Kids have a much easier time in upper level math classes if they start with a good foundation. Memorizing basic math facts, such as addition and multiplication tables, is a skill that is often overlooked during the elementary years but it’s essential for more advanced math.

Most kids are not thrilled about the idea of memorization, although it does get easier with practice. We turned memorization into a game with this simple activity that helps kids learn their addition and multiplication tables. This takes the fight out of memorization because it’s much more fun than flash cards or rote memorization.

Materials

2 or 3 dice – We had large foam dice that we picked up at a trade show somewhere (similar to this set from Learning Resources) but regular dice from a board game would do just fine. You can also find inflatable dice or buy dice in bulk online if you don’t have any available.

Directions

Addition – Have your child roll the dice. Whatever two numbers (or three if you want to throw an extra die in the mix to make it a bit harder for kids who have already mastered basic addition) land facing up will be the numbers your child will add together. In the beginning, it’s okay for younger children to simply count the number of dots on both dice. They’ll still be learning the basic concept behind addition. As they play the game, your children will begin to memorize their addition facts.

Multiplication – Have your child roll the dice. Again, the numbers that land facing up will be the numbers that your child will multiply together. If you want to work on individual multiplication tables, leave one die facing up (with a 2 for your 2 times tables for example) and roll the second die to create your multiplication problem.

What tricks do you have for helping your children memorize their math facts?

I love science projects for kids that use things we have around the house already. It’s a great way to recycle things that would ordinarily be thrown away and it allows you to do some really educational science activities without spending a lot of money. This simple science activity is perfect for preschoolers and elementary school aged kids and it’s a great way to teach about the structure of a seed and how a plant grows.

To prepare for this project, I saved eggshells for several weeks. I washed each eggshell half out and kept them in the fridge just to make sure everything stayed fresh (I realize that once we started the project I put all the eggshells outside but it made me feel better knowing they weren’t rotting on my kitchen counter.

Materials Needed

A dozen or so eggshell halves, washed and stored in the egg carton

Potting soil

Seeds – Look for something that germinates quickly. We opted for green bean seeds but anything will do

Instructions

Once you have collected enough empty eggshells for this project you can take your egg carton outside and fill each eggshell half with potting soil.

This is a great chance for kids to get their hands dirty — something that doesn’t happen enough most of the time.

Have your kids gently place one seed on top of each eggshell and then push it down into the dirt with their finger. Be sure the seed is towards the middle of the eggshells so it has soil all around it.

Now For the Fun Part . . .

Water your seeds and leave them to grow for 3-4 days. You can watch them if you want. They don’t grow any faster unfortunately.

Once they have had a chance to be in there long enough for some changes to start taking place, have your kids pick one eggshell to crack open and have a really good look at the seed.

Have your kids notice how the seed has changed. It may be helpful to have your kids draw a picture of what the seed looked like at first (or take a picture) and draw a picture of what it looks like after being in the soil for a few days then compare the two.

Repeat every few days and have your kids pay attention to the details that are happening as the seed grows.

You may want to leave the last few seeds in the eggshell and allow them to grow into a mature plant. You can use the eggshells as planters and place them directly in the ground to grow.

You can expand this activity by talking about the parts of a seed, what things a plant needs to grow, the parts of a plant, and the plant life cycle.

Additional Resources

Parts of a Seed

Science Fun you can Eat – Parts of a Plant Salad

Plant Seeds and Watch them Grow

How a Seed Grows (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1) - I HIGHLY recommend this series

Now that Easter is over, you probably have all kinds of leftover candy and plastic eggs that you need to do something with. This homemade matching game is really, really simple to make and is a great way to use up some of those extra plastic Easter eggs.

Matching games are a fantastic way to introduce preschoolers to early math skills and this simple game helps with number recognition at the same time.

Materials

Plastic Easter Eggs

A permanent marker or small round stickers

Instructions

Count out 10 plastic Easter eggs. You can use more if your preschooler has already mastered counting to 10 and recognizing the numbers 1-10.

Use a permanent marker to write the numbers 1-10 on the top and bottom of the plastic Easter Eggs. You can make this game a bit easier by putting matching numbers on the same color eggs or a bit more difficult by mixing the colors up so that the matching numbers are on different color eggs.

