Summer crafts party planner for Kids with craft snack recipes and craft projects for kids

Hello my Omschooligans! Teacher Omi seriously loves summer and since summer is finally getting serious in our area, I'm rolling out a whole raft of craft projects and activities for children. Here's a complete summer craft party planner I call "Kids' Crafts-travganza"! Use these kids' crafts for summer fun or rainy days. And you know me: these crafts are cheap or free to make using recycled materials. Here's the format plus suggested crafts. 

* Call it a party! 

This step is important. Summer-bored or rainy day stuck-inside kids need pick-me-ups to distract them, especially if they're stuck inside because they're sick. There's nothing like a crafts party to distract children. Even sick kids can participate. Just planning the arts and crafts party will give kids something to look forward to. 

🤖🤖Craft Recipe #1: The Recycled Robot

• Prep time: 5 minutes

• Difficulty: Easy

• The "Ingredients" (Supplies):

  • 1 Empty cereal or snack box (the "body")

  • 4 Toilet paper rolls (the "limbs")

  • Bottle caps (for "buttons" or "eyes")

  • Aluminum foil

  • Glue or tape ✀

• Instructions:

  1. Wrap the cereal box and toilet paper rolls in aluminum foil (or paint them).

  2. Glue the rolls to the bottom corners of the box for legs and the top corners for arms.

  3. Use the bottle caps to create a control panel on the front of the robot.

• Pro-Tip: If you have extra packing peanuts, glue them on top of the robot's head to make "antenna sensors."

* Keep your arts and crafts party for children simple. 

As a homeschooling mom of four, I never needed an excuse to have a party. But living on a shoestring, in a small mobile home, I learned to squeeze the most fun from cheap, homemade activities. There's no need to spend money on this craft party. If you're snowed in, you can't get out anyway. If you have a few basic supplies and a recycle bin, you've got everything you need.

Craft Recipe #2: Cereal Box "Art Gallery" Frames

• Prep time: 10 minutes

• Difficulty: Easy

• The "Ingredients" (Supplies):

  • Empty cereal box (thin cardboard)

  • Scissors ✀

  • Markers, crayons, or stickers

  • Glue

• Instructions:

  1. Cut the front panel of the cereal box into a rectangle.

  2. Carefully cut out a smaller rectangle from the center to create a frame border.

  3. Let the kids decorate the frame using stickers, gems, or by drawing designs with markers.

  4. Tape their finished drawings or paintings to the back of the frame.

• Pro-Tip: Punch two holes in the top of the frame and tie a piece of scrap yarn through them to create a hanger for your gallery wall!

* Prepare to get messy in a summer crafts party for children. 

Take the arts and crafts party outside in you can. If the weather won't cooperate, do crafts under an awning. For rainy day crafts for kids, cover the craft area, floor, table and any furniture you don't want to get messy. Most craft supplies won't damage, but cover if you're concerned. Use old plastic tablecloths, sheets or shower curtains. Dress kids in old clothes or art shirts made from dad's old clothes. Or cut the bottom out of plastic grocery bags and put over kids' clothes like tank tops.

Craft Recipe #3: Magical Egg Carton Creatures🐟🐠👺

• Prep time: 10 minutes

• Difficulty: Medium

• The "Ingredients" (Supplies):

  • 1 Egg carton (cardboard is best)

  • Scissors

  • Kids' Paint pens or markers

  • Googly eyes (or draw your own!)

  • Pipe cleaners or yarn (for antennae or tails)

  • Glue

• Instructions:

  1. Cut the egg carton into individual "cups."

  2. Paint each cup to look like a fantasy creature (a dragon, a forest sprite, or an alien!).

  3. Poke small holes in the top to insert pipe cleaners for antennae or tails.

  4. Glue on eyes and any other decorations like sequins or glitter.

• Pro-Tip: Use these as "game pieces" for a scavenger hunt! Hide them around the living room and have the kids go on a "Creature Quest."

