Handwriting Ideas for Little Learners!

When I first started teaching, handwriting was one area that I really struggled to plan lessons for.  There just didn't seem to be a way to make sitting up straight at a desk, painstakingly tracing or copying letters fun for little learners.  And of course... most of the time there isn't!  When I got my head around the concept that handwriting is based on the correct formation of letters, I began to think outside of the box and plan activities that were more than just pencil and paper!  Even though my kidlets were spending less time at their desks writing letters on a worksheet or workbook - when they did, their handwriting became much neater more quickly.  Handwriting lessons began in the first few days of the year when we were working on the basics of letter recognition, and even became something that I looked forward to planning.  

Today I'd like to share some of my favourite handwriting activity ideas - and hopefully there will be one or two that you can use with your little learners!

Whole body movement:  Lots of children remember things much more quickly when they can link their learning to physical movement.  When you are introducing letters, have your kidlets 'draw' the letter using their whole body.  If you can think of a way to link the movement to your phonics program, even better!  For example, the letter 'b' chant in the last program I used was "Bounce balloons, b, b, b."  Children would imagine they were a balloon.  To form the letter b we would stand up straight and float down to a crouch to make the top to bottom line.  Next we'd imagine that we gently bounced off the floor and around to create the round part of the letter b.  It's tricky to explain so I hope that makes some sense!  

Playdough:  Before children can correctly hold a pencil and have the stamina necessary to write for long periods of time, they need to have muscle strength and fine motor control.  Playdough is a great way to strengthen those little hand muscles and also work on letter formation.  You can set up this activity with either store bought or homemade playdough and flash cards that you already have, or you can make or buy playdough mats - laminate them and you can also use them with whiteboard markers if you like! 

Don't forget to include numbers when teaching handwriting - some mats (like the ones in this photo) combine numeral formation with counting practice. I've got some playdough mats in my store (including some in Queensland font) -  click here to check them out!  

Salt Trays:  I love salt (or sand) trays as a sensory letter formation activity!  My first set of these were simply plastic takeaway containers filled with salt I'd dyed blue.  We'd use them with flash cards and children would use their finger to copy the letters.  These days there's all sorts of fancy ideas you can use!  At home we've been writing in coconut, pretending it's Elsa's snow!  (Our tray used to hold lacing cards from Kmart.)

You might like to try this ice cream themed tray from Modern Preschool:

Or this gorgeous fairy dust tray from The Imagination Tree:

Chalk: Grab some giant sidewalk chalk and you're all set for outdoor handwriting lessons!  All you need is a patch of concrete or brick wall.  Writing in the sunshine and fresh air is much more fun than sitting at a desk and the feeling of chalk on rough concrete adds a sensory element that lots of kidlets enjoy. 

Paintbrushes:  Now before you skip over this paragraph thinking "too messy" - you don't actually need paint to use a paintbrush!  (You can if you want to, of course!)  I like to use paintbrushes with water.  You can either have your kidlets paint their letters onto a concrete path, wall or chalkboard - or you can write first with chalk and have them paint over your letters.  This is especially helpful for little learners who need lots of help with their letter formation skills.  Use thick paintbrushes at the beginning of the year and move to thinner ones to encourage correct pencil grip as the year progresses.  If you live somewhere warm this is a great activity to do outside on a sunny day - kidlets will think it's magic when their letters painted in water disappear as they dry on the warm concrete path!

Novelty Stationery:  Scented markers, glitter pens, crayons, highlighters, rainbow pencils, whiteboard markers... instantly more fun than writing with a regular old pencil! :)

Write & Wipe:  This activity is handy because it's one that you can create once to use over and over again.  Using whiteboard markers on laminated cards is perfect for a small group task, morning fine motor work or 'Fast Finishers'.  I've got some Queensland print cards in my store - in both upper and lowercase.  Click the photo below to check them out!