Allow the marker to fully dry so it doesn’t rub off. Depending on what type of marker you use, the numbers will likely start to rub off eventually but considering this game took me less than 5 minutes to put together, I’m not really concerned with long-term durability.

If you want, you can write or print numbers on small stickers and use those to label the plastic eggs.

Variation for Older Kids

While my preschoolers were enjoying using this activity as a matching game, we changed up the rules a bit for my 7 year old. Since he is working on memorizing all his addition tables we turned this into a quick math game.

Take all the plastic eggs apart and drop them into your Easter basket (or another container). Reach in and pull out two egg halves and fit them together. Have your older child then add the two numbers together (or multiply them together if your child has already mastered addition). This activity turns into a fun way to quiz your child on his addition (or multiplication) tables!

Busy Mommy Media Recommends

Time is a tricky concept for preschoolers to understand. Developmentally, they are still learning to have patience (although let’s face it, most adults haven’t quite mastered that lesson yet either).

Learning the days of the weeks and months of the year is an important skill for preschoolers, but with a little bit of repetition and some fun activities, it is easily mastered. This simple preschool activity will help preschoolers practice writing their numbers, learn left to right correspondence, and become familiar with important calendar concepts.

Age Recommendation – 4-8

Materials Needed

• A Blank Calendar – I like the one available at Lakeshore Learning (you can get individual calendars in the store if you have one nearby), but any blank calendar will work. If you can’t find one, make your own by printing blank calendar pages and binding them together.
• A Wall Calendar
• Something to Write With – Younger preschoolers may prefer to write with a crayon or extra thick pencil while older preschoolers can use a pencil (with or without a pencil grip depending on whether or not they have learned how to hold a pencil correctly – see our pencil holding teaching tips here).

Instructions

Introduce the concept of the calendar by singing simple songs about the days of the week or the months of the year. A bit of repetition is needed before preschoolers are able to learn these songs, but as they memorize the words they’ll learn valuable concepts that will make it much easier to understand how a calendar works later on.

Put your wall calendar down where your preschooler can easily see it. Your preschooler will use this to make it easy to see what day of the week each month starts on.

Have your preschooler open up his blank calendar to the first month. Help him write “January” at the top if it is not already printed on the calendar. Have your preschooler write the dates in each square for the month, using the wall calendar as a guide. Don’t worry if the number takes up the entire square. You’re not trying to create a calendar that you will use to write your schedule on each month – you’re simply giving your preschooler a visual way to see the passage of time and give him a chance to practice writing his numbers.

As your preschooler writes his numbers, watch to be sure that he is writing each number correctly. If you need to, show your preschooler how to put his pencil at the top and use downward strokes to form each letter. Encourage your preschooler to write the numbers from left to right rather than filling them in at random because this will help him to learn left to right correspondence, which is an important early reading skill.

Repeat for the remaining months in the calendar. This is a lot of work for a preschooler to do in one session. You can split this up so you do 1 month at the beginning of the month all year, or just break it up into short sessions and finish the entire thing at the beginning of the year.

Once your preschooler has written the numbers in for each month, he can draw illustrations for each month. This is a great opportunity to talk about holidays that we celebrate each month, seasons, and other changes that happen during the year.

Older Children – This activity does not need to be limited to preschoolers. While older children may not need to learn how to write their numbers, they may need help with handwriting or may still be struggling to understand how a calendar works. My 2nd grader sat down and did this activity with his younger brother and loved it. He knows the months of the year already but is still working on memorizing their order and figuring out how many days are in each month.

Preschool Books that Reinforce Calendar Concepts

My  son is very interested in how the body works. He is always asking me what happens to the food we eat, or why does our heart beat or how come we get sick. For me, personally, I greatly enjoying being able to share my medical education with my son, but for most these question may be harder to answer. A child with an inquisitive mind needs to be nurtured and feed, with accurate information. I am a firm believer that you should always answer the scientific questions with absolute truth and accuracy. No, this does not mean that I think you should give your four year old the complete 18 year-olds version of the birds and bees but you also should not give falsehood – especially thought that talk about the poop fairy or other mystical explanations for our body’s function.  Gauge your child’s intellectual level when answering, and always be sure that you are answering the question being asked. If

you are not certain about the question, get clarification from your child, because you have to remember that they cannot always express themselves in terms we understand.