* Assemble supplies for arts and crafts for kids. 

A basic crafts-travaganza party for children requires only scissors, glue or glue sticks, something to color with (markers, crayons, colored pencils) and assorted recycled junk. Haul out egg cartons, cereal boxes, lids, jars, containers, packing peanuts, paper, foil and plastic. If you have fancier art supplies, use those. Feathers, faux gems, stamps, clay, beads, stickers, pom-poms, buttons and yarn. Set out any construction paper, wrapping paper and scrapbook supplies. If you have decoratively-edged scissors or shaped paper punches set those out. 

* Choose a theme.

Read a story and make summer crafts for kids that correlate with the book. Or assign kids to make collages or designs from recycled materials. Themes might be: dinosaurs, vehicles, inventions, fantasy creatures, circus, aliens, robots, rainforest animals, zoo animals, trains. Display creations when done. Stuck for ideas? Try Free Kids' Crafts for kids free printables. Here's a train-themed craft project my grandson Milo will love! 

Craft Recipe #4: The "Recycle Express" Train 

• Prep time: 15 minutes

• Difficulty: Medium

• The "Ingredients" (Supplies):

  • 5–6 small boxes (cereal boxes, snack boxes, or milk cartons)

  • Bottle caps (for wheels)

  • Popsicle sticks (to create the "track")

  • Black construction paper or a toilet paper roll (for the smokestack)

  • Cotton balls (for "smoke")

  • String or yarn (to connect the train cars)

  • Glue and paint/markers

• Instructions:

  1. Paint or wrap each box to be a different "car" of the train.

  2. Glue four bottle caps to the sides of each box to serve as wheels.

  3. Poke a small hole in the front and back of each box. Thread a piece of string through the boxes to connect them like a real train!

  4. For the engine (the front box), glue a toilet paper roll upright and tuck a cotton ball inside for a puff of smoke.

  5. Lay the popsicle sticks side-by-side on your table to create a "track" for your train to ride on.

• Pro-Tip: Write numbers or letters on each car so the kids can practice counting or spelling their name while they play!

* Serve edible craft snacks. 

What's a crafts party for children without treats? Match foods served to craft theme. Zoo theme: fudge striped cookies, shaped fruit snacks, animal "fodder" (carrots and celery), Little Debbie Zebra Cakes, gator swamp juice (limeade), Cheetah Cheese Crackers, finger sandwiches cut with shaped cookie cutters, fish crackers. Here are some more fun edible craft snacks kids can make themselves!

Edible Craft Recipe #5: "Log Cabin" Pretzel Houses

• Prep time: 15 minutes

• Difficulty: Easy

• The "Ingredients" (Supplies):

  • Pretzel sticks (for logs)

  • Peanut butter or cream cheese (the "mortar")

  • Graham crackers (for the base and roof)

  • Raisins or small candies (for "decorations")

• Instructions:

  1. Spread a layer of peanut butter or cream cheese on a graham cracker "foundation."

  2. Stack pretzel sticks in a square pattern (like Lincoln Logs) on top of the foundation, using the spread as glue.

  3. Use a second graham cracker as a roof and "glue" it on with more spread.

  4. Decorate the outside with candies or dried fruit.

Edible Craft Recipe #6: "Ants on a Log" Boat Race

• Prep time: 5 minutes

• Difficulty: Very Easy

• The "Ingredients" (Supplies):

  • Celery stalks (the "boat hull")

  • Peanut butter, cream cheese, or sunflower butter

  • Raisins or dried cranberries (the "ants")

  • Apple slices (optional: use as a "sail" by sticking a toothpick through them)

• Instructions:

  1. Wash and cut celery into 4-inch pieces.

  2. Fill the "trough" of the celery with your chosen butter.

  3. Place the "ants" (raisins) in a line along the butter.

  4. Stick an apple slice upright in the center to create a sail. Now, line them up on the table for an "Ants on a Log" boat race!

