Whether you're planning an activity for a child's birthday party, family night, or for your classroom, crowd-pleasing craft kits offer more fun-for-less! If you're already enjoying the convenience of Oriental Trading's easy-to-make, prepackaged craft kits for 1-12 kids, these money-saving ideas will show how you can also use craft kits to save on gifts, birthday parties and more.
An apple for the teacher? You can do better than that! Whether you’re a student, parent, or an administrator, chances are there’s a teacher (or several) who you’d like to thank. Here are 10 easy ways to put a new spin on the “old school” tradition of letting teachers know they’re appreciated.
Classroom organization saves valuable time and maximizes efficiency, so it’s key to set up your classroom space in an organized manner right from the start. These simple strategies will help you organize your room and keep it that way.
It’s important that kids feel involved in holiday celebrations. At home or in the classroom, holiday craft projects are a great way to help kids feel included. With just a few supplies, you can help kids make fun and easy paper decorations for every holiday, or create simple gifts for mom and dad.
Celebrate your 100th day of school with fun paper craft projects kids will love. Here are a few ideas to help you get started.
Continue reading ""100 Days of School” Paper Craft Projects" »
Use the power of hands-on learning in your classroom with creative projects for kids! If you're looking for activities to reinforce your lesson plan, engage students, inspire creativity, and make learning fun for everyone, try these free project ideas! You can print step-by-step project instructions to make classroom time more efficient, plus each project includes a convenient supply list. LOOK what KIDS can DO!™
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By Penny Warner
When the weather turns chilly and Jack Frost nips at the classroom windows, tie your lesson plans around a wintry theme. Your students will have a cool time as they learn about this special season.
Let It Snow!
Turn your classroom into a Winter Wonderland, filled with all kinds of “snow” activities. First, cover the walls with a Snow Scape Scene and set out a giant inflatable snowman. Have students make their own snowflakes then stick them on all the windows. Let them make snowmen out of clay or dough and set them around the room. Put on a puppet show using snowmen finger puppets. Give the kids snowflake kazoos and flutes and make it a musical! Pass out snow themed craft supplies to work with, such as glitter pens, erasers, notepads, stickers, stampers, etc. and have the students make their own wintertime bookmarks, book covers and book bags. Buy winter craft kits for the students and let them make snow globes and Marshmallow Snowmen. Have the students dress up in snow gear, take pictures of them next to the snow scene backdrop then let them decorate snowflake frames for the photos.
By Penny Warner
Nothing cheers up a classroom more than a big beautiful bulletin board! It’s easy to come up with a theme – just look out the window! Bring the four seasons indoors with these simple yet creative ideas and cover your waiting walls.
After you’ve tacked up the background, choose something that ties the seasons together and continues throughout the year, such as a tree, some kids, or a few well-chosen words using message magnets.
One significant way educators can help develop students' sense of worth and social conscience is to empower students to make a difference. There are many ways students can impact their community and the lives of others by volunteering their time and talents. Here are just a few ideas your class or school can use to get involved outside the classroom.
By Penny Warner
We all do things for rewards. We work for money, praise, approval, even self-satisfaction. Kids are no different, except that they need more concrete types of rewards than adults.
Rewards are not a substitute for praise. We parents and teachers must always tell our children and students they’re doing a good, they’re improving and we care about them, because positive reinforcement works a lot better than negative reinforcement. Too many times we notice when they’re misbehaving, or not doing their work, or getting into trouble. Instead, we need to “catch them being good,” and reward that behavior with positive statements and fun incentives.
Here are some ways to help you “catch them being good” and ways to reward them.
Written By Penny Warner.
Turn an ordinary classroom into a jungle to study the rain forest, a space station to explore the universe, a pirate ship sailing the seas, a campground in the middle of nature or any fantasy land that matches your lesson plans. Let the students help with the decorations as they learn about new places, new people and new concepts.
Written By Penny Warner.
Share your student's special day with fellow classmates and make it a fun learning experience at the same time! Just choose a favorite children's theme and design the party around it.
3-6 YEAR OLDS
Prince & Princess Theme:
Host a magical prince or princess party and let the kids make their own royal tiaras and crowns, wands with streamers and costumes using crepe paper. Make paper bag princes and princesses using craft supplies. Serve cupcakes with decorated upside-down ice cream cones on top to serve as edible crowns.
Monkey Theme:
Offer the kids monkey puppets, stuffed monkeys, inflatable monkeys or bendable monkeys. Put on a monkey puppet show while the kids enjoy banana chips and banana suckers. Let the kids make monkey bookmarks using monkey stickers. Play monkey bean bag toss and score points by throwing banana-shaped bean bags into game board holes. For a fun favor, give them monkey hats to take home.
Monster Theme:
Give the kids monster masks and finger puppets and let them be little monsters. Serve monster suckers at snack time, and let them make their own monster cupcakes decorated with assorted candies.
Continue reading "Creative Ideas For a Classroom Birthday Party" »
By Penny Warner
To enlighten and inspire your young Bible students, make your Sunday School lesson plans rock! All you need are a few hands-on activities and some spirited imagination to make those important stories come alive.
Continue reading "Inspiring Lesson Plan for Sunday School" »
Written By Penny Warner.
Students learn more effectively if you actively engage them in hands-on activities. Any instructional unit can be turned into an adventure with a little imagination and creativity. Here are some suggestions for activities you can use with your grade school students to enhance their skills and scores.
Greeting Cards. Have the students make their own greeting cards and enhance their language skills using crafts supplies and materials. Provide paper, pens, glue, glitter, scissors, stamps, stickers and other embellishments to let them express their thoughts and feelings on special celebrations.
Race Cars. Help kids learn to follow directions and problem solve by letting them build and decorate their own racecars with decals, stickers, paints and pens. Then design a racetrack and have a racecar competition to see how fast the cars can go.
Growth Chart. Hang a chart that measures the growth of your students throughout the school year. Then design a unit to teach how a healthy body develops, the importance of good nutrition and how the students have changed over the year.
Written By Penny Warner.
As an instructor, there are so many ways you can teach classroom subjects using arts and crafts. When you provide hands-on materials for the students to use, you make the topics fun, as well as educational. Here are some ways you can integrate art and learning to make your lessons creative, exciting and memorable.
Collect a good supply of basic craft and craft-making materials for your projects. Sort the materials into containers and label the containers for storage in the classroom until needed. Here's a suggested list of materials to get you started:
Continue reading "Crafty Lesson Plans - Integrating Art & Learning" »
Written By Penny Warner.
Spring is right around the corner. And with it come fragrant flowers, buzzing bees, and lots of opportunity to make spring crafts that tie into your lesson plans. Here are some ideas for turning your classroom into a spring garden, while helping your students learn about birds, bugs, butterflies and everything spring!
Smell The Flowers
Fill the room with colorful blooms! Make large tissue paper flowers in a variety of shades and wrap them with green floral tape. Stick ladybugs on some of the petals. Then "plant" them in personalized flowerpots made from craft kits. Spray the flowers with a light perfume to make them fragrant (just make sure the kids don't have any allergies)!
Make your school’s Halloween party frightfully fun with clever ideas to celebrate!
Decorating
Add a festive flair to the room with scene-setting decorations. Jazz up bulletin boards with fall colors and decorations; add a fun border across the top of the chalkboard; hang construction cut-outs of pumpkins and black cats from the ceiling or use window chalk markers to decorate the windows, and don’t forget plenty of balloons!
Continue reading "The Ultimate Classroom Halloween Party Guide" »
