Homeschooling My Kinetic Kids

I've been slowly working to update all my old Safari Ltd toob matching card printables.  Today's feature, the  American Desert Toob  was one of the very first printables I made for this blog nearly seven years ago!  (I can't believe I've been blogging so long)  Since 2014, my family has enjoyed the little plastic creatures from Safari Ltd for homeschooling.  We base many of our lessons off of the toobs' creatures. The  American Desert Toob  features 12 pieces that are about 2 inches tall- an explorer person, a coyote, a prairie dog, a mountain lion, a big horn ram, a scorpion, a bobcat, an armadillo, a roadrunner, a horned lizard, a rattlesnake, and a saguaro cactus.  Matching cards for everything but the person are included in the printable at the bottom of this post.  But first, here are seven hands-on ways you can teach your child about the American desert biome. This post was originally published on June 14, 2014 and was updated on ...

I've never been very excited about botany or plant life cycles.  I prefer biology instead, and this blog reflects that in a big way (even though my kids are always telling me what animals I'm still missing).  With everyone in isolation for the virus, my FB and Instagram feed are filled with people setting up gardens with their kids.  Although I still have no desire to plant my own garden, I've caught the bug in form of lots of gardening-themed printables to be released this month. Last year, I went nuts with the battleship style math games with several different themes. I have ones for rubber duckies, penguins, oreos, star wars, dinosaurs, and multiplication.  Since I'm crazy about this fun garden clip art pack from Etsy now, I decided that I need to make a garden one too.  And who are the enemies of the garden?  Adorable bunnies, of course! The Tale of Peter Rabbit book   <>   Peter Rabbit Toy It's Not Easy Being a Bu...

Anyone dragging themselves out of bed this morning to start back at school after the long holiday?  Anyone buried in snow and looking for something educational to do?  Want a way to encourage kids to learn math with their favorite video game characters?  My kids haven't even played Pacman , and they already love the silly, simple munching guy. The mouth of Pacman is perfect for teaching greater than and less than math concepts, since you can point his mouth the direction of the larger number.   Later, when kids move onto the traditional < and > symbols, they should be able to imagine the Pacman face and remember which direction they want to use. This Pacman printable can be used alongside your normal math curriculum or as a separate activity.  It would even be a great way to introduce the concept of greater and lesser values for kids who have never encountered it before.  Grab your free printable by clicking the link below! > ...

Tomorrow, June 1, is National Donut Day!  Our tradition is to go to our favorite donut shop for a treat.  Do you celebrate?  Comment at the end of the post and tell me about it.  Yesterday, I posted a donut math activity to add to my collection of donut themed learning fun.  Today, I'm sharing a Montessori-inspired moveable alphabet. The letters can be used to spell words that the child isn't able to write yet.  If the letters will be used primarily for spelling, I recommend printing more than one set.  In the official Montessori moveable alphabet, the vowels are blue and the consonants are red.  In my set, I reversed the colors and made the vowels pink.  I also made the uppercase letters with a brown background and the lowercase letters have a white frosting background, which is designed to make it easier for kids to recognize the differences between upper and lowercase. The PDF also includes two alphabet learning activities, vocabulary car...

My Multiplication Battleship game continues to be one of my most popular printables.  Over the winter, I made a bunch of silly themed grid games with the same basic rules as the original game, including penguins, dinosaurs, Oreo cookies, and others.  I thought it would be a good idea to gather them up in one place to make them easier for my readers to find.  Click on any of the pictures below to go to the post. An InLinkz Link-up Pin It!

These are the droids you're looking for in this Star Wars themed Battleship style game for early elementary kids.  Just like my other grid game (scroll down to see them all), kids use their map reading and knowledge of coordinates to find all the droids or stormtroopers.  Celebrate Star Wars Day (May the Fourth) with some math fun.   To make the game, download the printable and print the game boards twice on  cardstock  (four pages).  I recommend  laminating  both game boards.  To assemble the game, cut away the excess laminate and tape or glue the boards onto a file folder, one for each player. Place both opponents game boards back to back and clip the bottom edge of the upright boards together with  clothespins  to help the game stand up.  Alternatively, you could secure them along the tops with paper clips; although, players might have to take turns holding it up. Because the game is laminated, right and wrong guesses (hits ...

I'm in a froggy mood lately.  It must be the spring weather.  Ever since the days when I first began this blog as a "preschool pond," frogs have been part of our homeschooling.  I have several more frog posts coming up in the next few months, but today I'm introducing a new printable! This folder game comes with cut out fly pieces that fit in an altoid tin.  Each fly has a letter on it, which children can match to the bubbles surrounding the frog.  To make the activity fun and more challenging, give each child a  Sticky Tongue Frog  for catching the flies.  The game has two game boards with uppercase and lowercase letters to help kids learn the alphabet. > > > Click Here to Download the Game < < < This activity pairs nicely with a springtime study of frogs.  Scroll to the bottom of the post to see all my frog printables and theme units.  Come back soon for more frog printables and a giant collection of frog learning st...

We're getting ready for National Oreo Day on March 6th with some great activities, foods, and crafts coming soon to the blog!  I also wanted to add an Oreo grid game to my collection of Battleship-inspired printable games.  The kids loved this one because it uses real mini Oreos that you can eat when you're done playing! You can print 4 copies of the game board and play the grid like a battleship game, where players take turns guessing where the other person has hidden their Oreos.  When a cookie is found, the person player who found it gets to eat it (motivation- wink).  The game continues until all the cookies are found.  I recommend 5-10 per round. For my younger kids who are still learning how coordinates works, like mine, can play the game in a Bingo-type of way.  I had my kids sit in a line in front of me with their game boards.  Then, I would hand them a cookie and give them a coordinate.  We only moved on when everyone had their cookie in ...

Have you heard the story of the 28,000 Rubber Ducks that fell off a shipping container in 1992 and got free in the ocean?  Their story is recorded whimsically in Eric Carle's book "10 Little Rubber Ducks."   The story also inspired my latest printable- a duck grid game! Help your opponent capture the lost duckies by calling out the coordinates of where the ducks might be hiding.  To play the game, set up the board like battleship by printing off 4 copies of the grid and gluing them to some file folders.  I prefer to laminate the boards so we can use a white board marker to mark out the hits and misses on the top grid.  If you don't laminate them, the players can write lightly with pencil and then erase them when the game is done. Cut out the rubber duckies and laminate them.  Use as they are or glue them onto 1" wood disks for added durability and playability.  Miniature rubber ducks could also be used, especially if you can find Safari Ltd Good Luck ...