  5. 
     
     

Edible Craft Recipe #7: Fruit "Jewelry" Necklaces

• Prep time: 10 minutes

• Difficulty: Easy

• The "Ingredients" (Supplies):

  • O-shaped cereal (like Cheerios)

  • Grapes, blueberries, or strawberries

  • Gummy rings

  • Sturdy string or dental floss (the "jewelry wire")

• Instructions:

  1. Cut a piece of string long enough to fit over the child's head.

  2. Tie a large knot at one end (or tie it to a piece of cereal so the food doesn't slip off).

  3. Let the kids thread the cereal and fruit onto the string to make a "wearable snack."

  4. Tie the two ends together when finished!

Kids should help with cleanup. That's part of party planning too. Using these ideas, your crafts-travaganza will be an oft-requested event!

Montessori Science Kits like Math Their Way for STEM Learning Centers

Hello my Omschooligans! Today we're making science tubs for animal exploration in our STEM learning center. These are based on Math Their Way math tubs and Montessori learning centers. 

Math Their Way + Montessori

🧮 About "Math Their Way"

Developed by Bob Baratta-Lorton, Math Their Way is a foundational approach to teaching mathematics that prioritizes concrete, hands-on experiences over abstract paper-and-pencil tasks.

• Manipulatives First: Students explore concepts using physical objects before moving to symbols.
• Active Learning: It encourages students to "do" math, fostering a deeper understanding of patterns and relationships.
• Universal Application: While perfect for early childhood, its hands-on philosophy is highly effective across all grade levels, including special education.

💡 Core Philosophy: If they can touch it, they can understand it!

Math Their Way and Math: A Way of Thinking (Bob Baratta-Lorton) developed the math tubs concepts that science kits stem from. And Montessori preschools are based on learning centers and hands-on manipulatives instead of paper and pencil activities. Montessori learning centers have worked so efficiently that many middle school and high school educators teach using learning centers. And Math Their Way is so hands-on that it works for all ages. Math Their Way and Montessori formats work well for general education and special education classrooms. 

How to Create Montessori & "Math Their Way" Learning Centers

I. Core Philosophical Principles

• Active & Hands-On: Learning is most effective when it is interactive.

• Center-Based Instruction: Most preschool and early elementary classrooms utilize specific "learning centers" for instruction.

• Alternative to Paper/Pencil: Montessori centers prioritize physical manipulatives, which has proven effective even for high school education and general/special education classrooms.

II. Implementation (Standard and Alternative)

• The Problem: Standard "Math Tubs" (plastic bins) can be too bulky for homeschool environments or classrooms with limited space.

• The Solution: The "Math Bag" Approach: Use one-gallon or two-gallon zippered Ziploc plastic bags to store unit materials.

• Organization: Store all unit bags neatly within a larger, central plastic container.

III. Labeling and Cross-Curricular Integration

• Unit Theme: Label each bag or tub clearly by its primary unit theme.

• Cross-Labeling: Link related science units to encourage cross-curricular thinking.

  • Example: Label a "Solar System" kit also as "Rocks and Minerals," "Geology," "Earth Science," "Roman/Greek Mythology," and "Geography."

• Materials & Resources: Include relevant books directly in the exploratory science kit or bag.

IV. Operational Flow for Students

1. Selecting a Station: Students take the chosen exploratory science kit or math tub to a workstation (like a floor mat).

2. Tracking Tasks: Students must list the specific tasks to be completed in their science journals.

3. Completing & Lab Notes: Assignments are completed using the kit's materials, and lab notes are recorded in the journals.

4. Checking Off and Returning: Students check off completed tasks and use a teacher-provided inventory list to ensure all items are returned to the tub when done.

