Tag Archives: preschool

Preschool Activity: Back to School Activity Box

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Back to school is an intense time for students of all ages. For children going to school for the first time they might be a little nervous. To help ease them into going their first year or just back to school in general, I created a Back to School Activity Box.

Mila will be starting preschool next week and I wanted her to realize how much she knows already. This box will hopefully give her that confidence she needs to succeed.

I made sure to add different activities that would hit all content areas that are tons of fun!

Even though the theme of this box is back to school, it’s mainly centered around the alphabet, colors, and shapes! Everything Mila needs for preschool. As always, these are just suggestions and if you do a Back to School Activity

Books

As always, I’m always encouraging Mila to read and explore different books. This set of books goes from a beginner level to a little more advanced for her. The A to Z by Sandra Boynton is a great way to get kids saying their ABC’s and just introduced to the alphabet. How to Bake a Book is adorable. I love how it talks about the components of a book and what makes a story… well, a story.

The hardest book in the bunch is I’m Allergic to School! It’s definitely targeted to elementary school kids, but I think it’s fun to read Mila the poems. She likes to listen and it has higher vocabulary that helps her learn more.

There’s a ton of different back to school books, but these are what we have on hand. As always, I’d love more recommendations in the comments.

Puzzles

Mila LOVES puzzles and putting them together. We have a ton at home that she does all the time. Even though these are more educational, she also enjoys floor puzzles too. I really love these three puzzles (even though she has hidden the black piece in both her color puzzles). They’re very educational and get her used to letters, words, and colors. The alphabet puzzle is a great way for her to understand that every word has a letter, since there’s pictures under each one.

Her name puzzle was off of Etsy and was totally worth it. She already knows how to spell her name and I’m pretty sure these helped the process! Plus, it’s adorable.

Fizzy Bomb

I had to add a little science in her box. I try to do a few science experiments a week for her. She likes seeing reactions. This fizzy bomb reminds me of a bath bomb, but it has a little charm in it for her to get. It’s so important to introduce science and get kids interested in the subject as early as possible! I also have different science experiments posted on the blog that have really interested Mila too!

Play-Doh and Mats

No surprise that I added play-doh to this activity box too. It was such a hit in both the Dino and Mermaid box. Play-doh is open ended and can help kids create with their hands. Plus, it’s a great for sensory play too!

To help her work with shapes, I added these mats with the page protectors from Target. In the box is a roller and kid safe knife to help her cut our shapes if she pleases.

You can also use play-doh to talk about colors and have them roll out different shapes too!

Coloring/Activity Books, Flashcards, and Sticker Activities

I love educational play! Mila has been so interested in workbooks, coloring books, and flashcards for a little while now. You can find these on Amazon, Target, or Walmart. I actually found a lot of things at the Target dollar spot.

Instead of ripping out pages in her alphabet booklet, I just let her explore the whole thing this week. Of course you can use whatever letters or workbook activities you’d like.

My favorite alphabet coloring book is A B to Jay Z, which name has changed. It has a ton of different pop starts that correlates to the particulate letter in the alphabet. It’s such a fun way to learn. You can purchase the new coloring book here.

I also gave Mila more stickers to play with this week. Like I mentioned above with the play-doh, you can have kids sort the stickers by color OR give them a pattern to follow. Mila does this for a little while, then loves to give herself tattoos. BUT stickers are always a hit in our house.

Another pop-it has made an appearance too. If your kiddo doesn’t have one, try it with them. It’s so relaxing for them and I want to make a post about different activities you can do with them too!

Resin Letters Match

You all know how much I love resin letters. I think they’re so valuable in learning them. Anything that Mila can pick up and inspect really helps her grasp what she’s learning. I also printed out an alphabet mat and used the page protectors for her to match them on their.

The opportunities are endless when it comes to using these letters. You can have your child organize them however you’d like. You can use them with sight words or really anything.

Again, if you’re looking to buy resin letters, I’ll always shout out Beags & Bubs. She makes amazing sets that you can personalize!

Other Activities

Here’s a list of other activities we’ve done in the past that could be easily incorporated in the box. I’ll also be posting some extra things this weekend and next week that you could use too. Stay tuned!