Technology:  There's a few great apps around that help kidlets get the hang of correct letter formation.  Letter School is lots of fun - kidlets love the graphics and sound effects:

Eggy Alphabet is Aussie-friendly:

Of course, there will be times during the year when you will need your children to complete a worksheet or workbook page.  These 'Handwriting Workouts' are lots of fun for kidlets in the early stages of handwriting development - they combine simple tracing tasks with a handwriting warm up, work out and cool down! They're available in Queensland, Victorian or NSW print - click the pic below to check them out! :)

I hope you've found a fun idea that you can use when teaching handwriting to your little learners!  Leave me a comment if you've got a great activity to share. :)

Sight Word Sunday! Beach Ball Sight Words

Today's idea is a very simple one that's lots of fun - Beach Ball Sight Words!

All you'll need for this activity is a soft ball.  Inflatable beach balls work best because you can flatten them back out for storage, but if you can't find one any large ball will work.  Write your focus sight words right onto the ball using a permanent marker!

If you have outside space (and weather permits) have kidlets stand in a circle and throw the ball to each other.  It's best if the kidlet with the ball calls the name of the friend they're throwing to, so they're prepared to catch it!  When they do, they need to read the sight word facing them, before passing the ball on.

This game is best if played in small groups so that everyone gets lots of turns, but you can also play it with the whole class.  If you need to play inside, have kidlets sit in a circle and roll the ball to each other!

I hope this is an activity that your wriggly little learners will love!

Sight Word Sunday! Sight Word Squirt

I love having kidlets up and moving, especially outside!  The change of scenery is often exciting and engaging for them, and a bit of sunshine and fresh air can help to clear their minds after time inside the classroom.  Today's sight word activity is one that you will definitely want to do outside. :)

'Sight Word Squirt' is the perfect summertime activity, although here in Queensland we can play it pretty much all year except in the middle of winter. :)  It's super easy to set up and lots of fun!

Simply write your focus sight words with chalk on a patch of concrete path.  Press kind of heavily because the words are going to get wet and you don't want them to wash off!  If you don't have a path outside your classroom, try writing on an outside wall or blu-tacking laminated words to a fence.  Now you'll need something to squirt water with - a water pistol or empty cleaning bottle are the best.  

Playing is easy! Words are called out by either the supervising adult or another kidlet.  The child/ren with the squirter shoot the word on the path!  You can give kidlets a turn one at a time, or make this a competitive game by having 2 players and seeing who can squirt the word first. :)  Depending on how much energy you want to burn, you could also have them run a short distance to get to the words, which also gives them a bit more time to think about which word they'll shoot.  

One tip - make sure you have access to water in case your water pistols or bottles become empty! You'll need a tap close by or some bottles to top up with.

I hope this is an idea that you can add to your sight word teaching bag of tricks!  

Sight Word Sunday! Sight Word Hide & Seek

Hello again! I'm stopping by today with another interactive sight word activity that you can (hopefully!) use in your classroom.  

This activity is one that is perfect to use during your whole class teaching time.  It's also a great time-filler if you ever have 5 extra minutes that haven't been planned for. :)  I call it Sight Word Hide & Seek!

As you can see I use my pocket chart to play this game - but you really don't need one!  Blu-tacking the words to a white board or wall is just as effective.  To prepare this activity you just need some cards with your focus words written on them.  I use the flash cards I already have - you've probably got some made up, too!  On the back of 4 cards you want to tack on some little characters for your kidlets to find.  I used monsters but you can use any images that fit your classroom or current theme.

The aim of the game is for all of the monsters (or whatever) to be found.  Kidlets take turns to ask the question "Is there a monster behind ____?"  Flip the card around to reveal if there is or not.   (This is a great time to create a bit of drama just for fun!)  When a monster is found everyone cheers and whoever asked the question basks in their 5 seconds of fame. :)  Keep playing until all of the monsters have been found!  Usually this game is nice and quick so you'll have a chance to play a few rounds at a time.  Just turn your board around (or have your class cover their eyes) to hide the monsters again. 

My class loves this simple game - I'm sure yours will too!