Free printable math facts worksheets, flash cards, learning games, crafts and activities for summer enrichment

Hello my Omschooligans! Do you hate doing homework? Parents, do your kids balk at completing school tasks? Homework avoidance syndrome is a common ailment among children. It's not a real condition, but it can have dangerous effects all the same. Learning math, reading and writing skills are vital to real-world functioning. And homework practice makes skills, if not perfect, at least much better. So Teacher Omi (that's me above! Omi means Grandma in Dutch) has some summer math fun for you!  And I call this learning space, the Omschool! I like to think of it as a Tree Fort. Here's an Omschool Tree Fort of math activities, games crafts and recipes! They're all inexpensive or free, made recycled materials and perfect homeschool families!  

Summer enrichment vs. homework

Learning retention is even more challenging with kids out of school on summer vacation. There is no incentive or reason to keep up with studies and so momentum of learned subjects lapses during the long three months off from school. One idea is to provide lots of summer enrichment activities in lieu of "homework." VBS (vacation Bible school) and library reading programs all help with this. And it helps to keep learning fun and game or craft oriented instead of boring. 

🍕 The "Fraction Pizza" Craft

A hands-on, recycled-materials project to master parts of a whole!

What You'll Need

• Cardboard (from an old cereal box or shipping box)
• Construction paper or old magazines
• Scissors and glue
• A round object to trace (like a plate)
• Markers or colored pencils

Instructions

1. The Crust: Trace a circle onto your recycled cardboard and cut it out. Divide it into 8 equal slices using a marker.
2. The Toppings: Use construction paper or magazines to cut out "pepperoni," "peppers," or "mushrooms."
3. Fraction Play: Assign values to your toppings! For example: "Place 2/8 of the pizza with pepperoni, and 4/8 with peppers."
4. Glue: Once the fractions are correct, glue your toppings onto the cardboard slices.
5. Review: Ask: "What fraction of the pizza is plain cheese?"

💡 Teacher Tip: Use different colors for different fractions to help visual learners see the parts more clearly!

At-home math games, recipes and craft projects

Bringing math and fractions to life at home is a fantastic way to build confidence and make learning feel like play! Here are some hands-on, low-prep ideas you can use today:

🧩 Fraction Games

• Fraction War: Using a standard deck of cards (remove face cards), each player flips two cards to create a fraction (smaller number as the numerator, larger as the denominator). Compare the fractions—the player with the larger fraction wins the round and takes all the cards!

• Paper Plate Puzzles: Decorate several paper plates as your favorite pies or pizzas. Cut them into different fractions (halves, quarters, eighths) and label each piece. Ask your child to "build" a whole pie using a mix of different pieces (e.g., "Can you make a whole using one-half, one-quarter, and two-eighths?").

• Lego Towers: Use Legos to visualize fractions. Build towers of different heights to represent different values. How many 4-dot bricks does it take to equal an 8-dot brick? Use these to compare and add fractions visually.

• Kitchen Fractions: Bake something together! Measuring ingredients is the perfect real-world practice for fractions. Ask your child to help you double a recipe or figure out how many 1/4 cups are in 1 cup.

  🍪 Healthy No-Bake "Math" Cookies

  Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups Old-fashioned rolled oats
  • ½ cup Natural peanut butter
  • ⅓ cup Honey or maple syrup
  • ¼ cup Chia seeds or ground flaxseed
  • ⅓ cup Mini dark chocolate chips
  • 1 tsp Vanilla extract

  Instructions

  1. Combine: Mix oats, nut butter, honey, seeds, and vanilla in a large bowl.
  2. Calculate: Ask: "How many ¼ cups do we need to make ½ cup?"
  3. Mix: Stir well and fold in the chocolate chips.
  4. Chill: Refrigerate for 30 minutes to firm up.
  5. Form: Roll into 12 balls. Ask: "If we eat 3 cookies, what fraction of the batch is left?"

🔢 Math Facts & Fluency

• Domino Math: Place dominoes face down. Players pick one and add, subtract, multiply, or divide the two sides to find the answer. It’s a great way to handle number sentences without just writing them down.

