Free Printable Coloring Mini Books for Children

Educator Jonathon Holt says children learn best when they are actively involved. Here are free printable mini booklets for children to color. Subject include letters, words, seasons, animals, science, Bible, holidays and lots more. These books make excellent classroom, homeschoool and supplemental lessons for ages 4-7 years (grades preschool through second). These free printable activities are especially good for special needs children. Free Printable Coloring Mini Books for Children

Holiday Activities, Crafts, Lessons and Printables from Enchanted Learning

Anyone involved in education, after school activities or child care knows summer holidays produce either boredom, loneliness frenetic activity or all three. If you need games, activities, printables here you go. Get crafts, calendars, diagrams to label, maps to fill in, booklets to cut, color, answer and assemble, online student encyclopedia, online coloring, printable coloring pages, reference, lessons, complete units, themes. Enchanted Learning can be your lifeline, both for summer holidays. Holiday Activities, Crafts, Lessons and Printables from Enchanted Learning

Free Poetry Writing Prompts, Poem Games, Activities

April is National Poetry Month. For online writers, it's NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Writer Month). And what better month to celebrate than April with spring awakening, nature busting out all over and Earth Day nestled in? Want to join the poem-penning but don't know where to begin? Here are poem writing prompts, story starters and word games to call forth your inner bard! Perfect for homeschooler parents, English and creative writing teachers.

Verse-adventure: Hands down, there's no better poetry muse than mother nature. Get outside and start your poem quest. Pack a bag with pen, paper, thesaurus and blanket. Station yourself in a garden. Walk in the woods. Sit on the beach. Observe the elements: wind, sun, water. Notice the flora and fauna: trees, flowers, animals, land formations. Jot down sensory details--colors, sounds, smells, shapes. Check your thesaurus for new, fresh words to express ideas. Free Poetry Writing Prompts, Poem Games, Activities 

Free Printable Preschool Board Games, Learning Activities

As a certified special needs teacher for CI (cognitively impaired) students, I always write interactive lesson plans. Hands-on activities, like games, make content relevant, approachable and understandable for both general and special education students. Preschool kids particularly need multisensory learning activities. Happily, there are many free printable preschool games available online. Free Printable Preschool Board Games, Learning Activities

Printable Brown Bear, Brown Bear Reading Games, Literature Crafts

 "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?" Thus begins a charming, eponymous preschool favorite by author Bill Martin. Via illustrator Eric Carle's pictures, preschoolers learn about colors, animals. patterns, math and also friendship. Here are free printable games, coloring pages, crafts, worksheets and learning activities from the children's literature classic, along with the companion Martin/Carle book "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?"  Free Printable Brown Bear, Brown Bear Activities

Jewish Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Memorial Day Stories

The Hebrew 27th day of Nissan, in fact the entire week, is a sad time for the world. For 2013, these dates correspond to April 6-13 on the Western calendar. They are "days of remembrance" that commemorate Yom HaShoah, Jewish Holocaust Memorial Day. During this time, we honor the millions who died in the World War II Nazi genocide. I'm not a Jew, but I am a human. And I feel deep pain and solidarity with Jews throughout the world.  Let's Mark Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, by Sharing Stories

Easter Bible Object Lessons with Jelly Beans

As a mom, special needs teacher, adult educator and homeschool parent, I'm constantly looking for and developing ways to make learning interactive and approachable. As a bibliophile, I try to make books hands-on. I look for text to life connections. I use object lessons. Using five senses to explore material, students (regardless of age or ability) are engaged and understand content better. Our sense of taste provides oft-overlooked learning opportunities. Kids associated food with positive ideas; endorphins (feel-good hormones) are released when we eat. Endophins produce a sense of well-being and make us more receptive. Here's a Bible lesson using jelly beans as an Easter object lesson. Use Leftover Jelly Beans for an Easter Craft and Devotional Object Lesson

March National Reading Month, Women's History Month--Female Nobel Prize for Literature: Eleven Women Laureates

Since March is both National Reading Month and National Women's History Month, I thought why not celebrate by enjoying books from female Nobel Prize for Literature selections? Researching the Nobel Literature laureates, I found that in the 112-year history of the Nobel Prize, only 12 women have won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Here is a lesson plan for high school English or World Literature classes that focuses on the lives, history and work of those eleven women authors and Nobel Laureates. Here's a link for online activities and printable worksheets. In 1909: Swedish-born Selma Lagerlof becomes the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature for series of children's stories entitled The Many Adventures of Nils. Note: in my original article, I missed the 1945 winner, Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral, making the total 12. Still too few. Nobel Prize for Literature: Eleven Women Laureates

Catholic Lenten Bible Readings, Prayers, Devotions for Lent

Catholic Relief Services is the single largest non-governmental relief agency in the world. Each year at Lent CRS initiates what is called 'Operation Rice Bowl'. Operation Rice Bowl is a program which focuses our attention on the cardinal aims of the Lenten season: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. The Rice Bowl project consists of a cardboard box which when assembled, looks very much like the take out boxes that rice comes in. The Rice Bowl is a box which families set up in their homes during Lent to collect loose change and offerings for the poor and hungry of the world. Operation Rice bowl also includes a Lenten prayer calendar with devotional activities, feast days and stations of the cross. Each calendar day has a prayer focus. Specific information about world poverty statistics and needs from around the world are listed also.  Lenten Rice Bowl Devotional and Lesson Planner

An Apology for Little Black Sambo

I have a confession to make. My oldest daughter's favorite book, when she was two, was "Little Black Sambo," by Helen Bannerman. Initially, I had no idea some people found it racist and offensive, but even when I found out, I didn't stop reading it. Sambo is one of my favorite children in literature. It was also too late. Molly was in love with the story. This is my apology (in the defense sense of the word) for and to Little Black Sambo. I'm connecting it to Black History Month because I think it should be read with pride and joy. An Apology for Little Black Sambo