Sight Word Sunday! Tower of Power

Sight words are a super important part of the learning our kidlets do in their first year of school.  Due to their frequency in simple texts, and the fact that many can't be decoded by 'sounding out' the letters, it's so crucial that little learners have a bank of words they can recognise instantly when they're reading.  We need to work on sight words every day.  The only problem? Sometimes sight word activities can be a little *cough* boring.  Sometimes it's tricky to think of hands on, engaging tasks that our kidlets will be excited to try, and that also flash those important words in front of their eyes as many times as possible.  To help you out, I'm going to stop by on Sundays and share a simple idea that you can use to spice up your sight word teaching time each week!

First up, my all-time favourite sight word activity: Tower of Power!

All you need to play this game are a bunch of plastic cups with sight words written on them.  I use about 40 cups with 10 words per set - that way each word is seen and read multiple times.  Just give each group of kidlets the set that contains the words they need to practise.  The best way to store your cups is in empty Pringles tubes. :)  Writing words on cups is a great job to give parent helpers, too!

Tower of Power can be played in pairs, small groups, or individually. Kidlets take turns to choose a cup, read the word and add it to the tower.  If the tower falls, all the cups go back into the pile and the game starts again.  The aim is to have all the cups built into a tall tower!  I use this game as a literacy centre activity, then add it to 'Fast Finisher' tubs for the following weeks.

I hope you'll try playing Tower of Power in your classroom! Please let me know if your kidlets enjoy it. :)

Party Packs - birthday celebrations in the classroom!

Back to school is always such a busy time - there's literally a million things to do before you meet your new class, with a perfectly set up classroom all ready to go, of course! Today I'm stopping by to share an idea that will pay off for the whole school year, each time one of your kidlets celebrates a birthday!

Make up a 'Party Pack' to give out every time a birthday rolls around (which sometimes seems like every second day!).  I spent about $20 and made enough packs for a whole class - they include a crazy straw, novelty pencil, glowstick, party blower and balloon.  You could use anything festive that strikes your fancy! I tied them together with ribbon and display them in a labelled jar.

When one of my kidlets celebrates a birthday the class sits in a circle together.  The birthday boy or girl tells us all about their special day - how old they are turning, what presents they opened, if they had a party, what they will have for dinner etc. - before we sing Happy Birthday! Then they receive their 'Party Pack' - with specific instructions to go home and use the items to celebrate their day. :)

What do you do to celebrate birthdays in your classroom?

Rhyming Activities for Little Learners!

Phonemic awareness (listening to, isolating and changing sounds in words) is vital for both reading and writing development in little learners - and rhyme is a BIG part of this learning process.  It's sometimes a concept that kidlets find tricky to grasp - so I thought I'd stop by and share some activities that I've used successfully with my classes over the years, as well as a few new ideas that I'd love to try. :)
From the very first week of school I like to expose kidlets to rhyming words through our poem of the week.  We read it together every morning and talk about the vocabulary used - this is a really great way for little learners to start thinking about words, how they sound and what they mean.  As the year goes on you can spend time identifying letters and sounds, nouns/verbs/adjectives and rhyming words! I usually have a poster sized copy of the poem on the board and we circle and underline words as we identify rhyming pairs.  At the end of the week kidlets glue a copy into their books (I have a dedicated poetry journal) and because we've read it so often together most children can independently read it.  Here's a resource you might like to use - or you could choose any simple poems and rhymes that fit with your classroom themes!

Another oral language activity that my kidlets always LOVE is a simple one.  I have an IKEA igloo that I set up on the carpet area.  Before we start I've collected a box of random objects from around the classroom.  I ask the class to close their eyes while I hide one in the igloo and then say "What's inside the igloo? What could be in it for me? It starts with ___ and rhymes with ___. Oh what do you think it could be?" For example, if I've hidden a book in the igloo I would say "It starts with /b/ and rhymes with look."  Someone guesses the object and then gets to check inside the igloo to see if they were right! We play this game LOTS before we move on to reading and writing rhyming words.  If you don't have an igloo you can use whatever you have - e.g. "What's inside the big, blue bag?"