The Human Body Detectives

When it comes to the more extensive questions that usually come from your children between the ages of 6 and 10, you may want to turn to the aide of Dr. Heather Manley, ND, the creator of the Human Body Detectives Series. This series currently has three installments – the circulatory system, the immune system and the digestive system. Each one includes an activity workbook and audio CD.

The HBD stories feature two young “Human Body Detectives,” Merrin and Pearl, who magically enter different systems in the body to solve health mysteries. Through action packed educational adventures, listeners learn how the various systems work and which foods best fuel each system. The accompanying workbook’s activities, puzzles and colorful stickers reinforce what the kids learn.

Pam’s Review

I was given the chance to review on of the titles in the series and I selected Merrin and Pearl’s First Case: The Lucky Escape: An Imaginative Adventure through the Digestive System.

Merrin and Pearl’s little brother Robbie has swallowed a penny.  Through magic and imagination, the girls find themselves on an adventure through his digestive system where they must grab the penny to help him and escape his poopy diaper.

I chose this one not because it was first in the series by because my son is constantly asking me about eating and food and poop! I love that the workbook starts out with a great overview of the digestive system. The audio CD is narrated by Dr. Manley and her daughters (Merrin and Pearl) “play” themselves. It is very easy to listen to, with good cadence in the speaking. My son was instantly enthralled (which I wasn’t quite sure would happen, since it was just heard and not seen). The workbook has a number of other activities, like a crossword, maze and wordsearch. It also has diagrams to label and questions to answer. There is also an answer key in the end. This is one of those educational tools, that teaches children without them realizing they are learning – making it fun and enjoyable. I would highly recommend the Human Body Detectives to anyone with kids in this age group. The information is simple but not patronizing to their intellects.

Enter to Win

One lucky winner will win a copy of Battle with the Bugs by The Human Body Detectives!

To enter, comment on this post and tell us what your kids want to know about their bodies.

This giveaway is open to the U.S. only and will end on December 17, 2010

In compliance with the FTC Guidelines, please note that this is a sponsored post.  I was given a Human Body Detectives book to review free of charge, however, I was not paid for the review and the opinions are my own. Please see our site’s Terms and Conditionsfor a complete list of our contest and giveaway rules.

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The opportunity to explore the world around us is one of the best parts of childhood. I have rarely met a preschooler who doesn’t love exploring for bugs. My own kids will play with potato bugs for hours at a time and are thrilled to learn anything new about insects or butterflies. This simple preschool craft is a great opportunity to teach preschoolers the basic parts of an insect. While the scientific terms for each part of the insect may be a bit difficult for younger preschoolers, they can be introduced to the concept that an insect has three sections on it’s body.

Preschool Lesson Objective

Teach preschoolers that bugs can also be called insects.

Teach preschoolers that all insects have three body parts – the head, thorax, and the abdomen.

Help preschoolers understand that the eyes, antenna, and mouth is on the head of an insect.

Help preschoolers understand that the legs and wings are on the thorax of an insect.

Materials Needed

Empty egg carton
Paint
Paintbrushes
Pipe cleaners
Construction paper
Newspapers to protect work surface

Optional – Insect Lore Butterfly Garden Kit

Advance Preparation

Cut the empty egg carton into 3 segment pieces before this activity. If you are doing this with multiple preschoolers, cut one 3-piece egg carton for each preschooler. Styrofoam egg cartons would be easier to work with if you have them on hand but may not hold paint as well as cardboard egg cartons.

Preschool Craft Instructions

Ask preschoolers if they know what the word insect is. Explain that insect is another word for bug. Have preschoolers practice saying the word insect.

Give each preschooler an empty egg carton that has been cut into a 3 segmented piece. Tell preschoolers that all insects have three parts to their body. Have preschoolers touch the first segment in their egg carton and say the word “head”. Ask preschoolers what things they have on their head that might also be on an insect head. Tell preschoolers that an insect has eyes, antenna, and a mouth on it’s head.

