Eggcellent ideas for Spring

 I have ideas for activities with eggs for you.  The #kinderfriends are doing a give away too, so be sure to enter! I also have a sweet freebie for you. Keep reading so you can grab it.

I love doing a mini unit on spring with my class right before break.  Part of that unit is learning about all the baby animals being born.  It is really fun to learn about how many different animals come from eggs!  That's why I made this sweet little emergent reader:

My kiddos LOVE this book!  You can grab it right here:  Emergent Reader: Oviparous Animals - What Comes From an Egg?   We really enjoyed learning about a new animal each day for the next page.   I did a Google search each morning to show the kids real images for the eggs.  I projected the images on the big screen in our classroom. 

I also had some great books to read to my sweet students on this topic.  You can find lots more ideas for books and other activities about eggs and spring here:  Baby Birds! Spring ideas from Mrs. Byrd   You can also grab some tips on coloring eggs in your classroom and grab a FREEBIE for spring word work with plastic eggs here: Coloring eggs in the Classroom .

It's fun to have your students design a colorful egg for spring.  This is my teacher example that I show my students as I explain the art project to them.  You can see how we made these eggs on this blog post: Melt Art Fun!  I had a cute little bird in my egg.  But, it's fun to let your students pick whatever animal they want to come out of the egg.  

It's also really fun to hatch real eggs in your classroom.  Last year, some kids at school found these little yellow eggs and we hatched  them in our room.  We watched them go from eggs to larvae to pupae and finally we had live adult ladybugs.  It was an adventure every day finding aphids.  I am so glad I happened to have a great little habitat for the buggies!  I posted pictures and videos about the ladybugs on Instagram.  I try to post something on Insta from my classroom each day.  You can find me on Instagram here:  @mrsbyrdslearningtree

This year a sweet parent brought in some tadpoles from her pond.  It's been a learning experience keeping them.  None of us had ever tried to watch the frog life cycle in a classroom before.  Thankfully another sweet mom brought in a great bowl to keep them in.  

I was worried about how they would do over spring break and I was THRILLED today when they were still doing fine.  Yay! 

 Isn't this little guy cute?

OK, it's FREEBIE time!!!

I wanted a fun little number, counting, and number word review for my class this spring.  So I put together this little math station activity.  It is FREE this week only!  Grab it by Thursday April 13th 2017.  It will turn into a regular priced item on Thursday night.  The link is below.

I have kids work collaboratively to put the numeral cards in order first.   Then they take turns matching the nests and word cards to the numbers.    This set also has two worksheets to reinforce the concepts.  One is to practice the number words and neat handwriting.

The other sheet is a cut and paste matching numerals and number of eggs.  It's a cute one:

I hope this is a big help to you!  You can grab it in my TpT store here: Spring Eggs Number Match

Don't forget to enter the #kinderfriends giveaway.  Some buddies and I are giving away some "EGGSTRA" special spring products.  One lucky winner will get all 7 packs!  Woo hoo!  Hope you win:)

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Happy teaching!

Holidays around the World with #kinderfriends

I am so happy to be joining my #kinderfriends for another blog hop!  We are giving away a $25 gift card to Teachers Pay Teachers.  We are giving away some fun freebies.  We are also sharing lots of great ideas for the holidays in your classroom.  Did I mention we are having a sale?  Yay!

I always want my classroom to be festive this time of year.  It is a magical time for little kiddos and at times they are bursting with excitement.  So it's helpful to keep them active and busy with FUN learning activities!

In December, I usually do a folktales and fairy tales unit that includes The Gingerbread Man and all the versions that go along with it.  Gingerbread originated in Germany so it definitely could be included in a Holidays Around the World theme.  Here are a few fun ideas to get your gingerbread on in the classroom:

Mix it and fix it sentences are a great addition to our sparkly gingerbread art.  Loving this bulletin board right now!

This pocket chart poem can be sung to Pop Goes the Weasel.  It makes a fun shared reading activity that the kiddos like to do independently after it has been taught.

These little guys above were made with oven bake clay.  It's a great fine motor activity and I just glue a magnet on the back and send them home as a holiday gift for the family.  Too cute!  Even though we don't study holiday traditions, we do some gift and card making in our classroom.  Projects with a purpose are great this time of year.

 

This craft is an oldie but goodie!  Who doesn't want a hand print Rudolph reindeer from their little darling?  These are easy and inexpensive, but they are treasured by parents for years to come!  Just do a brown hand print on card stock, trim and laminate, then glue on eyes and nose, put on a ribbon and done!  Another adorable holiday gift for sweet little students to give to their families.

My class really enjoyed this writing activity from my time saving Print and Go! Gingerbread pack.  Print and Go! packs can be a lifesaver this time of year.   There are fun pages in here for homework, morning work, or independent centers in the classroom when you are up to your elbows in arts and crafts projects. This product is on sale through Thursday December 15th.  Just search #kinderfriends on Teachers pay Teachers to find all my special sale items. 

Now, it's time for a little gift giving from me to YOU!  I am sooooo grateful for the TpT classroom community and awesome teachers like YOU.  So, this year I have two special holiday FREEBIES for you.  Here is freebie number one:

It's a design page for kiddos to design and create the perfect cookie.  I did this as a homework project last year.  You could do this project in the classroom too.  It would be a nice activity during the last week before your winter break.

It's included in that Print and Go! Gingerbread product above.  This is a Mrs. Byrd's Learning Tree blog freebie.  Just click this link to download that cookie design page:  My gingerbread cookie design

And here is freebie number 2:

It's from my December Pretty Papers & Prompts .  That's another time saving product with sweet engaging writing papers for excited little people in your classroom.  You will find this on sale through Thursday the 15th.  Just search #kinderfriends on TpT to find special sale items.  This freebie is a letter to Santa with an old world St. Nick.

Like my letter to Santa this year?  It's actually what I want from my husband... haha!
You can grab this printable in my TpT store right here: FREEBIE - Writing Activities ~ December Pretty Papers & Prompts

Giveaway time!!!  Best of luck!  You can enter to win a $25 TpT gift card right here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Keep hoping along to my friend Elaine over at Kitty Kitty Kindergarten for more Holidays Around the World fun! 

Thanks for stopping by.
Happy holidays!

Treats for teachers! Giveaway with the #kinderfriends

I am so excited to be doing a fun blog hop with the #kinderfriends this week.  We are all doing giveaways on our blogs, so you can hop along and enter to win lots of great products and prizes.  We are teachers too, and we know YOU deserve a treat!  Friday October 14th is the last day to enter.  Here are my treats for you:


a Rafflecopter giveaway a Rafflecopter giveaway


I hope you have a wonderful October filled with lots of learning and love in your classroom!  Hop along to my friend Cara over at Kindergarten Boom Boom for more giveaway fun.

Thanks for stopping by.
Happy teaching!