You don’t have to be a scientist to know the full moon has powers, just ask any teacher! Celebrate the chaos with this free printable tag and a sweet Moon Pie treat your coworkers will love!

I thought it would be fun to create a cute little tag you can add to a treat for your coworkers, a lighthearted way to laugh through the next full moon together.

To Make

The little treat is super simple and quick to put together, but will surely be a hit with your teacher friends!

All you need is

• Print the page of tags below
• Scissors
• Stapler
• A box of Moon Pies

Just download, print, and cut out the tags. Staple a moon pie to each of the tags and you’re all set! You can hand them out to your teacher besties, tuck them into mailboxes, or surprise your grade-level team with a little full-moon humor. They make the perfect quick and easy gift to brighten everyone’s day when things start feeling a little loony! Or this would be a fun, inexpensive project for your school’s PTA/PTO group to do for the entire school! You’re sure to get some stories that come from full moon days!

You can grab the Free Printable Full Moon Tag by clicking the large green box below.

Whether you’re surviving the chaos of a full moon or just want to share a laugh with your coworkers, these little treats are a simple way to spread some joy. Teaching can be wild, but a bit of humor (and chocolate!) goes a long way. So print a few tags, grab some Moon Pies, and make someone’s day a little brighter!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Free Printable Full Moon Tag appeared first on Primary Playground.

Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15- October 15th each year. Today I’m sharing some fun Activities To Teach About Hispanic Heritage Month! in the classroom!

Teaching about Hispanic Heritage Month in the classroom can be a great opportunity to celebrate diversity and introduce young children to different cultures. Below are some fun and engaging ideas and activities.

Read-Alouds

Books are always a favorite way to introduce new concepts to young learners.

Below are some of my favorites to read aloud.

Pepe and the Parade by Tracey Kyle.

In this book, you follow Pepe as he attends his first Hispanic Day parade. With new food to taste, music to dance to, and a parade to watch, Pepe couldn’t be more excited to celebrate and share his Hispanic heritage. Many of Pepe’s friends also attend the festival, celebrating their own Hispanic ties. Mexican, Dominican, Panamanian, Colombian, Honduran, Nicaraguan, Chilean, Puerto Rican, Salvadoran, Guatemalan, and Cuban cultures are all represented in the parade.

The Day of the Dead / El Día de los Muertos: A Bilingual Celebration by Bob Barner

This book follows two children as they celebrate their ancestors in this bilingual introduction to el Día de los Muertos— the Day of the Dead!

They prepare offerings of flowers, sugar skulls, and special bread, and make delicious foods to eat and share.  By spreading marigold petals, they guide the dead home to join the festivities. After hours of singing, dancing, and reminiscing, it’s time for bed.  

Mango, Abuela, and Me by Meg Medina

Mia’s abuela has left her sunny house with parrots and palm trees to live with Mia and her parents in the city. While they cook, Mia helps Abuela learn English, and Mia learns some Spanish, too, but it’s still hard for Abuela to learn enough words to tell Mia her stories. Then Mia sees a parrot in the pet-shop window and has the perfecto idea for how to help them all communicate a little better. 

Federico and the Wolf by Rebecca Gomez

Clever Federico outsmarts el lobo in this fresh and funny Mexican-American take on Little Red Riding Hood.

With his red hoodie on and his bicycle basket full of food, Federico is ready to visit Abuelo. But on the way, he meets a hungry wolf. And now his grandfather bears a striking resemblance to el lobo…

Fortunately, Federico is quick and clever—and just happens to be carrying a spicy surprise! Federico drives the wolf away, and he and Abuelo celebrate with a special salsa.

I also have a literacy snack idea and a free printable to go along with this book. You can find that here.

Tortillas Are Round A Book of Shapes by Roseanne Thong 

I love this book because it shows all of the different shapes in real-world examples The book has 1 to 3 pages about each shape and has illustrations showing the shape in real life.  A great teaching tool!

These are just the tip of the iceberg of great read-aloud for Hispanic Heritage Month. Encourage your students to share what they know about the cultures represented in the stories too!

Art Activities

• Make cultural art! Introduce the students to traditional crafts like papel picado (cut paper! They will be sure to recognize these beautiful decorations from the movie Coco. Below is a fantastic printable and tutorial from Art Projects for Kids so you can make them with your class. They would look amazing all strung together to decorate the classroom!

• Another fun option would be to make fiesta flowers. These are another fun and easy project the kids can make and they would be another great addition to decorate the classroom! Below is a great tutorial on how to make them.

• Flag Crafts: Have students create flags from different Hispanic countries using colored paper and markers You could have the students work together to create different flags and then display them around the classroom.
• Pinatas are another great craft to make. You could make them out of paper towel rolls or make them on paper like in the tutorial below.

Music and Dance

• Music: Play traditional Hispanic music and have a dance party! Songs like “La Bamba” or mariachi music can be fun!

Here’s a fun video of a mariachi playing some music from the movie Coco that your students may recognize.

Here’s a fun song that captures the Hispanic culture of many different areas.

• Dance: Teach your students simple dances like salsa, the Mexican hat dance, or folk dances from various countries.

Here’s a fun video that teaches a few salsa dancing steps in just a few minutes.

Food Tasting

Sample Dishes:  Have a food-tasting party with our class! Organize a simple tasting party with age-appropriate foods like:

• Tacos: Use soft tortillas with mild fillings (beans, cheese).
• Guacamole and Chips: Provide tortilla chips with a small serving of guacamole.
• Pico de Gallo Mix up all of the ingredients and taste test with some chips on the side.
• Flan or Churros: Offer small portions of these desserts.

 Talk about the flavors, colors, and textures of the food.

We have a great cooking class sequencing activity set that would be great to go alongside making tacos in the classroom. You can check that out here.

Guest Speakers

Invite Family or Friends: If you have parents or community members who can share their experiences or cultural traditions, invite them to speak to the class. E

Celebrate Diversity: Encourage kids to share their own backgrounds and family traditions. This promotes understanding and respect for all cultures.

Language Activities

• Basic Spanish: Teach them some basic Spanish words and phrases. Use fun flashcards or songs to make it interactive.
• Bilingual Books: Incorporate books that are available in both English and Spanish.

Community Connection

• Local Celebrations: Research local events or festivals related to Hispanic Heritage Month and consider a field trip if possible.

Create a Display

• Classroom Bulletin Board: Set up a bulletin board to showcase what the class has learned. Include drawings, facts, and photos. This would be a great place to display the festive flowers or papel picado that your class has made.

