Blog - Pencils to Pigtails

Easy Classroom Table Transformation

September 12, 2019

Flexible Seating Options

A classroom table transformation is easy with these simple and inexpensive makeover ideas! I was thrilled with how this old dingy brown table turned out with just a little bit of love. Today I’m sharing the how-to!

Donor’s Choose to the Rescue!

This summer I attended Kindergarten Smorgasbord’s Elevate conference. He finally convinced me to give full-on flexible seating a try. When I was laying in bed that night, I couldn’t sleep and decided to post a project on Donor’s Choose. I was thrilled when our Donor’s Choose project was funded within just a matter of days!

Have you ever used this incredible website? It costs the teacher nothing but can be SO BENEFICIAL for your classroom! In fact, that big classroom rug you also see in the picture was fully funded by donor’s using Donor’s Choose. If you click on one of the links above, we BOTH get $25 towards a project of our choice!

I was absolutely thrilled with these chairs that I picked out from Lakeshore Learning. (This is all done THROUGH Donor’s Choose when you fill out your project.) They can sit straight up, lean back, lay flat, AND they have a zip-off washable cover! My kids love them and even I LOVE to sit in them! If you don’t want to use Donor’s Choose, these ones from Amazon look very similar.

I was also really happy with the little rainbow pillows. The kids ALWAYS grab them to sit on, lay on, and even place them on top of other chairs with a hard surface to make them a little more comfy. They are so colorful and wipeable which makes them easy to clean!

I will be sharing a classroom reveal soon and can’t wait to share how these “rainbow” pillows brighten up one of our couches!

Flexible Seating Options from a Donor's Choose Grant

I could go on and on about these lovely seating options, the generous donor who purchased them for us, and how much we love them. I really encourage you to give Donor’s Choose a try!

On a side note, my students recently finished their thank you notes for the chairs. I knew I needed something simple at the beginning of the year for them to fill out. My “Thank You Resource” worked perfectly. I filled in a letter and each student was asked to write the words “soft seats” on the line. They also wrote their names and drew a picture of the new chairs in our classroom. The resource is packed with differentiated writing pages and a variety of options. I love how they turned out and my students appreciate their new comfy pillows and chairs even more!

Easy Classroom Table Transformation – The Before

Curious what the table looked like before?

Before the Easy Classroom Table Transformation

We’ve ALL had these in our room at some point. That drab brown just really bugs me. I’m pretty sure this table was here when I was a student at Westwood!

Another teacher had already removed the legs and pushed them into tennis balls so that part was ready. I just knew that this table would be the perfect height to use with my new flex chairs but I HATED the top of it!

Contact Paper

I decided to purchase this contact paper from Amazon. (This is an affiliate link. If you purchase using this link, I will earn a SMALL commission from your purchase at NO additional cost to you!)

I could tell right away that I was going to LOVE the result! How much better does it look already???

What Else You Need!

Contact Paper? CHECK
Dingy Ugly Table? CHECK
Scissors? CHECK
Pencil? CHECK
Super Cute Assistant? CHECK!!!

Seriously though, this process is MUCH easier if you have some help. My 5 year old daughter was a huge help to me. For an extra long strip you may want to get an adult. My husband helped with the larger pieces and it kept me sane.

The How-To

Here’s the good news… It’s super simple to do!

Lay your contact paper across the middle of the table or along the edge of one side. Cut a few extra inches in case you misjudged a little bit.

Now, flip the contact paper over and just a pencil to draw an outline of the table like this:

You can see that I started on the side of the table. I promise that wherever you choose to start will work just fine.

You can then cut along the pencil marks and flip it back over. When you have it all lined up the way you want, you are ready to slowly start peeling off the back liner while another person helps to smooth it out.

Yes, you may get some bubbles but it’s no big deal. Try not to pull it up to try and fix it too many times. If you do, it may get worse!

The easiest way is to have someone smoothing as you remove the paper or vice versa.

