, something green to play with, and something green for drawing or coloring. What other green things can you find?

WORKSHEETS

Clover Counting: color the number of clovers as shown (#1-5).

St. Patrick’s Day Number Matching: Draw a line from the number to the box with the same amount of pictures.

“I Spy” St. Patrick’s Day: Count how many of each picture you spy.

Follow the Line: Find out which leprechaun finds the rainbow by following the lines.

Leprechaun Hat Maze: Make your way through the leprechaun’s hat!

Rainbow Tracing: Trace the letters in the word Rainbow and then color the picture.

St. Patrick’s Day Tracing: Trace all of the letters in the words St. Patrick’s Day and then color the shamrock.

Coloring Sheets: 3 St. Patrick’s Day coloring pages.

Fall, STEM

Fall Number Coloring Worksheets

Dot Number Coloring Worksheets
Dot Number Coloring Worksheets

Dot Number Identification Worksheets

These acorn dot number coloring worksheets are perfect for fall! My son doesn’t like coloring very much, but he does like using his dot pens! I made these fun worksheets for him to practice identifying numbers 1-10.

Using dot pens (or color with crayons), spot and dot all numbers 1-10. There are two pages of worksheets. They are divided into groups 1-5 and 6-10. Spot the numbers and dot (or color) accordingly. Download your free PDF worksheet: Acorn Number Coloring

Pumpkin Counting and Coloring

This is a fun math skills worksheet to help your preschooler visualize quantities. You can use your dot markers again for this pumpkin coloring worksheet or color in the pumpkins with crayons. Look at the number on the left and then color the same number of pumpkins. Download and print your free PDF: Pumpkin Coloring

Fall Counting

Get in the fall-spirit with this math worksheet full of cute fall shapes. Count how many of each picture are shown in the box on the left. Then write your answer. Download and print your free PDF: Fall Counting

Number Tracing

-Trace numbers 1-14 in this cute fall-themed worksheet! Download and print your free PDF: Fall Number Tracing

-Practice tracing numbers 1-10 with this apple-themed numbers worksheet. Download and print your free PDF: Apple Number Tracing

More Math Skills Ideas

Fall I Spy Worksheet

My son loves numbers and counting! I made “I Spy” worksheets for him to practice counting and writing his numbers. There are lots to choose from, including a super cute Fall I Spy worksheet to go along with these acorn dot number coloring worksheets.

Apple Counting Activity

For a more hands-on counting experience, I made an Apple Counting game with flashcards and pompom apples. Download these free flashcards and apple tree picture for your preschooler to practice apple counting too!

Check out my MATH SKILLS page for more math worksheets and ideas.

Halloween, Math, STEM

Preschool Halloween Worksheets:

Preschool Halloween Worksheets for alphabet and math learning.
Preschool Halloween Worksheets

Add some spooky fun to your learning activities with these preschool Halloween worksheets! Download these free worksheets and practice writing letters, phonetic sounds, counting, and writing numbers 1-25 in numerical order. Read some Halloween books too and make it a spooky day!

ABCs

It’s almost Halloween and the alphabet has never been this spooky!

Complete the Haunted Alphabet: write the missing letters in alphabetical order.

Fall Leaves Alphabet Letter Tracing: Practice writing all 26 letters in the alphabet with this tracing worksheet. Color in the fall leaves too!

Pumpkin Patch Alphabet Maze: color the pumpkins in alphabetical order to make your way through the maze from A-Z.

Spooky Phonics: draw a line from the letter to the word that begins with the same letter.

Math

Pumpkins, bats, and spooky characters make counting tons of fun!

Pumpkin Counting: color the same number of pumpkins as shown.

Halloween Party Math Maze: fill in the missing numbers 1-25.

Halloween I Spy: count of many of each picture you spy and then write the number in the corresponding box.

Color the Bats: color the same number of bats as shown.

More Halloween Fun:

Check out my book recommendations: MONSTERS, GHOSTS, SKELETONS, BATS, and ZOMBIES

Halloween Crafts: Mickey Mouse Pumpkin, Handprint Pumpkin, Coffee Filter Bats, and Dot Paint Ghosts

Science Experiment: make this fall-themed Pumpkin Fizz and watch as the fizz forms when the vinegar mixes with the baking soda!