Have preschoolers touch the middle section of their cut egg carton. Have preschoolers say the word thorax. Have preschoolers practice saying the word thorax. Explain that an insects legs and wings are connected to its thorax.

Have preschoolers touch the last section on their cut egg carton and say the word abdomen Tell preschoolers that they have an abdomen to and ask them to find the middle part of their body.

Have preschoolers paint their egg carton insects and allow them to dry.

Add legs and antenna to each insect. Be sure and add the antenna to the insect’s head and the legs to the thorax. You can stop at this point if you want to focus on insects. If you are doing this lesson as part of a butterfly preschool theme or to go along with a butterfly kit you’ll want to continue.

Have preschoolers fold a piece of construction paper in half and cut wings out. Wings can be taped or glued to the back or your insect to create a butterfly. The process is more important than the end result. Encourage preschoolers to be creative rather than try and create a perfect replica of butterfly wings. My preschooler had fun creating an entire series of wings so they could be changed to create a completely new butterfly.

Right after we adopted our Boxer puppy last Spring, my then 3 year-old daughter decided she needed to have her own puppy, too.  Actually, two puppies.  Imaginary puppies — Holly and Polly!  I have no idea what kind of dog they are but they have been with us this entire last year.  She loves to talk about Holly and Polly, how well they behave, what they like to eat, how big they are getting.  Don’t get me wrong, she loves our Boxer to pieces…she just likes to have her own puppies that she’s in charge of, too!

Honestly, it never really occurred to me to buy my daughter her own stuffed puppies that she could pretend were Holly and Polly.  After all, she has plenty of stuffed animals!  But then I learned about Webkinz Jr.!  Sure, I had heard of Webkinz from my nieces but thought my daughter was a bit too young for those.  Now, with Webkinz Jr., she can join in on the fun her cousins are having but with an online experience tailored toward her age group (3-6yrs)!

WHAT ARE WEBKINZ JR?

Webkinz Jr. is a two part experience.  First, they are these amazingly plush stuffed animals!  I was amazed at how soft and snuggly they are!  My daughters each received a puppy (one blue, one pink) from Webkinz Jr. and those puppies are toted around everywhere with us!!!  They are also completely safe for even my 2 year old since they are free of any plastic eyes or noses that could potentially come loose.  This made me like the Webkinz Jr. plushes even more!  Oh, and they are available in the most adorable creatures — frog, elephant, bunnies, giraffe, bear, puppies, monkeys, and kitty.

Second, each Webkinz Jr. comes with an interactive online experience.  I know a lot of parents are hesitant to allow their preschooler and early elementary age children to pay online.  It can be a scary place!  However, the Webkinz Jr. site has far exceeded my expectations!  The site not only requires a parent to register for the child (which allows the parent to have control over different aspects of the online experience) but the page the child will be playing on is free of third party advertising and free of toolbars.

When you first register on WebkinzJr.com you will enter the code that came with your Webkinz Jr. plush and your child will have the opportunity to name their pet.  This code brings your child’s new plush friend to life online.  Now it is time for the fun!  At your pet’s home your child can feed her, bathe her, play, or put her to bed.  But the fun doesn’t end there!  Your child can also take their pet for adventures around the virtual neighborhood!

Your child can take their pet to the post office to create postcards, to the grocery store to do some shopping, and even going on field trips to the fire station to learn all about fire fighters!  My daughter’s favorite thing to do though is to take her puppy to the school where she gets to do all sorts of learning activities like math, creating machines, and color matching.  Every part of the site offers some sort of fun and educational value to your child.

But your will also learn about responsibility!  Much like a real pet, your child will need to make sure their virtual pet is being taken care of.  Meters at the bottom of the screen let your child know if their pet is hungry, tired, bored, or just needs some attention.

MY THOUGHTS, AS A PARENT:

I really love the WebkinzJr.com experience!  The plush animals are great and my daughters love playing and snuggling with them, but the online experience is really just amazing.  The user interface is fun and easy to use and the games are easily customizable depending on the age/educational levels of your child.  This makes the whole experience that much better because it’s not something your child will necessarily out-grow right away.  It also means that if your child is more advanced at language skills than math skills, you can adjust those levels individually!  You can also add animals to your child’s account each time get a new plush pet by entering in their Jr. Pet Code, found on the tag of the plush.

