Fun ways to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Seuss and promote reading

March 2 is the birthday of the late, great children’s author, Dr. Seuss. In honor of this favorite icon in literature, we’ve come up with a few fun ways to celebrate his birthday and promote reading and creativity in kids.

Schools, libraries and other organizations all across America are hosting Read Across America Day and many are celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday with week long events. The National Education Association offers excellent information on Read Across America events happening in local areas throughout the nation.

How you can celebrate Seuss with kids

1. Whether you are a teacher searching for new methods to reach your students and turn them on the joys of reading or a parent looking for fun ways to bond with your children, these activities to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Seuss with children of all ages are sure to do the trick.

2. AtoZteacherstuff also offers a comprehensive list of Dr. Seuss themed activities, lesson plans, games and printable craft ideas that we love.

3. You simply can’t forget to visit Seussville. This fun site is loaded with online and printable games and activities for children of all ages. Children can do everything from attempting to catch a Thing, to playing a Fox in Socks matching game, all the way to creating their own stories with the Seussville Storymaker section using Dr. Seuss characters and scenery.

Keep the Seuss attitude

However you choose to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Seuss with your children, remember what his writing was all about – creativity and fun. The stories of Dr. Seuss represent those traits to millions of fans, both young and old. Today is a great day for adults to recapture a small portion of that and share it with the children they love.

Have a fun and creative time together!

1. Crafty fall projects: Check out this article by Linda Ann Nickerson. It’s packed with creative and functional fall crafts projects you can make with kids with fun ideas like corn husk dolls,harvest treasure box, leaf etchings, pine cone wreath, and autumn wrapping paper.

2. Practical fall activities with life applications  for kids: Fall is an ideal time to teach kids more about nature and the environment, and to incorporate natural elements associated with the season into your lessons. Andrea Coventry offers some great tips in Montesorri practical life activities for fall.

3. Make tasty harvest foods with kids: Who can forget about the yummy foods harvesttime foods, like apples and pumpkins? Certainly not kids (or Creative Kids Ideas!). Preparing and cooking food with children is an excellent way to give them hands-on lessons about nutrition, measurements and math, kitchen safety, and more. It’s also a great opportunity to have fun getting messy in the kitchen together! Below are a couple suggestions for healthy and tasty recipes kids can help make:

• Here are tips for making three easy apple recipes for kids brought to us by Kay Whittenhauer.

• Try Debbie Henthorn’s recipe for making homemade pumpkin puree.

4. Fall leaves activities for small kids: Toddlers and young children learn best when they’re allowed to use their senses freely to discover. Autumn is the perfect time to take them outdoors and let them experience nature and learn about the seasons by using their senses. Read Fall Toddler Activities with Autumn Leaves to find a variety of creative ways to help them learn.

5. Paper bag scarecrow craft and party treat bag: If you and your family are planning a harvest celebration or Halloween party this year, this adorable paper bag scarecrow is one craft project you won’t want to miss. Not only is it fun to make, the scarecrow craft also serves a purpose by doubling as a treat bag for party guests at your harvest or Halloween celebration. Kids will enjoy making this project and, even more, they’ll love seeing their artwork displayed and shared with others at the party.

6. Pumpkin art projects for kids: Pumpkins are plentiful this time of year. Ever wonder what you can do with them all? Tania Cowling gives some excellent kids’ project ideas for using them in Pumpkin Art Projects for Kids of All Ages. She also includes great pumpkin themed activities and crafts that don’t involve real pumpkins, like making pumpkin mosaic, milk jug pumpkins, and coffee filter pumpkins.

7. Party games with a fall or harvest theme: Planning a harvest party or fall festival this season? Events like this are a great way to gather with your community, friends, and family to celebrate the autumn season. The kids’ party games you choose are an important element for a successful harvest party or fall festival. Once Upon a Time offers a great list of fun and easy to organize game ideas for a fall festival or harvest party.

How ever you choose to celebrate, take time to enjoy the autumn season and many natural lessons and inspirations it provides with your kids. Happy Autumn!