By integrating these activities, you’ll create a rich and meaningful experience that celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month while fostering a sense of community and respect for diversity in your classroom. I hope that you can take away a few new ideas with you to add to your classroom to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Activities To Teach About Hispanic Heritage Month appeared first on Primary Playground.

Bingo games are always a favorite with students! Putting together a bingo box before the school year starts will help give you peace of mind and be ready at a moment’s notice with a fun activity anytime you may need during the school year. Keep reading to find out How To Make A Bingo Box!

Making a bingo box can be a valuable tool that can be used all year long. We have a variety of bingo games, from letters, numbers, and shapes, to fairy tales, space, dinosaurs, to holidays and seasons. We have over 75 different options to choose from! Click here to check them all out now.

Pick the bingo sets of your choice that you can use all throughout the school year and build your own bingo box! Maybe you could even have 2 different boxes, one for learning and revewing skills, and another for class parties and different themes used throughout the school year.

Having the bingo box ready to go will be a lifesaver throughout the school year, and makes it easy for a sub to use in case you are out of the classroom. It is a versatile and effective teaching tool that promotes engagement, differentiation, assessment, collaboration, and reinforcement of learning in the classroom.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

How To Make A Bingo Box

Items that you’ll need:

• For my bingo box, I used a Portable Bankers Box that I picked up at Walmart.
• Hanging file folders
• Bingo sets of your choice printed.
• Manila folders -optional not required
• Laminator – optional not required but suggested
• Laminating pouches
• Sandwich bags
• Bingo Box Label -download for FREE further down in the post.
• Label maker -optional
• Tape
• Colored scrap paper for making paper bingo markers

First up, you’ll want to take the printed Bingo Box printable and trim off any white around the edges. You can use tape to attach it to your box. Next, you’ll want to add the hanging file folders to the inside of the banker’s box.

Click the green box below to download the free Bingo Box printable.

Next, gather all of your bingo sets, and laminate them at this time. If you can it’s worth the investment as you’ll be able to use the bingo sets for many years to come. Also, laminate the teacher calling cards. You’ll want to add these to a sandwich bag so they stay together.

When your bingo sets are ready, you can add them to a manila folder that you’ve labeled with the bingo name on it, or just add it to the hanging file. Those can be labeled as well. In each file , make sure you include the bingo cards and the teacher-calling cards.

Last you’ll want to take your colored scrap paper and cut a whole bunch of bingo markers. YAdd them to another sandwich bag and add an extra hanging file folder to put them in. You could do several different bags of different colors to use different ones each time.

And there you have your Bingo Box! You are now ready for a fun-filled easy grab-and-go activity to use all year long! Tag us on Facebook or Instagram if you make one of your own!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post How To Make A Bingo Box appeared first on Primary Playground.

Are you looking for a fun way to celebrate your students ‘ birthdays? I have 20 Birthday Celebration Ideas For The Classroom to make this year a breeze! Students LOVE celebrating their birthdays at school. I’ve gathered a bunch of fun ways to help celebrate their special day at school with their classmates.

A lot of these ideas can be done ahead of time so they are ready to go for the whole school year. I’ve separated them out so you can get prepared for the upcoming school year.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

Prep Ahead Of Time

• Put together a Birthday Basket, a special caddy of supplies that the birthday student can use throughout the day. Smelly markers, fancy pens, retractable multi-color pens, whatever you think would be fun!
• Give them a birthday crown to wear for the day.
• Grab a big pack of birthday cards and fill one out for each student. Add a sticker and set them aside to mail home to the students for their birthday, or you could just give it to them on their birthday in class.
• Make little birthday goodie bags or birthday cups for each student, hide them away for the year, and just grab them as you need them. Some fun items to include a full-size candy bar, a fidget toy, a fun pencil, a bracelet, and stickers.
• Play birthday bingo! This could be done on the student’s birthday, play a few games at the end of the day, or on Fun Friday afternoon. This is a fun one to play to celebrate your own birthday too! Print the game out and have it ready to play any time of the year.

• Make a birthday chair for your students to sit in on their birthday. Grab a folding chair that has a cushion seat. Remove the seat and cover the padding with birthday fabric to make a special birthday chair! A great investment for many years.
• Choose a birthday bookmark, and let them choose a book as a birthday gift. Ask for gently used books as donations, or use your Scholastic points to help with the cost.
• Grab a birthday seat back cover for the student to use for the day. It will last you for years.
• Get a pack of birthday certificates for each student ahead of time. On the student’s birthday, give them the certificate along with a movie-style box of candy.

During The School Year

• A visit to the treasure chest.
• Happy Birthday bookmark and a Blow Pop sucker.
• Add a mylar balloon from Dollar Tree to the student’s chair for the day. They can take it home with them.
• Have your class make the birthday student a Birthday Book! Print off the covers and writing pages ahead of time for the year so it makes it even quicker and easier for you. Simply have the students write something nice about the birthday student and either color or draw a picture. Put all the pages together, add a cover and you have a fantastic birthday keepsake gift for the birthday student.

• Choose a GoNoodle or short read-aloud for the class.
• The birthday student gets to be in charge of classroom jobs and is the line leader for the day.
• Let the birthday student wear a birthday cape and crown for the day!
• Wrap the top of their desk with birthday wrapping paper for the day to celebrate.
• Print this free birthday hat for the birthday student to wear. They can color it and everyone in the class can sign the back headband strap like signing a birthday card.

• Sing Happy Birthday! Of course, this can be done on its own or along with any of these ideas.
• The birthday student gets to take a few spins in the teacher’s chair!
• Make a birthday positive affirmations/ compliments poster. Add the student’s name to the middle of the poster. Blindfold the birthday student. Have each student come up and whisper something nice about the birthday student in your ear and you can add it to the poster. Such a fun birthday keepsake to take home.

Monthly Birthday Celebrations

• Celebrate all birthdays once a month. Have everyone bring in their special treats on the designated day. Sing Happy Birthday to everyone and then all learn a new game to play outside.

End Of The Year Celebrations

• Wait until the last week of school and have a huge party for everyone! Play birthday bingo, have cupcakes and snacks, and play a few games. Everyone gets to celebrate their birthdays at the same time! This is a great option to include those with summer birthdays too!

Hopefully, you have maybe got a new idea or two to use in your classroom to help celebrate student birthdays! Do you have any other special ways that you celebrate in your classroom? Share with us in the comments below!

See you next time

Jenette

The post Birthday Celebration Ideas For The Classroom appeared first on Primary Playground.

