Science Fun

Before February break, my kids and I started Mrs. Durning-Leander's Fairy Tale's Matter Unit, which is just amazing (link can be found here) - What I love about this product is that it is full of experiments and fun hands-on activities for the kids.  There is also some fill in the blank and written activities, along with a study guide and assessment.

We used cheerios to visually see the different between the matter of a solid, liquid, and a gas.  They had so much fun doing this (and eating the cheerios afterwards!) Using experiments with your kids will help them remember the important information.  :) 

 They had the most fun with the infamous baking soda and vinegar experiment.  You really only need a little because when that balloon started to blow up, their eyes lit up the room.  They loved it and will forever remember that the solid and liquid they used, created a gas :)

We also had Hawaiian Day during our School Spirit Week, so I made a little snack up for the kiddies.  I used vanilla pudding, crushed graham crackers, and two swedish fish.  There were no little umbrellas at the store, I wish the kids would have even been more excited!  The fishies look funny "on the beach" and not in the water, but I just went with it and made up my own recipe ;)

 To go along with our Hawaiian theme, we used the wonderful Surf Buddies freebie from Surfin' Through Second.  Love her so much! Look how cute these turned out?!  If you do download and use this cute product, make sure you leave some feedback for the sweet Corinna!

I hope you are all having a great weekend!

100th Day Fun

Yesterday was not only our 100th day of school, it was also Wacky Wednesday! It was definitely a crazy day (in a good way) :) The kids and I had a lot of fun making crafts, crowns, snacks, and I loved reading their 100 year old writings.

 I loved my sweet boy's writing about if he was 100 years old.  Here is this great freebie from Kelly Harper.  He said he will eat and watch tv (hehe sounds like a plan!) and he also wrote he would be a grandpa :) His last line of his writing was If I was 100 I will do what's right. I talked about this with my students and how we can do "right" right now :) No matter how old we are, we can always do good - and I told them that they are our future and they will do great things! 

 I found these great certificates last year at Target - and still had enough for this years class! $1 spot is the best :) 

I loved this "Fill it Up with 100" freebie from My Second Sense.  There are many different ways that your kiddos can fill up the gumball machine - I thought.. how about stickers! I literally had so many of them, that my kids got to pick out which ones they liked the best.  It took a lot of patience and fine motor practice, but they did it and loved it.  I am so proud of them!

I loved having our 100th day snack - I made these cute little labels for each of their bags and we used this adorable template from Mrs. Jones' Creation Station to help sort our snacks!

I hope you all enjoyed your 100th day!

Valentine's Day Coasters and Freebies

Hello, hello! I cannot believe how long it's been since I have blogged.. actually, I'll let you in on a little secret - I actually started another blog about my health.  I have written only a few posts, but it holds me accountable for making better choices.  If you want to check it out you can HERE :)

So Valentine's Day is right around the corner! My kiddos made these beautiful DIY coasters for their moms and dads.  We wrapped them in tissue paper and decorated with a few simple words and stickers.  To see how you can make coasters for your home or for a great gift, check out my post from a few years ago :)

 I am so proud of my kiddos for their hard work - they are true rock stars and some of the hardest working Kindergarteners and First graders I have ever known.  This year has been wonderful and I never want to le them go!  I can't wait for them to get my little goodie bags I made for them for Valentine's Day -they deserve it!

 

Check out these great Valentine's Day freebies I found on TPT:

 For the upper grades:

The wonderful Laura Candler's February Activities

 

For the lower grades:

 A Partner Play for Beginning Readers by the amazing A Teeny Tiny Teacher

For the clipart lovers:

Valentine's Graphics from the very talented 3AM Teacher

And something for every grade level:

Non-food Valentine Ideas and Cards from the very lovely Rachelle Smith

I wish you all a wonderful Valentine's Day!