Teacher’s Brain

4 Reasons Crafts Are Important In Kindergarten

Crafts are powerful tools for developing skills needed in reading and writing. Some think crafts are “fluff” or “busy work.” Continued research supports the value of crafts for young students. 

Here Are 4 Reasons Crafts Are Important In Kindergarten

Fine Motor Skills.

Students at this age are still developing their fine motor skills. They are also still working on hand-eye coordination. Doing crafts in the classroom is fun and can help students work on these important skills as they cut shapes, glue, and put things together. 

They teach colors, shapes, letter recognition, and formation.

These are skills students will use every day of their lives so it is important for them to get plenty of practice in new and exciting ways. Creating something new can help get students the practice they need without them even realizing they are learning. 

crafts

Engagement.

I don’t know any younger students who don’t love crafts. Its a hands-on activity where they get to use their creativity to make something that they can show to their parents. It’s so fun! This is a great way to get students truly engaged in learning. 

crafts

Listening and following directions.

Many kindergarten students are having their first ever experience in a school setting. Things like listening and following directions are not always concepts they understand yet. Doing these activities are a fun way to practice listening and following directions to create something exciting. 

Crafts are a fun addition to any lesson. Working on letters? Try out some alphabet crafts! Reading a new story? Do a craft to go along with it! Learning about community helpers? Make some police hat crafts! The opportunities are endless. 

Aside from the benefits listed above, these activities are a great way to add some variety to your lessons and prevent students from burning out while doing traditional worksheets. 

Looking for more kindergarten tips? Check out my tips for teaching alphabet writing and identification. 


 

Exciting Ways To Teach Community Helpers

One of the important lessons we cover in kindergarten or first grade is on the topic of community helpers. We generally consider this to be police officers, firefighters, doctors, nurses, construction workers, mail carriers, etc. This is a great way to teach about the different kinds of people who help in our community. It helps students further understand how a community works and the important roles these people play. 

There are tons of ways you can teach this lesson and make it super fun and engaging for your students! 

Here are some of my favorite ways to teach about community helpers.

  • Bring in guest speakers. Reach out to some of the community helpers in your area and ask them to come in and speak to the class! This can be parents in that profession, or friends. The guest can share what they do, how they help the community, and what a typical day in their profession looks like. 
  • Keep a journal. As students are learning about the different community helpers, have them keep a journal about the different people. They can draw pictures of them in uniform and get some writing practice by writing a couple of sentences about who they are and what they do. 
  • Discuss the differences between long ago and today. How were the jobs different? Are they easier now? This is a great activity to encourage critical thinking. 
  • List the different occupations. Use this list to get students thinking about what they want to be when they grow up. They can write it in their journal and you can go around the classroom sharing. 
  • Read books about community helpers. Whenever possible, adding a story or two about your topic will enrich your lessons. 
  • Watch videos about community helpers. There are lots of options available on Youtube. This video includes a fun song for students to sing or dance along to. 

Looking for more activities to do during your community helpers lesson? Check out my Community Helpers resource! 

community helpers

This download is nine weeks of lessons designed to easily create a journal for students to use, interactive notebook pages, posters, and so much more! It covers three topics, Community Jobs, Tools and Equipment for Jobs, and Today vs. Long Ago.

community helpers

This resource covers 9 full weeks of detailed lesson plans. You’ll get everything listed above and some extras including poems and songs, how to dial 911, cut and label activities for different community helpers, a volunteer art handprint gift, police officer hat/headband, police badges, and firefighter hats. Everything you need for this exciting social studies topic! 

community helpers

What are your favorite ways to teach about this topic? Let me know in the comments!

Looking for more social studies fun? Check out my year long social studies bundle for kindergarten and first grade!


 

Engaging Geography Lessons For Kindergarten And First Grade

When you think of teaching kindergarten and first grade students, you often think of letters, numbers, reading, math, etc. Those subjects are extremely important, but it is also beneficial to them to introduce the subject of geography! 

