FREE Resources for Printables, Worksheets, Themes, Art Projects, Games and MORE!

I came across this fun video for free project and worksheet resources!

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/14rm8TmcNfB/

www.ArtProjectsForKids.org

    Step-by-step drawing and project guides for TONS of themes.

www.MondayMandala.com

    Printables, coloring pages, calendars, and more!

https://suncatcherstudio.com/

    Generators, Templates, Printables, Worksheets, Online Games and SO MUCH MORE!

www.PJsAndPaint.com

    TONS of themes with printables, art projects, word searches, games, activity sheets, and MORE.

Learning About People Who Are Differently Abled - Helen Keller

 

Helen Keller is a great example of a woman who had many trials and difficulties in her life.  She was able to overcome those and find a different way to contribute to society with the help of family, friends, and teachers.    

I've always found that teaching kids about people who are differently-abled, helps them to better understand that everyone has challenges and makes them think about being kinder and more understanding to everyone around them.

Monster Surprise Art!

These fun projects would be great for the Halloween season, or anytime really.
 But, they aren't directly Halloween related, so if your school doesn't celebrate, these might still pass.  They've been all over pinterest lately.  Here are a few fun links.....

Send a pic to a Parent!

Mom or Dad worrying about Timmy's behavior or whether they're feeling sick today?  Send them a pic showing Timmy smiling, helping, playing, whatever.  Remember that parents are worried about their little guys whenever they are away from them.  If you send a pic it could brighten up their day!  You could just take a minute every few days to snap a pic and send it to a mom or dad to make their day.  😀📷

Disney Educator's Guides FREE

Disney has free educators guides that can be downloaded.  These guides are made for the classroom but can be easily adapted to make a great monthly theme. Using these also means that you can show the corresponding movies without copyright issues.  They have lots of great content, including power points, printable activities and games.
   The guides include Jungle Book, Moana, Bears, Chimpanzee, African Cats and more.

Pencil Monster DIY ~ Halloween or Whenever! VIDEO

My friend Maria makes some great craft DIYs.  She made this video the other day and I thought it would be a really fun project.  The littles will need some help with this, but this is when I like to put the bigger kids to work helping with certain steps or any pre-prep I might want to do.

And Yes! I let kids use glue guns.  After 15 years of glue gun use I have had a few kids with red fingers, but no major catastrophes.  Low temp of course.  Those cheapie ones at the dollar tree don't get too hot, but they work well.

Do You Know Who You Are?

Almost every time I am at a store or a mall I hear parents screaming for their kids, or kids screaming for their parents.  Kids wander off.  It happens.

Have you ever had the experience of trying to help one of those kids find their parent?  They are terrified and not often a lot of help.

We are always connected to phones or devices, and able to get a hold of anyone at a moments notice, but kids usually are not.  Especially younger kids.  We don't need to know phone numbers and for that reason we often don't think to teach them to kids.

Things Kids NEED To Know, If They Are Lost....

• Their name.  First & Last
• Their parent's name. First & Last
• Their parent's phone number.

Yes, they need to know these things!  And yes, they can memorize a phone number with repetitive help.  We all used to do it!  It's a skill we have lost, but it's important for kids.  It could also make them feel just a little bit better if they got lost. And would be a great help to anyone trying to get them back to their grown-ups.

How to teach it.......

• Make it into a song.
• Make a game of it.
• Set a group goal and when everyone has it there's a popcorn party or some other group prize.  Make a chart!
• Set an individual goal and have each child pick for a prize box or get to be first in line, etc.

What to do with those left over Easter Eggs? Make Maracas! - VIDEO

I found this fun video where she does a super easy project of making Maracas from leftover Easter Eggs.  Ask your families for their leftover eggs, and maybe some rice too.  I'd use spoons instead of forks.  You could also use masking tape on the egg and that way the kids can decorate it with markers or paint.

Moon Sand Recipe

Have you seen this moon sand?  It's so fun to play with, but very expensive if you buy it in the store.  "Happy Time" has an easy, and cheap, recipe to make it.

She has a lot of other fun videos with activities and recipes you can use.

Engaging Children in After School Programs ~ Professional Development VIDEO

While searching You Tube, I came across this great video that includes several ways to engage kids in your program.   I couldn't have said it better myself!