The end of the school year is quickly approaching and you need a gift idea for your room parent that has been amazing this year! Sound familiar? I’ve gather 20 great gift ideas for you so hopefully you can find something that will work out perfectly for them! Here we go!

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

Room Mom Gift Ideas

• Choose some fancy chocolates for them or maybe even a special chocolate covered apple from somewhere like Rocky Mountain Chocolate.
• A gift card for a manicure. Add a special note that says, “Thanks for lending a hand this year!”
• Get a pitcher and have all of the students sign it and add some sunflowers.
• Grab some chips and salsa, a small bowl and add a note that says, Thanks for being dip-endable this year!”
• Have a tote bag made or make one yourself. I personally like this one that says, “Bee Happy: Etsy is a great place to get one if you don’t want to make one.

• Make a travel mug or tumbler with either a photo of the class or even just a photo of their child.
• Grab a mason jar mug and fill it with candies or drink mixes and add a note that says, “You are an a-mason room mom!”
• Find a fun keychain to give them. Add a note that says, “Great room mom’s are the key to a successful year!”
• A gift card for coffee or lunch.
• Have your class make a gift book. I have made a couple of different ones to use, like this Nacho Average Room Mom one and this one, Thanks For Being Such An Amazing Room Mom!

• Grab a pot of thyme and attach a note that says, “Thank You For Your Thyme This Year!”
• Get a small basket and add some items they can do with their own child or kids over the summer. Some examples of items to add would be, water balloons, paint and canvases, wooden toy builds, pearler beads, coloring book and crayons, books to read together.
• Grab a pitcher, add some lemonade mix and attach a note that says, “Thanks for pitching in this year!”
• Make a tote for them. Add a note that says, “Thanks for being a tote-ally awesome room mom!’
• An indoor plant, hanging flower basket, or poinsettia during the holidays.

• Get an oven mitt, they usually have them at Dollar Tree. Write “Thanks for the helping hand this year!” Have your class all sign the oven mitt.
• Grab a copy of Thank You Book, The-An Elephant and Piggie Book and have your class sign it for them.
• Have your class make a thumbprint card or tree. Or a thumbprint flower that says, Thanks For Helping Us Grow. Or for a sports fan, a bat with thumbprint baseballs that says, Thanks For Pitching In This Year!
• If you’re a baker, make handprint cookies, or even just cookies in general for them. If not, grab a small bundt cake and add a note that says, “Thanks a bundt-ch for you help this year!”

Hopefully you have found an idea or two to thank you room parent this year. They are such an important asset to the classroom each! Make sure to comment below if you have any other gift ideas that you would like to share with us!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post Room Mom Gift Ideas appeared first on Primary Playground.

The printable has been updated for the 2025-2026 school year!

Welcome to a new school year! This School Appreciation Days Calendar makes it easy to keep up with important days and appreciation days throughout the school year.

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

I’ve put together a list of all of the honorary calendar days for the year. Everything from National Bike and Walk to School Day to Principal Appreciation Day to Anti-Bullying Week. There are numerous days, weeks, and months on the list. Pick ones that are important to yourself, your class, or your school to celebrate.

There are a ton of days throughout the year that we can show our appreciation. If you need some quick and easy gift ideas for appreciation days like principal appreciation day, custodian appreciation day or librarian day, I have these awesome books for your class to make.

It is super quick and simple for your class to fill out and put together a book from the class for the special person. It’s always nice to feel appreciated!

And there are so many great days that can be celebrated on the calendar as a school. One of my favorites is Odd Sock Day as part of Anti-Bullying Week in November. There are a ton of great days on the list to get families involved, too!

I’ve made the calendar available to print in both color and black and white to fit whatever your need is best.

You can download the School Appreciation Days Calendar by clicking the green box below.

Do you have any other days that you know of that I might have missed? I’m always looking for new and important ones to add!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post School Appreciation Days Calendar appeared first on Primary Playground.

Do you bring your lunch to school? Keep reading for some make-ahead Easy Salad Lunch Ideas For Teachers.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

I wanted to share with you these awesome salad containers that I’ve been using for the last few months. They are called Bentgo® Salad – Stackable Lunch Container. It has a salad bowl, a 4 part compartment tray for toppings, a dressing container, and a reusable fork.

I bought it on a whim one day and boy am I sure glad I did! It has quickly become my favorite! After using the first week, I actually went back and bought two more so I now pre-make three salads for each week.

This bowl makes it so easy to make the salads ahead of time. I buy a big container of the spring mix greens and a rotisserie chicken from Costco to make my salads. (feta cheese is a great deal at Costo too FYI) I always try to mix my salads up each week so I don’t get bored of them, and then have something else for lunch the other two days. Here are some great teacher lunchbox ideas if you need some.

Salad Ideas

I don’t claim to be a great food blogger, but these are my favorite easy-to-make salads that have worked great for me using these salad boxes.

Garden Salad

Mixed greens in the bottom bowl. Toppings include diced cucumber, cherry tomatoes, shredded or chopped carrots, and croutons. A container of ranch or thousand island on the side.

Chicken Caesar Salad

Mixed greens in the bottom bowl. Toppings include diced rotisserie chicken, shaved parmesan cheese, and croutons. A container of caesar dressing on the side.

Southwest Chicken Salad

Mixed greens in the bottom bowl. Toppings include black beans, corn, diced rotisserie chicken, red onions, and grape tomatoes. A container of cilantro avocado dressing on the side.

BBQ Chicken Salad

Mixed greens in the bottom bowl. Toppings include diced rotisserie chicken mixed with bbq sauce, shredded cheddar cheese, chopped green onion, and chopped tomato. A container of ranch dressing on the side.

Antipasta Salad

Mixed greens in the bottom bowl. Toppings include two-quartered artichoke hearts, grape tomatoes, kalamata olives, ham, and salami chopped, and some diced cucumber. A container of balsamic dressing on the side.

Taco Salad

Mixed greens in the bottom bowl. Toppings include ground beef, shredded cheese, pinto beans, sliced pickled jalapenos, and crushed tortilla chips. A container of salsa as the dressing on the side.

Chicken Caprese Salad

Mixed greens in the bottom bowl. Toppings include diced rotisserie chicken, fresh basil chopped, fresh mozzarella cheese pearls, and diced tomatoes. A container of balsamic vinaigrette on the side.

Chicken, Apple, and Cranberry Salad

– This is my favorite one!

Mixed greens in the bottom bowl. Toppings include diced rotisserie chicken, green apples chopped, dried cranberries, crumbled feta, or blue cheese roasted pecans. A container of balsamic vinegar or Panera Fuji Apple dressing that you can find at the grocery store.