I Spy Counting Worksheets: my son loves the “I Spy” challenges, so I have made a lot of them. Try the Bat I Spy, Fall I Spy, and Owl I Spy worksheets too.

Animals, Fall

Fall-Themed Books & Activities

Fall themed books and activities for preschool

There are so many great fall-themed books for preschoolers that it is hard to narrow down a list. Here are some preschooler-approved books that I have read to my own son, as well as to the library’s preschool storytime group over the years. After checking out fall-themed books, try the fall activities for preschool.

Preschool Books

Fall Books:

1. Hedgehugs: Autumn Hide-and-Squeak by Steve Wilson — The Hedgehugs are two absolutely adorable hedgehogs who happen to be best friends! My son and I love all of their stories. In this adventure, the Hedgehugs make a new bat friend. The friends play a game of hide-and-seek, hiding in cute, fall-themed things, such as leaf piles and pumpkins.

2. The Squirrels Who Squabbled by Rachel Bright — Rachel Bright is a fantastic author! My son and I love her books, and I have read several of her stories to the library’s preschool storytime group, who agree that she rocks! In this book, squirrels, Cyril and Bruce, get in a fight over the last acorn. In a story similar to the Ant and the Grasshopper, one unprepared-for-winter squirrel is ready to do battle for the last acorn. The squirrels’ squabbles lead them on a hilarious adventure!

3. Aaron Loves Apples and Pumpkins by PD Eastman — Fall is here and Aaron the alligator loves everything about it. He loves the yummy apples, pumpkins, football, Halloween costumes, and spending time with his friends. When his friends go apple picking, Aaron tells them that he knows a better was to get the apples down; he shakes the tree so hard, that all of the apples fall down on Aaron! Oops 🙂 Now all of the apples are down and Aaron and his friends can enjoy them together. This book is part of the beginning reader series, I Can Read. It has short sentences with not a lot of words per page. It is a good choice for kids who are learning to read.

4. Ouch by Ragnhild Scamell — In this story, an adorable hedgehog gets an apple stuck on its back. Now hedgehog can’t fit into its den and winter is coming. The hedgehog’s animal friends try to help and get the apple off, however each attempt ends up with more things getting stuck to the poor hedgehog. After squeezing, and swimming, and rolling around, hedgehog and friends are running out of ideas. Fortunately, along comes a goat with a big appetite and eats all of the things that are stuck on hedgehog!

5. A Unicorn Named Sparkle and the Pumpkin Monster by Amy Young — Lucy and Sparkle have fun doing autumn things together. They visit a pumpkin patch, explore a corn maze, and play games. Things get a little too spooky for Sparkle, who is afraid of a pumpkin monster. Lucy, who enjoys being scared, learns that not everyone likes to be a little scared. This is a sweet story about two friends who learn to respect one another’s feelings. Plus it ends with an awesome rainbow from Sparkle’s magic horn and yummy treats for the friends to enjoy together.

6. Otis and the Scarecrow by Loren Long — Otis the tractor has several wonderful stories for preschoolers to enjoy, In this fall-themed one, the farmer introduces a new scarecrow to the farm. Everyone is excited to meet the scarecrow! But when they see him, the scarecrow’s frown drives them all away. Otis worries about the friendless scarecrow and in an act of compassion, Otis includes the scarecrow in the animals’ quiet game.

Fall Leaves Books:

Fall Leaves Stories

1. We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt by Steve Metzger — This rhyming story is a fun leaf-hunting adventure. Preschoolers love Steve Metzger’s books and the silly sound effects that he skillfully incorporates into the story. This one will become a fall-favorite! Have your own leaf hunt after the story to continue the fun 🙂

2. Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert: This book is a visual treat! The pictures are actual leaves and Lois Ehlert’s signature die-cut pages are fantastic. Leaf Man is beautiful tribute to nature and preschoolers will delight in Leaf Man’s wind-blown adventures.

3. Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson: In this beautifully illustrated book, we meet a young fox named Fletcher who is unaware that some trees lose their leaves in the fall. Fletcher is determined to save the leaves from falling off of his favorite tree. Unfortunately each one of his ideas fail to keep the leaves on the tree. After the last leaf falls off the tree, Fletcher carries the little leaf home to his den. He puts it into a nice cozy bed for the night. When he returns to his tree in the early morning, a beautiful sight is waiting for him. His tree is covered in sparkling icicles! His tree reassures him that all is fine and that Fletcher is free to enjoy the beauty in front of him without worry for his tree.