Halloween Parties - Can we still have them in After School Programs?

In this modern era of political correctness and being sensitive to everyone for everything(as we should), it's a fair question.  Some schools and districts still celebrate Halloween wholeheartedly, while others have no mention of the holiday, no jack-o'-lanterns on the wall, no witches hanging from strings, no classroom parties or costume parades.  These were some of my favorite memories as a child, so it is hard to see the lack of this in schools I work in.  It is typically a district or school decision.

In the past, I have discussed with my school principal the possibility of having a celebration even if they don't have it during the school day.  We came to an agreement that if parents supported it, and we waited until the day of the party to decorate, it would be fine. I spoke with all of my parents individually and assured that they were okay with the party, and then we were able to go ahead with it, with the blessing of our administration.

The vast majority of Americans still celebrate Halloween, and while some of the images can be quite offensive, it is possible to have less scary fun at school.  If you allow students to wear costumes, make it abundantly clear that there is no blood or weapons allowed. (Sorry, little Zombies!)

Your fun and activities can include Jack-o'-lanterns, spiders, bats, friendly ghosts, and witches.  Just leave out the scary images and menacing faces.

Here's a link to a fantastic Pinterest Board with lots of Classroom Halloween ideas.

My Best Tip - Connect with Kids

My friends and I goofing around.

As I was planning something new to add to the blog, I started thinking about my best advice. 
What could I share, from my 20 years of child care experience, that would really impact someone's after-school program?

My best advice is for you to CONNECT with your kids.  If you truly connect, truly show that you are there FOR THEM, you will have an easier and more enjoyable time.  Kids respond better to you; they are more open with you, discipline issues are fewer (They never go away), and the kids feel more comfortable.  Those things are a big deal for most kids.  They need to know that they can trust you and that you won't lie to or dismiss their feelings.

 

My friends making monsters. Sewing felt and
 YES, I let the kids use a glue gun and needles.

   
     Connecting isn't always easy.  If we try too hard, it's obvious.  For me, the best way has always been to just play.  Board games, card games, puzzles, dress up, Frisbee, or whatever.  Having fun with them.  Sometimes it's so hard to make the time to play.  We all know that there is just so much to do, and I sometimes realize I haven't played a game or done a craft with the kids in days or even weeks.  I have to remind myself that making those connections is a part of my job, and it helps my job go more smoothly.  And I have more fun as well, so it's a win-win for everyone.

You never know when your attention is exactly what that child needs, at that time.  And isn't that why we are here doing what we're doing?

Art For Kids Hub! - Daily Art Lessons

I started following this channel on You Tube a while ago, and I have been repeatedly impressed with the art lessons that are shared here.  Super fun to share with kids as a daily drawing lesson or as a reward once in a while. Also can provide you will some fun lesson ideas and activities to do based on themes and holidays.  They do lots of drawings, but they also do painting, finger painting, origami, clay and more.  Check it out!

Remember, if you are getting great content from a You Tube channel, watch the whole commercial and "Like" the video. That helps support their channel.

Activity Village -Free Website Resource

I'm fairly certain that I have posted about Activity Village in the past. They have some great stuff on their site.  Lot of international stuff as well.  They have just updated with lots of new FREE resources. 

From their email....

Activity Village News 9th September 2015 ​ Here's a special quickie newsletter just to let you know that we have... LOTS New!

It's not too late to enjoy some of our new Longest Reigning Monarch and Queen Elizabeth activities, to celebrate this special day.
Longest Reigning MonarchThe Queen

Queen Victoria

With Roald Dahl's birthday coming up we've added a few new fun worksheets and printables:
Roald Dahl Printables
Roald Dahl Worksheets

New Autumn (and Fall) worksheets just added - handwriting included:
Autumn Worksheets

And here are some lovely new Autumn (and Fall) posters too:
Autumn Posters

Elizabeth I, James I ( and VI of Scotland) and Charles I - what have they got in common? We've produced some new activities aimed at younger children, that's what! The kids can even learn to draw these Tudor and Stuart monarchs...
Elizabeth I

James I

Charles I

Lots more has been added to our Colour topic, including bright word cards, fun sorting cards, and a brand new collection of useful colouring pages:

Colour Printables

Colour Worksheets

Colour Mixing

Colour Collection Colouring Pages

Or explore the whole topic here: Colour

Our new Farmyard Stepping Stone Puzzles give kids some fun practice with early skills - the alphabet, vowels and consonants, odds and evens and skip counting 2 to 12.