Games are great way to teach kids (Photo credit: sxc.hu/juliaf)

I’m a firm believer that learning should be fun, especially when the learners are kids. The use of games, activities, and other hands-on methods get children and teens involved in the learning process instead of just being observers. Not only do I use these types of methods with my own kids, ages 5 (she’ll be 6 next week!) and 10, I’ve also used them repeatedly with kids as a youth worker, tutor, mentor, and teacher.

Imagination and flexibility are key to using visuals, games, and activities to teach children and teens. There aren’t any two kids out there who are exactly the same or learn in exactly the same way. No two children will gain exactly the same lessons from a learning activity.  Games will work the same with different groups of kids. So, that means, adults have to also be in tune with their creative side, stay on their toes, and be ready to change with the needs of the child or group of kids.

To get you started, here is a short list of some of my favorite games that teach kids:

• Interactive Games to Teach Kids Social Skills – Development of social skills is important to the growth of children. Social skills help them make friends, communicate and relate with other kids and adults, make decisions, solve problems, and learn to act appropriately. One way parents, teachers and youth workers can help kids learn and develop social skills is by using interactive games. Kids learn best when allowed to apply and practice what they’re taught in a playful, non-threatening environment. Incorporating games into lessons is an excellent way to do that. Try these interactive games for kids.

• Communication-Building Activity for Parents and Children – Developing good communication skills at an early age helps kids build healthyrelationships with other children and adults, and feel more confident in themselves. Unfortunately, communication between parents and children is often strained, unclear and, sadly, sometimes almost nonexistent. If you find your relationship with your child falling into this trap, try this quick communication building activity for parents and kids to help you redirect your attention on each other.

• Five Fun Icebreaker Games for Tweens and Teens – Icebreakers are games and activities that encourage people of all ages to get acquainted, relax, and become part of the group. I’ve worked as a youth leader for over 15 years and use icebreakers to ease new members into the group, encourage preteens and teens to get to know each other better, and get them loose and excited about the upcoming event. Icebreaker games work well for youth group meetings, kids’ parties, and informal classroom settings. Here are five of my favorite icebreaker games for tweens and teens.

• Team Building Games for Preteens and Teenagers - We live in a society that stresses an “it’s all about me” mentality. Kids are exposed to that, too, so it’s no wonder they often struggle to work together. This is evident whenever a group of kids are gathered in a classroom, party or other youth event. I often use games and icebreakers to help the teenagers and tweens in my youth programs develop their social skills and communicate better. Try these team building games for groups.

Activities and crafts to help you celebrate St. Patrick's Day with your kids

Parents and teachers can find a wide variety of St. Patrick’s Day activities, craft ideas and printables for children online. Here are some of my favorite websites and links to articles with fun ideas and St. Patrick’s Day activities for kids and families to enjoy.

St. Patrick’s Day printables and coloring pages:

• Parents and teachers will find word search puzzles, printable shamrocks, leprechaun puppets, St. Patrick’s Day games, coloring pages and more at Abcteach.com.

• Visit Kaboose.com for a huge selection of fun St. Patrick’s Day crafts, activities, clip art, games, recipes and party ideas for kids of all ages.

• Discover coloring pages, St. Patrick’s Day crafts, games, worksheets and recipes galore at DLTK’s page for St. Patrick’s Day crafts for kids.

• For more great ideas and websites, read Kid’s Crafts: Free Printable Leprechaun Coloring Pages for Saint Patrick’s Day written by Laurie Meekis.

Other St. Patrick’s Day activities for kids and families:

• Add a little history, adventure and Irish folklore to your St. Patrick’s Day celebration with your children this year by setting a leprechaun trap. This is a great activity for home or school. Read this article for full details on how to set a trap with the children.

• Take this fun and educational quiz on St. Patrick’s Day and Irish trivia to test your knowledge of the holiday and heritage surrounding it: Test Your St. Patrick’s Day Knowledge.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you and your family from Creative Kids Ideas!

Chillin' in the snow

Determined to take full advantage of their snow day off from school, they bundled up and headed outside to play. I sat in my office working for awhile, enjoying the sounds of their laughter and sweet giggles. Soon, I realized I didn’t want to work and listen to them have fun. I wanted to enjoy it with them. As I stood outside and watched my girls build a fort in the mounds of snow and snack on a cold treat of icicles, I was reminded again of how much I learn from them. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the busyness that we forget to simply enjoy the little things life has to offer, or to even notice them for what they are. Yes, snowstorms and snow days may inconvenience us. They may even cause us to miss work and lose money. They also force us to slow down, something most of us parents need to be reminded to do once in awhile.