Asian Chicken Salad

Mixed greens in the bottom bowl. Toppings include diced rotisserie chicken, ramen noodles lightly crushed, sliced almonds, green onion, an orange peeled and sectioned or you can use canned mandarin oranges. A container of Asian sesame dressing on the side.

Greek Chicken Salad

Mixed greens in the bottom bowl. Toppings include diced rotisserie chicken, diced cucumber, grape tomatoes halved, chopped red onion, and crumbled feta cheese. A container of olive oil vinaigrette on the side.

Buffalo Chicken Salad

Mixed greens in the bottom bowl. Toppings include diced rotisserie chicken tossed with buffalo wing sauce, crumbled blue cheese, and shredded carrots. A container of ranch dressing on the side.

Chicken and Fruit Salad

Mixed greens in the bottom bowl. Toppings include diced rotisserie chicken, canned mandarin oranges, sliced strawberries, chopped apples, and blueberries. A container of olive oil vinaigrette on the side.

So those are all of my favorite tried and true salads that I pack in these awesome containers. 12 different salads that I make 3 per week leave me a different salad for each time I make them throughout the month so I don’t get tired of them! Great easy make-ahead lunch ideas for busy people!

Do you have any other favorite salads you like to make for lunch? Let us know below in the comments!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Easy Salad Lunch Ideas For Teachers appeared first on Primary Playground.

Have you been following along on Facebook where everyday I share a joke of the day? We are having such a fun time with these jokes and love knowing they are putting a smile on your face each day. I’ve put together all of jokes for September into a new September Joke Of The Day printable so you can easily have them ready to go to share with your class or your own family each day.

You can find the printable August Jokes Of The Day here.

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

I have all of Septembers jokes ready to go now too! I have some really fun animal ones this month that I think the kids will LOVE!

You can download the free September Joke Of The Day printable by clicking the green box below.

If your students are loving jokes, then they’ll LOVE our crack the code math. Each set comes with ten pages of either addition and subtraction or multiplication. They figure out the math answer and use the answers to help break the code or joke. You can find all of the different themes that we have here.

I hope your kids are enjoying these jokes each day as much as we are! Does your child or class have a favorite joke that I’ve shared so far? Or do you have a joke you’d like to see added? Let me know if the comments beflow!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post September Joke Of The Day appeared first on Primary Playground.

Do you kids love jokes? Mine are obsessed! I’ve been sharing a joke of the day on my Facebook page the last few days and we’ve been having a lot of fun!

I thought I would put them all together in a printable so you can easily share the joke of the day with your class.

August Joke OF The Day

Most of the jokes for the month are school-related jokes. I also made it both in color and black and white for you.

This would be perfect to share with your class during morning meetings while packing up for the day, or during a transition time.

You can download the free August Joke Of The Day printable by clicking the green box below.

If your students are loving jokes, then they’ll LOVE our crack the code math. Each set comes with ten pages of either addition and subtraction or multiplication. They figure out the math answer and use the answers to help break the code or joke. You can find all of the different themes that we have here.

Let me know if you enjoy sharing these jokes with your class and I’ll see about coming up with a set for each month! I’d love to hear if they enjoy them!

See you next time!

Jenette

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With back to school comes a whole list of items you’d love to have for your classroom. It’s helpful if we are able to send home a suggested supply list but sometimes there are extra things that would be great to have donated to the classroom. So for meet the teacher night, make back-to-school donation bricks and ask for those extra things you wished you could have.

There are so many parents out there that are more than happy to help donate items for your classroom, they just don’t know what you really need. Putting out these bricks, allows you to really get the items specifically needed for your room.

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

back to school donation bricks

To make the donation bricks, I took inspiration from the back to s school student gift I made. Click here to check it out and download the bag toppers for free.

 I created an anchor chart by drawing a mini-figure. I just pulled up a simple image and did my best.

Next, simply download, print, and cut out the bricks of items you wish to have in your classroom.

Tape them onto the anchor chart so the students or families can easily remove them to take home with them to remember to purchase the item.

In the download, I’ve also included blank bricks that you can edit to add any additional items that I didn’t include. You do need PowerPoint in order to open and edit this file.

You can download the Back To School Donation bricks for free by clicking the green box below.

What are some items that are on the top of your wish list for your classroom?

See you next time!

jenette

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Do you need some easy gift ideas for Principal Appreciation Day or Principal Appreciation Week? Today I’m sharing some easy and inexpensive gift ideas to celebrate them!

Principal Appreciation Day Class Book Gift

Why not make a class book for the principal? It includes several options. They can write about why they think they’re a great principal, what they think they should do today on their special day, or what we love most about them. Stack all of the pages together and bind them and you have a fantastic gift to give the principal. (PS it comes in both female and male options!) You can find the template for this book here.

Nacho Average Principal

Or let them know that they are Nacho Average Principal! Put together a small basket or bag of goodies as I did here and add in a FREE printable gift tag for you to print and use. You can find that here.

There is also a gift card holder in that same FREE file that says, Taco ‘Bout An Awesome Principal! Print it out and attach a gift card onto the paper to a local Mexican food restaurant and you’re good to go! You can see an example of that card in this blog post.

We also have another class book that you can make which is very similar to the one above but goes along with the Nacho Average Principal theme. You can find that class book here.

Do you have any other things that you have done for your principal? Share with us below in the comments!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Principal Appreciation Day Ideas appeared first on Primary Playground.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

With the new school year quickly approaching, it will obviously look a lot different this year. Today I’m sharing how to put together Student Supply Boxes For Distance Learning.

These boxes can be used both distance-learning or inside the classroom. Ultimately you are creating a box of supplies for each student to use themselves. You can easily send them home to all of your students if you are distance learning or each student can have their own designated box in the classroom with all of the supplies they will need.

You can make a list and send it home for your parents to gather these items as their back to school list, or a lot of schools are giving their teachers a small distance learning budget and this may be a good option for you to spend the money to build these for the students. Another great option would be to set up a Donor’s Choose project. I’ve read that a lot of companies are matching distance learning projects. right now.

Supplies In The Box

• Pencil box
• Box of crayons
• Pair of id scissors
• 1 Glue stick
• 1 Expo marker
• 1 Pencil sharpener
• 2 1oz PlayDoh tubs
• 3 Pencils
• 10 Popsicle sticks
• 3 Paperclips
• 10 Clothespins
• 20 small manipulatives -we used foam stars we had leftover from crafts and 10 mini erasers.

