Valentine's Day Freebies!

Hi friends!  How was the weekend?  Ours was lovely!

Saturday was the perfect winter day so we took a little hike through the woods.

#doggieheaven - Charlie LOVED leaping through the snow!

And this little cutie kicked and giggled the whole ride :)

What a peaceful afternoon.

Guess what?  This week is Valentine's Day! :)  Can we all just take a moment and appreciate that it is on a Saturday - which means you don't have to celebrate it until Friday in your classroom and then you get to send you kiddos off for the weekend (or off for winter break if you're like the schools around here)

I do love V-Day :)  There are so many cute games and crafts you can do with your kiddos.  I've got a few of freebies to share with you:

{click any of the pics for an instant download!}

The first one is great for practicing idioms:

{Comes with a recording sheet!}

This center is part of my Valentine's Day Math and Literacy Centers that you can check out here

This is a fun whole-class game of "I have, Who Has" - fact and opinion style! 

This next game can be customized.  It it a generic game board with blank cards so that you can create your own question cards for whatever content or skill you're students are working on.

And finally - although not a game - I thought I'd share with you these freebie Valentine's cards you print off and give to your students!

You can also check out this post that highlights a fun Valentine's Day game you can make with just sticker dots and Hershey kisses!

Coming up on the blog this week:

"Valentine's Day in a SNAP!"  Freebie Printable

Fun ways to use candy hearts in your classroom

Another round of "Throw Back Thursday" and "Friday Faves"

Have a fabulous Monday, my friends!

Friday Favorites :: 2/6

Wahoo - we made it to another Friday.  I've been burning the midnight oil this week (it's currently 1 am as I post this...) as well as getting up early to try to get work done.  Some days a certain 10 month old doesn't give me very much time to do anything.

So - I had to resort to some over-time.

But it paid off, because I finally, finally, FINALLY finished my Colonial America unit.  I truly pour my heart and soul into every unit I do, and this one wasn't any different.  I really love how it came out!  Take a peak:

Check out the full details on TpT.

As a fun review for the unit, I made this board game where students "tour" a colonial village as they answer different questions about colonial life:

 I think the kids will love playing!

Here are a few other Friday faves from the week:

This fun way to keep dice from flying across the room:

This list of great Valentine's Day games to play online!  Kudos to the "Technology Rocks Seriously" Blog

And - oh my goodness - have you heard of the Teacher Tipster?  He has FABULOUS ideas - just like this adorable video on 3-D shapes:

Have a great, great, great weekend!

Throw Back Thursday {Hershey Kiss Match}

This post is the answer to all your chocolate loving dreams.

It's about this time of year (Valentine's time) that EVERYTHING becomes chocolate covered.  The problem is, you feel guilty buying a huge bag of chocolate for yourself.

Answer:  Have your husband buy it and "use" it in your classroom and devour the rest :)  Problem solve.

Here's a fun post I found back on the ol' blog to share with you for TBT.

A quick little matching game you can make for any concept:

On the sticker dots write what you want your students to match up, such as equivalent fraction (you would write one fraction on one sticker and its match on the other sticker)

Make as many matches as you think your students could handle.

Students take turns choosing two kisses to see if they are a match.  If they are, they keep them.  If not, the kisses get turned back upside down for the next turn.

{Above are some suggestions of other skills this game would work for.}

Here's a quick recording sheet you can use to help keep track of your kiddos:

{click here to download}

Bonus:  When your students are done playing the game - you get to stash the chocolate in your candy drawer.  Boom!  It's a win-win :)

Have a great day everyone!

Plant Game {Freebie!!!}

Hi guys!

It's ridiculously cold today!  Although we didn't get the snow that some folks in the northeast got, we definitely got the cold!  Luckily the bright sun is a reminder that spring will come :)

Thinking of spring makes me think of fresh flowers.  Last summer we put in a new flower bed and I can't wait to put more flowers in this year.  I know - with a fresh coat of snow on the ground, I might be getting a little ahead of myself. :)

I know I'm not the only one thinking plants and flowers - based on my recent sales on TpT - I've noticed that I've been selling a lot of my Plant Unit, which means many of your are teaching plants in science.

I wanted to draw your attention to a free game available under my "Science Game" tab.

It's a fun review game where students revisit some important concepts about plants.  Each time they get a question right, they add a stage to their plant life cycle wheel.  The first student to complete their plant life cycle wins the game.

Here are some sample questions:

The download includes a full set of student directions and an answer key.  It is also available in black and white.  Find it here.

Not teaching plants now?  No worries - the game will always be available in my Science Games tab.

If you'd like to check out the whole plant unit, click the picture below.  Let me know if you give the game a try!

Have a great Thursday!