If you’d like to give me some back to school tips to help students transition to the new routine or being ready, let me know in the comments.

Want to see the other activity boxes we’ve done? Check them out:

Beach Pudding Cups.

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It’s no secret, Mila and I love the beach. With her Mermaid Activity Box last week, I had her make a snack that matched: Beach Pudding Cups.

Honestly, I love that Mila loves the beach. She’s been to so many different beaches during her three years and each time she’s been obsessed. When we’re not there, she’s always asking to go back.

Anytime I can bring beach life to Ohio, I do my best to do so. I think this is why this snack was a hit with Mila.

Here’s what you’ll need to make this beachy snack:

  • Instant Vanilla Pudding
  • Graham Crackers
  • Gummy Fish or Sea Animals

First, make the instant pudding as directed in the box. I think all you need is milk with the pudding powder. It’s (the instant pudding) really simple if you’ve never made it.

Then, make graham cracker crumbs. I just blended in my blender!

Now it’s time to put it all together.

Get a clear bowl or cup and do a pudding layer first. I just eyeballed all the layers and didn’t do a specific amount.

Next, add a layer of graham crackers.

Repeat these steps until you get to the top. You want your final layer to be the graham crackers.

To finish it off, add fish and sea animal gummies. I also added a mermaid tail on top too. Next time I make this, I’ll mix blue food coloring to cool whip to make water too.

I think these Beach Pudding Cups are so cute for at home or even at the beach. Since I used our small Tupperware containers, it’d be perfect to put the top on and serve for a beach picnic.

Mila’s favorite part were the gummy creatures on top! She ate them all before she got to the ‘beach.’

This would also be a perfect after school snack since it’s so easy to make and out together. It made me feel like such a creative mom to do this with her.

She wanted to help layer the ingredients and did good too. So kids can essentially make their own after school snack!

What’s your favorite way to bring the beach home? Snacks, activities, or looking at old vacation pictures? Let me know in the comments.

Here’s a few of ours:

Preschool Activity: Mermaid Activity Box.

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Another week, another activity box for Mila to explore. This week is a Mermaid Activity Box. Since summer is still here and she loves the beach, I thought it was a perfect time to do this theme. It’s fun, education, and a hit with Mila.

Although I over-themed it for mermaids, this could easily be altered to be more about sharks, fish, or any other ocean creature too.

Like the Dinosaur Activity Box, the Mermaid Activity Box is filled with sensory items, toys, books, and educational activities for toddlers and preschoolers. All of this fits inside a book box from Target so it can easily travel from place to place.

These boxes are such an easy way to help promote learning for you little ones with multiple family members and friends.

Every time Mila sees me start to take items out of the box and put new ones in, she gets so excited to see what she’ll be working with. I think by just getting her to sit down with the sensory toys, books, and activity worksheets, it’ll help her prepare for preschool. it can be a huge adjustment to start learning how to sit down for crafts and activities the first time they go to preschool.

Anyways… here’s what’s all in the Mermaid Activity Box.

Mermaid Books

I’m a big supporter of Mila reading books every single day. Even if she’s making her own words up with the pictures. Books help kids understand concepts, worlds, and places they don’t have the opportunity or option to explore.

These four books are amazing. I’ve definitely showcased three of them on past posts before. They’re just that good!

In all of these books, we love the stories, but the illustrations are just gorgeous. I think they really capture the ocean vibes with all the blues. Mila’s favorite for a long time have been the That’s Not My… series. She loves finding the mouse and learning new words that describe what the books about.

Here’s our musts for the Mermaid Activity Box:

I’m always on the look out for more books too. If you have fun ocean, sea, or mermaid inspired books you think we’d love, let me know in the comments.

Sensory Play Items

We love sensory play. There’s SO many options for kids to learn by feeling and exploring.

The beautiful resin letters are from Beags and Bubs. I shouted Danielle out last week for her letters and knew I had to showcase them for this activity box. She also created the seek and find activity too (the clear circle in the top left) and the sand play-doh. I would 100% recommend her to anyone. Her Instagram feed is beautiful and she can make custom letters that will be perfect for you child.