This is a great time to grab these supplies since so many of them are on sale at Target and Walmart now for back to school.

Additional ideas that you can add

• A pair of dice
• A deck of playing cards

What do we do with the supplies?

I tried to think of all of the different things the students may need to use to practice different things throughout the school day. Here are some ideas of ways you can use the supplies for both reading and math.

You can use the clothespins for different clip card activities, It’s also great fine motor practice for them.

The popsicle sticks can be used to build letters. You can also use them to practice counting or practice tally marks. One can also be used as a guide while practicing reading to help follow along.

Use the paperclips and pencil together to create a spinner. Here are some fun activities we use with the spinner.

The Playdoh can be used to build letters, numbers, or shapes. It can also be used as math counters by rolling it into balls.

The manipulatives can be used to practice counting, to practice ten frames and numbers bonds too.

The Expo marker can be used on laminated sheets you may send home or have in the classroom that can be wiped down. You can also send home a small whiteboard for the students to use during an online virtual class meeting.

Everything that I listed above fits perfectly into the box for you to send home or store for student use in the classroom.

Can you think of anything else that I may have missed that you would add to the box? I hope this helps give you some ideas for the upcoming school year.

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Student Supply Box For Distance Learning appeared first on Primary Playground.

Fun Fridays are a great way to end a week as a reward for working hard all week! The kiddos deserve some time to socialize and play so I’m sharing 30 Fun Fridays Ideas.

You may like to stick to doing the same thing each Friday, or maybe like to choose 4 different things for each week of the month. Do what works best for your class and your students.

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30 Fun Friday Ideas

1. Break out the board games and let the kids play. So many good things can be learned from playing board games with others. From taking turns to learning how to lose gracefully. My favorite place to find inexpensive games is our local thrift store and garage sales.

2. Create a maker space area for them where they are free to create. MAKERSPACE: a place where we gather tools and materials to create, invent, tinker, design, fabricate, or otherwise enable individuals, a community, or a group to make something. The possibilities are endless for what the kiddos can and will create.

3. Cooking in the classroom. This is a favorite for me!

There are so many skills being taught when learning to cook. It’s a yummy way to practice following directions, sequencing, fine motor skills and so much more. Our cooking class bundle has a bunch of fun foods that you can easily make in the classroom.

4. Watch GoNoodle videos. The kids can’t get enough of them.

5. Do a directed drawing project with your students. You can find many options out there but our favorite is using Art For Kids Hub. We’ve been drawing along with the family for YEARS now!

6. Learn about a different country each week. Try foods, do a craft, learn a game, learn some words. Offer for parents to come in and teach the class about a country whether it’s one they are from or just one they’d like to share about. Use sight-up genius for the parents to sign up so they know what countries have been taken.

7. Choose different science experiments to do as a class. Some of our favorites are making a rainbow in a jar, making slime, and elephant toothpaste.

8. Stem bins or stem activities as a class. Can your students build a bridge for the bears to cross with 10 popsicle sticks and 2 snap blocks?

9. When the weather is nice, have a bubble day. Make your own bubble solution, paint with bubbles, and read bubble books.

10. Extra recess. You can never go wrong with extra recess when the weather is nice out!

11. Teach life skills. Practice shoe typing, teach proper manners at the table, how to set a table, how to wrap a gift. So many great options that some of the kids may not get help at home with.

12. Have a guest or mystery reader come in and read a story to the class.

13. Play bingo! This is seriously a favorite. Whether you want to review something your class has been learning about or just for fin bingo we have you covered with all of our bingo sets.

14. Create stories or puppet shows using puppets or story popsicle stick puppets. Have them put on a show for the class.

15. Make a class book. We have this fun class cookie cookbook to use during the holiday season.

16. Do yoga as a class. Our favorite one to use is Cosmic Yoga. She takes the kids on a whole adventure using yoga.

17. Do an author study. Choose an author, read several books by them, do a craft and make a snack to go along with one of the books you read. Eric Carle is a favorite for us. Here is a snack idea to go along with his books that we’ve shared.

18. Have a flashlight Friday. You can purchase small flashlights at Dollar Tree or Walmart for a dollar to hand out to the kids. Turn the lights off and have them use the flashlights to read. Encourage them to bring blankets and stuffed friendS to read with.

19. Play minute to win it games. These are always so fun to play. Set up 5 different games and have them rotate through them. Here are some of our minute-to-win-it game ideas for fall, winter, spring and a donut theme.

20. Free play-play-based centers. Just let them play. Think blocks, Legos, puzzles, dinosaurs, dollhouse, dramatic play areas, Lincoln Logs.

21. Take a nature walk or a scavenger hunt. Look for different things they’ve been learning about. You could look for different colors, shapes, letters, or numbers.

22. In the warmer months, have a Freeze Pop Friday and bring in special freeze pops for them to enjoy outside.

23. Do a craft to go along with a book that you read that week. Here’s a chameleon craft that we did to go along with The Mixed-Up Chameleon.

24. Ask an older grade, 3-5 to become reading buddies with your class. Have them come and read with your kids and then make a craft or snack together to go along with the book.

25. Have a dance party! Who doesn’t want to dance on a Friday afternoon?!

26. Paint with watercolors or paint with paints using the easel

27. Set up special centers to go along with the theme that you’ve been teaching that week. Make them different than your regular daily centers. For example, if you have been working on an apple unit, have a craft center, a stem center, have them stack 10 apples up top using play-doh, a science center testing whether apples sink or float, and a snack station where they can make an apple snack. Encourage parents to come in and help with centers for the last hour of the day.

28. Make a snack based on the letter of the week they’ve been learning about. We have a huge list of snack ideas to go along with each letter here.

29. If you have involved parents, have them take turns signing up to come in and real to the class and then do a project or have a snack to go along with the book they read. 30.

30. Break out the shaving cream. This is a huge hit with the kids. Spray some shaving cream onto their tables or desks and have them practice writing letters, numbers, their name, or sight words. It’s great for a little extra fine motor practice while having fun!

Whew! That’s the end of my 30 Fun Friday Ideas. Do you have any other fun things you like to do with your class on Fridays?

See you next time!

Jenette

The post 30 Fun Friday Ideas appeared first on Primary Playground.

There’s a good chance that you have a pretty good collection of teacher mugs. You may even have enough to open your own coffee shop by now. Some people love receiving fun mugs and others don’t even drink coffee or tea and have no clue what to do with them. I’m sharing a bunch of different ways to use your teacher mug collection.

