The Creative Campus The Place For Learning Activities for all ages!

Happy Spring Everyone!  I hope you are learning lots of fun things and enjoying the wonderful sunshine!  I wanted to share something with you that my friends enjoy and yours will too. I call it "Mix and Match Math". I  take things like popsicles and their sticks (paper versions only) and I put Shapes, Numbers and or Letters on both the sticks and the popsicle its self. then I separate them and mix them all up. I invite my friends to re connect the matches. this can be done with may different items that have two pieces. I also do a version of this with carrots. you could even do this ice cream cones and scoops that match. The fun with this activity is endless depending on your goals. you could even do this will pictures. Cutting them into sections and instructing the children to re connect the edges (which I suggest you cut in designs). I hope you have a lot of fun with this, its one of the favorites in my class. Don't forget....  if you like this and want more ...

Topic: Art and Creative Teaching Methods   Advice One ( Using art to teach skills )   I believe that there is a place in the Early Child world for both Process and Product art I believe that when children are able to express themselves and use different skills they learn better I use art to teach everything from Letters, Numbers, Colors, shapes even science. A great example of this, is “Splat Painting”. This is a fun activity that allows the children to use their Small Motor skills while creating fun art. You can combing process and product using this method OR you can simply let the children enjoy the Process simply provide the children with a piece of paper and make piles of paint. Cover with wax paper (I even put the paint in between two pieces of Contact Paper) and let the children Pound or roll on top of the paint. Smearing and mixing till they are happy. —   Creating products i...

Hello Everyone!    Valentines Day is right around the corner. I hope your having a lot of fun getting ready for the special day. I wanted to share with you a fun theme I have been working on with my little friends!  I recently held a class on the theme of Aliens and Robots.   This is a fun activity for both boys and girls. All children can use their creativity and create their own creatures. I love these themes because you can incorporate Colors, Shapes and Number learning into the activities. These themes are also great for practicing Eye/ Hand Coordination and Small Motor Skills.   You can also create aliens using the same materials. you can introduce Paint, Glitter, Different Stickers you can make it as simple or detailed as your friends are interested in. If you are interested in learning more about the activities that I have used for this theme I would love for you to join me at my up coming event : https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-a_cb6...

Hello Again Everyone! I have something for you that you might find helpful. Manipulatives are a great toy for introducing Math and Reading Skills. These toys encourage children to recognize Color, Size and Patterns. Manipulatives encourage children to engage in creative play without limits. When they do this, they naturally start to recognize that some look similar and then begin to group them. What are some of your favorite Manipulatives to use? I have used many over the years. Play dough is a fun one to use, which offers many different opportunities for Learning, Play and Development. I like to have the children make a simple play dough, which teaches them to follow directions and engages math skills. Then I offer the children an opportunity to play with their play dough which engages motor skills and eye hand coordination. Often I will give the children learning activities to do with the play dough such as Letter Copying, Shape Copying,  and even Number and Counting Pract...

Hello Everyone! Our summer is winding down, hard to believe. I wanted to share a really fun activity with you that can be done outside in the summer and brought indoors through the rest of the year. SAND! We did a unit on construction recently and used sand as a part of it. We started out with dry sand which my friends tried to scoop and pile up. They quickly realized that it didn't work very well. Then I asked them what they thought we could do about making it pile up easier? as im sure you guessed, they all shouted ADD WATER!!! and so we did. this is what they did with the wet sand.  Sand Castles Of Course! this is a great activity for children of all ages because the younger ones will enjoy the scooping and the pouring, while older ones will get more creative and stack and build with the sand adding more or less water to get the texture they want. To finish off our messy fun day, my friends wanted to construct some creations of their own. So we got out the art supplies...

This week we made Robots!!  this is by far one of my favorite themes to teach. You can do so much with these and stretch the fun to include sooo many ages. you can count parts you can sort parts by shape . The fun with this is endless. With my friends however, I kept the fun to art and Sensory/ Science. Here is a little peek at what we did. One of my friends decided to use different items to start building a Robot. Combining Paint, Paper Shapes and Straws. This Friend decided to make a puppet. This one has lots of eyes and some cool antenna and Arms. This Robot is very complicated and has lots of buttons! We also decided to build some robots away from the art table. This is what we came up with!  We had a lot of fun with this subject, and I hope you have just as much fun making your own creations!

Welcome Back Friends, I wanted to share another idea with you that I think is a lot of fun. this is something that can be used Indoors, Outdoors and even while you are out doing other tasks. "Scavenger Hunts". This is a great activity for Home and School! This is an activity that practices many skills such as Critical Thinking, Vocabulary Building, Attention Span and many other things. If your in the store and you want to keep your child engaged while you are accomplishing other tasks! you can give them a pictured list (depending on their age) and you can tell them OK we need to find the things on this list before I finish my shopping or whatever task it is you have your child along for. this gives your child a sence of importance and independence that they have a "Job" to do. https://www.facebook.com/thecreativecampuspreschool  like us and leave a comment saying you read my blog, and I will send you my newsletters and many other free goodies. you will also have a...

Hi Everyone! We are suffering from yet another snow storm! I will be so happy when spring finally gets here. I love the snow don't get me wrong, its a wonderful opportunity to play for our little friends.  That being said, today I want to share with you  Robots. This is a fun topic for both boys and girls. This can also be shared with a wide range of ages, because you can break it down for your youngest friends and you can make it more detailed and difficult for your older ones. Sponges, boxes, Paper, Glue, Pipe Cleaners! Paint OH MY! put the supplies out and let your children/ students get creative. I would love to see what creations you and your children come up with! This activity will engage your child's creativity, Small Motor Skills as they paint or glue pieces to their creation. Recognition of their colors and shapes will also be exercised as they choose the materials and pieces that they want . Instead of posting my own pictures of the activity like usually do, ...

Hello Everyone! I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season! I love this time of year. The Shopping/Gift Giving, The Cooking and The Crafting! This is a wonderful time of year to work with your little ones to create art that makes wonderful Gifts and Keep Sakes. I as an adult make my own Christmas Cards every year, and Its a wonderful time for letting our little friends join in. I still have many of the wonderful holiday decorations that I made as a child! I am going to share with you two special activities my friends have recently done. The first is Circle Christmas Trees. the kids had soo much fun stamping these. You can use TP rolls or plastic cups of different sizes (super cute with different sizes).  Then I gave the children shapes but you can use any art supplies you have around the house or classroom. These are what the children used to "decorate" their tree. I think they are adorable and I hope you do as well. Since It snowed over the weekend, my friends w...

Hi everyone! I just wanted to write a little extra post about some activities I have done over this past year that you might enjoy. this one is called " Shape Pie" my friends had fun with this because it was directed completely by them. Make a dice with colors and or shapes ( depending on child's age). Each child gets a roll the dice on their turn, when the roll a Color/ Shape  or both they have to choose and ingredient that is those colors and or shaped and add it to the pie. Ask the child "what are you adding to our pie" encourage them to say it out loud. this keeps going till all the pieces are gone. I recommend making enough shape and color pieces for each child to go twice. I hope you enjoy this activity as much as my friends did, and If you have any different versions you want to share I would love to hear from you! Enjoy the day The Creative Campus