Teacher's Brain Blog

School Holiday Door Decorating for Christmas Ideas

December 8, 2020 teachersbrain Classroom Decor, Craft Ideas, Teacher's Pay Teachers, Teaching Tips

Our school asked us to decorate our door every year for the holidays. For teachers, the holidays is not the time to usually ask us to do “extra” projects even if we enjoy the task. It does make the school look festive though. To make it a little fun, the administration usually makes it into a contest so we can win gift cards for holiday shopping. Here are a few holiday door decoration ideas!

Holiday Door and Display Decorations

Christmas Bulletin Board — by The Homeschool Style – Katie Ring

Let it Snow Door Decoration — by Teacher’s Brain – Cindy Martin

Christmas Decoration Bulletin Board — by Allie P’s Practical Preschool

Snoopy Door Decoration — By Tammy Cleghorn “The kids loved that the lights actually lit up!”

Elfie Picture Holiday Door — by Instagram @misschloe91

If you haven’t seen Joey Udovich’s door designs, you are missing out! She has a ton of them for the whole year in her TpT store. Here is an adorable holiday door design to Deck the Halls!

Winter Door Decoration — Don’t Have a Meltdown Keep Your Cool

Bear Cave Winter Door Decoration — by Debora Marines TeachMagically

Simple Door Christmas Decoration — By Lisa Taylor Teaching the Stars

Doing writing with winter toppers is great for window decorations too!

Holiday door decorations can be fun, but what about the windows? These reindeer want ads were my favorite window display activity I did every year for the holidays. Students learned about classified ads and practiced fine motor skills.

Find MORE Door Decorating Ideas HERE

Kindergarten Google Slides and Escape Room Freebies!

December 4, 2020 teachersbrain Distance Learning, Free Teaching Resources, kindergarten survival

When working with kindergarten students, it’s important to use interactive activities that get students involved and excited. Young students need the chance to work with subject matter rather than just receiving direct instruction. On the other hand, it can be difficult to have the time and materials to make every lesson hands-on.

Luckily, technology can help in this area.

With distance learning being practiced widely around the world now, there are many digital activity options available to use in your classroom. Google Slides are a perfect way to help students interact with material in the classroom or during distance learning. They can be used in all subject areas, and are easily added to Google Classroom so students can learn from any location.

Google Slides are very user friendly, and kindergarten students can quickly learn how to manipulate the materials on their screens. Just be sure to teach your students how to use the “Undo” button and how to hold the mouse button to drag items.

I love digital resources because with just a little practice your kiddos will be able to complete tasks independently while having fun. Digital activities completed in Google Slides (or Docs and Sheets) are easy to add to Seesaw portfolios. You’ll be ready to show your students’ growth in no time!

Ready to try out some Kindergarten Google Slides activities?

Check out my completely free Google Slides Name Activity resource here.

Using this Google Slides activity, students will practice their names, colors, and shapes. They will have a great time personalizing their names, and will get important practice manipulating images with their mouse. Using this activity will add even more Google Slides activities to your plans.

Digital Escape Rooms

Another one of my favorite activities for kindergarten students are digital escape rooms. These exciting tasks are guaranteed to get students 100% engaged in learning, and are easy for you to implement! The best escape rooms for kindergarten students are those that don’t have real locks- so these are a perfect fit.

Escape rooms help students learn problem solving skills, cooperation, and perseverance. They can work as individuals or as teams to solve the rooms. Digital escape rooms can be used during distance learning, letting students participate in fun challenges even while at home. For more info on why escape rooms are so great for elementary, check out my post here.

You can download and try out a mini escape room activity for FREE by clicking here!

Are you using digital activities in your kindergarten classroom? Let me know in the comments!

12 Days of Giving TEACHER GIVEAWAY

December 3, 2020 teachersbrain Teacher's Pay Teachers

If you haven’t entered this raffle yet, you are missing out! Teachers, we are giving 12 $100 Teacher Pay Teacher Gift cards away! That is $1200 in prizes that you could win because we want to let you know how much we appreciate you during this holiday season! If you win, you can get your students a virtual Christmas party or have an Ugly Sweater Contest.

We Appreciate You

Teacher, Property, Plant, And Teaching, Teaching

You have been working so hard this school year. WE SEE YOU! We all know that using Teachers Pay Teachers products saves you TIME, keeps students ENGAGED and can help you meet your STANDARDS. Simply click a teacher-author’s store, enter the number by the green star that shows the “follower number” of that store and click enter. The more stores you follow the better your chances to win! Plus you get to see the new products these amazing authors are creating for you. Good Luck!

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Read about some great Christmas Gift Ideas for Parents

Christmas Gift Ideas For Parents

November 27, 2020 teachersbrain Craft Ideas, Winter

Nothing says Christmas time like sweet handmade gifts from children. As a teacher, you probably want to help your students create gifts for their families in the classroom, but it can be difficult to find gifts that are useful and truly created by the kids.

Guided artwork activities can be a perfect way to make heartwarming gifts that are adorable keepsakes. Creating gifts with your students teaches them the value of giving instead of getting.

Here are some examples of creative gift ideas for parents that your elementary students can make:

Handmade ornaments for the tree
Painted flower pots or bowls
Handprint crafts
Pictures of your students with handmade frames
Handmade jewelry

Ideas abound for creative gifts kids can make, but some items can become clutter for families. The key is to find a gift that is useful and adorable!

One of my favorite gifts ideas for parents is the Fingerprint Art Calendar. There is also a Virtual Art Calendar Gift available now.

In creating the gift, students will learn math skills such as months, days of the week, and counting. They use their own fingerprints to create art for each calendar page, which families will love because it reminds parents of how small their children are.

For each month, a sample art activity is provided- or you can come up with your own. When you purchase the calendar activity, lifetime updates are included. So your family gift from your students is planned and ready forever!

Perhaps most importantly, this activity makes a useful gift that will keep a smile on their parents’ face all year long. It would be beautiful on the family fridge, or in a parent’s office. Families will be excited to receive this gift, and students will be excited to give a gift that they made with their own little fingers.

What are your favoriteChristmas gift ideas for parents? Let me know in the comments!

For more holiday activities, check out my post here!