Of course, our Alphabet Monster helps us during this stage of learning too!  I use the flashcards that come with our phonics program but you could use any that you have.  I lay them out on the carpet and ask kidlets to feed the monster.  I might say a word and have them find the card that rhymes, I might ask them to choose 2 cards that rhyme, or perhaps I'll lay out 3 cards and ask them to feed the monster the one that doesn't rhyme.  During these activities the whole class joins in by saying each word and segmenting the sounds.

 I love to use hands-on activities, particularly in literacy centres.  Top of my list of new ones to try is this one that uses Duplo blocks. If you click on the image to the pin you can check out This Reading Mama and download the pictures used here - or you could use ones you already have!

At least one of my literacy centres is always a game - and I love to use Bingo! when teaching rhyme.  The caller says a word and the rest of the group covers a picture on their board if it rhymes with the word called.  Click on the picture below to check out a resource I created to allow for some differentiation with my kidlets - it includes boards with pictures only, pictures + words, or words only with calling cards to match. :)

As soon as we move into reading and spelling rhyming words I include the teaching of word families.  There's a tonne of great resources you can use for this concept but I love Marsha's Word Families Galore pack! It takes time to print and laminate everything but once you're done you're set for years! My favourite thing is the word wall I made using her cards - I hot glued them to coloured ribbon and it makes a gorgeous bulletin board full of rhyming words for the kidlets to reference as they work!

I also love this hands-on task that is essentially matching rhyming words just like the Duplo idea - except this one includes words for the kidlets to read when they are ready. Click on the image to see more!

Of course any rhyming fun must include lots of reading stories written by our favourite doctor! Dr. Seuss books are perfect for listening to and identifying rhyming words.  After reading 'The Cat in the Hat' I love to have my kidlets invent their own character using the same rhyming pattern.  This is a great way to see which children understand what rhyming means, who can choose 2 words that rhyme, and also who understands the spelling patterns involved. 

And who can resist this gorgeous craft that makes an awesome classroom display? ;)

Hopefully I've shared an idea or two that you might be able to use in your own classroom! I'd love to hear any awesome ideas you have that work on teaching rhyme. :)

Valentine's Day Inspiration - with a freebie!

Looking for some easy peasy ways to celebrate all things Valentine's Day with your little learners? You've come to the right place!  Today I'm going to share a few simple ideas that I've made with my little ones this weekend, as well as some links to a few other great activities.  I've just uploaded a new freebie to my store too, so keep reading to the end to grab the link. :)
First up is a super cute footprint craft that I made with Little Miss Two today.  We painted her feet red and printed them onto some pink paper. I made up a template for her to glue the heart onto, but you could easily use this idea for Valentine's Day cards made by older children - and of course it doesn't have to be for Daddy. :)

Taking a little more time (and patience!) was this gorgeous collage craft.  It only took Miss Six about 10 minutes to glue the paper pieces down to the template.  I'd cut the paper for her, but this would also be great as a paper tearing activity.

I've also got plans to make these super cute and simple 'Love Bug' headbands on Valentine's Day.

Hopefully we'll also have time to make these cute Valentine's Day leis, made from wool, paper hearts and pieces of pink straw.

During the week we'll work on these gorgeous cupcakes - a freebie from Mel at From the Pond!  I love that these are so simple but really give kidlets a chance to share about things that are important to them.

This simple name puzzle would be perfect for kidlets who are still working on recognising the letters in their name and spelling it correctly.  I made mine with clipart, printed and laminated it, but for a whole class I'd just use a marker and pink paper before chopping the names up.

I love this counting activity that's perfect as a DIY! Just write numbers on paper hearts and provide kidlets with pom poms (or anything cheap'n'cheerful!) for them to count with.

Last (but not least!) is a number puzzle freebie that I've just uploaded to my TpT store.  Click on either of the images to download 'Broken Heart Number Match' - numerals and number words from 0-10. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Back to School - Tips for a Fab First Day!