Overall, I would definitely recommend Webkinz Jr. if you have a child at the preschool age.  They will love their new animal friend and that they get to bring their new friend to life online!  Finally my daughter has a way to bring Holly and Polly to life!!!

*Disclaimer: I did receive two Webkinz Jr. plush pets from Webkinz so that I (and my daughters) could get a first hand experience with the product in order to bring you an accurate and personal review!

My kids love to recycle but until recently, they really had no idea what happened to our paper after they put it in the recycling bin. This simple activity is a fun and interactive way to teach kids how to recycle paper and can be a good use for the extra newspaper you have laying around from couponing.

We decided to make use of my toddlers destructive streak earlier this week and recycle the book that he destroyed. I’m hoping we didn’t unintentionally encourage his book tearing habit but at least my kids learned how to recycle something we weren’t using anymore. Kids love learning how things really work but there are so few opportunities for kids to see and understand the full process of things that they do everyday.

What You Need

• Paper to be recycled – this can be old newspaper, junk mail (just avoid the glossy kind), leftover tradeshow material (that’s a big one around our house after CES and now as we’re getting ready for Toy Fair), extra construction paper, etc.
• A blender – Don’t worry about using your regular blender for this. The paper washes out easily and after you are done.
• A window screen – If you have old screen material laying around this would work just fine but be sure and put masking tape around the edges to prevent sharp edges from hurting your kids while they do this activity. I bought a cheap adjustable window screen with a metal rim that worked well.
• Optional: Flower seeds – These are a fun addition if you want to plant your paper after you are done use it and plant it in your yard to show the complete process of recycling.

What To Do

This project takes several days for kids to complete because you have to wait overnight for several steps to be complete.

Step 1 – Tear paper into squares that are about 1-2 inches wide. This does not have to be exact. You just want to start the process of breaking the paper down.

Step 2 – Soak the paper pieces overnight in a bowl of water.

Step 3 – Take the soaked paper out of the water and place it in the blender. Fill the blender halfway full with fresh water. Blend the paper and water mixture until you have something that is about the consistency of pureed soup. Add water as needed to thin it out.

Step 4 – Lay the window screen over the sink or have a child hold it over the sink and slowly pour the paper soup over the window screen, trying to pour it in an even layer. We found it helpful to start in the center and pour the mixture in a circular spiral moving out towards the edge until you make a very unappetizing paper pancake. Use your fingers or a spoon to even out any uneven places immediately after pouring. The paper begins to dry almost immediately once the water starts to drain and it becomes less workable as it dries. If you are adding flower seeds to your paper, add them at this point before the paper dries. You can either gently push the seeds into the top of the wet paper or put them on the paper and then use a tiny piece of paper mixture to “plant” the seed by laying it on top so the seed is not visible.

Step 5 – Lay the window screen with the paper mixture on a dry towel and leave to dry at least overnight. Change the towel throughout the day as needed if it becomes soaked through.

Variation – Add natural food coloring to create colored recycled paper to be used for preschool art projects or crafts for elementary school aged kids.

Your homemade recycled paper can be used as part of a preschool science lesson, as a homeschool science project, as an Earth Day project for kids, to send a unique birthday card to a friend, or as a special Valentines Day card.

What will you use your homemade recycled paper for?

Toddlers can generally begin recognizing colors around 18 months of age, but most children are closer to age 3 when they are able to consistently begin to label colors by their name. Teaching colors is often one of the first basic skills that parents try and teach.

Parents can begin teaching color names early in fun and playful ways that encourage learning without frustrating a young preschooler. This simple early preschool activity helps preschoolers learn the color names and practice basic matching skills, which is also an important early math skill.

Color Sorting Games

What You Need

• Cookie Cutters in red, yellow, blue, and green
• Sorting toys in red, yellow, blue, and green

What to Do

Lay out 4 colored cookie cutters for your young preschooler one at a time, saying each color name and encouraging your preschooler to repeat the name as you lay them down on the table. Give your preschooler a counting toy in each color, red, yellow, blue, and green, again saying the name of each color as you give it to your preschooler.

