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Memorial Day Activities For Kids

April 30, 2022 teachersbrain Teaching Tips

Memorial Day 2022 is quickly approaching. For many people, this is a way to kick off the summer season. But it is important to teach students that on this holiday we honor those who have lost their lives fighting for our country.

If you are here to find some Memorial Day activities for elementary students, you’re in the right place. First, let’s dive into why we celebrate it and how to teach it.

Memorial Day Activities for kids pin image

Why is it important to celebrate Memorial Day?

This isn’t just a day with cookouts and get-togethers. For many, it is a day to honor lost family members and celebrate their memory. Celebrating shows your appreciation for their service to our country and helps us remember the names of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for us.

How do you teach Memorial Day?

To teach students about this important day, there are some great Memorial Day activities that you can add to your lesson plans. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Read books about Memorial Day. Books are always a great way to help students understand subjects like this. Head over to your school library to see what books are available on the topic or shop around like this one here.
Write a letter to a hero. If your students have any friends or family members that served they can write a letter to them. For other students, you can have them write a letter to a hero you select for them. This is a great way to give students perspective and a chance to express their gratitude.
Watch some Memorial Day videos on YouTube like this one here.
Do some patriotic crafts. You can have students create American Flags and decorate the classroom or hall with them, or you can create other crafts that are red, white, and blue.
Get some colored chalk and decorate the blacktop or sidewalks outside your school with patriotic decorations.
Encourage students to wear their favorite patriotic clothes.
Watch a Memorial Day Parade on YouTube like this one here.

If you are looking for more Memorial Day education activities, check out my Memorial Day resource here.

Memorial Day Activities for Elementary: Writing Unit Preview

Perfect for students in first through fifth grade, you’ll get a variety of writing activities that will teach students about this important holiday.

Included with this resource, you’ll get

an informational sheet about the holiday
acrostic poems with self-rating systems
Home of the Free Because of the Brave printable
Informational writing planning page
Informational writing page
Thank you, Hero Letter
Thank You Letter
Posters for students to fill out
Poster about informative writing
Transitional words and phrases list
Word wall words
Rubric

Since they are writing activities, they can be adapted to be Memorial Day virtual activities if needed, just explain the assignment to students and have them use their paper at home!

Looking for more information for teaching Memorial Day? Check out my post here.

How do you teach about Memorial Day?

5 Mother’s Day Craft Ideas for Kids

April 15, 2022 teachersbrain Craft Ideas, Teacher's Pay Teachers, Teaching Tips

Mother’s Day is just weeks away and this is the time of year where people everywhere are searching for the perfect homemade Mother’s Day gifts. We all know that nothing says I love you like sweet DIY Mother’s Day gifts from her children.

If you are looking for Mother’s Day DIY ideas or some Mother’s Day crafts that your students can easily create with their own two hands, you are in the right spot! When I was in the classroom, I always tried to make sure that students had homemade gifts for mom that they could proudly take home and give to her.

Here are my favorite Mother’s Day craft and Mother’s Day gift ideas for students

Mother’s Day Lap Book

With this craft, students will color and decorate a special gift for their mom. They can write a letter to mom, draw a picture of the two of them, give them tea, share what they love about her, create Mother’s Day coupons, and more. This gift is sure to be a hit with all moms!

You can have a Mother’s Day Tea Party and invite all of the moms and caregivers to the classroom for tea and treats. Students will love the opportunity to spend some special time with their moms and the parents are sure to love it too!

Mother’s Day Coupon Book Craft

Another one of my favorite Mother’s Day craft ideas is this coupon book. It’s perfect if you are looking for something simple, quick, and sure to put a smile on any mom’s face. This Mother’s Day Coupon Book is cute and quick! It looks like a matchbook and makes an adorable keepsake!

Mother’s Day Flower Card Writing Activity

Show moms how loved and appreciated they are with this adorable flower craft! These Mother’s Day printables will allow you to create 3D flowers as a card, craft, or wall display to accompany opinion writing! They make great art centers, small group activities, and bulletin boards!

Mother’s Day Foldable Card

This sweet craft is a great way for students to express themselves with some Mother’s Day art! They can create a portrait of their mom and decorate it using other art supplies. As a bonus, this card comes with a Father’s Day card as well!

Digital Mother’s Day Card

Looking for digital Mother’s Day craft ideas or cards? Look no further! This resource is completely digital. Students can create a card for their moms in an easy, mess free way! These Google Slides can be used in person or while distance learning. You can easily add images of mom in!

I hope you loved these homemade gifts for mom. Students will be so excited to present their moms with something they made on their own.

Which activity is your favorite? Let me know in the comments! If you are looking for more Mother’s Day activities, check out my post here!

4 Reasons Crafts Are Important In Kindergarten

August 27, 2021 teachersbrain Craft Ideas, kindergarten survival, Teaching Tips

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.

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.

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.

First Day Of Kindergarten Activities Your Students Will Love

May 21, 2021 teachersbrain Back to School, kindergarten survival, Teaching Tips

It’s time to start thinking about the new school year! If you are a kindergarten teacher, it can be especially exciting because you are preparing for a year with brand new students who have never been to school before!

You are probably exhilarated, and your kids are excited too and maybe a little scared but that’s okay! You are more than prepared for a fun learning experience with lesson plans and activities that will keep your little ones busy every step of the day, right?

If you aren’t quite prepared yet, that’s okay! I’m here to help. Being well prepared for the first day of kindergarten (there will likely be tears!), will save you so much time in the long run. Your transition times will be kept to a minimum and it will save your sanity!

Here are some tips for having a stellar first day of kindergarten with your students:

Make it fun! As mentioned above, a lot of kindergarten students have never experienced school before so, understandably, they will probably be pretty nervous about this new experience. Once they start having fun in the classroom, they will realize how great learning can be! Playing some get-to-know-you games is a great first day of school activity.
Read some fun books. Find a great story to read together and do a simple craft to go along with the story. You can encourage your students to share what the story was about with their caregivers at home.
Discuss rules. This one isn’t as fun but it is necessary to make sure expectations are set from the very first day. Make sure to cover classroom rules, recess rules, and lunchroom rules so they know what to expect all day long.
Review going home procedures. This is a very important piece of information to cover. Going over what each student will do at the end of the day will alleviate some of the stress that usually comes along with that part of the first day.

To help your first day go off without a hitch, I created my First Day Of School Kindergarten Activities Resource. It includes a full lesson plan!

Included you’ll get:

33 first day of school printables (includes detailed lesson plans, links, planning checklists, Welcome to Kindergarten coloring sheet, directions for a fun name game, name crafts, photo frames, A Kissing Hand Home Connection activity, name tags, certificates, and more!)
Editable PowerPoint to easily add students names to certificates, crafts and edit your lesson plans
Classroom rules posters
Gingerbread Man hunt to find all the important locations at school
How I Get Home hats

Everything you need for a fun and successful first day!

What are your favorite activities for the first day of school? Let me know in the comments!

Want some more kindergarten teaching tips? Check out these kindergarten homework ideas!