I also added her mermaid pop-it. Mila is just amazed by pop-its. Whenever she gets overwhelmed, i’ll give her one and it calms her. This one is adorable, but can easily be carried around too.

She also always loves slime and I gave her blue play-doh too. The seashells were included so she can make impressions in the play-doh. This will allow her to extend her play and be imaginative with the toys too.

Coloring and Sticker Books

I have a ton of different sticker and coloring books for Mila. She loves them both. For her sticker books, I usually have another page or cardboard for her to put them on too.

The two pictured above were found at Joann’s for cheap! The marker page was actually 70% off. Mila likes the way the black feels and I love that it’ll help her stay in the lines. I also have other coloring pages from older coloring books that she loves to color in.

Activity Pages

Like with the Dinosaur Activity Box, I flipped through Mila’s workbooks and found mermaid and ocean themed pages for her to use. Usually preschool workbooks will have a huge range of themes they use in their books, which is awesome for using different themes!

Again, I love preparing her for preschool by giving her these pages now. It helps let her know that learning can be fun!

There’s also a ton of printables on Pinterest you can find for activity pages too!

Mermaid Play Ideas and Ocean Crafts

All ready to be picked up in the morning!

The cute mermaid flag is from Celebration Stylist! They have so many cute printables.

Although they’re not added in this picture of the activity box, you can add so many other crafts and activities too. We’ve done so many ocean and mermaid themed sensory play and crafts that Mila has asked to do over and over again.

These crafts and sensory components can be put in bags or Tupperware containers to help organize them.

Wondering what crafts and sensory ideas you can do, check out this list:

Overall, this activity bin is so much fun and perfect for summer. Mila loved the girly-ness of it, but I love how it can easily be adapted for sharks or ocean play in general.

I can’t wait to share next week’s theme!

Again, if you have any suggestions about a theme or have something you’d like to see, let me know in the comments.

Back to School Success Backpack.

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It’s back to school time! Before I know it, Mila will be starting her first year of preschool. To help her start the year off right, I compiled a Back to School Success Backpack for her.

Although we didn’t get a supply list, I figured there were some must haves that Mila needed. I want her to feel comfortable going away to school for the first time ever. It’s a HUGE change. She’s going to thrive there, but if there’s a chance she’ll miss me or be a little sad, I wanted her to have things that made her smile.

Everything personalized I ordered from Etsy, but you can find non-personalized things at a ton of local stores. Mila loves personalized things because she’s familiar with ‘her letters.’

If you love any of these items, I’m going to list the shop and the item link below. That way you’re able to check them out. All of these shops have different colors and styles that will be perfect for you child. This is just what I knew Mila would love.

Hello Preschool Shirt

For every first day of school, you need a fresh look. I just loved how cheerful this shirt was. It reminded me of Mila the first second I saw it. I mean, hello rainbow!

Another thing with this shirt… it can be customized to whatever grade a child is going into. If you’re not into pink, you can pick another color too.

Personalized Rainbow Backpack

BIG surprise here… Mila just had to have a rainbow backpack. We love what rainbows symbolize to us. Plus, it’s pink. I know Mila will love taking this to school everyday and will remember to bring it back filled with goodies too!

Mama – Mila Rainbow Bracelets

This is my FAVORITE item in her first day of school success backpack.

Not only do we get matching bracelets, it’s super meaningful. I miss her all day when I’m at work and I have a feeling she might feel the same. Whenever she looks down, I hope she knows I’m thinking about her too.

Mila actually loves bracelets and I know she’ll take really good care of this one. Probably until it breaks!

Pop It

Mila loves Pop Its. They calm her down when needed and they’re a ton of fun activities to do with them outside of school too! I know this will be a familiar tool for her to use when needed.

Morning and Night Time Checklist

One activity that really clicks for Mila are scavenger hunts. To help prepare her for school, I downloaded these really handy morning and night checklists from Celebration Stylist. They have a TON of different printables for almost any occasion you can think about. I’d definitely recommend their website for busy moms who don’t have the time to make decorations or items, but still want to incorporate them in their lives.

Anyways, we’ve been using these to help her understand what we have to do to make our days successful. At night, she’s already remembering what should happen next and is enjoying this routine.

