Books and Giggles
Inside: these hole punch activities include crafts, math and literacy activities, and art projects. All of them are great fine motor skills work for kids! Are you looking for an engaging way to help your kids work on their fine motor skills? Many (but not all) hole punches are perfect for strengthening those little hands,…
Inside: these free, editable winter name worksheets give your preschoolers practice recognizing and writing their names. Last fall I emailed out a simple “My name is…” worksheet for back to school, and I received a lot of positive feedback from subscribers. So, I thought I’d make you a winter themed one, decorated with a cute…
Inside: this winter syllable sorting printable activity is a fun, interactive way for preschoolers to work on phonological awareness. They will practice distinguishing one- and two-syllable words, and segmenting the two-syllable words. Weeeeee! Raise your hand if you love sledding! (or you did as a kid) Today we’re pretending to slide over a bump or…
Inside: this Christmas letter tracing activity has preschoolers tracing and finding lowercase letters. Imagine the squeals and laughter as children squirt frosting onto sugar cookies. These paper letter tracing “cookies” are almost as much fun, but not nearly as messy. (Not that you shouldn’t do both!) Christmas Letter Tracing Activity If you’re looking for an…
Inside: This free printable Christmas stockings letter sounds activity gives preschoolers hands-on practice working on letter recognition and initial sounds. “The stockings were hung by the chimney with care…” One of the exciting things about Christmas is hanging up stockings for Santa to fill. You can use that idea to make working with the alphabet…
This free Christmas fine motor skills printable is perfect for your Holidays Around the World unit, especially for Christmas in Hawaii or Australia. Preschoolers can use these to practice line tracing and scissors skills. Surf’s up! Santa is catching some waves in this fun, easy-prep activity. You can pair this with our tropical Christmas sensory…
Inside: This fall letter craft takes leaf rubbings to the next level! Find out how we did it, and get a trick to make it easier for little hands. Autumn is finally here, and it’s time for a new fall letter craft! (Or even an old favorite leaf craft!) You can do this letter activity…
Inside: this list of hibernation books for preschoolers includes both picture books and nonfiction choices perfect for teaching and celebrating animals in winter. Kids are fascinated by the changing of the seasons. They naturally wonder what happens to the animals in the cold of winter. Where do they go? How do they stay warm? Where…
Inside: Grab these free printable community helper hats and read about ways to use them. Printable Community Helper Hats It’s fun “trying on” different ways to be a community helper! I’m super excited to share these free printable community helper hats with you today! You can use these in a variety of ways: Let each…
Inside: This construction alphabet sensory bin is a fun way for preschoolers to practice letter recognition while engaging in a playful activity. A construction activity filled with bulldozers, dirt, and digging is sure to grasp your little one’s attention! If you’re looking for an enjoyable activity for letter recognition practice, what’s better than a sensory…
Inside: This sun suncatcher craft for kids has an element of sensory play to it. Plus, it looks bright and pretty in your window! These cute sun crafts are sure to add a little sunshine to your windows. Even better, children can continue to play with them even after they’re on display. To make your…
Inside: this free printable Christmas name tracing activity motivates children to practice writing their name and letters. What little Santa believer doesn’t want to pretend to help Old St. Nick write out gift tags? Today I’m sharing a quick free printable to help YOU fit in some holiday name tracing practice with your littles. Christmas…
Inside: This post helps parents and caregivers understand when it’s best to teach sight words. We also review which early literacy skills children should master before jumping into sight words. We spent a lot of time working on sight words when my own children were small. Yes, we played games and made the experience playful….
Inside: This chicken craft for preschool makes fun scissors practice and goes along with the much-loved book Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton. Barnyard Dance! by Sandra Boynton is a charming board book that you won’t mind reading over and over. (And you will read it over and over because toddlers and preschoolers LOVE it!) You…
Inside: A hand-picked list of construction books for preschoolers, including both new and classic titles. The Best Construction Books for Preschoolers This book list has grown and grown because I kept finding more wonderful construction books for preschoolers that I wanted to share with you here. I’ve organized the list into 4 sections. If you…
I know I just posted a caterpillar craft last week, but this adorable idea for a caterpillar suncatcher craft hit me yesterday, and I just had to share it here! Like our button caterpillar craft, this one is based on Eric Carle’s book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. It’s a suncatcher made with a plastic strawberry…
Inside: a curated list of fiction weather books for preschool and kindergarten Wind and rain; sun and fog; and snow! We love reading about them all. If you’re looking for picture books to go along with your weather unit, I’ve got you covered here. Or, if you simply want new inspiration for your next library…
Inside: 25 pumpkin crafts for preschoolers, categorized by type of material used. I love that look of utmost concentration preschoolers get when they’re busy crafting. They’re working those fine motor muscles so hard! And as little scientists, they’re fascinated with the results. All they need to get started is a little bit of inspiration, plus…
These cute Halloween puppets are a fun way to support oral language development and story retelling. You can have the children paint the craft stick bases, and then help them add the unique features to each puppet. If you’re looking for Halloween craft ideas that are inexpensive and have some play value, these craft stick…
Inside: A huge, annotated list of children’s books about the sun, including both fiction and nonfiction titles for preschool through elementary. Whether you’re looking for picture books to go with a preschool summer sun theme, folktales to enthrall elementary students studying the Earth and space, or just-right nonfiction books that will hold your children’s…
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: Free printable letter recognition worksheets to go with two different picture books about ducks: Make Way for Ducklings and 10 Little Rubber Ducks (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…
Inside: This Easter preschool activity includes a free printable that gives children a chance to practice letter recognition My whole classroom was quiet recently while my little preschool Sunday school class painted with watercolors. Each child created and investigated the colors with the utmost concentration at his or her own level of development. I had…
Inside: Grab these free printable seasons emergent readers, and learn how to personalize them for each student. A couple of weeks ago my little 4-year-old friend would NOT let go of the emergent reader I’d printed out for him. This sweet boy, my friend’s son, is all about dinosaurs, and I’d given him a dinosaur…