Easter Crafts

I know this is very last minute but I wanted to share with you the crafts I will be working on with my Sunday School Preschoolers tomorrow.  The story I am going to go over is when Jesus came to Jerusalem and people praised him and laid palm branches and coats on the ground in front of him.  (Matthew 21:1-11, 15-16; Mark 11:1-10)

Tomorrow on Easter Sunday, I was told I had to teach my class for a whole 2 hours because of the Easter service! I was sadden by this news since I was going to miss Easter service and the baptism.  So because of the extra hour, I needed to come up with more fun activities!

Since my lesson was focusing on Jesus entering Jerusalem, I was going to let the students role play the scene of laying down the palm branches and coats as he rode down the street on a donkey.
Here is the palm branch craft I came up with:

 Very cute right?

Palm Branch Craft:

What you need: green construction paper, scissors, green puffy paint, green glitter, flower tape, pipe cleaners, tape.

Here is a Palm Branch Template for those who want it.  I drew mine by hand.

Steps:

1. Cut the template and add a piper cleaner in the middle of the palm branch.  I used tape because I ran out of elmer's glue at home.  You can use either since this is on the back for a sturdy support.
2. Then use the flower tape to wrap the handle.
3. Cut the diagonal lines.
4. Use the green puffy paint to add lines on the palm branch. (Adults may need to help the younger ones)
5. Put green glitter on the palm branches and shake onto paper plate.
6. Then let it dry!

Jelly Bean Easter Craft

I used Kim Mitzo Thompson's Easter Jelly Bean Craft patterns and revised it for a different project for my preschoolers.  Check out her freebie above to download at the original craft.  Thanks Kim for the inspiration!

What you need: Jelly Bean pattern, crayons/markers, paper plates, scissors, yarn, glue, single hole puncher

Steps:

1. Color the jelly beans and cut them out.
2. Write a bible verse, poem, or whatever you like in the middle of the paper plate. 
3. Glue on each of the jelly beans around the plate.  
4. Punch a hole at the top and add string.
5. Then hang it up!

Have a happy and blessed Easter everyone!

Books, Books, Books, and of course a FREEBIE!

Every time when the book fair comes to your school, do you get a little giddy?  I sure do! Our librarian sponsored a Scholastic Book Fair and I think I spent WAY too much money there today.

Here are some of my new purchases:

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Books! by Lucile Colandro
My kiddos are obsessed with the old lady books!  This is a definite must-read in my class!

Z is for Moose by Kelly Bingham
As a kinder class, we are still working on the ABCs and when I watched the "Book Fair Commercial, they were advertising this book.  I fell in love and immediately knew I had to get my own copy!  It's a cute story of Moose wanting to appear in the alphabet and causes mayhem with the other "letter representatives" because he was forgotten.

Exclamation Mark by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
This needs to be in every teacher's bookshelf!  A cute story about an exclamation mark on fitting in, finding your way, and standing out.

Wumbers by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
A "Gr8" book to read with the class on numbers.  Reminds me of the good, old days texting and AIMing friends.  Check out another "1derful" book! :)

On to my freebie...This is an oldie but still a goodie!
I created this book order wish list when I was a student teacher.  It's great for students to look at books and fill out during Library time and take home to their parents.  Parents love this because they can discuss with their kids on what they can buy and how much money they can spend. Click on the pic below for the freebie!

Pi Day Freebie and Other News

Do you teach/celebrate Pi Day in your class?  Did you know it's tomorrow?! 3.14 lands on March 14 every year!  Another cool tip is that it is also Einstein's birthday!

For the last couple years, I have used this neat Pi Day activity with all ages.  We make Pi Day bracelets.

This is an easy activity to do with elementary and middle school students.  Click on the pic below for the freebie! The freebie includes the student worksheets and a lesson plan for the teacher.  I would love to hear your feedback if you use this in your class!

TN Shop

Also, Teaching is a Gift, has a linky party for a lot of different and fun ways to celebrate Pi Day! Click {here} to check it out!

Have you heard about a new website that is about to come in the Education world?  It is called Educents.

If you like sites like Groupon, it is like that by for teachers, homeschoolers, and parents.  They will offer discounted products like learning tools, curriculum, educational toys, e-books, software, and lots more!  I'm excited for the site to launch on April 2!

If you sign up now, you will receive a $15 gift card to use on the site.  They email to you ASAP!  But you better hurry because in TWO days (March 15), they are lowering the gift card to $10.

So click on the logo above or {HERE} to learn more about Educents and don't forget to sign up for great deals for great products!