Show your preschooler how to match the counting toy to the cookie cutter of the same color by placing the counting toy inside the cookie cutter. Give your preschooler lots of praise each time they match a color correctly.

When your preschooler places a counting toy in a cookie cutter of a different color, be sure to stay positive. Ask your preschooler questions to encourage learning. You could say, “I see you have a blue toy. Is that the blue cookie cutter? No? Where is the blue cookie cutter?”

Giving Choices Between Color Names

Young preschoolers (ages 2  ½ and up) can benefit from learning experiences that are incorporated in their daily activities. Lunch time can be turned into learning experience by holding up two plates and asking your preschooler, “Do you want the red plate or the blue plate?”.  Constantly giving children choices that incorporate color names helps them to learn to recognize the sounds of the color names and learn to associate them with their individual color. Take advantage of every opportunity to label color names throughout your day and encourage your preschooler to repeat the name or tell you what the color name is himself.

More Activities to Teach Preschoolers Color Names

Egg Carton Color Matching – This simple color matching game teaches valuable math skills and it is easy for preschoolers to make themselves. Preschoolers will learn the importance of recycling materials that may otherwise be thrown away

Congratulations Susan Mayer! Susan is the winner of the Magic School Bus Science Kit Giveaway!

My children and I recently had the opportunity to The Magic School Bus Going Green science kit courtesy of The Young Scientists Club. The kit is a collection of hands-on science experiments for intended for children ages 5-8. It arrives with most of the supplies necessary for each experiment. You will need to supply such things as newspaper and acetone, but most families may already have those items on hand without requiring an extra purchase.

If you need a great science activity to keep your kids occupied during their holiday break from school or a fun activity for homeschoolers, you will definitely want to check out The Young Scientists Club.

Adult Supervision

With this age group, all of the experiments should be adult supervised–both for the guidance but also for the safety of your young scientist. A few experiments, however, do require an adult to perform a few tasks, such as running the blender or using a hot stove. So parents, do plan on completing the experiments with your child.

Instruction Guide

The colorfully illustration instruction booklet is printed on thick, glossy paper similar to a high-quality magazine thereby allowing it to withstand the rigors of getting messy. It is set up similar to the Magic School Bus books with the characters talking in bubbles, notes, and illustrations.

Experiments Use the Scientific Method

There are twelve experiments in the Magic School Bus Going Green science kit. Some of the experiments build upon each other therefore some require the end result of a previous experiment. The amount of time required for each experiment varies from a few minutes to a few weeks so be sure to read the requirements and plan accordingly.

Each experiment is introduced by a Magic School Bus character, who gives an explanation of the experiment and shares some basic facts. Using the Scientific Method as an outline for experiments, each one begins with a question to be answered. The young scientist is then asked to make a hypothesis based on the information available.

Once you are ready to begin, there is a list of the materials necessary and an outline of the methods necessary to complete the experiment. Each experiment ends with a place to record the results of the experiment and for the young scientist to write down his conclusions based on the results.

Space is available in the instruction booklet to record all the information or you can have your young scientist(s) write on another sheet of paper or in a notebook.

Extending the Lessons

Three of my four children are beyond the target age for the Magic School Bus Go Green science kit, but they still enjoyed their experience. Homeschoolers can easily extend this kit by a more in-depth study of the science around each experiment and supplementing with field trips.

More Kits Available

The Young Scientists Club is not limited to Magic School Bus kits! Their catalog also includes Nature Series, The Scientist Series, Adventure Science Series, and more.

You can visit their website at The Young Scientists Club.

Enter to Win

Win your choice of the following kits from The Young Scientists Club – School Bus Going Green, Magic School Bus Diving into Slime, or Science on a Gardening Adventure. This giveaway is open to the U.S. and will end on December 30, 2009.

Enter the giveaway by commenting on this post.

Please see our site’s Terms and Conditions for a complete list of our contest and giveaway rules.

In compliance with the new FTC Guild lines, please note that this is a sponsored post.  I was given a copy of the Magic School Bus Going Green science kit courtesy of The Young Scientists Club to test and review free of charge.  However, I was not paid for the review and the opinions are my own.

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