Before I do though I wanted to share a little story with you. A few years ago, my son had a gifted teacher he went to twice a day for reading and math. He had her for a couple of years and was really close to her as there was only a handful of kids in his class with her. He knew her well and asked to get her a coffee mug one year for Christmas, she drank coffee in her classroom throughout the day. (had a coffee maker in her classroom) She loved the mug he gave her and used it every day in the classroom.

The next school year, he had her again for the same classes, but sadly passed away in September just after school started. When her room was being cleaned out his homeroom teacher knew the mug had been special to both his teacher and him and she gave it back to my son to keep as a special memory of her. It now sits on our hutch in our home with some fake succulents in as a special memory of her for him. So you just never know how special a mug can be as a gift.

The students absolutely love seeing you use the mugs they have give you, wether you use it for your morning coffee, or put pencils in it on your desk. It’s very special for them to see you using it.

15+ Ways To Use Your Teacher Mug Collection

• Use the mugs to hold water for watercolor painting. The mugs are nice and heavy so they won’t tip over and spill.
• Use them to hold writing utensils, pencils, pens, markers, scissors, etc.
• Collect the Christmas mugs and create a gift for your students. Fill them with popcorn and a candy cane or with a package of hot chocolate and a candy cane for them to take home.
• Add some soil and succulents or fake ones to a few mugs and place them throughout your classroom.
• Have a mug exchange in your classroom. Wrap the mugs, play a game, have the students open the mugs and enjoy some hot cocoa.

• Save the mugs for when you retire. Use them as centerpieces for your tables and then raffle them off.
• Keep the Christmas ones to set out at your home during the holidays for guests to use. Relatives and friends love getting to choose a fun mug to drink from.
• Save them for when you teach the letter T. Have a tea party, dress fancy and serve tea in them.
• Save Christmas mugs until you have a class set to serve your class hot cocoa during the winter months or a Polar Express day. Keep them for the next year after washing or send them home as a gift to your students.

• Use the mugs to plant flowers in during your plant unit.
• Break them into pieces and make stepping stone mosaics with your class.
• Use them to hold paintbrushes near your sink.
• Donate them to a high school or local flower design class.
• Suggest to your school’s student council or NJHS to collect mugs in November. Add a hot cocoa packet and candy cane and wrap them up in a decorated bag and deliver them to a senior living center.

• Donate them to a local diner or coffee shop that uses fun random mugs for their customers.
• Pass them onto your parents, sibling or friends that can use them at their vacation home/cabin.
• Use them as a gift idea for college students you may know. Print off some fun recipes that can be made in a mug like cakes, mac, and cheese, etc. and tie them to the mug.

Do you have any other fun ways that you like to use your coffee mug collection? Or maybe have a special story to share? Share with us in the comments below!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post 15+ Ways To Use Your Teacher Mug Collection appeared first on Primary Playground.

After giving your class directions and sending them off to complete the assignment you’ve given, how many times are you asked the same questions over and over again? Can we work with a friend? Where does this go? That’s where using Visual Direction Cards In The Classroom is a lifesaver!

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These visual direction cards will help your students see and remember what you want them to do while building independence. These cards will help eliminate repeated questions about the directions they have been given.

Simply print, laminate, and attach a magnet strip to the back for the easiest use on your whiteboard.

There are several different cards for each of the questions.

What supplies do I need?: scissors, glue stick, pencil, glue, dry erase marker, markers, watercolor paint, clipboard, post-it note highlighter, reading book, math binder, science journal, writing journal, STEM log, daily take-home folder, headphones, computer, tablet

Where does this ?: turn in bins, in my daily take-home binder, in my take-home binder, on my desk, in my mailbox, in my science journal, in my math binder, in my writing journal, in my backpack, in my math journal, in my STEM log, in my science journal, hand to the teacher

Where can I work?: at my desk, at my center, on the carpet

Can I work with a friend?: do it by yourself, collaborate with a buddy, share ideas but complete your own work, complete with the group.

You can find these Visual Direction Cards For The Classroom in my TeachersPayTeachers store.

Do you have any other tips or tricks you use to help your students follow and remember directions?

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Visual Direction Cards In The Classroom appeared first on Primary Playground.

Volunteers can be an invaluable resource for teachers! You may have the volunteers but wondering, how do I use them in the classroom? It can be overwhelming when you have people volunteering but don’t know what to have them do for you. I’m going to share how to use those volunteers in the classroom.

There are all types of parents and grandparents that would love to help but just don’t always know how or aren’t able to come in during the school day but are still willing to help.

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Volunteers in the classroom

• Make copies
• Laminate
• Hole-Punching/binding student work to make books
• Assist students with a craft project
• Put together book orders
• Help with math or reading centers
• Help in the school garden
• Assist/monitor students on the computers or iPads
• Put flyers in folders/cubbies/mailboxes
• One on one help with students that need extra help
• Be a room parent and set up class parties
• Organize/level books in the classroom library
• Prep center activities
• Sharpen pencils
• Taking down/hang up bulletin boards
• Taking down/hanging up student work
• One on one reading with students
• Guided reading groups
• Assist with lunch (huge help in the first 2 weeks of school with kinders).

Volunteers from home

• Cut laminated materials
• Donating items to the classroom
• Separate Scholastic magazines (why do they send them that way?)

Your once in a while volunteers that work full-time

• Be a guest/mystery reader
• Chaperone field trips
• Donating items to the classroom
• Help room parent with class parties

Now that you have a ton of ideas of different ways to use your volunteers, make sure to check my post about how to get your classroom ready for volunteers.

And if you’d like even more guidance and printables to help you along with the process, you might like our parent volunteer pack.

Do you have any other ideas of ways to use volunteers in your classroom?

See you next time!

Jenette

The post How To Use Volunteers In The Classroom appeared first on Primary Playground.

Volunteers can be a huge lifesaver in your classroom. Getting your classroom ready for volunteers set up ahead of time before the school year starts, will save you a ton of time later when you’re busy with students and make things run smoothly all year long.

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Designate a volunteer area

Choose a special spot in your classroom to make your volunteer area. When you have your curriculum night, you can introduce the area to all of the parents so if they do come in during the school year, they’ll know exactly where to go to find out what needs to be done that day. It doesn’t have to be a large area, just enough room to put a few things they’ll need.

What’s in the volunteer area?

Set up an inbox where they can find out the instructions for the day and a completed box for items that you’ve asked them to completed. Ie cutting, laminating, copying. Explain to your volunteers that this is where they can go to find out what is needed during their visit to your class that day so there is no need for them to interrupt the class as they come in.

