G -H–I {freebie alert!}

Freebie Friday- HOORAY!  I am back this Friday with more letter packs to add to your set.  Gus, Harvey and Isabella will help you plan engaging activities for your little learners…free :) 

 

Missing letters A-F??  Don’t fret- head to the ‘Freebies’ page!

    

{Click on the pictures above to access the files}

Activities included:

Letter Picture Cards

Large letters (for creating letter art)

Letter Poem

Letter Snack and Sensory Ideas

Letter Book

Dot paint letters

Letter Flipbook

Letter Hunt

Letter Puzzles

Letter Lacing

Letter Size Up

Letter Sort

Letter Writing

Letter Match-Up

Letter Sort

 

Please note: Graphics used within these letter packs were created by Ashley Rives of Me & Marie Learning and Digi Web Studio.

If you download and print- please leave a comment.  If you feature these Letter Packs on your blog, please link back to Me & Marie Learning.

 

 

Buggy Week

  This week our theme is bugs!  Yesterday we read a non-fiction book about insects.  Then, we sorted pictures into two groups: ‘Insects’ and ‘Not Insects’ and completed a ‘are’, ‘can’, ‘have’ chart on insects.  These activities are from the pack It’s a Bug’s Life created by Julia Powell from Loving and Learning in Pre-K.  I will be using more of Julia’s activities the rest of this week!

 

  Today, we had a very exciting day!  Using the Mystery Box pack by Babbling Abby, I created the Mystery Box and put a special surprise inside.  Using the 4 clues I provided, the girls ‘predicted’ what might be in the box.  After each clue was read I recorded their guesses on a circle map (from Abby’s pack).   Can you guess what was in our box?   Clue 1: You find them in the outdoors Clue 2: They like to eat leaves Clue 3: They are types of bugs Clue 4: They change into something new!   Yeppers…you guessed it: CATERPILLARS!

 

We received our live caterpillars from Insect Lore on Monday and I saved them for our lesson on Tuesday.  Wow were the girls excited! 

After revealing our special surprise, we read and acted out The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.

{these are our props for the VHC- created by a friend of mine}

We also created this fun craftivity from Pre-Kinders

Source: google.com via Ashley on Pinterest

 

So far it has been a buggy fun week!

{D,E,F} Alphabet Packs are free for you!

Last Friday I shared my first set of Alphabet Packs (see that post here).  I got lots of kind comments and I am so glad that many of my readers can use them!  What other profession shares with others so freely?  Educators are awesome- we always want the best for our kiddos!
Well, this week I am sharing:
  
{Click on the pictures above to access the files}

Activities included:

Letter Picture Cards

Large letters (for creating letter art)

Letter Poem

Letter Snack and Sensory Ideas

Letter Book

Dot paint letters

Letter Flipbook

Letter Hunt

Letter Puzzles

Letter Lacing

Letter Size Up

Letter Sort

Letter Writing

Letter Match-Up

Letter Sort

 

Please note: Graphics used within these letter packs were created by Ashley Rives of Me & Marie Learning and Digi Web Studio.
If you download and print- please leave a comment.  If you feature these Letter Packs on your blog, please link back to Me & Marie Learning.

I {heart} Garage Sales!

Hello Hello!  Boy, it has been a busy week!  My mom and I ran a garage sale today and boy was it a crazy day!  My mom has been having garage sales for many many years.  I too have become a garage sale junkie- both shopping and hosting!  So, today I thought I would share my own tips to have a successful garage sale and make some dough.

First off- having a *successful* garage sale is a lot of work… but for me, I love it and enjoy the extra income.

Tip #1: Signage

 

           If people can not find your sale, you will not sell a thing!  We have been complimented on our signs at every sale we’ve had.  Why? Because it leads shoppers right to the bargains.  Don’t assume people know where “Sunrise St.” is.  Take the guess work out of the hunt by placing signs at every intersection where a choice to turn is present.  Also, if you are deep back into a subdivision, but with no turns needing to be made, make sure to lead customers with ‘keep going’ signs or they might give up.