Aniston really enjoyed helping me with this. She wanted it to be our little secret so the other students didn’t know that this beautiful white table used to be an ugly brown color!

Table Transformation Uses

To be honest, this might not be something you want to do if your kids are constantly doing artwork on it or having water bottles or other drinks around it.

That’s why I decided this would be a perfect computer and iPad table! I asked our tech guys to remove 2 computers from our room. We go to the computer lab for 20 minutes daily and we just honestly don’t use them that much.

I loved the way it looked with our little fake flowers!

A few days later, I placed our iPads on this storage rack that I grabbed from Amazon. I was really pleased with how it turned out. I love using this for our “Tech Table” because the contact paper looks good as new after a couple of months into the school year.

The contact paper is such an inexpensive update that it’s no big deal if you did end up having to replace a little or at the end of the year.

Easy Classroom Table Transformation

Isn’t it just beautiful?

I think the chairs around it are absolutely perfect!

What do you think? Would you try this easy classroom table transformation in your classroom? Let me know in the comments!

And pin this image to come back to when you are ready to begin!

In the meantime, have you tried this 2 ingredient frosting play dough yet with your students?

Are you looking for more classroom makeover ideas?

Happy Teaching & Mommy-ing this week friends!

Grandparents Day in the Primary Classroom

September 7, 2019

Grandparents Day can be celebrated in the kindergarten, preschool, or first grade classroom with keepsake crafts, writing prompts, informative books, interviews, and so much more!

Today I’m sharing how we honor Grandparents each year using pieces from my Grandparents resource! I don’t think anyone has impacted my life more than my grandparents. They are absolutely my heroes! This makes Grandparents Day especially meaningful to me.

Grandparents Day Introduction

This post contains affiliate links, which means if you purchase I make a small commission at no additional cost to you!

Do you remember the Berenstain books? They can seem so long now but I love that they are building our students’ listening stamina!

I have a dream of being a children’s picture book author one day and in my research discovered that most picture book companies will not accept manuscripts with over 500 words. Most Berenstain Bear books have well over 1,000!

This book is such a cute way to introduce your unit about Grandparents Day. I also like to play the video of this episode which you can usually find on youtube.

This is another favorite of mine! I LOVE Llama Llama books and I was completely devastated when I heard Anna Dewdney passed away. Her gift for rhyme and rhythm is unmatched in my opinion.

The picture in the book when they look at the stars? Simply magical!

Grandparents Day Book by Pencils to Pigtails

Nonfiction Book

Have you ever asked students what the name of their Grandma or Grandpa is? Some shrug their shoulders and say they don’t have one. While it may be the case that a few haven’t met their grandparents, for the most part, it is simply that they call them by a different name.

I made sure to make this clear in the book. I also like to discuss how my Hispanic children may call their grandma “abuela” or their grandpa “abuelo”. This is usually met with nods of excitement!

This is just a sample of some of the pages in the book. I also explain when Grandparents Day takes place and how to celebrate with homemade gifts and quality time together!

Nonfiction Grandparents Book by Pencils to Pigtails

Grandparents Day Interviews

We all need quick & easy, especially at the beginning of the school year! I love to send these interviews home for the kids to complete with help from their parents.

A parent letter is included so all you have to do is print the pages and add the parent explanation. They are so proud of these when they bring them back in.

Grandparents Day Interview by Pencils to Pigtails

I helped Aniston fill these out as she interviewed my mom and dad over the phone. She was really fascinated by their answers and loved explaining them in more detail to the class.

After each student has shared the interviews they conducted, I add a piece of yardstick paper to the back to really make them a nice keepsake for the students and grandparents to cherish.

Grandparents Day Photo Frames

This is just one of the frames included. How hilarious is it that I asked the custodian to leave the lawn mower out at school so I could have each of my students pose with it? I think these turned out SO CUTE!

