Dental Health

This past week we have been learning all about teeth and proper dental hygiene. 

Ironically enough, this unit fell during the same week as Valentines. It was a great opportunity to teach the kiddos about how too much candy can impact your teeth and the difference between healthy and unhealthy foods! Hey, it's all about moderation though!

Here is a look at what we covered this week. 

One of my favorite things from this week was creating a diagram of a tooth.

The kiddos also loved making their own toothbrush with facts about teeth on the bristles.

These activities and extension activities can be found in my Dental Health unit on TPT. 

I've also got a freebie for you here. 

This tooth graph can really be used anytime during the year!

How do you teach dental health? 

Valentine Gifts {for toddlers}

Happy Valentine's Day! 

I'm just popping by real quick to share my little man's Valentine gift.

Graham is not yet two, but I didn't want Valentine's Day to go unnoticed in our house. I also didn't want to add to his ever growing toy collection. Ha! These goodies from the Target dollar spot are the perfect little presents that, once used, can just be thrown away. I mean... keeping a toddler interested in any one toy for an extended period of time is almost impossible. Am I right?! I bought grow capsules, an inflatable jelly punch balloon, and gel window clings (just $1 a piece). I've bought him gel window clings before and he has loved playing with them on our back door window! 

I put all these goodies in this felt envelope, also from the Target dollar spot, that I got years ago. I have seen some similar to this one recently though. 

I do highly recommend keeping a close eye on any little one who is playing with these toys. There are many small parts that could be a choking hazard. My little man and I will be playing with these gifts together! 

What do you do for your own kiddos for Valentine's Day? I would love more ideas for next year!!

Valentine's Day Freebies

Need some last minute Valentine's Day ideas? I've got two for you!

I'm using this little heart tear art for parent Valentines.

I mean, isn't tear art just the cutest!?

I also have an editable template for typing up Valentine letters, class list, Valentine greetings... pretty much anything you can dream up.

You can find the editable Valentine class list here and the Valentine parent card template here.

Happy Valentine prep!

Valentine Ideas

If you're anything like me, you are spending your Sunday getting prepped for Valentine's Day. Whether you're prepping for your own students, or your personal kiddo, I'm here to share a few things that I have been working on today.

How cute are these little Valentines!? I got these in the Target dollar, not really a dollar, spot. I just love how these Valentines came with everything I needed to put them together. In the package of 30, there were cards, mini heart erasers, and a little sticky dot to attach the heart eraser to the card. It made prepping for my student Valentine gifts super easy! 

I made these Valentine gift tags for my little man's classmates.

Since he is not even two, I knew I needed to give his classmates something a little different than a traditional Valentine. 

My little one loves Goldfish and I just know that the other kiddos in his class will too! I bought a variety pack of Goldfish at Target and attached one tag to each individually wrapped package. I chose to give them the regular cheddar and the pretzel flavor. 

For little man's teachers, I created these tags to attach to Starbucks' frappuccinos. I mean what teacher doesn't like coffee?! The drinks are from... wait for it... Target of course. Target is a teacher mamas one.stop.shop. 

You can find these tags in my TPT shop. They are 50% off through tomorrow! Happy Valentine's Day prep Sunday! 

Guided Reading in February

Creating these monthly Guided Reading supplemental products to use when I meet with my Guided Reading groups has been a complete life saver! Having phonics sorts, themed letter tiles, and quick activities to hit on grammar standards has really helped me target my instruction to meet the needs of my kiddos. These activities also help me review previously taught concepts from whole group instruction with my small groups. I use these activities as warm-ups and to close my Guided Reading sessions. 

Here is a look at my newest Guided Reading product for February...

vowel variant digraph sorts and spin and cover (au/aw, ew/oo)

vowel variant diphthongs sorts and spin and cover (ou/ow, oi/oy)

parts of a letter

producing, expanding, and rearranging sentences

themed letter tiles for word work practice

monthly poem practice 

As always, new products are 50% off in my TPT shop for the first 24 hours!

Theme Days

I don't know about you, but I just love a good theme! I don't always get a chance to do theme days due to a busyness of trying to fit everything in, but I do love to incorporate theme days right before a break to keep my kiddos engaged in learning! This year, I did a Grinch Day and a Gingerbread Day. Here's a little peek into some of the activities that we did...

For Grinch Day, I began the day with a morning meeting to discuss kindness and ways that we can show kindness to one another. I then told students that they would be working to earn hearts to make the Grinch's heart grow by showing acts of kindness to one another. We set a goal of how many hearts we would like to obtain by the end of the day. If we reached that goal, they got the Grinch surprise in this green bag. The surprise was "Grinch licked" or green candy canes. Boy were they excited when they reached their goal and got to see what was in the bag!

We also had our class party on Grinch Day. At my school, room moms are in charge of planning and setting up for our class parties. I asked my room mom to create activities that were Grinch themed. She did a fabulous job and the kiddos were so excited! Here is a look at some of the centers that she set up...

{Grinch ornaments filled with torn green tissue paper, a Grinch mask, and Grinch pops made out of rice crispy treats and marshmallows}

Gingerbread is probably one of my favorite themes for this time of year. In second grade, students are expected to compare different versions of the same fairy tale. What better way to hit that standard than to read Gingerbread stories. If you don't own Gingerbread books, no problem! You can find so many read aloud variations on You Tube! After we read some of my favorite books, we created a disguise of our own so that the Gingerbread Man/Girl wouldn't be eaten. Here are a few of my favorites...

Gingerbread flower girl

Gingerbread leaf

We also created paper bag Gingerbread Houses and they turned out so cute!

Not only did we do a little bit of writing to describe our Gingerbread Houses, but we also incorporated math by graphing the pieces of candy that we used to create our houses. 

You can find the Gingerbread Disguise activity here and the Design a Gingerbread House activity here.

Just for fun, here is a look at juice boxes I made for my little man's class party...

These were just too cute not to share!

How did you wrap up your final days before winter break? I'd love to know in the comments!

Quick Gift Ideas

Happy last Monday before Christmas friends! If you're already out for Winter Break... LUCKY YOU! If you're like me, you have a few more days left with the kiddos and might be scrambling to get all your last minute gifts taken care of! 

Here are a few easy, but cute, gift ideas to help check everyone off of your list.

For your students... Snowman Soup (hot chocolate, marshmallows, a spoon, and a cute straw)

For teachers or room moms... the gift of no dishes (plates, napkins, silverware, cups)

For your coworkers... wish them an extra special holiday with a pack of Extra gum!

You can grab these tags, plus a few more, in my December Gift Tags product over in my TPT shop!

Happy gifting!