Make your own Z was Zapped book.

I love turning my kids pictures and drawings into books. Whenever I come across an offer for a free photo book or a way to get one inexpensively, I go for it. I happened to use a photo book Groupon for both of these books. We have several little personalized books that the kids love to read.

When my oldest was 5, he drew a really cute book. So I scanned it in, uploaded it into a photo book and he was beyond thrilled to have his story published into a real, hardcover book. I love that it’s preserved and that now it’s a favorite bedtime story.

So our most recent family book was this one (sorry about the flash, not the best lighting):

The Z Took a Trip to the Zoo!

 

I love “The Z Was Zapped” by Chris VanAllsburg, so I used it as inspiration and found family pictures to go with each letter of the alphabet. Here are some of the pages we came up with.

(thanks to my teething daughter!)

My first-grader brought these Imagination glasses home from school one day. Perfect for I!

(and eating peppermint ice cream!)

(one of my favorite pages!)

(is the Dad dog pile a common thing at your house too?)

(a picture of our family at our visit to the zoo)

Books can be so much fun. Do you have any other great ideas for personalized books?!

Roll & Remove Game

My kids loved this game. Half the reason is because they got to eat candy as they played! But seriously, it kept my 6-year-old, 3-year-old and 2-year-old entertained until the game was finished. I love it.

1. Print out these cute, free game boards from The Princess and the Tot.
2. Cut in half and glue onto colored paper.
3. Laminate. I need a laminator. I used two long strips of clear packing tape to “laminate” our boards. I knew with little tasty fingers eating candy corn we’d need a little something to keep the games dry.
4. Place one candy corn in each box. Or, if you’re my kids, also put an extra candy down below, so that if you’ve already rolled the number once, you still get a bonus treat
5. Roll 2 dice (or a 12-sided dice here!)
6. Eat the candy corn from the number you rolled.

I love it because my kids were taking turns, counting the dots, finding the matching number on their board and having fun. You could use this any time of the year. I made up a generic, year-round version too …

Just click it to download and print!

Q Mini Book

Q is a great week to make one of these Mini Books from First School! I’m posting this now because they’re available for every letter. They’re great little extras … simple, printable, ready-to-go. Great tracing, cutting, gluing, letter & sound practice! Love them.  

1. Print out all three pages.
2. The first is the worksheet. The stickers at the bottom will be used to glue into the mini book.
3. Cut apart the mini book pages. Stack them and staple to make your book.
4. Color each of the stickers, then cut them out (great cutting practice!)
5. Have your preschooler match the sticker to it’s correct page in the book. Glue it!
6. Read your new Q book together.

Nursery Rhyme ABCs

I absolutely LOVE this!

 

Education.com has free nursery rhyme worksheets to download. What I think it so great is that they have matched up a nursery rhyme with each letter of the alphabet. As you read through, you and your preschooler can identify the letter you’re working on. I love that the font is clear and simple, they show both the upper and lower-case letter examples on the page and they’re cute!

   

1. Click here to download and print each worksheet.
2. Slip each one into a clear plastic page protector (keep them altogether in a binder or 3-prong folder)
3. Use a dry erase marker to circle, underline or trace the letters.
4. Count the letters and write the number at the bottom.
5. Erase and repeat later.
6. Love it! Learning letters and nursery rhymes at the same time!

Patterns

• Make Pattern Strips … I saw these used in a kindergarten class when I was student teaching and I thought they were brilliant! Pattern strips can be used for so many things and the kids can visually see how a simple pattern alternates. I have several of these made in different colors.
  1. Cut 2 strips of white cardstock a little bigger than 2” by 10” (for the nice white border) and tape them together so they can still fold up (easier storage)
  2. Cut 10 squares 2” by 2” (5 of one color, 5 of another color)
  3. Glue the colored squares (alternating colors) on the white strips.
  4. Tape the two strips together and laminate!
• Make patterns with pretzels and peanut M&Ms for P week. You can use these any week (make patterns with buttons on B week, with shapes during S week)
• Help the kids repeat the pattern when they’ve finished … M&M, pretzel, M&M, pretzel.

Snack Idea: Pretzels and Peanut M&Ms!

Printable Alphabet Pages

Look how cute these are!!

I love doing preschool with my kids and I love it even more when it’s something as cute as these free, printable alphabet pages from Lawteedah. Click the link or photo to download the entire set of alphabet pages. And believe me, every letter gets cuter and cuter.

Ideas…

• Laminate these and use dry erase markers to practice over and over again.
• Progressive ABC book
  1. Slip each alphabet page into a clear plastic page protector.
  2. As you start each letter week, trace the letters with a dry erase marker.
  3. Then add the page to a simple binder or folder (with the 3-hole fasteners) and practice as often as you like!

I Spy Shakers (Eyes)

My daughter came out of her nursery class at church yesterday with this little “I Spy” shaker that they had made. I thought it was such a great idea and when her older brothers both wanted a turn, I decided to try to make one. SO SIMPLE! My daughter’s class was using it to talk about EYES but I love it because you can use it for any letter week, any theme, any holiday. Just change up what you put inside to spy!

 

You can probably figure out how to make them, but here’s a quick tutorial and a couple of tips…

You’ll need:

• a clear plastic water bottle
• about 2 cups of rice (or small pasta noodles or popcorn kernels)
• glue
• several small objects to “SPY” inside

*this is where you can get creative … ex: all buttons of different colors for B week, everything red, white & blue for the 4th of July, all things starting with R for R week. You get the idea

1. Empty the water bottle.
2. Remove the label.
3. Let it dry completely inside.

4.    Use a small funnel. Or if you don’t have one like me, roll up a scrap piece of paper into a cone and tape it!

5.  Fill the bottle 1/4 full with rice.
6.  Drop several of the small objects inside

7.  Fill about 1/2 full and add more of the small objects.
8.  Fill about 3/4 full and add the rest of the small objects.
TIP! I found that it’s easier to shake and find the objects if it’s not completely full to the top with rice. Leave an inch or two of empty space at the top.




9. Seal the lid on by putting a thin ring of glue around the inside of the lid, then screw it on the bottle tightly. You don’t want the kids opening it and dumping the rice out!







10.  Make a label for your “I SPY” shaker and include a list of everything to look for inside. It would look even better printed out, but I was in a hurry with this one.
TIP! Make a list of all the items going inside before you put them inside
TIP! Take a picture of the items before putting them inside and put that on the label to make it a picture list for younger kids to “read” themselves.




11.  Tape the label around the bottle and secure with a long strip of packing tape all the way around (kind of laminates the label)

YOU’RE DONE!
It was easy enough for me to make so I’m excited to let my preschooler help make a few others to go along with our different letter themes throughout the year! Usually the making part is the most fun and the best learning experience

Z Book

I love these little alphabet books from First-School. They come with a simple letter worksheet the kids can trace and then color and cut out little “stickers” that fit into the book. They are simple to cut out, staple, color and read. I’ll pick one of these to do every now and then. You need to print:

1. The worksheet
2. Mini book (page 1)
3. Mini Book (page 2)

The straight lines are great cutting practice. If your kids are older, they can also re-write each of the words and trace more Zs inside! My 3-year-old loves it that he can “read” it over and over all by himself.