If you’re looking for page protectors, I got this specific one from Target! They work so nice and let us reuse these every day!

Daily Affirmations Sheet

This affirmation sheet is also from Celebration Stylist. For the last few weeks, I’ve been reading them all to her and they make her smile. These types of affirmations can really help boost a child’s confidence.

I’m putting this in her folder to take to school so she can remember them. My hope is if she is feeling down, she looks at this list and remembers who she is.

Snacks and Water Bottle

The last two items I’m making sure she has handy for her first day of school is a snack and one of her water bottles. I cannot go through the work day without drinking or snacking throughout. Even though I know her teachers will provide her with that, this is just an ‘in case of emergency’ type of deal.

I am so excited for Mila to start this new journey. Every part of me knows she will succeed and love learning and playing with her new friends.

It’s my hope that Mila will have all the tools she will need in this Back to School Success Backpack. In her three years, I’ve done my best to help prepare her for this step and now it’s time for her to shine. This will be another part of her life that I’m just insanely proud of.

I can’t wait to hear all her stories… and maybe share a few here too.

In the comments, let me know what you did to be successful. What did you send with your preschooler on their first day? Do you have any tips or tricks?

After that, check out how these other moms are prepping for back to school:

Toddler Activity: Cupcake Liner Octopus

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If you’re looking for a fun, ocean animal themed animal craft that’s not a mermaid, you’ve came to the right spot. This Cupcake Liner Octopus is easy to do and turns out looking cute!

When I say easy, I mean that Mila made her octopus with little assistance by me. Yay for independence and growth.

I also like that even though we LOVE mermaids, we’ve done so many this year. It was nice to switch up the ocean themed activities with a different sea animals. Mila remembers them from our trip to Ripley’s Aquarium in Myrtle Beach, which helped a lot!

The best part of this activity, you can find everything at your local dollar store for less than $5! Here’s what you’ll need:

First, have your child pick out what colors they want the octopuses to be. In our pack of cupcake liners we had pastels: pink, yellow, blue, and green.

Mila picked pink for her (of course) and yellow for me.

Then, to help your toddler succeed in this craft, cut four, long strips of scrapbook paper and tissue paper. These will be the octopus’s legs.

Then, glue together a strip of tissue paper and a strip of scrapbook paper. The scrapbook paper should be on top of the tissue paper. I folded them in the middle to help my guide where they should meet.

Mila did help me with gluing, but she doesn’t have the scissor skills yet to cut long strips. She enjoyed cutting some small pieces off though.

While the legs are drying, take two of the same color cupcake liners and glue them together. This reinforces the octopus and makes it stronger if you want it to hang longterm.

Then, it’s time for the googly eyes. Mila matched the octopuses’ body color with their eyes. She’s been obsessed with googly eyes so I knew I needed to have a craft that had them in there. It was a success.

Just glue the eyes on to the cupcake liner. For this, I flattened the liner to make sure they stayed.

After that, I had her used a marker to draw a smiley face.

Now it’s time to put the legs and body together!

I assisted her with this a lot because it’s a little tricky for toddler.

Take one of the legs and put glue on the center of the scrapbook paper part. Then, place it in the inside of the cupcake liner. It should look like the octopus has two legs dangling down.

After, flip it upside down again, repeat the gluing, and rotate how you put the legs so it’s opposite. You want to make a little ‘x’ in the middle.

While the first two strips dry on the octopus, help with the other one or wait until it dries a little more. I found it dried better if it was flipped on the octopus’s head.

When it’s strong enough make another ‘x’ with the remaining legs.

The legs should look like a star when they’re laying down. It’s hard to explain, but simple to do.

If you’d like to hang then, just take a string and scrapbook paper and glue it on top of its head. I put the string under the paper to give it a little more strength.

Now you’re all done!

Mila was super proud of our Cupcake Liner Octopus and I think they both turned amazingly cute.

If you try this craft out, let me know in the comments. Also, if you know of a cute octopus book, I’d love for you to share it too. It’d be a great idea to pair this craft with a book for other toddlers.

After that, check out how these other moms incorporated mermaids and sea creatures in their day too!