Create a supply caddy for your volunteers to use. I like to use one with a handle so if they will be headed to the copy room, they can easily carry it with them so they’ll have any and all supplies they would need with them so there’s no running back and forth.

Some things I like to have in my volunteer supply caddy at all times is:

Post-it notes so they can write me notes

Pencils, pens, Sharpies

Scissors

Stapler

Staple remover

Extra roll of tape

Paper clips and binder clips

Copy clips

Create copy clips. When you need things copied, use the copy clips by easily clipping them to the papers you need to be copied. Want them collated and stapled? Attached those clips too.

Small Groups

If your volunteers will be coming in to help with small groups. Set them up another volunteer inbox. You put your guided reading groups book and worksheets in the box together. Or do you want your volunteer to work with a small group of students by playing a literacy game with them? Put the game in the box with a note attached with the names of the students they will be playing with today.

If you’re looking for even more guidance and all of the printables shown above you can find them in my Parent Volunteer Pack in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

I hope you have gotten a few good tips to use for Getting Your Classroom Ready For Volunteers to start off a new successful year!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Getting Your Classroom Ready For Volunteers appeared first on Primary Playground.

Do you bring your lunch to school? In the teacher’s lounge, the question comes up often, what is the best lunch bag for teachers? Before you go back to school shopping for yourself, check out the best lunch bags for teachers and some of my favorite lunch box supplies to go in those lunch bags.

this article (and most) on primary playground, does contain affiliate links that we do earn a commission off of.  clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps our website to keep great articles and freebies like this coming your way.

Lunch Bags

There are so many different lunch bags out there! I’ve asked around to my friends and from my own personal experiences, these are my top picks for the best lunch bags for teachers.

Lifewit Insulated Lunch Box Lunch Bag

Perfect lunch bag for men or women. This lunch bag is water-resistant and has a leakproof soft cooler inside. It has 2 compartments to easily keep your hot and cold food separate.  I love that this one comes with a should strap to make it easier to carry in each day because you know just as well as I do, that there aren’t many days you walk into school empty-handed. This one comes with an ice pack as a nice bonus. 

LOKASS Lunch Bag Insulated Lunch Box Wide-Open Lunch Tote Bag

This lunch bag is wonderful for the wide opening to easily put all of your items inside of it. The looks are deceiving on this one. From the outside, it doesn’t seem like it will hold much but it has a very large capacity. I love that you can set your lunch in horizontally and take it out that way too.

BALORAY Lunch Bag Tote Bag

This is another that looks are deceiving. It seems small on the outside, but it can hold a ton! My favorite part about this lunch bag is the front pocket where you can put silverware, your phone, or even pocket change for the vending machine.

Vera Bradley Lunch Bunch, Signature Cotton

This bag is on the smaller size but I still wanted to mention it because I have a friend that LOVes hers. She’s still able to fit everything inside of the bag that she needs and she says she likes that it is cotton. So easy to just pop in the wash every so often to keep it clean.

The Pioneer Woman Blossom Jubilee Lunch Tote w/ Hydration Bottle

This bag is another large-capacity lunch bag. I love that it has side pockets for extra storage. And you can’t beat a matching water bottle that comes with it. The only downside for me is that it says to hand wash only.

I also wanted to note that a friend has a Thirty-one lunch bag and she loves it too. You may want to ask around for a local Thirty-one consultant to see about ordering one of those. It is fun to be able to personalize them!

Lunch Box Supplies

There are a couple of things that are must-haves for me and my lunch packing. I wanted to share the things that I love and use daily.

Ice Packs

I rarely put my lunch in the refrigerator so ice packs are a must for myself along with my kid’s lunch boxes. These are my 2 favorites I’ve been using for years now.

Food Container

I pack lunch in these containers every single day during the school year, for both myself and the kiddos. We’ve been using them for the past 7 years and haven’t found anything else I like as much by far. I’m able to put apple sauce or yogurt in the compartments and it fully seals it and never leaks. Love them! (I usually pick them up at Target. It’s the only place I’ve ever been able to find them other than ordering them.)

Snack containers

I found these containers last year while I was grocery shopping one day. I love them. They have a small tray that fits inside on top so we use them for carrots and ranch and yogurt with granola in the top lid. They seal great and I haven’t had any of them leak on me. I also love making those cheese and nut packs. They get expensive so I just cut up cheese put it in the bottom part and peanuts in the top tray!

Another favorite is this lunch crock-pot. Have you seen these? I LOVE mine and if you need some lunch ideas to go along with it I gathered some of my favorites here.

And my most recent find that I have been loving this past year is these amazing salad containers. The bowl is a great size for your salad and then it has a tray to put on top of the bowl with all of your toppings/add-ins so they don’t get soggy. It also comes with a dressing container and a fork. It has been fantastic!

And if you are looking for easy lunch inspiration, I share my favorite easy teacher lunches here. 

I hope you found something new and useful for lunchtime. If you have any other favorites of your own, make sure to share with us in the comments! See you next time!

Jenette

The post The Best Lunch Bags For Teachers appeared first on Primary Playground.

Have you ever had a student move away during the school year? We become so close to our students, it’s a sad day for both us and the students in the class when a classmate moves away. To make it a bit easier, here’s a student moving away gift idea for you!

I made this fun free printable to help send your student on their way to their next adventure with a special gift from their class.

Instructions

Simply print the free printable at the bottom of the post. You’ll need a variety of paint colors or ink pads to have each of the students in the class use a finger to make the balloons on the printable. Wait for it to dry, pop it into a frame and your gift is ready!

You could also have all of the classmates sign their name on the paper, or you could write each one of their names in a balloon.

This would make a fantastic gift to give to your student teacher as well. Sending them onto their next adventure! If you’re looking for more student-teacher gift ideas, here’s 20 more.

You can download the free printable below.

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Student Moving Away Gift Idea appeared first on Primary Playground.

Do you use callbacks or attention grabbers with your class?

Today I have 25 Class Callbacks-Attention Grabbers. I think they’re important and work well. Some classes do well with changing to a new phrase every month or so and some classes are better with sticking to the same all year long. You’ll find what fits your class best and may change from year to year.

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If you haven’t used callbacks in your class before, you simply say the teacher phrase,

“Crew!”

and the students stop what they’re doing and respond back with

“Aye aye captain!

Sometimes the students will surprise you and come up with a new callback on their own that you can try out. Or it’s fun to change callbacks for the different holidays.

I created a free printable with the 25 class callbacks so you can easily choose a new phrase to use.

