Books and Giggles
Learning activities for kids, early literacy games and more
Here’s an engaging Llama Llama activity for you that’s just right for preschoolers and early kindergartners. It goes with a brand-new Llama Llama book inspired by the late Anna Dewdney. I was super excited to be invited to join the blog tour for Llama Llama Loves to Read, and doubly thrilled to get the generously…
These printable polar bear hats are perfect for motivating children re-tell the story Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear by Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle. (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…
These “Peace on Earth” ornaments are fun and educational to make at Christmas or really any time of year. They can go along with a new book that I think you’ll love. (Disclosure: Books and Giggles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means…
Inside: a glue dot worksheet to give kids practice controlling their glue bottles. Glue practice is also great for strengthening little hands and improving fine motor skills in general. Here we’re sharing a special, story-inspired glue practice activity. (Books and Giggles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means…
I’m excited to share our favorite educational summer activities for kids ages 2-8. I hope they’ll soon be your favorites too! Learning outside can be so engaging for kids. There’s plenty of space for playful and creative activities, and you don’t have to worry about making a mess. Plus, you get to be outdoors in lovely hot weather!…
These outdoor educational activities will surely make learning fun this summer! Sometimes changing the environment is all you need for little minds to absorb what you’re trying to teach. These 15+ Outrageously Fun ideas are perfect for spending tons of time outside this summer yet still preventing the dreaded summer slide. 15+ Outrageously Fun Outdoor Educational Activities When I…
These water learning activities are a fun way to work on letter recognition or sight words over the summer! I love hot weather, and so do my kids. Every year we look forward to playing in water in the summer time. From water table to swimming pool, they’ve always enjoyed water play in our hot Texas weather. So if…
These fun sandbox learning activities are an engaging way to take education outdoors. Whether you’re looking for a literacy, STEM, sensory, or even geography sandbox learning activity, we’ve got you covered. Sandbox Learning Activities Give preschoolers a fun introduction to maps with our sandbox geography activity. Sensory play with pine cones in the sand box has all…
These beach learning activities will keep your kids learning and having fun all summer long! Beach Learning Activities Kids learn everywhere! You can enrich a day, or a week, at the beach and still have loads of fun. We live close enough to the beach to make a day trip of it. That means we go pretty…
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #KidfreshFavorites #CollectiveBias Reading is everywhere. The teacher in me can’t help but take advantage of teachable moments in our daily lives. Lately, I’ve been guiding my girls to read recipes, food labels and package directions. Liam, my oldest,…
This week we’re kicking off our summer fun learning series with 30 AWESOME sidewalk chalk games for literacy learning. Whether your kids are working on letter recognition, letter sounds, handwriting, or sight words, we’ve got you covered. Time to get outside and LEARN! Super Fun Sidewalk Chalk Games When the weather is warm, I love being outside with…
This Easter egg alphabet activity is a fun story extension for a cute book. You can set it up as an invitation to play or as a more directed activity. 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…
Spring is finally here in full force, and I’ve been thinking about Earth Day activities for kids. These kid-created, storybook-inspired wildflower field guides were a lot of fun for all 3 of my elementary aged children. (Disclosure: Books and Giggles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed…
Inside: This Very Hungry Caterpillar activity for preschoolers provides fine motor skill and story retelling practice to go along with Eric Carle’s classic children’s book. (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…
These Mardi Gras kids’ activities all use leftover Mardi Gras beads for hands on fun! We celebrate Mardi Gras here in our corner of Texas. It’s not as big as New Orleans, but oh my goodness it’s fun! For several years now, we’ve trekked down to Galveston Island for their daytime children’s parades. The kids…
These Earth Day literacy activities integrate important science and citizenship lessons with letter learning, sight word practice, writing letters, and word work such as ABC order. My kids have always been naturally interested in Earth Day. The idea behind it is easy for them to relate to and understand. We spend a lot of time teaching…
Inside: This months of the year activity includes a free printable, plus additional resources to help you teach your kids the individual months as well as the concept of 12 months in a year. I have the months of the year stuck in my head. You know that song that kids sing in preschool and kindergarten? That…
This gingerbread name activity uses our homemade gingerbread scented play dough. You’re going to love it! (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.) We’re joining in with the…
Inside: These construction theme letter crafts have a fun, interactive element. You” find a craft for the letters b, c, d, and e (there are two letter b crafts). (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…
These monster learning activities will get kids’ attention. From shape and color activities for toddlers and preschoolers, to an Monster ABC order activity for elementary kiddos, there’s something for everyone. Whether it’s Halloween or not, a monster theme is lots of fun. Monster Learning Activities This first group is bright and colorful. Don’t you love googly eyes?! Monster…
This apple theme sight word game was fun to make, and my girls were excited to play with it. I’m can’t wait to share it with you! I’ve been trying to get into an autumn frame of mind here. I keep imagining chilly mornings, hints of fall foliage, and apple picking. Instead, here in Texas, we have warm, humid…
This Brazil bingo game is a fun way to learn about or review facts about the country. UPDATE – I created this Brazil bingo activity in 2016 when the Summer Olympics were in Rio. It turns out, though, that the game is timeless. Teachers can use this with their South America geography lessons or units about…
When I think about the Olympics, one of the things I think about (besides the latest news headlines) is all the flags from countries around the world. I think about the beautiful athletes marching in with their national flags. I imagine the flags on the scoreboards and at the medal ceremonies. The Olympics seems like the…
We’ve been meaning to do a borax crystal project for a while now. I bought the borax, and it’s been staring at me from the pantry shelf ever since. Finally, we needed a fun rainy day activity, and decided to go for it! Borax Crystal Letters I was thinking we’d make geodes like I’d seen…