Today I'm joining in with a fun linky to share some tips for a FABULOUS first day of Prep!  Once you've read my post, be sure to head over and visit Oz Curriculum HQ to collect even more great ideas. First up, here's a few ideas to help you 'Set the Scene'.  In other words, what you need to do to make sure your classroom is ready for your new kidlets!  One of the most valuable things you can spend your time on before school starts is setting up your room so it will be useable for the different activities you will want to do with your class.  You're probably thinking posters, decor, cute rugs on the floor... All that stuff is great but you can add them in time.  Decide what areas of your room you will need set up and get all the furniture in place.  Have the bulk of your resources stored so they are near where you will be using them. Add children's work, anchor charts and colourful decorations as the term goes on.  I wrote a post earlier this week with some more ideas you might like to check out. Make sure to spend some time before you meet your class getting to know as much about them as you can.  Read their kindy or previous school year reports (you may even have an enrolment file to look at) and make notes about anything significant that you might need to plan for.  Perhaps some children have medical issues, some will have family situations to be mindful of - and maybe you might even get an insight into their interests so you can plan activities to suit. Most importantly - make sure you have your head (somewhat) around your curriculum for the first few weeks of term.  I'm never that great at planning too far ahead, but I always (mostly) have the full week ahead planned out lesson by lesson and then notes beside the coming weeks when I have an idea that will fit. The start of the year will fly by and if you're planning on the hop you might find yourself suddenly in Week 4 with lots of catching up to do. Trust me - I've been there, done that! :) Next up, what to do 'When Students Arrive'?  If you teach Prep like me, you need to know that each child will have at least one, most likely two, probably more, adults with them on their first day.  To minimise the chaos, have signs up to let parents know what they need to be doing.  You can only talk to one child and their family at a time so make sure it's clear to others what they should be doing when you're chatting to someone else.  I like to have bag lockers and desks labelled so kidlets know where to store their belongings, and then I put a simple colouring in out for them to work on while everyone arrives.  Once everyone is there and first day photos have been taken I ring the bell and say "It's time to get started! Say goodbye to Mum and Dad.  We're going to meet on the carpet and have some fun!"  Make it clear that once the day starts, visitors need to leave - I usually only give it 20 minutes before I start the day.  That sounds harsh, but honestly some will want to stay all day! You will need to make allowances of course for children who are having trouble saying goodbye - but if you keep the room calm and relaxed you won't have a problem.  One of the big jobs you'll have on the first day is dealing with 'Equipment'.  The easiest way to solve this problem is to ask parents to leave the whole bag of books and stationery under their child's desk (or somewhere else if you have room).  Have a few spare plastic bags just in case.  Print out a class set of booklists and during the first day or two go through each bag and check that everyone has what they need.  If not, you can ask parents to bring in the missing items before you're going to need them.  As you unpack each bag you can organise the equipment into chair bags, tubs or trays. Lucky last - 'First Day Activities'!  The first day of Prep is overwhelming for kidlets and the teacher.  You want to keep your class busy and engaged without exhausting them more than necessary.  Make sure to take time to tour the classroom and lunch/play areas so that children feel comfortable.  Once everyone's settled, keep the rest of your lessons fun but relaxed.  Remember that most of your class will have never worked at their own desk or glued into a scrapbook, and their scissor skills might be poor.  Don't try to do all the 'new' things on the first day. :)  I like to read 'The Kissing Hand' and have the children paint their hand to print.  They then glue a heart in the middle of it and I include this poem from Camp Kindergarten: We also do our 'Monster Manners' - I posted about that here earlier this week.  Apart from that we go lots of singing, simple games and stories as well as snack and toilet breaks.  In the last session I like to have free choice play time - most kidlets will be exhausted by then and you can learn lots about their little personalities by watching them play and interact with others. :)

Here's to a fabulous first day back for everyone!

An InLinkz Link-up