Or print it and put it on a clipboard hanging up in your classroom. Attach a clothespin to the callback you’re currently using. You can then put it in your sub-notes when needed so they can easily see what callback you are using and be able to get the attention of your class just the same.

Grab your free printable 25 Class Callbacks-Attention Grabbers below.

What are your favorite ways to get your class’s attention?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post 25 Class Callbacks-Attention Grabbers appeared first on Primary Playground.

Making applesauce in the classroom is one of the easiest things to do! It fits perfectly into our apple unit and the kids get so excited about it! This is a super quick and easy recipe perfect for the classroom and only has 5 ingredients! Be prepared for the classroom to smell amazing!

We do this activity as part of our apple unit and our Cooking Class How To Make Applesauce. It is a fun way to incorporate many different learning standards. In this pack, the students are learning writing, sequencing, retelling, life skills and much more. It’s a great hands-on activity to get the students excited to learn.

Supplies you’ll need

a crockpot  or a slow cooker

wooden spoon

measuring spoons and cups

peeler

knife for slicing the apples

cutting board

paper bowls and plastic spoons for taste testing

Ingredients

This will make a good tasting amount for approx 15 students – double the recipe if you have a larger class

8 golden delicious apples (red apples will work too)

1 cup of water

1/3 cup of  granulated sugar

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Making applesauce in the classroom

To make this classroom friendly, I prepare all but one or two of the apples at home. I peel and slice them so they are ready to go. Bring the last couple of apples so the students can see the process too of peeling and slicing the apples. Depending on your class level, you may choose to pick a couple of students to help demonstrate it to the class.

To make the applesauce, peel, and core. Cut the apples into fourths and place them in the crockpot. Have students measure and add the sugar, water, lemon, and cinnamon. Have another student stir the apples to combine everything.

Put the lid on the crockpot and cook the apples on HIGH for 3-4 hours, or until apples are very soft.

Allow them to cool slightly and then mash them with a wooden spoon. This will leave them somewhat chunky, but if you want a more smooth applesauce you can put them into a blender or use an immersion blender.

When the applesauce is cool enough, it’s time to taste test!

I made the recipe into a printable so you can send it home with your students to share with their families in case they want to make some applesauce at home too!

Click the green box below to download the free recipe printable.

And if you need a great read-aloud to go with making applesauce with your class, you have to check out Applesauce Day.

This is a fantastic book about a families tradition of making applesauce together each year. It takes you along through their entire day from picking the apples to making the applesauce and then heading home excited to do it all again next year. You can find out more and grab the FREE printable to go along with the book here.

I hope your students have fun with this hands-on learning experience!

See you next time!

Jenette

The post Making Applesauce In The Classroom appeared first on Primary Playground.

A few years ago, I’d walked into a friend’s classroom in the morning, and she had classical music playing as the students walked in each morning. It had such a calming effect on the students and helped them settle in quickly for the day. I thought I need to use music more! I’m sharing the best Pandora stations for primary classrooms that I’ve found.

First, I do not pay for Pandora. It is $5.50 a month if you’d like to subscribe. It would be ad-free for you and you do have the benefit of skipping as many songs as you’d like and replaying different songs.

To keep it friendly for the classroom without paying, you can do two things to help. First, you can turn off and remove explicit content from your Pandora account. Below is a Youtube video to show you how to do that.

Second, is you can add an ad blocker to your computer by going to the web store and choosing a free ad blocker. It makes it so you can listen to Pandora without any ads in the classroom.

Music can be used in so many ways throughout your day. Have music playing as your class comes in, maybe after lunch as they come in from recess to relax for a few minutes and reset for the afternoon. How about some instrumental music during writing time during morning work or math boxes and more upbeat songs during clean up or getting ready to go home time?

Now to the good part!

the best pandora stations for primary classrooms

The Piano Guys – this is a family favorite that we listen to at home as well, a lot of current songs that are played using the piano, cello and violin.

Instrumentals for Studying –  instrumental music only so the voices won’t distract the students

Disney (Children’s) – a lot of popular Disney songs the kids know and love

The Mozart Effect –  a mix of nice instrumental music

Twinkle Twinkle Little Rock Star (Children’s) Radio – an rockin’ instrumental/lullaby station with songs from artists like Billy Idol, The Beatles and Avalon

Soundscape – instrumental music with a mix our environmental sounds – think a classical piece with rain falling in the background

Jack Johnson (Childrens) Radio – a lot of your traditional Jack Johnson music with other encouraging songs mixed in from other similar artists

Greg and Steve Radio – a mix of traditional kids songs

Kids Bop – “kid-friendly” versions of hit singles re-recorded by session musicians

Beats For Studying – similar to the Piano Guys stations, a lot of instrumental, piano, and violins

Classical Goes Pop – a lot of fun, upbeat, current instrumental music like Lindsey Stirling

Vitamin String Quartet –  well known popular rock, pop and country songs instrumental style

I hope you were able to find a new station or two to try out in your class! Do you have any other favorites you’d add to the list?

See you next time!

Jenette

The post The Best Pandora Stations For Primary Classrooms appeared first on Primary Playground.

I love celebrating birthdays! At our school, kids are still allowed to bring in a treat to share on their birthday but it has to be prepackaged. I wanted to add something special for the kiddos on their day but keep it low cost for me, so I made this free printable birthday hat for them to wear.

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Simply print out the hat, and have the birthday kid color it in. On the back strap, I left it blank. It would be fun to have all of the students sign their names on it, like a card for the birthday kid. During morning work would be a good time to do this, so they get to wear their hat all day and have everyone they pass by tell them Happy Birthday. It makes them feel so special.

During the last 15 minutes of the day, set aside time to have their birthday treat if they bring one in. It makes the celebration quick and easy.

You can download the free printable birthday hat below.

How do you handle birthdays in your classroom?

Jenette

The post Free Printable Birthday Hat appeared first on Primary Playground.

The other day I shared my Pete the Cat painted rocks for the classroom. Today, I’m sharing with you a free printable cool cat award that can be given along with placing the rock on their desk, or when you take the rock back at the end of the day.

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It’s an opportunity to write a little note to the student. They can take it home and show it off proudly that they got to have Pete the Cat sit on their desk with them that day.

Maybe you want to thank them for having a nice and clean desk. Or for how well they’re doing with practicing their sight words. Everyone likes a little recognition from time to time.

You can download the free printable cool cat award by clicking the green box below. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Jenette

The post Free Printable Cool Cat Award appeared first on Primary Playground.