Learning about the different countries around the world is so important. To these kiddos, they may not even realize that there is more out there besides what they can see. It’s so fun to teach them about all of the different countries, continents, and people around the world and watch their eyes light up in wonder. 

Learning about geography is so vital to students because: 

  1. It teaches them about the diversity of locations and cultures in other countries around the world.
  2. It helps them know where they are and what else is there- giving them a sense of location. 
  3. It helps them understand the impacts of changes in the environment on land and people. 
  4. It helps them understand and appreciate nature.
  5. It helps them understand the world and their place in it. 

For kindergarten and first graders, you want to start with the basics to introduce the topic. First, teach them about maps and globes, cardinal directions, landforms, bodies of water, etc. This will help them understand the essentials as you get more detailed in your lessons. 

After they understand that, try introducing our country and the states. You can teach students where they are located. Make it extra engaging by teaching about the locations of famous landmarks or attractions. Next, get the students involved by asking them about their favorite vacation destination and then finding it on the map together. Geography can be so fun! 

If you are ready to dive into geography with your students, I have THE go-to geography resource for you

geography

My Geography Resource includes 9 weeks of geography lessons and hands-on activities that are perfect for kindergarten or first grade students. It has everything you need including lesson plans covering positional words, landforms, bodies of water, cardinal directions, maps, globes, personal information, and seasonal weather changes. It has crafts, interactive notebook pages, posters, a “Me On The Map” flip book, and a write the room activity. 

geography

Here is a breakdown of the 9 weeks: 

  • Week 1: Positional words to describe locations
  • Week 2: Identify maps and globes
  • Week 3: Cardinal directions
  • Week 4: Identify land and water on a map
  • Week 5: School and community places
  • Week 6: Personal information (phone number and address)
  • Week 7: Landforms
  • Week 8: Bodies of water
  • Week 9: Seasonal Weather

geography

Additionally, you will get posters and directional signs for your classroom, a fun Earth hat, photo instructions of how to put materials together. 

geography

Check it out here!

For more social studies resources, check out my TpT shop! 


 

 

How To Create A Fun And Easy Virtual Calendar For Your Classroom

If you know me, you know I just love calendar time. It is such a great way to gather with kindergarten or first grade students, go over the calendar, review some concepts, read stories, listen, share, and maybe even sing some songs. For more info on why I love it so much, check out my post here. 

 I adore my traditional Calendar Time area. This fun beachy-themed calendar area has always been my favorite.  Recently, however, I have been exploring Google Slides more and more and have found that it is the perfect tool for creating a virtual calendar easily! 

Here are some benefits of using a virtual calendar in your classroom

  • It can be used in person or virtually. After the last couple of years in the classroom, we are realizing the need for resources that can be used in the classroom AND virtually for distance learning. Teaching resources that are versatile enough to be used in both is essential these days. 
  • They are easily customized. Google Slides are so easy to play around with and make it your own. 
  • It can be easily reused year after year. While you can reuse physical products too, reusing digital items doesn’t require you to store anything or take up extra space. It can also be edited and personalized each year to fit whatever theme you want. 
  • It saves money. If you are printing your resources, it will save you money on paper and printing costs to just do it virtually. Saving money in the classroom is always a plus! 

Ready to explore virtual calendars yourself? I have you covered! I created this Virtual Calendar template for teachers who want to simplify Calendar Time in the classroom. 

virtual calendar

These colorful Google Slides templates make it easy for you and fun for your students. They can easily be edited to add your own personal touch. This calendar comes with Google Slides to help you review time, days of the week, months, money, share your morning messages, birthday shoutouts, and more! 

virtual calendar

Check out my virtual calendar tutorial here! 

Here’s what’s included in this calendar resource: 

  • 21 Colorful Digital Calendar and Math slides. Includes time, days of the week, months, money, a spinner game, morning messages, birthday shoutouts, patterns, shapes, and tally marks. 
  • 2 Review Pages (one digital and one black and white to easily print for pencil to paper) 

virtual calendar

Ready to get started with your virtual calendar? Check it out here!


virtual calendar