Also, those small high priced signs found a big box stores are NOT attention grabbers.  Try making your own with poster board & markers or cut-out letters.  Put contact paper over them to protect the signs from possible rain.  Think, the bigger the better!

 

Tip #2: Buddy Up

Everything is more fun with a friend or two around, especially garage sales.  Having a multi-family garage sale makes your sale bigger and creates a bigger variety of items for the buyers.  Plus, you have someone with you to help set-up, run the sale and take down.  Organizational tip: When having a multi-family sale, have everyone put their initials on their price tags.  We use a notebook, and I add tabs (created using neon index cards- a different color for each person) to the notebook like dividers and we add the price stickers to each person’s section after they sell something.

 

Tip #3: ORGANIZE

I can not even tell you how many garage sales I have been to that set out a tub full of clothes (sometimes sorted by size, sometimes not) on the ground with no price.  No one likes to bend down and DIG through clothes and then have to ask the price on every piece of clothing.  We use tables, a clothes rack and saw horses with a piece of lumber on top.  On the tables we organize by type (holiday, kitchen, clothes, etc.)  Also, when a large amount of kids clothes are present I ALWAYS sort by size and label.  It makes a huge difference for those shopping.  Also, a tricky little tip I learned from my sister, put the toys out on a sheet or blanket in the grass or on the driveway.  This makes the toys at eye-level for all those toy-loving kiddos.  Parents are more likely to buy the toy if their child is begging for…awful I know, but it works :)

 

Tip #4: Tag it

Price it ALL.  Giving out prices on the spot can be hard when many people are swarming around.  Price your items before hand and remember…your items are used.  Yes, you might have paid $100 for that desk new, but it is no longer new.  Basically, I use the 10-30% rule.  In that case the $100 desk would be successfully sold for $10-$ 30.  I have also found that if I price my kids clothes cheap, they fly out of the garage!  People are more likely to buy more, if they feel like they are getting more bang for their buck.  Plus, I love getting a deal and love providing deals to others!  You gotta remember, you will not get rich quick with a garage sale, but it is a good way to recycle, declutter and make some decent cash.  *side note: save your wal-mart bags to put buyers things in. 

Tip #5: Timing

No one wants to be freezing or sweating while shopping.  Therefore, Spring is a great time to host a garage sale.  April seems to be the typically start to the g.sale season here in the midwest (but it always depends on the weather).  Hard core shoppers are ready to SHOP and find new things, so we have found the earlier (with nice temperatures) the better. We also do not take less money on items the first day.  If your prices are good, then there is no need.  We also run our sales for 2 days and the discounts begin the second day.  Three days just has been to much and wasn’t worth it. 

Do you have any garage sale tips to share??  Please leave a comment!

Please tell me there are some fellow garage-sale addicts out there!!!

Free Letter Packs {Aa,Bb,Cc}

 

I love exposing young children to letters!  It is so fun so see them find letters in their environment and connect letters they see to the letters they know in their name.  As we all know, letters and letter sounds are the foundation to our English language, so identifying letters and the sounds they make is very important.  Presenting letters in many different learning situations is the key to keeping learning letter fun!  Whether it is finding letters in your environment, using magnetic letters or playing a letter game we gotta make it engaging!

 

The freebie I have for you today is the beginning to many other freebies.  I created letter packs awhile back when my Little C was showing a great interest in letters.  The reason I created them was not to complete a ‘letter of the week’ type program, it was to reinforce letters that she was interested in or that I saw were a struggle for her to learn.  We by no means complete every activity for every letter.  I just wanted the options for each letter, therefore I created the same activities for each letter.

 

Activities included:

Letter Picture Cards

Large letters (for creating letter art)

Letter Poem

Letter Snack and Sensory Ideas

Letter Book

Dot paint letters

Letter Flipbook

Letter Hunt

Letter Puzzles

Letter Lacing

Letter Size Up

Letter Sort

Letter Writing

Letter Match-Up

Letter Sort

 

Please note: All the graphics used within these letter packs were created by Ashley Rives of Me & Marie Learning.

 

If you download and print- please leave a comment.  If you feature these Letter Packs on your blog, please link back to Me & Marie Learning.