• "Don’t Eat Pete": Create a grid of math problems on a piece of paper. Place a small treat (like a cracker or raisin) on each square. One player leaves the room while the others pick one square to be "Pete." When the player returns, they pick up the treats one by one, solving the math problem on each square they take. If they try to take "Pete," everyone shouts "Don't Eat Pete!"

• Math Scavenger Hunt: Hide clues around the house that require solving a quick math problem to unlock the location of the next clue.

• Target Number: Roll three dice. Use the numbers rolled—and any operation (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division)—to reach a target number that you set.

Math Facts are Essential! 

Having said that, all the fun activities in the world won't replace regular drilling to retain content. Math, in particular. requires daily practice. Elementary students need to review math facts routinely or they will struggle all through their school career. Daily memorization is the key to learning math facts. Here are free printable math worksheets and customizable math lessons for math homework help and at home practice. Math facts include times tables, as well as addition, subtraction and division facts. Students who memorize math facts on division, multiplication, addition and subtraction will have an easier experience with any other math they study. 

Ladder Learning 

Math is like a ladder--each step builds upon the other. Students must practice math facts at school and at home. Good teachers require that math facts be practiced at least five days per week for five to ten minutes for math homework. Parents and day care providers should make time in the evening to practice math facts. 

Not-Boring Math Facts Practice 

Math Facts Cafe offers free printable math facts worksheets and practice pages. Math fact lessons are free to print for school or home use or $2.99 to join and print banner free. Math Fact Cafe provides free printables for grades first, second, third and fourth. Each grade level links to around 40-50 free printable math flashcards, worksheets, games or activity pages. 

• Math homework worksheets cover one, two and three digit math problems. 
• There are math worksheets and math flashcards for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. 
• Fractions, fraction renaming, mixed numerals, improper fractions and fraction comparisons. 
• Converting fraction to percent and decimals and equivalent fractions worksheets are available.
• There are free printable math homework on time and money, too
• The cool thing about these free printable math worksheets and math flashcards is that you can customize them. Choose the number of problems to list on the math homework and the layout.
• Print missing number worksheets, fill in worksheets and answer keys. 
• Use these for math homework, study guides, quizzes or tests. 
• There are ready-made math worksheets, cut and paste math activities and math flash cards. Customized math worksheets let you tailor math practice activities by concept, individual student needs or learning styles. 

💡 Eco-Friendly Printing Tips

• To create cost-effective and environmentally friendly worksheets:

  • Save Ink: Set your printer to "Draft" mode and "Black and White" to minimize ink usage.

  • Reduce Waste: Use recycled paper and print on one side to keep your materials sustainable and easy to use.

Create life-size habitat dioramas and animal themed costumes for bio-drama!

Hello my Omschooligans! Have I got some fun summer enrichment activities for you today!  We're going to create life-size habitat dioramas in the Omschool. Students will then write plays about nature and animals and plants in their life-size habitat diorama. They will create costumes for themselves as part of the diorama. We will then use these as sets to perform our plays. 

These lesson plans address preschool science, art, math, creative writing and dramatic play in hands-on Montessori learning experiences. But they don't have to stop with preschool. You can use those with any age student. Homeschoolers you will love these activities! Kids at all ages can participate! 

 Life-size habitat dioramas also teach environmentalism by repurposing recycled materials from the recycle bin. And you know how a teacher Omi loves her recycle bin! Further, dramatic play develops reading, social, emotional, artistic, creative and communication skills. lend themselves to all content. Here are homemade costumes, props and settings for life science theater. I call it bio-drama. Using recycled materials teaches real-life environmental science!

Life-size habitat diorama sets

💡 Pro-Tips for "Bio-Drama" Dioramas

• Use the Triorama Fold: If you want to make your sets quickly, look for "triorama" templates. They are essentially a single square of paper folded into a 3D corner, which makes for a very fast, effective stage-set for a play.