4. Leaf Trouble by Jonathan Emmett: Learn about the changing of seasons with two cute little squirrels in this story. Worried about the falling leaves, a brother and sister squirrel unsuccessfully try to put the leaves back on the tree. Mommy squirrel teaches them all about fall and reassures them that new leaves will grow in the springtime.

5. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves by Lucille Collandro: The silly old lady is back in this fall-themed story. She goes on a stomach-filling journey, gobbling up fall items (a pumpkin, a rope, and some leaves). Preschoolers will laugh away at all of the silliness going on in this book!

6. When the Leaf Blew In by Steve Metzger: This fun picture book is about an autumn leaf blows that into a barn causing a cow to sneeze. The sneeze sets off a series of barnyard events in this silly tale that will have preschoolers asking you to reread it over and over again!

For more fall-themed books and activities for preschool, check out my APPLE post.

Fall Activities for Preschool:

Crafts:

Leaf Stick Puppets–Go on a leaf hunt and collect leaves to make stick puppets.

Coffee Filter Leaves — Make your own beautiful fall leaves out of coffee filters, markers, and water. This is a fun and simple craft for kids to make to usher in the fall season.

Pumpkin Handprint Craft — I love handprint crafts! They preserve your little one’s prints and you get to look back at them years later and ooh and ahh over how tiny they were. Plus, this craft is a great way to personalize the fall season.

STEM:

Pumpkin Fizz —

Incorporate fun, seasonal STEM activities into your preschooler’s education with this fun, fall-themed science experiment — Pumpkin Fizz.

Apple Counting–

Check out my preschool Apple Counting Activity for an interactive, hands-on way to practice counting! I made numbered flashcards and an apple tree for you to print off and use for your little one; all you will need is to add some pompoms (to be apples) or some other small objects to use for counting.

I Spy–

Have fun counting all of the pictures in the this fall themed I Spy game. After you count how many of each picture you find, write the number in the box.

Try this Leaf I Spy and count how many of each of the leaves you can find.

Uncategorized

10 Preschool Pirate Books:

Enjoy 10 preschool pirate books and a fun, pirate activity that will surely get your preschooler saying “Arrr!”

Preschool Pirate Books

September 19th is Talk Like a Pirate Day! Here are some fun pirate stories to enjoy and a pirate-themed Find the Differences worksheet to try 🙂

10 Preschool Pirate Books

1. Pirate Boy by Eve Bunting. — In this sweet, reassuring story, a mother’s love will follow her son anywhere, even onboard a pirate ship. No distance, no sea monsters, and no unruly pirates will be able to stop Mom.

2. Charlotte Jane Battles Bedtime by Myra Wolfe. — I love this book! It is the cutest story about a young pirate named Charlotte Jane who refuses to go to bed. She has important pirate things to do and sleep just gets in the way. Charlotte Jane loses her “oomph” and her parents form a search party to find the missing oomph. The missing oomph is nowhere to be found. How is she going to have sword fights and engage in other pirate activities without any oomph? Charlotte Jane falls asleep and awakes full of oomph and ready to be a pirate!

3. How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long. — This is a funny story filled with fantastic illustrations by David Shannon. In this book, Jeremy Jacob joins a pirate crew and learns all about being a pirate. He’s enjoying not eating vegetables and having gross table manners. It’s all fun until he learns that pirates don’t do any of the loving things that his mom does, such as read bedtime stories and tuck him in at night.

4. Pirates Don’t Change Diapers by Melinda Long. — In this follow-up to How I Became a Pirate, the pirates return to Jeremy Jacob’s house to look for treasure, but an upset baby stalls their plans. Nobody is able to get anything done until Bonny Anne is happy. In this silly turn of events, the pirates become babysitters and learn that an upset kiddo is even more terrifying then their pirate adventures!

5. Pirates Love Underpants by Claire Freedman. — Preschoolers love books about underwear! Get ready to laugh your way through this silly book as the pirates go in search of the fabled golden underpants.

6. Shiver Me Hook; a pirate ABC by June Sobel. — The pirate crew is embarking on an alphabet adventure. They search high and low for all of the letters from A to Z, with each letter corresponding to something piratey! This is perfect for preschoolers who are working on letter recognition and phonetic sounds!

