Winter Math Centers

I am going to be honest...I had hoped to have this post up back in December...I had a bunch of winter/holiday center ideas using goodies I purchased at Target, as well as freebies I found on blogs and TpT that I wanted to share with you to help make planning easier...BUT some little things like motherhood, teaching, being a wife/running a home and life in general got in the way!

So I pulled out the things that were winter and could continue to be used to share with you!

Let's hope I can be better prepared next year!

Let's start with these snowman plates I found at Target!  They were in the holiday party goods section.  THEY might even be on clearance now!

I found the white pom poms in the Dollar Spot.  If you can't find white pom poms, cotton balls would work just as well!

The double dice are from Lakeshore and can be found HERE.  I have the Jumbo Double Dice (12 to a package) although they also sell regular size double dice where there are 70 to a package!

The tweezers are also from Lakeshore.  I have used them A LOT this year...we've needed a lot of fine motor work.  They work great for picking up Target Dollar Spot erasers too!

Take a look at this video if you need a 'visual':

Here's another way we used the plates as I reference in the video:

And if you don't already own this tape you want it...NOW!

We used it for interactive writing to cover up 'mistakes' but I have found it's great for making center activities when I don't want a permanent mark!

(I used them on these puzzles too!)

And if you were lucky enough to find these erasers (and I even read some teachers found them in Target Christmas clearance for 30 cents a bag!!!!!) you can use them instead of the pom poms/cotton balls.

Speaking of clearance....I am SURE these Santa plates are on clearance now!

I purchased present gift tags and simply removed the string part.  We also used these candy cane erasers with the Santa plates.

The dice were great but I also wanted my kids to work on numbers to 10, so I created this spinner that we used with the plates too.  You can find the spinner in the download pack at the end of this post for FREE!

The other goodie I found in the Dollar Spot were these 2-sided wooden trees.  Of course we called them Christmas trees, but you could also call them 'winter' or evergreen trees!

And for my readers that need a visual...

And a few other things that popped into my head on how you could use them:

Next up is these number ordering cards.  My kids L-O-V-E these because they get to use the fun links!  We have been practicing these since Fall.   I know this picture shows the Christmas stockings, but the winter center pack download (free at the bottom of this post) will have the snowflakes to order.  We'll be using them starting next week!

I don't have a 'counting by 10's' set but they would be easy to make..go to Google images (if you don't already own snowflake images) and find a snowflake image, insert a text box and print them on cardstock.  Cut & hole punch just like above.

Back to the famous Target Dollar Spot erasers...

This is one of my students' FAVORITE early finisher basket activity and I also put it out for morning stations/tubs.  The directions on how to play are included in the FREE download pack.  If you don't have the erasers- no big deal!  You can use chips, cubes, flat glass 'marbles' (you can find them in the florist section of craft stores), pom poms/cotton balls, buttons, etc!

I just added this to my TpT Store for practicing numbers 10-20:

It is a follow-up to the New Year Theme for Numbers 0-10 that I posted for FREE!

Think these are some things you'd like to try out this winter?!

This FREE download includes:

*snowflake number ordering cards (0-10)

*Roll & Remove instructions & game boards for 1-6 and 2-12

*Snowman spinner for 1-10

*Snowman button cards for 1-10

We also used this freebie from Life Over C's:

I printed the Christmas and Winter sets she offers back to back.  We used the Christmas version and will now be moving onto the winter side.  We used the glass gems to help find and count all the items and I put the recording sheets into clear sleeves so we could use dry eraser markers:

I have been pinning a lot of cute center and project ideas on my Winter Pinterest board:

I'd love to have you follow the board so you can grab some of the ideas, as well!

Well tomorrow is 'back to school'!

I hope everyone had a wonderful break and enjoyed down time with those you love!

Until next post,

Puzzles Are For More Than Just Play!

I am super excited to share this find with you...

I was recently at Target and they had these SUPER adorable gingerbread house puzzles.

I stared at them for a long time trying to decide HOW I could use them...

I bought 4 knowing that if I didn't get them an idea would come to me as soon as I got home!

As I drove home I started thinking of how to use them!

Here is what I came up with...

I used super adorable gingerbread house clip art I had mixed with spinner clip art I bought to make a gingerbread house spinner.  It has 5 sections because there are 5 pieces to the puzzle:

I thought of ways I could use it...

*sight word ID

*number ID

*counting

*capital/lowercase matching

and how it could be modified for enrichment:

*CVC words

*addition/subtraction

BUT...if I wrote on the pieces they could only be used for 1 specific skill....

So I grabbed my removable tape that I use during interactive writing and gave it a test run!

It stuck real well and then when it was time, it peeled right off!

I laminated my spinners and used a dry erase marker.

The marker stuck well enough to the laminate for 'use' and then came off with a little elbow grease so that the spinners could be re-purposed for a different skill!

I know I am a 'visual learner' so I made a video showing how to use the puzzles and/or different ways to use them for different skills:

I plan on using these for our morning tubs/stations and/or as early finisher basket activities the next few weeks!

Add a whiteboard and the kids can record what they worked with-

*Write the capital/lowercase letter matches

*write a number and show that many dots

*write a sight word and/or use it in a sentence

*write a CVC word and draw a picture to match

*write the number sentence and answer

ETC.!

You could even provide them with a paper of a gingerbread shape/outline to do their recordings if you wanted to check for accountability!

SO what happens when the holidays are OVER?!

NO WORRIES...

I found these 'generic' puzzles in the dollar spot too:

These have 8 pieces so require a different spinner- but can be used in the same way as described above!

