Tagged with 'classroom activity'

Although it may manifest in different ways, many kids will be carrying some serious stress when they return to the classroom. From concerns about COVID and a new set of rules to follow to social anxiety and worries about getting back into the school schedule after months of being away, this will by no means be a typical school year. And that’s just the kids! Teachers have their own set of stressors.While we can’t solve all these problems, we do have some great ideas to help create a calm, cool, collected classroom during these crazy times, like:1. Sometimes we all just need a moment. Visit our friends at Teachstarter.com for some amazing mindfulness activities and meditation moment ideas. Breathing is about as easy as it gets, with great, calming results. Have students place their hands on their bellies, close their eyes, and take a deep breath in, then out. See if they can move their hands using only their breath.[caption id="attachment_6810" align="alignnone" width="843"] Photo credit: https://fit.sanfordhealth.org/[/caption]2. Lavender has been shown to reduce anxiety, increase relaxation, quiet anger, and soothe restlessness. So, spritz your classroom with a spray, keep lavender-scented lotion at your desk, and opt for lavender scented hand sanitizer at your hand washing station. Or, better yet, put all of these things on your classroom wish list!3. Sensory play has also been proven to help kids stay calm and sit still and is particularly important for students with Sensory Processing Disorder. Providing breaks for sensory stimulation is a great way to create a more soothing space and there are so many ways to do it! Find some great sensory play ideas including bean boxes, colored rice, and more on our Pinterest board, Sensory Activities for babies, toddlers and preschoolers. And, of course, Playfoam^® is the perfect mess-free sensory play substance – kids can squish, squash, and sculpt – then stash the Playfoam away for next time. It never dries out, so the sensory fun never ends! Check out tons more ideas for Playfoam activities here.[video width="1080" height="1080" mp4="https://www.educationalinsights.com/media/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/PF_pinterest_5.mp4"][/video] 4. Sometimes we need more than a moment! Help calm a completely crazy classroom with “heads down in the dark.” Turn off the lights, turn on some soft, classical music, and have students place their cheeks down on their cool desks. Breathe in and out, listening to the music and the sound of your breath, until everyone seems ready to resume the day.[caption id="attachment_6818" align="alignnone" width="839"] Photo credit: Washington Post[/caption]5. Speaking of lights, flickering, glaring fluorescent lighting can cause eyestrain, headaches, and tension for all. Cover it up and create a soothing atmosphere in the classroom with calming Classroom Light Filters! Available in a variety of colors, patterns, and sizes, Classroom Light Filters are designed to fit over standard fluorescent ceiling lights, attaching securely to their metal frames with sewn-in magnets.Parents! Show your thanks for teachers who are going above and beyond to keep your kids safe and smart. Many of these ideas also make great teacher gifts! Check out more cute ideas on our Teacher Appreciation Pinterest Board! 

"Teacher, table for 2!"Our Deal of the Day today features imaginative play the environmentally friendly way with our Classroom Café Dining Play Set! This dining play set includes 58 pieces of everything you need to set up a café-themed imaginative play area in your classroom with a green twist! Each adorable and sturdy piece is made of 100% food-grade recycled plastic. Get our 58-piece Classroom Café™ Dining Play Set for only $49.99 (down from $89.99) until midnight PST tonight at: http://www.educationalinsights.com/product/classroom+caf-+dining+play+set.do Plus, to get free shipping on your Deal of the Day order, enter promo code EIFREE at checkout."

After 15 years teaching everything from preschool to high school, veteran teacher, published kids' book author, literacy volunteer, and our very own senior product manager Marcia Gresko knows all too well the ins and outs of creating fun and engaging lessons for any classroom! Here is a word from Marcia herself about some Classroom activities she did with her kids during the Fall season:Here are 2 hands-on fall activities I did with my pre-kinder classes during our fall study of Native Americans.The first is a cooperative weaving activity. The “loom” is made from 2 wooden bars, jute-like string, and beads. You drill holes in the bars, string the jute through the holes, and secure it with beads to prevent it from slipping back through. Then I hung it at kid-level from 2 hooks on the door of one of my classroom cupboards. Children took turns weaving strips of scrap, thrift-store fabric “under and over, under and over” the vertical string. Don’t worry if they don’t get it close to the previous strip. They can just push it up next to it when they have finished their turn. I added strips with children’s names from the bottom to finish off the activity. They came out so beautifully we entered one of them in our community’s Old Hometown Fair, and both hung in my classroom for years. The second is a simple, cooperative totem-pole activity. The children painted boxes, added cut-outs, and stacked them up. BTW, in case you are wondering, we did discuss that Native Americans were not all one people. Different groups lived all over our country and those groups lived differently depending on their location.