• Layering for Depth: To make your habitats look "life-size" and professional for your plays, encourage the kids to glue background scenery to the back of the box, then place "mid-ground" items (like trees or rocks) in the middle, and "foreground" items (their characters or animals) at the very front. This layering effect will make the diorama pop during performance!

• Lighting: As mentioned in one of the resources, poking small holes in the top or back of your diorama and inserting a cheap battery-powered tea light can instantly transform a static scene into a magical forest or a sunset-lit savannah for your plays

Creating the elements of the habitat

--Spider webs: Tie scrap yarn, rope, twine, crepe paper together. Weave it into a web. Attach it to both walls in a corner, with tape or putty. Festoon it across the corner so it drapes down. 

🌿 Pro Tip: String old straws onto your yarn before weaving to give your spider web more structure and a realistic 3D shape!

--Trees: Make tree trunks from large school paper rolls. You can also ask home improvement stores like Lowe's or Home Depot to save you the rolls from carpeting. If those aren't available, used saved oatmeal drums. Or cut flat cardboard and bend into cylindrical shapes. 

To make branches, tape together paper towel or toilet paper tubes, end to end, using masking tape. You can also use aluminum cans. Or cut brown paper bags open, roll into tubes and twist from branches and vines. This is a great way to repurpose recycled cardboard! 

--Foliage: Paint paper grocery bags green. Cut leaves from plastic or paper grocery bags. Make "floppy" leaves from plastic. Make blossoms from scrap office or construction paper, tissue paper, wallpaper samples or wrapping paper. Fold paper accordion style. Secure with twist tie in the middle. Fan out and snip edges.

🌸 DIY: Accordion Paper Blossom

Ingredients:

• Scrap office paper, construction paper, tissue paper, or wallpaper samples
• Twist ties (or thin twine) 
• Scissors

Instructions:

1. Fold: Accordion-fold your paper strip from end to end (about 1-inch pleats).
2. Secure: Pinch the center of your folded paper and fasten it tightly with a twist tie.
3. Fan: Carefully fan out the folds on both sides to create a circular bloom.
4. Shape: Use scissors to snip the edges into rounded, pointed, or fringed petals.

--Seeds and fruit: Put dried beans or popcorn in recycled plastic bottles for seeds. Seal and paint or color to look like fruit. This is great for using up all those plastic bottles that accumulate! You can use any bottle that had loose or dry materials like water bottles, vitamins, pills and fragrance crystals.

--Land and water formations. Simulate sand and soil with brown or black blankets, sheets and towels. Use green or blue ones for rivers, ponds, lakes, oceans. Drape blankets over furniture to create hills, caves, plateaus, canyons and other landforms. 

--Weather and precipitation: Use colored streamers and ribbon for rain and white for snow. Tuck ends under ceiling tiles (no holes poked or wasted staples). Use packing peanuts or wadded paper balls for ground snow. 

* Recycle bin animal costumes: 

--Body coverings: Explore animal body covering patterns (stripes, shells, spots, fur, hair, feathers, scales) with kids. Draw or trace on cardboard boxes. Make wearables, folding into tubes for legs and sandwich boards for back and chest. Poke holes and tie arm loops from old cord, yarn, string or braided plastic bags. Cut head holes and arm holes in plastic bags and decorate to look like animal bodies. Fill with wadded paper. Attach paper cups for bumpy body coverings. 

--Wings: Bend metal coat hangers to wing shape (insects have four wing sections). Stretch old tights or pantyhose over wire. Tie off and make arm loops from excess. Paint with patterns. 

--Legs: Continue body covering pattern on two pairs of old tights or nylons. Draw feet (hoof, paws, claws, flippers). Use one pair for arms. Cut hole in crotch. Place over head. Cut waist band to fit. Pull legs over arms. For claws, cut toe and finger holes. 