You can grab the spinners for the gingerbread houses AND some blank '8 space' spinners for the generic puzzles for FREE here:

Be sure to stop by again tomorrow (Sunday 11/27) for...

Dollar Deals

AND...

the chance to win a $10 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Card!

Happy Target Dollar Spot Puzzle Shopping!

Until next post,

Dollar Day Sunday!

Sadly it is the LAST day for...

The rafflecopters for the 4 $50 Gift Certificates are in FULL SWING!  Have you entered yet?!!
Make sure you do because they end at 11:59pm EST tonight!
Winners will be announced Monday morning- and gift certificates will be sent- just in time for TpT's Site Wide Sale that runs Monday and Tuesday August 4th & 5th!

Wouldn't it be nice to have...

You can find the entry rafflecopters here or at the bottom of this post!

And today's daily deal is

Simply type dollarsunday into the TPT Search engine (or click the hyperlink to take you there directly) and you will find a HUGE listing of $1 items! 

Each participant is slashing the price of 3 (YES!! THREE!!) of their items to just $1 all day long!

There is sure to be something for EVERYONE!!!

So what 3 'steals' and 'deals' will you find from me...

The first one up is...

My BRAND NEW set of 10 Community Helper Interactive Puppets!

 Aren't they cute?!

and they are super easy to make and modify and differentiate for all types of learners and grade levels!

The set is normally priced at $3- but for today only you get it for $1 or 10 cents a puppet!

Next one up is:

 

My Back to School Lapbook Set!

Here are some pictures of my sample book: 

it normally sells for $3- but only $1 for Sunday only!

PreK-2nd templates included, although probably best as an independent activity for 1st and 2nd!

Last on the list of $1 deals from me is:

My newest 'Color by CVC Word' addition to my store- Back to School version!

This is a 'phonics approach' to 'color-by-number!'

Students use the picture key to determine what color each section needs to be made.  They read the CVC word and match it to the picture key on the bottom of the page.  It's a fun way to practice decoding CVC words!

Here are 3 of the 6 pages from the pack:

They make great morning work/do now activities!  They can also be center extension activities, homework, placed in an early finishers basket and used in small group instruction!

This set is normally $2, but will be just $1 all day on Sunday!

Be sure to check out my other 'Color By CVC Word' sets in my TPT store!

Ready to snag all the great $1 steals & deals??

Head here now!

If you are planning on reading The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn this 'back to school'...

I have this adorable little craftivity in my store for $1 too!!!  

It's not a 'special 1 day deal'- come by anytime to pick it up!

Don't Forget....

to enter to win an iPad Mini be sure to visit this post!  

In addition you will find a freebie for Back to School using QR Codes in your kindergarten/first grade classroom that will only be free for the remainder of  the weekend!

The big site-wide 'back to school' sale on TPT is scheduled for Monday 8/4 & Tues 8/5

All of my products will be 20% off from Sunday-Wednesday!

Use the code BTS14 on 8/4 & 8/5 and get an additional 10% off!

Wouldn't you love to have $50 to spend those days??

Well...

Here is your LAST chance to enter the rafflecopters for the 4 $50 TpT Gift Certificates!

Entry window closes at 11:59pm EST 8/3.  Winners will be announced, and emailed their gift certificates, on Monday August 4th.  Good luck to everyone!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And don't forget to visit all the participating stores:

An InLinkz Link-up

Enjoy your last day of our promotion and all the $1 deals!!!

Until next post,

Free & 50 Friday!

ALOHA August!
We are ready for another day of...

The rafflecopters for the 4 $50 Gift Certificates are in FULL SWING!  Have you entered yet?!!

You can find the entry rafflecopters here or at the bottom of this post!

And today's daily deal is

Simply type freefiftyfri into the TPT Search engine (or click the hyperlink to take you there directly) and you will find all the FREE samples and 50% off products they are from!

Each participant has taken a piece or 2 of their product out as a FREE sample and then put the original full product on sale for 50% off for the entire day!

So what will you find from me...

Here is my FREE sampler:

In it you will find these 3 pages:

that are from my 46 page Back To School Morning Work (And More) resource:

To find out the specifics of what is included in this pack, click the picture of the cover!

This product was in the Teachers Pay Teachers newsletter last August and has been wishlisted by over 250 people!  Are you one of them?!

If so, now is the time to get it!

It is normally $8- but for today only it will be $4!!!

It is perfect for the beginning of the school year because it requires no prep on your part- simply print, copy & distribute!

You can use the pages for:

*morning work

*homework

*center extension activities

*extra review/practice later on in the year for struggling students

*informal assessment of abilities/skills, as well as fine motor skills and/or issues

and so much more!

And while you are searching freefiftyfri check out this cute freebie:

in it you get 4 pages so that you can choose what best fits your classroom:

It is from Brenda Tejeda's Year Long Scrapbook:

which has 77 pages of goodies to last you all year long!

She recently added this 'Find A Friend' activity to it: 

It is super adorable for kids to use the first week of school!  

This would make a great 'getting to know you' activity as well as give you insight into which children may (or may not!) work best paired for group work!!

The pack is normally $7, so for this Friday only, you can get it for just $3.50!

Ready to snag all the freebies and deals?

Head here now!

Be sure to check back tomorrow for:

where each participant will be offering one of their bundles, or higher priced items, at 50% off all day!

You are going to want to snag these then because that is even cheaper than you would find it during TpT's Back to School sale schedule for August 4th & 5th!

In the meantime, enter these rafflecopters:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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a Rafflecopter giveaway


And don't forget to visit all the participating stores:

An InLinkz Link-up

Enjoy the freebie samplers and 50% off products!

See you again tomorrow as we continue to say ALOHA to AUGUST!!!

Until next post,