Farmyard Stepping Stone Puzzles

While on the farm theme - we've added new
Farm Puzzles

Farm Animal Worksheets

Farm Animal Games

We've added a new set of simple colouring pages for London for younger children, to add to our existing detailed pages for older children:

London Colouring Pages

And finally, we've also added a set of London I Spy booklets which could be used when sight-seeing or perhaps taking a virtual tour of London. Sarah designed these for her Guides, putting up our London posters around the room and sending them off on a London hunt!
London I Spy Booklets

ABCya.com - Games for K-5

www.ABCya.com is a site with lots of learning games for Grades K-5

Wonderapolis - Daily Wonders - Free Website

 

Wonderopolis is a free website with a different wonder everyday.  They have a topic and information related to the topic.  These would be great quick little lessons while kids are eating snack or before a transition time. 

Learn languages FREE with Duolingo

If you have access to computers or a computer lab, you can get your kids involved in learning languages, for FREE with www.duolingo.com. The site is fun and has a classroom component that is like a game. 

You could make a progress chart, and even offer prizes for students when they reach certain goals.  It could even be used as a year long theme!  Oh the ideas......

What to do with all those - Craft Sticks. STICK BOMBS!

What a fun looking activity!  The first time could be a learning day, and the second time could be a competition. A fantastic time filler, plus the kids practice teamwork, problem solving, work through frustration (I'm sure it won't work for every group the first time out.), motor skills, and follow through. 

Gotta love the type of activity that kids want to do over and over and it actually costs nothing, as the sticks are still usable for another project later.

Pin Ithttp://www.pbs.org/parents/adventures-in-learning/2014/08/stick-bombs-an-adventure-in-engineering/

Big Sale at The Mailbox Books $1-$5

Mailbox is having a big sale on some of their books.  These can be very helpful in planning activities or giving extra work at hoomework time.  The books are organized by grade but many of the activities can be scaled up or down as needed.  $1 is a bargain even if there are only a few activities you can make use of.

 

Scientific Fun - Taking Things Apart!

One of the things my brother loved to do, as a child, was to take things apart to see how they worked and then to try to put them back together.  Although he usually took apart things that he wasn't supposed to be using as play things, like the VCR or Hair Dryer.  As an adult he loved to work on cars, mostly by taking things apart and then putting them back together with some parts left over! Oops!

My point is that he was very inquisitive, as many children are, and was always looking at things and wondering how they worked.  He eventually turned that into a career in Research and Development.

Remembering a time when he took apart my clock radio gave me the inspiration to bring in a few old appliances and some tools for the kids to tinker with.  We had a group discussion about the tools, I demonstrated their use, and we talked about tool safety.  I then set out some appliances, with their cords cut off, for my little friends to take apart and tinker with.  Several kids lost interest in it almost immediately, but those mechanically minded kids had those appliance apart in no time, examining each item, setting out their pieces on a tray, and even trying to put things back together again.  Of course, I admonished them not to use tools or try this on anything at home without Mom or Dad's permission. 

One boy was so interested he begged me to bring in something with a cord so that he could see if he could take it apart and make it work again.  I explained to him, and the others, that I cut off the cords because putting something back together incorrectly could be quite dangerous and might cause a fire.  That led us into some intricate discussion about electricity and how that worked and they came up with some amazing questions that we had to go to the computer lab and research to find the answers.

If you decide to do this....

• Bring in only basic appliances with no batteries fuses inside. 
• Remove cords so that they can't get plugged in and start a fire or electrocute. 
• Teach tool safety. 
• Closely monitor the activity. 
• Encourage girls to try it out as they may feel like it's a "Boy Thing".  

I found this great blog post about taking apart a stuffed animal to see how it's put together.  This would work great if your kids are younger and couldn't work a screwdriver or pliers.  Click on the photo to go to TinkLab and check it out!

 

 

TinkerLab is a great site with lots of activity ideas.  Bookmark it or sign up for their newsletter to get lots of ideas!