--Eyes: For bug compound eyes, poke small holes in foil scraps. Cover old sunglasses. Make glasses from rings cut from plastic container lids. Tie plastic bag strips to sides and tie in back of head. Use Styrofoam cups for protruding eyes (fish) or prey animals' side eyes.

--Faces: Cut old hats like animal masks. Staple or tie on antennae, whiskers, fangs. Make horns from twisted paper. 

Free printable animal habitat lesson plans

🐾 Animal Tracks Resources

• Animal Tracks Coloring Pages: A great, simple printable resource from PBS KIDS for younger learners to start identifying different prints.

• Animal Tracks Printable Book & Cards: This set is fantastic for a science center, featuring both blackline (for coloring) and full-color versions with real photos of animals.

• Tracks, Scat, and Sign Activities: A comprehensive guide from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources with hands-on lesson ideas for pre-K through 5th grade, including how to make "track stamps" and salt-dough fossils.

• Animal Tracks Teacher Resources: This PDF from the Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve includes detailed lessons on track patterns, stride measurement, and "track stories" that are perfect for creative drama.

🛡️ Animal Body Coverings Resources

• Animal Body Coverings Worksheet: A helpful cut-and-paste science worksheet that asks students to sort animals by their coverings (fur, scales, feathers, etc.).

• Fur and Feathers Activities: This guide from Cosley Zoo contains excellent, multi-sensory activity ideas for sorting and understanding how coverings help animals survive in their habitats.

• Animal Coverings Free Resources: Teachers Pay Teachers hosts a variety of free, educator-created printables, including emergent readers, picture sorts, and labeling response sheets. 

🌍 Free Printable Habitat Diorama Resources

• Little Bins for Little Hands: Savannah Diorama: This is a fantastic step-by-step guide that provides free, printable landscape backgrounds and animal cut-outs. It is highly structured and great for teaching kids how to assemble a 3D scene from a 2D template.

• Teachers Pay Teachers (Free Search): This platform is an excellent source for teacher-created, free habitat templates. You can find "triorama" kits (a simple 3D triangle-based diorama), research-based diorama templates, and specific biome kits (like forest, ocean, or desert) that are perfect for your diorama sets.

• DIY.org: Habitat Diorama Challenge: This site provides a clear, 12-step guide to building shoebox-style dioramas. It is particularly helpful for "Teacher Omi" because it includes advice on how to adapt the project for different age levels and how to use common household items (like tissue paper or clay) to add texture to your nature scenes.

• TOCK Crafts: Habitat Diorama Guide: This resource offers great tips for gathering supplies and assembling dioramas. It’s perfect for brainstorming how to create specific features, like hills, water formations, and vegetation, using recycled materials from your bin.

Plays and skits

Each child chooses an animal or plant to represent. Assign children to work cooperatively to write a play or skit including all of their characters. Encourage kids to act out animal behaviors: hibernation, camouflage, communication, hunting for food, home building, care of young, predator/prey relationships (safely--no real attacks). 

Sand and Water Table Activities, Recipes, Games and Crafts for Preschool Learning Centers

Hello my Omschooligans! It's summer vacation here but Teacher Omi is thinking and planning activities for you all year round! Today we're taking lesson plans outside! We're going to make a sand and water table that students of all ages can enjoy! We're going to fill it with interesting multisensory materials to explore. These hands-on materials will help you practice you VAKT skills. VAKT stands for visual, auditory, kinesthetic (big muscle groups) and tactile (touch). 

What is a sand and water table?

It's a low child-sized table with tubs that can be filled with materials for children to explore. The sand table is the mainstay of preschool science activities in Montessori type learning centers. Early childhood special education classrooms use a sand table, or water table to provide:

• hands-on, interactive learning
• cognitive and perceptual development 
• tactile stimulation 
• sensory explanation

You can make your own sand table for preschool learning centers. The classroom style are pretty expensive, so when I was homeschooling, I just repurposed our covered Little Tikes Turtle Sand Box. These are a great investment and endlessly versatile! Our kids played with it outside in summer and then cleaned it out and brought it inside for classroom lesson plans. You can also use any sandbox outside. Your exploratory sand table or tub just needs to be large enough for one or two kids to play in comfortably. 

