printables Archives - Teacher's Brain

3 Delightful Gingerbread Man Activities This Holiday Season

November 24, 2023 teachersbrain Teaching Tips, Winter

It’s officially time to get excited for the holidays! As the festive season approaches, there’s an undeniable air of excitement and joy in our classrooms. The fun holiday crafts lining the halls and the anticipation of holiday fun make this time of year truly magical for our little learners.

What are some popular Christmas activities?

There are many ways that you can bring holiday cheer to your classroom, but I wanted to share a unique spin- gingerbread-themed activities!

In the spirit of spreading holiday cheer, I’m thrilled to share some gingerbread-themed activities that will make your classroom feel like a winter wonderland. If you’re looking for Christmas activities for students or Gingerbread Man activities, you’re in the right place!

Here are my top 3 Gingerbread Man activities for kindergarten or early elementary students!

Gingerbread Man Craft and Writing Activities

Let your students turn into the gingerbread man (or girl) this holiday season! This is a fun headband or writing topper that comes with bonus writing prompts. Students will color, cut, and glue the parts together to turn themselves into a gingerbread cookie!

Build a Gingerbread House or Man Writing Activity

gingerbread man activities writing activities

Are you looking for a great way to do an engaging virtual OR in-person Holiday writing lesson with students with a gingerbread theme? I have you covered with these interactive, editable Google Slides to easily have students copy and paste movable parts to design their own gingerbread house or person. Then, they will write a narrative, persuasive, or opinion paper about the decorated gingerbread. You can even have a virtual contest!

Gingerbread Man Craft Bulletin Board Set

Are you looking for a great way to get students to sequence events with a gingerbread man theme or maybe an interactive decorative classroom bulletin board for your classroom? This download includes different pull waffle books to use with the story, a pocket to hold the characters for students to reenact the story, and BLANK waffle books to create your own story! Just add a bow and a folded lunch bag to create a keepsake for students to give to others or use on the bulletin board.

I hope these printable Gingerbread Man activities and digital activities bring a smile to your students’ faces this year.

If you want more Christmas activities for the classroom, check out my post here!

Star Wars Day School Activities Students Will Love

April 8, 2022 teachersbrain Distance Learning, education, Teacher's Pay Teachers, Teaching Tips

May 4th will now forever be known as Star Wars Day! This is a day where we all happily showcase our love for the beloved franchise by greeting everyone around us with a happy “May the 4th Be With You” and participating in some fun and stellar Star Wars activities!

This day is particularly fun with kids. If you are an elementary teacher looking for ways to celebrate, you’re in the right place! You may be wondering- how do people celebrate May 4th? Or what can kids do on Star Wars Day?

Don’t worry, I have you covered! I knew students would love the galactic theme so of course, I came up with some super fun, low-prep activities that you can use to get your students engaged in Star Wars-themed activities.

Check out these Star Wars Day school activities!

My May the 4th Be With You Star Wars Themed Day Plan is full of Star Wars Day printables that will get students engaged in their lessons all day long.

This resource includes a full day of fun with training, activities for finding planets, instructions for cool intergalactic treats, and activities to learn force and motion. These activities are perfect for pre-k, kindergarten, first, or second grade students.

Here’s what’s included

Donations Please Page for Parents, Create a Space Creature activity, Give you space creature a personality activity, Sweet Fighter Treats instructions (EASY to Make), Venn diagram of Earth vs any other planet you choose, Venn diagram of Earth vs a star, Venn Diagram answer key, I SPY Planets activity, ODA SODA (ingredients and directions to make punch, galactic water labels for water bottles, fight training code of conduct poster, training laser directions, Training Academy certificate, Push, Pull, Force, and Motion Posters.

Check it out here!

Another one of my favorite May the 4th activities is this Star Wars Day digital escape room!

This space escape activity will help students to review planets, and practice problem-solving. Digital Escapes™ is a fun way to get students to learn without even realizing it. No printing and no prep needed for this digital escape! Students will love these Star Wars-inspired challenges!

To play, students will click an audio button for directions and watch a short video with a problem to solve to help with their first clue. During the escape, students will be tasked with solving 4 lock clues to escape the room.

There is a pdf included in this download with directions, the link to the site, an answer key, and an optional note-taking worksheet for students. This activity takes about 30 to 40 minutes to complete but students will remember it for years!

Check out the video preview!

Check it out here!

I hope these Star Wars Day ideas inspired you to have an out-of-this-world celebration with your elementary students! What’s your favorite May the 4th activity? Let me know in the comments!

For more themed day fun, check out my post here!

Teaching Social Skills To Kids

October 16, 2020 teachersbrain Teaching Tips

Reading, writing, and arithmetic- that’s all you have to teach, right? Once you’ve wiped the tears from your face from laughing so hard, take a moment to think about the non-academic skills that you teach in your classroom. Students learn study skills, organization, public speaking, and many other important tasks. These skills are necessary and worth our time as teachers. Perhaps most importantly, students learn in our classrooms how to engage in appropriate social interactions.

Social skills help students succeed in the classroom, but also impact their success as adults entering the “real world”. Appropriate social behaviors help your classroom run smoothly and help students learn how to interact positively with their communities. Although you teach lots of social skills implicitly while running a classroom, students often need explicit instruction in managing their emotions and behaviors.

Why teach social skills?

It helps students manage their emotions
You can give your students support on how to handle certain emotions
It teaches self-regulation
Improves behavior
It creates better problem solvers
Can easily be incorporated into your lessons

Not to worry- I have developed some tools that will make social skills instruction painless!

First, the Daily Behavior Chart Resource is perfect for addressing specific ways students can control their behaviors throughout the day.

Teachers can target the behaviors that students need to develop social skills successfully. It includes editable charts to track students’ behaviors, which are great for parent feedback and data collection. There are several styles of charts to help you best meet your students’ needs.

Students will also love the included contracts for earning rewards. By recording and looking back on their choices, students will learn that they can control how their day develops.

Next, the Calm Down Corner Printables are perfect for helping students learn to control their emotions and reactions.

Learning about feelings and how to express them is key to developing strong social skills. The printables in this set will help you create a calm classroom space while assisting students in working through their feelings.

This resource includes visual cue cards, charts to track students behaviors, printables to help students identify triggers, and even posters for your Calm Down Corner.

Grab these resources today and watch your students develop amazing social skills!

If you are needing some tips for teaching while social distancing, check out my post here!