Mrs. Davis' Favorite Things: Part 2

There are few things in life that make me want to put on a bad 80's sweat suit, rock a side pony, and dance my heart out but GoNoodle is one of those few things. I am over the moon, in love with all things GoNoodle (Shhh! Don't tell my hubby). GoNoodle makes my teacher heart happy. It literally has everything you could possibly need as a teacher. Are your kids hyper and need a cool down? Try Maximo! Is it raining cats and dogs outside? Try their indoor recess mega mix! Are you feeling silly and need to get the wiggles out? Turn on Pop Se Ko and move and groove with KooKoo Kangaroo.

Recently my school had a GoNoodle night. We wanted a night where parents could come with their kiddos and dance, and laugh and just enjoy having fun and being silly and goofy. I set up a photo booth with GoNoodle props and we had a tattoo station where we had tiny GoNoodle character tattoos for them to wear. It was a smashing success! I loved having kids begging me to play "Kitty High Five" just one more time!

Even our mascot "Henry the Honeybee" got in on the action!

And of course us teachers couldn't resist the urge to hop in the photo booth for a little photo session!

So if you are looking for a fun, free, and educational way to get your students or even your family moving and grooving, then head on over to their site and check it out! It will quickly become your newest obsession like it is mine:)

Earth Day blog hop with the Kinderfriends!

Hi guys! Thank you so much for hopping along with the #Kinderfriends! I'm Brittany from "A Kindergarten Love Story" and today I want to share with you two fun ideas (and a freebie) to incorporate into your classroom for Earth Day.

My first fun activity for you guys is a super cool, super easy Earth craft. For this all you would need is:
                 *Shaving cream
                 *Food coloring (blue and green)
                 * Large white paper plate (one for each kiddo)
                 * A squeegee of some sort ( I have used a popsicle stick, ruler or           anything to scrape the excess shaving cream off the plate)

To start off, I just cover a tray in shaving cream and drop some blue and green food coloring in it and mix it all together.

This is what it should look like

After you have mixed all of it together, have the students place their plate in the shaving cream and gently press down and then gently peel it off.

After you take it off the shaving cream, squeegee off all the excess shaving cream and viola! Here is your finished product:

And now the moment you've all been waiting for… The freebie! 

I wanted to give you guys a fun activity that's easy and that your kiddos will love! I made a set of earth day cards with a earth day word hidden inside the picture. Using magnifying glasses, students can search and find the hidden word on the card and record it on their paper. 

Because Earth Day is all about teaching students to be conscious about helping out the environment, I had my kiddos record the vocabulary words that they found, on recycled newspapers with smelly markers. They loved it!

I hope you enjoy this freebie! If you would like a copy of it, you can grab it here 

Thank you so much for stopping by! Now hop on over to Paula for more amazing Earth Day ideas ideas!

Mrs. Davis' Favorite Things Part 1

As a teacher, there are few products that come around that literally make you stop dead in your tracks and say "wow!". SitSpots are one of those products. I met the amazing people over at SitSpot while at the PK1 conference this past January in Santa Clara. After talking to their reps and handling the product, I knew I had to get my hands on these and here's why:

1. Versatility 

What I love about this product is how versatile they truly are. First off, they will stick to most classroom carpeting and some area rugs. (you can request a sample SitSpot from their website to test it out before you buy a set). Because the spots don't have a sticky backing, you can move the spots around and change it up as much as you like without harming the spot themselves or your carpet. 

2. Classroom Management 

SitSpots are great for teaching students how to line up. You can space the SitSpots out to model your students how to give each other space in line. I also love being able to change my SitSpots into any shape I need. For small group time, I can make a circle with my SitSpots and my kiddos can immediately come and form a circle without it taking up 30 minutes trying and failing at making a somewhat decent looking circle. 

3. They are fun!

When I started looking at them and playing with them, my mind immediately started racing about how I could use these spots in my classroom beyond just a marker for children to sit or line up on. One idea I had was to make a game out of them. I decided to write sight words on different colored SitSpots and randomly put them around an area on the carpet. My kiddos sit in a big circle around those spots and using their hand or some sort of pointer stick, they would wait until I call out a sight word and the first person who finds that word on a spot "wins". They love it!! Talk about student engagement!! 

Now you can write on your SitSpots. They recommend you use an oil based paint marker (Sharpie makes a great one). Once you write on them, they are permanent and will not come off. I like the idea of being able to change what I have on spots, so I used painters tape to write a sight word and then stick it to the spots. They stick nicely and haven't come off. 

What I am trying to say is that I have fallen in love with SitSpots. They are so much fun and I cannot get enough of them. Even as I sit here typing this out, my mind is going about what else I can use them for: Use them for markers on a giant ten frame on the carpet, pattern making, etc. The possibilities are endless!! Thank you for making me a very happy kindergarten teacher!