Looking for new ideas on how to enjoy the snow with your kids this winter? Eight Ideas for Fun in the Snow offers fun games and activities to play in the snow and will help you take advantage of the winter weather and have fun with your kids.

Kids love animals, so why not use them teach? Cute, gross and unique animals all seem to grab children’s attention, so it’s time to use those critters to our advantage! After all, the whole idea is to get kids excited about learning, right?

Most kids are all ears (and tails!) when animals are involved, so here are some of our favorite pet theme lesson plans, crafts, games and activities:

Pet Lesson Using Franklin the Turtle
Whether they have a pet of their own or not, most kids are fascinated by animals. This preschool lesson plan uses Franklin’s search for a pet in Franklin Wants a Pet to teach children about different types of animals. It also focuses on some of the different environments in which pets live. Preschoolers will practice animal recognition and matching skills with this lesson.

Connect the Alphabet Puppy Dots
Print out this fun, connect-the-dots picture for kids to practice arranging the letters of the alphabet in order. This PDF, along with many other cute animal theme ideas, can be found at KinderPlans.com.

Lesson Plan About Caring for Pets
Help kids learn about caring for their pets with this fun lesson based on Mercer Mayer’s book, Just Me and My Puppy. The lesson also includes a short song and game to get children actively involved.

3-D Pet Craft
This project teaches kids how to make their own 3-D pets, like the featured at the top of this article. The 3-D pet craft is made from a recycled toilet paper roll and scrap materials. This crafts project is great for home or school.

Pet Games and Activities
Check out these games, printable coloring pages and activities for teaching kids through the use of animals, at ChildFun.com.

You can also find a list of excellent pet themed books, activities, games, and learning resources in the Pre-K Pets Theme Unit at Prekinders.com.

Do you have any fun pet themed lessons, activities or crafts? Feel free to share your ideas with Creative Kids Ideas in the comments section.

Telling time is a concept children often struggle with learning. It’s an important yet challenging skill for kids to master because it involves a variety of skills and concepts. Learning to tell time involves number recognition, counting by ones and fives, using fractions (half past, quarter after, etc.), and understanding the big and little hands and their functions on the clock. All of these concepts alone may be intimidating enough to a young child. Throw them all in together and it’s brain overload!

Here’s a list of great telling time resources that offer fun, creative ways to help children better grasp the time concepts.

• Education World - Education World offers excellent hands-on lessons and printable worksheets and games (including a fun BINGO game) to help kids practice telling time. Check out It’s About Time: Teaching Students to Tell Time.

• Time-for-Time – Time-for-time has a printable clock face complete with attachable big and little hands to offer kids a hands-on learning experience. Also available at this site, are these fun, interactive telling time games.

• About.com: Mathematics – About.com offers a comprehensive list of PDF worksheets to download and use to help children practice telling time (on the hour, half hour, quarter hour, and random times).

• Apples4theteacher.com – Apples4theteacher.com provides two online interactive time telling games for kids to play (located at the bottom of the page).

These are only a few of the online resources available to teachers, parents and children for teaching and learning to tell time. Remember, the key is to help the child learn while having fun. Learning to tell time doesn’t have to boring or stressful.

Time flies (and is learned) when you’re having fun!

One important lesson I’ve learned is that children learn best by exploring the environment with their five senses. They need in hands-on activities that allow them to be a part of the activity or lesson to capture their attention and retain the information. By helping kids see, touch, taste, hear and smell the world around them, parents and teachers allow them to become more aware and in tune with their environment.

An excellent and safe way to teach kids about senses is through the use of interactive experiments and games. These fun ideas work great for a home school assignment, a scout badge, a school lesson, or a rainy day project. All that’s required for creating your own sensory games, experiments, and activities is your imagination and items commonly found around the house. For some suggestions, check out this article on how to teach a child about senses.

Read Eyewitnessed by Family Fun to learn about a few fun optical illusion activities to use to show teach children how and why our eyes play tricks on us.