7. Are Pirates Polite? by Corinne Demas. — In this fun rhyming story, the pirates show that they can, in fact, be polite and say “please” and “thank you.” If pirates can be polite, then preschoolers can too! This book has just the right amount of grossness to keep preschoolers giggling.

8. Pete the Cat and the Treasure Map by James Dean. — Sail along with Pete the Cat and friends aboard a pirate ship. They find a treasure map and set out on a hunt for the treasure. Uh-oh, they run into a sea monster! Is the sea monster going to cause trouble or become a new friend? Preschoolers love Pete the Cat and they will enjoy Pete’s pirate adventure!

9. Arrr, Mustache Baby by Bridget Heos — This is the cutest story about two toddlers, one who is born with a mustache and one who is born with a beard. One day at the community pool, they encounter two pirate tots and the mustache baby and the bear baby turn into pirates, determined to keep all of the loot for themselves. A whimsical battle between the kids ensues. Behaving like pirates does not make their parents happy. As their treasure filled ship sinks, the tots find themselves in a timeout. They learn that sharing is lot more fun than hoarding the treasure and behaving badly.

10. How to be a Pirate by Isaac Fitzgerald. — A young girl named Cece wants to be a pirate, but the boys tell her she can’t be one (mean!). She doesn’t let them stop her and she seeks out her grandfather for advice on being a pirate. Grandpa has tattoos (just like a pirate) and a ship in a bottle, so Cece is convinced he knows all about pirates. He guides her through all of the things pirates need to be, ending with a beautiful conclusion about believing in oneself.

Find the Differences — Pirate Edition

Can you spot differences between these two pirate-themed scenes? Look closely and see if you can find all five.

Did you enjoy finding the differences? Try more Find the Difference pages: https://imaginationsrunningwild.com/find-the-differences/

Disclaimer — this post contains affiliate links to products sold on Amazon. I joined Amazon’s Affiliates Program to help cover the costs of my site. If you buy a product through one of my links, then I get a small percentage of the sale. Thanks your support! Happy reading: )

Fall, STEM

Apple Theme — books, craft, STEM, and games!

Apple theme picture books, crafts, and STEM activities for preschool
Apple theme books, crafts, and STEM activities for preschool

Fall is just around the corner and I love to do apple-themed things this time of year. Here is a list of some of my favorite apple books for preschoolers and kindergarteners: a tissue paper craft, a yummy apple STEM activity, and a fun apple counting idea to do with pompoms. And no apple themed activities would be complete without an apple taste test — try different kinds of apples and see which one is your favorite!

Apple Books:

1.The Apple Pie that Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson — I love Lauren Thompson’s books! This is a cute story about everything that goes into making an apple pie. As the story progresses, your child will notice more and more animals after the delicious pie! Thompson creates a cumulative and lyrical text that teaches preschoolers about nature and the apple’s life cycle.

2. Apple Picking Day by Candace Ransom — Ransom’s trademark short story with great pictures makes this book a good choice for kids who can’t sit still for long stories. The family goes apple picking and the reader gets to enjoy the fun with them. Preschoolers will get caught up in the excitement as the brother and sister race against other kids in the orchard to see who can pick the most apples.

2. 10 Apples Up On Top by Dr. Seuss — in this funny, rhyming book, a lion, a tiger, and a dog compete to see who can stack apples on their head and do tricks without the apples falling! While they keep trying to outdo each other, the animals inadvertently find themselves in a bear’s home. The bear is not happy with their shenanigans and chases them out. The animals run into more bears and more trouble. The bears chase the animals (who still have apples still stacked on their heads) into an apple cart! Now everyone has 10 apples up on top 🙂 Your child laugh at this silly story and enjoy the animals’ crazy antics. Plus, this books offers a fun way to incorporate counting!

3. Ouch by Ragnhild Scamell — in this story, an adorable hedgehog gets an apple stuck its back. Now hedgehog can’t fit into its den and winter is coming. The hedgehog’s animal friends try to help and get the apple off, but each attempt ends up with more things stuck to the poor hedgehog. After squeezing, and swimming, and rolling around, hedgehog and friends are running out of ideas. Fortunately, along comes a goat with a big appetite and eats all of the things that are stuck on hedgehog!