The Power of Observation

    After becoming a parent and also a Parent Educator, I got to see the importance of the power of observation.  Observing children as they play sheds a light on their developmental progress as well as their personalities.  Take my 13 month old ‘R’.  I got out some activities that I thought might interest him.  Since he was showing a real interest in putting objects inside of other objects, I choose the Clink Can, the MilkJug and the Parmesan Container. 

{Read more about how to create your own Homemade Toys here}

 

Clink Can

What is it? Simply a can with a slit cut in the lid and baby food jar lids, juice can lids or poker chips.

What does it do? Promotes hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills and problem solving.

What I learned from observing ‘R’: He is beginning to problem solve. He would slightly turn his wrist to try and make the lids fit in. He is extremely persistent and patient (a trait from his dad). He tried over and over again without getting frustrated. Last, he likes to complete a task. He had to have every last one of those lids in that can before moving on to something else.

 

                             

 

MilkJug

What is it? Half gallon milk jug, old fashioned clothespins

What does it do? Promotes hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills and placing a round object into a round hole.

What I learned from observing ‘R’: He did not find this challenging. He placed them in quickly and with no issue. Which means I missed his queue telling me he was ready for placing round objects in round holes. Now that I think back, I did see him placing a ball into a cup several weeks ago.  That would have been the best time to introduce this activity, as he might have found it more engaging then.  Although, he did place ALL the clothespins in before moving on (that completing a task trait again!)  Next, we will work on dumping and shaking those clothespins out of that jug!

But, look at this last pic.  Trying to get a lid through that hole!  Love that he is using trial and error.  It didn’t seem to work for him so he tossed the lid!

    

 

Parmesan Can

What is it? A clean parmesan can and straws cut at different lengths.

What does it do? Promotes hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills and decision making.

What I learned from observing ‘R’: That this was challenging, but not too challenging.  How do I know?  He didn’t get frustrated, but it kept his attention and he enjoyed completing the task over and over.  I also loved to watch which hole out of the 3 he chose to put in the straw in.  It was never the same hole, but never seemed random either.  I knew he was proud of his accomplishment of completing all the straws when he shook it up and down and gave me that perfect smile!

 

 

What have you learned about your children through observation?  It is amazing the things you can learn through a set of watchful eyes!

 

Please note: Supervision is extremely important when working with small objects that present a choking hazard with children 3 and under.

Controlling the Chaos!

Being an in-home childcare provider the potential for chaos is everywhere!  So, I try to plan out our day the best as possible to lessen the chances of a day going awry.  But, let’s be honest…with 5 lil’ ones, sometimes it gets crazy! 

Before opening my doors, I found some great labels for cups that I used with my two oldest girls at Babies R Us.  The girls were my only two using cups that needed labels at the time.  One was given the pink ladybug label and the other, the purple butterfly.  Worked perfectly!  Then, the littles got to a point where they too were using cups….cup overload! 

So, I looked up the company’s name who made the labels I loved and WOW, there was a whole line of products that worked perfectly for us!

The company is Vive Vita, owned by Robyn…mother of nine!  “Vive Vita is a Mompreneur company that provides practical solutions for problems today’s families encounter everyday.” (quote from vivevita.com) Practical?? Sign me up!  Love the idea of a mom creating items for families.  Who else knows what a family full of children needs better than a mom? 

Well, I fell in love with the Unique-4-Me Product Line.  In this line of products there are 6 different colors/icons.  Products include the cup labels, Pacifier Labels, My Spot Mats and toothbrush labels.

Bandette Cup Labels:

What I love about these labels is that they are easy to put on, easy to clean and cute!  I love things that are both cute and functional.  No more wondering whose cup is whose.  Also, I do not have to find 6 different colors of cups, so everyone can have their own color.  Just use a cup we already have and add the band!  I place their cups and lunch plates at the table and they know where they are to sit based on where their cup is, perfect!

These labels would be great for a large family (such as Robyn’s), playgroup, church nursery or daycare.  You can even add their name to the label and boil it to make it permanent! These cup labels have held up great in the dishwasher.  They leave no marks or residue on the cup, nor have they faded with the many washes they have been through!