Are you ready to be the world's coolest teacher? It's Saturday August 25th, 2012, and our featured Deal of the Day is The GeoSafari® Classroom Dinosaur Dig!This has everything that a teacher needs to create a realistic T-Rex Excavation in your own schoolyard or sandbox! It includes a full T. rex skeleton in 30 snap-together parts, 6 plant fossils, herbivorous dinosaur jawbone fragment, support rods, 8 trowels, 4 brushes, 16 stakes, 200 feet (60 m) of grid tape, 2 full-color posters, plus a 20-page guide with step-by-step directions, lesson plans, and reproducibles! Your students will LOVE excavating, and piecing together a huge super-realistic Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton, who wouldn't?! This is an activity that they will remember for years to come!This kit is normally $159.99, but it's on sale today (until midnight PST tonight) for $49.99 (a HUGE savings of 69%)! Hurry over to http://www.educationalinsights.com/product/geosafari-reg-+classroom+dinosaur+dig.do to order yours now! Don't forget to enter in promo code EIFREE for FREE standard SHIPPING on this deal. Dig up some serious fun!

It's Friday August 24th, 2012 and our Deal of the Day is on our Vowels Phonics Puzzles!This puzzle set comes with 2 puzzles, each with 20 different words! Have your kids practice 40 different words with short and long vowel sounds.  These puzzles feature full-color picture cues that help children learn and recognize print vocabulary, great for kids ages 6-8 for home or at school (great idea for a hands-on literacy center activity).Normally our Vowels Phonics Puzzles retail for $34.99, but today only until midnight PST, you can get them for just $6.99! It's a steal! Don't forget about the Free Shipping you get when you enter EIFREE at checkout as well. Take advantage of today's offer by purchasing it here: http://www.educationalinsights.com/product/vowels+phonics+puzzles.do?from=Search

Hey Teachers! Today is Tuesday August 7th, 2012, and we have an astounding deal for you today. Our featured Deal of the Day today is none other than Classroom Jeopardy!Classroom Jeopardy normally sells for $549.99, but for today ONLY, you can get this multiple award winning console for $39.99. You read that right. $34.99! With today's Deal of the Day, you can now bring the excitement of this popular quiz show to class review for a whopping 92% discount!It includes everything you need to write, save and play games on your TV. You can program up to 61 of your own questions to target any skill or content, then download and share them for free at www.classroomjeopardy.com.It includes: Classroom Jeopardy!® linkClassroom Jeopardy! Editor CD ROM game-creation software (PC and Mac compatible)3 Wireless team controllersWireless teacher remoteElectronic scoreboard with 3 erasable name cardsWireless antennaPower adapter and cords5 Pre-programmed sampler games, plus extra storage space for custom gamesComplete instructions6" Screwdriver Provide effective and meaningful whole-class review before assessments with Classroom Jeopardy. Hurry, this sale is only active today until midnight PST! Read the reviews and believe it! Take advantage of this amazing offer before it ends at www.educationalinsights.com. To add to the insane discount, enter EIFREE at checkout to save even MORE money and get free shipping with this order!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBFsWwM8uK4&feature=youtu.be]Hi! Amy here from Educational Insights with today’s Deal of the Day. Today is Thursday July 19th, 2012, and the Deal of the Day is Stick-to-it! Phonics Short Vowels sounds game. So we’ve got a double-sided felt board and two sticky balls. Kids take turns throwing the balls and landing on different short vowel sounds like “-ap”, “-ick”, “-at”, or “-ot”. They can identify the short vowel sound “aw” for “oh”, they can come up with a word that uses that short vowel sound like “cot” or “pot”, or they could come up with rhyming words: “cot”, “lot”, “got”. The other side has images, same thing. So, if you landed on a sock or a pin, you can identify the short vowel sound, “-aw” or “-ih”, rhyming words, word families, using those words in sentences. Lots of fun!It usually retails for $29.99, today’s Deal of the Day makes it $12.99, so head on over to Educationalinsights.com before midnight to get a great deal of Stick-to-it! Phonics Short Vowels sounds game.Also, as a gift from us to you, enter EIFREE for free shipping with a Deal of the Day purchase!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEJ3rPyK2cQ]Hey everyone it’s Riley Wilkinson with today’s Deal of the Day. It’s Monday July 16th, and I’d like to tell you about Science Challenge of the Week.This product is really, kinda fantastic because it does the work for you. It teaches your students about science: Earth Science, physical science and life science during the course of the week. We have designed 40 fully illustrated cards, one for every week of the school year. You put this up on week one and you tell your students, “There is an image, and in this image, something is scientifically wrong. It’s your job as a student to find out what’s wrong.” For example, this one has a spider hanging from its web in front of a window over some toys, what’s wrong with this image?Well, in the instruction manual, there’s a full explanation for each of them that tells you as a teacher what the problem is, what the science challenge is that the students are solving. In this case, the spider has 6 legs; we all know that spiders have eight legs. So, the lucky student who drew a spider with eight legs would have their drawing put into the pouch at the end of the week.It’s really a great way to get students interested in science and to get them talking about science at home with the family and with each other in your classroom. $24.99 Regularly priced, and today’s deal of the day makes it $14.99 until midnight PST. So go to educationalinsights.com and check it out!