All About My Grandparents

I absolutely LOVE seeing what my students know about their grandparents. It’s always so cute to see how old they think their grandparent are.

I’ve included these for grandmas, grandpas, and with alternate wording to use as needed. With kindergarten, I like to ask them the questions and then write their answers for them. Later in the year, they could write their own.

Add a piece of construction paper or cardstock to the back and you will cherish this forever!

Handprint Keepsakes

Pair your “All About Grandparents” page with these adorable handprint crafts for the perfect gifts!

How cute are these? I lay out all of the handprint crafts I want to use and do them all at once. My assistant is alway so helpful with them. I get lots of questions about the help I receive in the classroom. In my school district, kindergarten teachers receive an assistant for an hour per day.

This would also be the perfect craft if you have parent volunteers to help!

What else is included?

I’ve just started to touch on everything included in the resource. One of my favorite things about this unit is that so much is included, I can pick and choose what I want to use each year. For example, last year we made the large grandparents for a hallway display craft but this year we ran out of time for that!

Let me share the product covers in case you would like to use this with your kids!

Grandparents Day Resource by Pencils to Pigtails

Grandparents Day Unit by Pencils to Pigtails

I want to hear from you!

Do you do much for Grandparents Day with your students? At my school, we typically invite the grandparents in for breakfast or lunch. It is so special and I want my students to always cherish these relationships!

Let me know your plans!

Did you try this easy 2 ingredient homemade play dough? It’s perfect for practicing letter formation!

You will love these adorable graham cracker pencil snacks too!

Pin this post to save it!

Happy Teaching & Mommy-ing this week friends!

Easy and Edible Frosting Play Dough

September 3, 2019

This two ingredient easy and edible frosting play dough recipe is amazing! You know what the best part is? It’s really tasty! In fact, it’s so delicious that your kids will be absolutely drooling over it while you mix it up!

Did you make these adorable graham cracker pencils? If so, the leftover frosting is just what you need for this simple to make and fun play dough!

Leftover Frosting from the Adorable Graham Cracker Pencil Snacks

I had put the frosting in the refrigerator at school for a couple of days and just knew I had to find something to do with all of that leftover frosting… I mean if I didn’t then where exactly do you think it would end up? The idea crossed my mind that mixing the frosting with flour would make a play dough type manipulative. A quick search on Pinterest showed me that you can mix frosting with powdered sugar to make a delicious EDIBLE and super easy frosting play dough!

2 Ingredients for Easy Frosting Play Dough

Hopefully you have some frosting left from the graham cracker pencils, if not then here is a quick list of what you will need!

(These are affiliate links, which means if you purchase using the link I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you!)

Pink Whipped Frosting (Of course, any color or flavor will work!)
Powdered Sugar
(Just kidding with this bullet! I mean, you really only need those 2 ingredients! How easy is this?!?!)

These were the 2 frostings I had left from the graham cracker pencils. Either works fine although I prefer the pink whipped. You can also see my container of powdered sugar above.

Process for Making Easy Frosting Play Dough

Powdered Sugar and Frosting Play Dough Recipe

All you have to do is dump your leftover (or entire can) of frosting into a bowl. Add powdered sugar until you get the consistency you desire. I could stir for a bit with a wooden spoon but soon needed to use my fingers.

This is the consistency you are looking for. When it’s no longer sticking to your fingers, you are golden! My students were sitting around me in a circle and just begging to try some!

Easy and Edible Frosting Play Dough for Letter Formation

Doesn’t this just make you want to try it? I demonstrated how to roll the play dough into a ball, form various letters, and shapes.

Letter Formation using Edible Play Dough Recipe

Time to Practice Letter & Shape Formations

We made this during the first week of kindergarten so there was a little lesson about how we don’t throw the play dough and how to clean it up.

And then it was time to head outside! I gave each student a paper plate and a handful. I asked them to form letters and then try some as they pleased. I did make sure to warn them not to eat too much or they would have a tummy ache!

