Books and Giggles
Learning activities for kids, early literacy games and more
Inside: Discover 35 easy prep name crafts for preschoolers. Get inspired with these engaging and adorable ideas for the whole year! Fall Name Crafts First, how about starting off the school year with the easy prep crayon name craft found in my August Name Activities set? Then, you can continue through the fall with these…
Inside: download these free printable fall letter sound cards and read about some fun ways to use them with your preschoolers or kindergarteners. Fall is in full swing, and we’re loving all things autumn right now! I already have some fun fall crafts and a huge list of apple activities here on the blog. I’ve…
Inside: a free printable dinosaur counting activity that uses connecting link math manipulatives. This would make a fun hands-on math center for preschool or kindergarten. Today’s activity comes from Yara at Sea of Knowledge. I’m super excited to share it with you today! Dinosaur Counting Activity Looking for a fun way to get kids to…
Inside: 35+ engaging farm activities for preschool and kindergarten. Find literacy activities, farm crafts, dramatic play ideas, STEM related activities, and real world experiences to help you plan the best farm unit ever! It’s important for preschoolers and kindergartners to learn about the world around them, and part of that world is agriculture. Farmers have…
Inside: These social-emotional activities for preschoolers can be used all in one lesson or pulled into your own SEL lesson. Today’s post comes from guest writer Audra Jensen. Audra is a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst, Special Education teacher, and published author on the subject of autism. She has an adult son with autism and has dedicated…
Looking for some fun polar bear activities this winter? Start with this huge list of literacy ideas, STEM activities, sensory play setups, and adorable polar bear crafts. These creative, educational ideas will help you hit it out of the ballpark! Alphabet and Literacy Activities First up, here are some ways to work letter recognition, sight…
Inside: This simple preschool and kindergarten map activity helps develop spatial awareness and introduces kids to some beginning map concepts. Today I have a special treat for you – a guest post from teacher Camile Clarke. Camile is a National Geographic Certified Educator and Geologist with a passion for writing and teaching curious kids about…
Inside: This polar bear sight word activity uses an editable free printable so that you can use your own word list, or even work on just the alphabet. With the winter weather keeping a lot of us indoors, now is a great time to explore some winter-themed activities. This cute polar bear “fishing” game is…
Inside: this months of the year craft helps you teach preschoolers and kindergartners about what happens each month. It will work really well as a collaborative class craft, but families could also make and display a version at home. I’ve been wanting to add a craft to go with my printable paper plate months of…
Inside: These arctic animal alphabet worksheets for dot markers include fun facts about each animal for grownups to read aloud to little learners. Whether you’re teaching about lots of different arctic animals, or just one in particular, these free arctic animal alphabet worksheets will keep children engaged. What Animals Are Included? This free set of…
Inside: These free printable gingerbread playdough mats provide a playful experience with sequencing, a valuable early literacy skill. Every year at the holidays we make gingerbread playdough here – it’s turned into a tradition here. I made up the batch shown here to try out the two new gingerbread playdough mats I made for you….
This Stone Soup activity is a fun and delicious science experiment to pair with the classic folktale. You can do this with any age kids, but my focus here is on how you’d do it with preschoolers or kindergartners. I have a weakness for soup. Vegetable soup, chicken noodle, cream of tomato, and my favorite, tortilla soup –…
Name activities for preschool are naturally engaging! Kids are interested in anything involving their very own names. Even better, you can use name activities as a stepping stone to alphabet activities. I like to start with teaching children just to recognize their name in print. Then, you can progress to talking about the letter their…
Inside: If you’re going to teach sight words virtually this year, these fun ideas will help you get started. We’re starting the school year online this year, and a huge percentage of parents here have chosen to have our kids do school 100% virtually for the first couple months. That’s what my family is doing….
Inside: an apple beginning sounds digital activity for kindergarten or preschool students I created this fall digital letter sounds activity back when we were all doing distance learning, but it is still a great activity even when kids are there in person with you in the classroom. Apple Beginning Sounds Activity Do you have an…
Inside: This letter O craft features crayon-resist watercolor and a ready-to-go template. Easy peasy! Can you almost hear the crashing waves in this ocean themed craft? Can you just about feel a sea breeze on your face and smell the salt air? We haven’t made it to the beach yet this year – I keep…
Inside: This preschool name activity has a fun, multi-sensory twist! Teaching preschoolers to recognize their names can really spark their interest in letters. At the same time, multi-sensory activities make early literacy feel like play. Put the two together, and you have magic! Children will practice a skill over and over when they think it’s…
Inside: These sight word activities include active learning ideas, sight word games, printable activities, engaging worksheets, and tips for teaching high-frequency words at home. As I write this, I know lots of families are stuck at home and want to work on sight words with their preschooler or kindergartner. They need motivating ideas that will…
With everyone home on an extended “vacation”, lots of teachers and families are looking for free kindergarten worksheets. But little kids don’t like to sit and do worksheets all day! (nor should they). You don’t want to add to their screen time either. Enter hands-on worksheets and printables! In a classroom setting, these can involve…
Inside: The Mitten activities to go with the picture book by Jan Brett. Includes crafts, printable resources, games and more for preschool, kindergarten, and elementary students. Raise your hand if you love Jan Brett! Her now-classic version of The Mitten is a favorite classroom read aloud every winter. This cozy picture book is perfect for…
Inside: A free printable sight word activity that goes with the book The Mitten by Jan Brett. (Disclosure: Books and Giggles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.) If your students…
Inside: Ways to incorporate wintertime fun into CVC activities for PreK and kindergarten. This time of year means snow, sleds, and hot cocoa — so why not use those ideas to add some winter fun into your CVC activities! When it comes to teaching CVC words, engagement is key. 6 CVC Activities to Try This…
Inside: This summer name activity blends name recognition practice, fine motor skills, and science into one fun craft perfect for a sunny summer day. I could feel the sun baking my sunscreen-less arms, burning on a farmer’s tan. My mom was visiting from out of town, and we’d driven down to our Texas coast for…
Inside: A preschool apple activity for practicing alphabet letter matching and lowercase letter tracing. (Disclosure: Books and Giggles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.) When I think of fall, I picture…