How to use a sand table on the go

If you're using the covered box or sandbox style we'll now refer to it as a Portable Sensory Box. But you'll use it the same as the full classroom size sand and water table in preschool learning centers. Though it's called a sand table, you can fill this tub with a wide assortment of tactile materials. Simply fill it with different kinds of "stuff" that kids can touch and explore. Every few weeks or so, empty the tub and fill it a different type of material, based on the unit you are studying. 

What to fill the portable sensory box with (besides sand)

Here's where the fun begins! The possibilities are almost endless. Here's a list of some sensory box fillers plus science activities for early childhood lesson plans.

Free printable games for kids: Card games, file folder games, Bingo and more

Hello my Omschooligans. Do you like to play games? I love bingo, card games and board games. Card games and board games are excellent teaching tools. Games are interactive and hands-on and children learn many skills when they play card games. Educational card games teach kids to count, add, subtract, prioritize, plan, organize, sort, coordinate and evaluate. Card games can be created to teach content area and subject matter in lesson plans Card games help students memorize information. Here are free printable educational card games, playing cards, flashcards, dominoes and Memory games to use as lesson plans

Educational Card Games, Puzzles & Game Printables

• The Kidz Page

  • Offers a variety of brightly colored printable games, including math games, word games, flashcards, and sudoku.

• Activity Village

  • Features a range of printable educational card games, board game, learning activities, Memory games, and dominoes. Click both of these links for different lists of printable kids games for lesson plans. There are math and reading games, science games on all sorts of subjects for preschool and elementary school activities.

• Planet Pals

  • Provides a free printable animal matching deck that can also be used for Memory games.

• Print Games

  • Includes vintage-style card games (e.g., Crazy 8s, Old Maid, Go Fish) and standard decks for solitaire, poker, and rummy.

• Mom's Minivan

  • Provides an assortment of printable educational card games, travel/car games, bingo, and cootie catchers.

• DL-TK (DLTK's Crafts for Kids)

  • Offers a large collection of printables, including math games, flashcards, dominoes, and even printable game tokens and dice. Here's the link to the free printable learning games for kids. 

• Disney Family

  • Provides various Disney-themed activities that can be repurposed into educational cards, flashcards, or memory games.

• Tim's Printables

  • Offers free printable decks of playing cards. 

• 123 Homeschool 4 Me

  • A massive repository offering over 1 million free printable worksheets and activities covering history, math, English, science, and more, organized by grade level.

• All Kids Network

  • Features thousands of printable worksheets, craft ideas, and activities like mazes, connect-the-dots, and word searches, specifically helpful for preschool and elementary ages.

• ABCya!

  • While primarily known for digital games, they offer a variety of printable activities and worksheets categorized by subject (Math, Language Arts, Science) and grade level.

• Fun Learning for Kids

  • An excellent site for hands-on, thematic learning activities, including alphabet games, CVC word-building strips, and math crafts tailored for early learners.

• Scholastic Parents

  • Provides a variety of seasonally-themed printables, reading trackers, and activity pages to help reinforce learning throughout the year.

• Highlights for Children

  • Offers a collection of "just print and play" activities, including puzzles, games, and crafts, perfect for independent learning and quiet time.

• Enchanted Learning 
• Free printable educational games for kids in all subjects. Pay an annual site fee of $29 to print unlimited copies of the many educational activities, school worksheets, crafts and games. Look for less common games for kids like Lotto. 
• Sudoku has printable copies of the popular game plus a daily sudoku puzzle to solve. 
• Here's a free printable bingo came that be used as a matching memory game.