4. Aaron Loves Apples and Pumpkins by PD Eastman — Fall is here and Aaron the alligator loves everything about it. He loves the yummy apples, pumpkins, football, Halloween costumes, and spending time with his friends. When his friends go apple picking, Aaron tells them that he knows a better way to get the apples down. Aaron shakes the tree, causing all of the apples to fall down on him! Oops 🙂 Now all of the apples are down and Aaron and his friends can enjoy them together. This book is part of the beginning reader series, I Can Read. It has short sentences with few words per page, making it a good choice for kids who are learning to read, and for those who do not want to sit through long stories.

5. Apples, Apples, Apples by Nancy Wallace — in this cute story, the bunny family goes apple picking on a lovely fall day. Farmer Miller teaches the bunnies all about apples. Kids will love learning all about apples with the bunnies. The book includes a applesauce recipe too!

6. 10 Red Apples by Pat Hutchins — everyone loves apples, including all of the farm apples. The apple tree starts with 10 red apples on it. Soon, one-by-one, a farm animal comes along and eats an apple off of the tree. The farmer eats the last one, and his wife didn’t get to enjoy a yummy apple! Oh no! Not to worry, the wife knows where to find more 🙂 This story has bright pictures, large, bold numbers on each page, and makes it easy for preschoolers and kindergartners to practice counting apples.

7. Adding Apples by Nick Rebman — this nonfiction, early math book is a great choice for preschool and kindergarten apple-themes. The child in the book leads the reader through a series of age-appropriate math problems with apples 🙂 My son liked counting the counting all of the apples on the page and announcing the answer to me! Plus the pictures in the book do a great job representing different colors in the apples.

Tissue Paper Apple Craft:

Tissue Paper Preschool Apple Craft

To make this tissue paper apple craft, you will need a piece of white paper, a pencil, a glue stick, and tissue paper in red, green and brown (or orange). I drew a rough outline of an apple on a piece of paper. Next I cut red tissue paper into 1-inch squares.

My son and I both scrunched up the red tissue paper squares together — great for preschool fine motor skills. After we had a lot of of tissue balls, my kiddo covered his apple shape in glue. Then he stuck the tissue all over his apple.

After covering then entire apple in red tissue, we scrunched up green tissue. We glued the green tissue balls in a leaf shape. Even after adding the green leaf, my son still thought his apple was missing something. He decided to add an orange stem (I didn’t have brown tissue paper).

His apple turned out pretty cute! We really enjoyed doing this craft together and I love that he added his own creative ideas with the stem.

STEM Activity:

Apple STEM activity — using our 5 Senses

Activities:

Apple Counting:

Preschool Apple Counting Activity with flashcards and pompoms

Tactile counting with pompoms really helps conceptualize numbers. For this activity, preschoolers will add red and green pompoms to their apple tree to show the same number of apples as is listed on their flash cards. I made numbered cards and an apple tree that you can print. This activity can used over-and-over again as no glue is involved. Just draw a card, look at the number, and place the corresponding number of “apple” pompoms on the tree!

For this activity you will need to print off the flash cards and cut them out; print off the tree page; and have 10 pompoms in red and green. Click on the link below for your flashcards and tree:

Find the Differences:

Can you find 5 differences between these 2 scenes?

Uncategorized

Back-To-School Books

Back to School Books

Whether your child is doing preschool (or kindergarten) at home or at a school, or just getting into the back-to-school excitement with an older sibling, here is a list of 14 fun, school-themed books to enjoy together. I’m also including a cute school-themed I Spy game that makes counting lots of fun!

School Stories:

The Night Before Preschool

1. The Night Before Preschool by Natasha Wing — written in a rhyming style similar to Clement Moore’s The Night Before Christmas, this is a cute read for those who want to know what to expect at preschool. The little boy in the story is too nervous to sleep, but he learns that preschool is tons of fun and he can’t wait to go back the next day 🙂

Click, Clack, Quack to School

2. Click, Clack, Quack to School by Doreen Cronin — for those who are nervous that school isn’t going to be much fun, the farm animals show that school is lots of fun and everyone has great time. The animals’ antics as they prepare to visit the school will have your child giggling.

The Pigeon Has to Go to School

3. The Pigeon Has to Go School by Mo Willems — Even pigeons get worried about starting school (who knew?). The pigeon worries about everything, including worrying about learning too much! Kids will find themselves laughing at the pigeon’s over-the-top reactions and will subtly find that, just like the pigeon, they might not need to worry so much themselves. All around great read, even for those who aren’t worried about school.

