Skeleton Foam Puzzles...

These puzzles were purchased from a "dollar" store.  Very inexpensive.  There is a front side and a back side.  Cool!

Life Cycle of a Butterfly (a two or three day craft project)

Cut the lid off of a cardboard egg carton.  Cut lengthwise.  Trim around the edges to cut off the flat rims.

Paint with acrylic paints (and allow to dry) or color with washable magic markers.  Don't worry if your child doesn't paint or decorate the complete body.  My grandson chose to paint only on top of each hump.  The paint then spilled over and streaked down the sides.  Poke two holes in top of "head" end with a sharp pencil. Draw a face.  Glue on wiggle eyes.   Cut a chenille stem in half for the antennas.

Roll one end of each antenna to form a "ball" anchor.  Poke the straight end up through the bottom the caterpillar's head.  Squirt a generous amount of glue (tacky glue is best) to the "ball" anchors of the antennas. Allow to dry. This could take several hours.  This will prevent the antennas from slipping out of the holes.

Color a pair of wings.  Each wing should be slightly smaller than a regular sheet of copy paper.   This pattern came from Answers in Genesis Preschool Curriculum.  I copied the pattern onto card stock paper so they will be stiff.  Color with magic markers and cut out.  You could make your own pattern or obtain a free copy from an internet source.  (Enter an internet search for "Butterfly Wing Pattern).  These wings were a joint effort between myself and my grandson.  He also colored on the back of his wings.  Perfectly acceptable...

Glue a wing on each side of  a caterpillar.  Anchor with paper clips until the glue is dry. (Leave one caterpillar as is.)

Fold each wing down.

A caterpillar will change into a butterfly!  

ENJOY !!! 

File Folder Games...

Self-made File Folder Games make great (and inexpensive) learning tools for pre-school and kindergarten.
I have made several File Folder Games covering various subjects for use with my grandson.  Below is a sample:

Click on the link for more great File Folder Game ideas:
http://www.daycareresource.com/filefoldergames.34789.html
Click on the "Preschool Printables" link.

A Great, Inexpensive Pre-school/Kindergarten Educational Toy...

As I was out shopping today for my family, I found a great, inexpensive (wooden) educational toy to add to my pre-school classroom.  I just could not pass it up!  It was only $5 at the Dollar General Store.  Yay!

Flip-Flop Alphabet Blocks  (front view)



(flipped/back view)