Toothbrush Labels:

Unique idea!  We actually are starting to brush teeth after lunch.  So, these toothbrush labels will work perfectly for us!  My of my little guys is the orange lion, so his toothbrush will have the orange lion band on it.  Toothbrushes are definitely something you don’t want to get mixed up! The Toothbrush bands were a little harder to get on than the cup labels, but I certainly don’t want them falling off.  Plus, I will only be taking them off and putting them back on when a new toothbrush is needed.

My Spot:

As a former teacher I LOVE this idea! Wish I could have had 20 different versions of this product when teaching first grade!  The same cute little icons are used on these mats to help children visually identify where they should be sitting.  I also love that they reinforce sitting still and staying in one place .  These have worked magically during circle time.  No need to fight, no need to crowd other’s space.  Just sit on your own special mat!  They are made out of a material that has stood up well to even my youngest little ones.  I also like that they are slip proof and stay put where they placed.

 

Pacifier Keepster:

Well, with no little paci lovers at my home I came up with a much needed solution to a problem using the Pacifier Keepster.  I was not liking the idea of using paper towels after drying hands (wasteful), but couldn’t find many different colors of towels, so each child could have their own towel.  Enter the Pacifier Keepster.  Not what Robyn had envisioned I am sure, but it is EXACTLY what I needed!

I hung those Paci Keepsters up on the towel bar and clipped the towels to them.  Now, my ‘C’, the pink ladybug knows exactly which towel to use.  No waste, no mess of towels on the floor (the towels are actually baby washcloths from Target, perfect size for little hands) and I wash weekly or sooner if needed.  Works PERFECTLY!

I LOVE this line of products.  It sure has made my life as an in-home provider a lot easier.  One item I would suggest to add to this line would be laminated paper cut-outs using the icons, and a spot for the name.  I could use these on cubbies, on the floor (as a place to line up), on folders or pencil boxes.  The possibilities are endless!  I also love that my younger children would be seeing their name along side their icon, reinforcing name recognition.

Love these products as much as I do??  Check them out at the Vive Vita Website or the Vive Vita Facebook Page.

disclosure: these products were given to me free of charge in exchange for an honest review.

Bunny Hop Freebie

Welcome to Me & Marie Learning!  You have found egg number 23!

Boy, I have had a blast hopping down the freebie trail so far! You?

The freebie I have for you would work great as an independent activity or at a center.

Easter Playdough Mats

Not only do these mats help little ones practice fine motor skills, but also counting and spatial awareness.

(not all mats shown)

Just print, laminate (or put into a page protector) and add playdough!

Thanks for hopping by :)

Next stop, Annie at The Moffatt Girls!

Blog Planner

Hello, Hello to ya!
  So, does anyone else have trouble organizing thoughts/ideas for blog posts?  I sure do.  Thus far I have been flying by the seat of my pants and bloggin’ along the way.  Which is crazy because I am quite the planner.  So, needless to say….flying by the seat of pants is making me a little crazy.  So…..I created a blog planning template! 

  Are there already free blogging planners out in the digital world?  Yes.  Did they have the cute fonts I wanted on them, no.  Why oh why am I such a font junkie?!?!  I guess I figure it ought to be cute if I’m going to be looking at it all the time!



    I still love writing things down on actual paper.  My husband thinks this is crazy.  “Make your grocery list on your phone”, “Make that packing list in Excel”, seriously dude, I just want to do it the old fashion way!  So, this blog planner is made to be printed on paper baby! This is a weekly blog planner, place the dates of the week on the ‘dotty’ line.  I will be using the ‘Promote’ column to remind myself to link up to linky parties or add an idea to Pinterest, you get the idea.

Click the image above to get this blog planner for FREE!

Oh, yes!  I also have one more thing for ya to go along with the planner…. cute calendars!

All 12 months are ready for you!  Click the pic above!

‘

Make like a bunny, and HOP!

Have you been hopping down the freebie trail? 

If not, you should be!