The King of Kindergarten

4. King of Kindergarten by Derrick Barnes — This story is a great confidence booster. No need to worry about the first day of school; you got this, because you are the king of kindergarten! In this book, the parents help build up their child’s self-confidence and ease school worries away.

Time for School Little Blue Truck

5. Time for School, Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle — this is a new book in the Little Blue Truck series and this time, Little Blue gets to help a young piggy who missed the bus. Preschoolers will love Little Blue’s kindness in this beautifully illustrated, rhyming book.

Froggy Goes to School

6. Froggy Goes to School by Jonathan London — Froggy is adorable. These books are always a fun read, with vibrant pictures, a lot of fun sounds to make, and an enthusiastic story. I have always enjoyed reading Froggy to my preschool storytime group at the library and to my own son because the stories lend themselves so well to movement activities.

Lola Goes to School

7. Lola Goes to School by Anna McQuinn — I LOVE the Lola books! They are super cute, show such positive family relationships, have great pictures, and are relatively short stories. Lola shows how much school can be in this story. She gets her own cubby to store her things, gets to choose fun activities, plays with new friends, and gets a yummy snack. Soon it’s time to go home!

The Kissing Hand

8. The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn — In this sweet story, a little raccoon is scared to start school. Little ones can relate to the racoon’s fears of being away from home. Mama racoon has a great solution; she kisses his hand so that he can bring her love with him. This story is just so touching — be prepared to get teary-eyed as you read it! It’s a reassuring story both kids and parents.

Llama Llama Misses Mama

9. Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney — this book really tugged at my emotions. It’s also hard for us parents to be separated from our kids when school starts! Told in rhyming text, this book explores the fears many kids face on the first day of school.

Pete the Cat Rocking in My School Shoes

10. Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes by Eric Litwin — Pete the Cat is a preschool / kindergarten fan favorite! This is one of the first Pete the Cat books and it is a fun, sing-songy story with less words than the later stories. You will get caught up in Pete’s enthusiasm for school and find yourselves singing along.

I Got the School Spirit

11. I Got the School Spirit by Connie Schofield-Morrison — want to get pepped up and excited for school? well then this is the book for you! The vibrant pictures and the sensory sound words will capture preschoolers’ attentions. “She hears the school spirit in the bus driving up the street–VROOM, VROOM!–and in the bell sounding in the halls–RING-A-DING!” It’s a fun, sensory experience to get excited for the new school year.

We Don't Eat Our Classmates

12. We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins — Ryan T. Higgins is so talented as both an author and an illustrator. In this funny story, Penelope, a T. Rex, is nervous about her first day of school. Her nerves get the better of her during the day and she ends up eating a classmate — don’t worry, the student is fine! Penelope’s parents help ease her fears and she returns to school the next day, ready to try again!

If You Take a Mouse to School

13. If You Take a Mouse to School by Laura Numeroff — this is a fun book that goes through the typical school supplies/things you’d see in a classroom. Like the other books in this, it’s a silly story that little ones will enjoy. Bonus, it is a great introduction to sequencing and kids won’t even realize that they’re learning as they are so engrossed in the story.

School's First Day of School

14. School’s First Day of School by Adam Rex — A brand new elementary school is anxiously awaiting the first day of school! What will the children be like? What will they be doing at school? Will they like school? The school was filled with questions. On the first day of school, the school couldn’t believe how many children there were! The school learned what the different rooms were for and listened in on some jokes at lunch and lessons in the classroom and ended up having a fantastic day! Now the school can’t wait for everyone to back again tomorrow for more fun!

Enjoy How to Get Your Teacher Ready by Jean Reagan: https://youtu.be/v2JC7vmypEI

Check you library for these school-themed books! You can also purchase them on Amazon through the links provided. If you happen to purchase a book through my links, I get a small percentage of the sale to help support this site.

Activity for The Kissing Hand

Make a hand and kiss out of Play-Doh to go along with the story!

STEM, Uncategorized

Free Math Worksheets Available

Check out the new “Preschool Math Skills” section under the Preschool page. I finally got some math skills worksheets available for free download so your preschooler can practice their number writing, counting, and number ordering skills 🙂

I originally made them for my son to practice his math skills, and I periodically print them off for him to do again. I am so impressed with how much his handwriting has improved. He just wrote the most beautiful number 20 on his worksheet!