Spring has (almost) sprung and neat Easter finds

Our classroom board update, thanks to Miss A.

TN is warming up and the today the sun is shining brightly. I can see the river sparkling from my living room and I know it's just too pretty to be inside. But before my family hits the river walking trail, I'll update a bit to show you what Dollar Tree and Walmart have in their Easter sections for use in the classroom.

First off, I work in a daycare classroom with another teacher. So this makes it easier to pull a 4 children aside each morning during our center rotations to work in small groups on needed skills for school-readiness.     I am adding things to a stash at home to rotate out, such as fine motor activities, and all sorts of math and literacy activities. I am always looking for new items to add, and Pinterest inspires me by showing what simple tools others are using in their classrooms. Thanks to Pinterest and the creative teachers there I am really learning to think outside the box and see other uses for materials one might not commonly associate with a classroom.

Here are some examples:

Add alphabet letters to eggs; cover with clear nail polish to help keep letters on eggs longer. Match the egg halves together to match upper and lower case letters.

Have children match the magnetic letters to the proper egg. Opening, inserting, and closing the egg helps with fine motor skills.

Patterns, matching, and sorting can all be accomplished using the neat patterns on plastic eggs. Sort by flowers, animal prints, camo patterns, or colors for example.

Our children really enjoy matching the egg patterns together and then taking the eggs apart again.

These stamps were cheap and a fun addition to our art center.

These plastic egg trays were less than $1.00 each at Walmart. They are great for sorting.

Add some holiday pencil erasers and you have a great sorting activity.

Erasers are also great for patterns. 

Another fun activity uses these huge dice from Dollar Tree. Children take turns rolling a die, counting the dots on it, and putting that no. of plastic eggs into their trays. When a child has his or her tray filled they win. 

I welcome your small group ideas for preschoolers. Would love to hear from you all.

Blessings!