You can see that they got busy practicing letter formation.

You should have heard the giggles as they tried bites of their play dough!

After I gave them the go ahead, the students LOVED making snowmen. We made these in August but snowmen are always a hit!

Can you believe that this is made out of just 2 EDIBLE ingredients?

What do you think? Will you try this easy frosting play dough recipe with your children? Let me know how it goes!

Pin this image to save this recipe for later reference!

Happy Teaching & Mommy-ing this week Friends!

Graham Cracker Pencil Snacks – Easy and Unique!

September 2, 2019

Easy Graham Cracker Pencil School Snacks

Looking for school snack ideas for kindergarten or another grade level? These adorable graham cracker pencil snacks are super tasty and today I’m sharing an easy way to create these for children!

I couldn’t resist creating these for my kindergarten students after seeing several variations all over Pinterest! I’ve seen them made out of sugar wafers and sugar cookies. The graham cracker ones were definitely the most appealing to me.

Ingredients

You just need a few easy to find inexpensive items to make these! (These are affiliate links, which means if you purchase I earn a small amount at no additional cost to you!)

Graham Crackers
Pin k and Whit e Whipped Frosting (Just 1 jar of each. I prefer whipped but either kind would be fine!)
Mini Chocolate Chips

First Things First

Let me save you A LOT of frustration! Yes, the skinny pencil is cute. HOWEVER, we wasted almost an entire box of graham crackers trying to break them in half long ways. I even tried using a very sharp kitchen knife! Every time that you try to cut them, they crumble. The skinny one below was the best one I came up with out of a whole box!

I wish I had taken a picture of the pile of crumbs we were left with! Thinking back, if you really want the skinny pencil, you could try microwaving them to see if that makes them softer and easier to break or cut in half…

Graham Cracker Pencil Shapes with Sharpened Area

But my suggestion is to make these large pencils! All you have to do is use a knife or kitchen scissors to cut the point. The larger shape equals a more substantial snack AND they are so much easier to make!

How to Assemble Graham Cracker Pencils for School Snacks

When you have the graham crackers cut to the correct shape, simply add white frosting to create the sharpened portion of the pencil.

Then, add pink frosting to the bottom to make the eraser.

Finally, add a mini chocolate chip to create the pencil point.

My kids were such good sports about eating the short stubby pencils I started out with before I discovered the “whole cracker” pencil.

My daughter was hanging out with me after school and was the taste-tester of the big pencil. She whole-heartedly approved!

So what do you think? Would you give these adorable graham cracker pencil snacks a try?

Pin this to try later!

Up next, I’m sharing what to do with that leftover frosting because believe me – you will have some! HINT – It’s a delicious HANDS-ON activity!

Looking for more classroom fun? Head over here to read about one of my favorite days EVER!

Happy Teaching & Mommy-ing this week friends!

The Best Teddy Bear Picnic Day and Sleepover Ever

August 14, 2019

This Teddy Bear Unit was a major hit in my classroom and the kids had NO idea they were practicing so many essential ELA and Math skills! I wish you could have seen the looks on their faces when I told them they would be bringing a teddy bear or stuffed friend to school! Today I’m sharing all of my tips for planning the best Teddy Bear Picnic Day ever! Make sure to read through to the end. My favorite part was all of the mischief the bears got into during the sleepover!

Teddy Bear Picnic Day Planning

First, I planned our Teddy Bear Picnic Day. We did ours towards the end of the school year but I may move it up next year. The beauty of this event is that it works well anytime you can fit it in your busy calendar!

I told students they would need to bring a teddy bear or other stuffed animal in for this special day. The students were encouraged to color an invitation and “give” it to their very favorite teddy bear or other stuffed friend. (A “friend” option was included in case some students didn’t have a teddy bear. I also brought several extras in just in case a student wanted to trade his or her “friend” in for an actual teddy bear.) The kids also took home a parent letter (it’s editable for you!) so that the parents understood our plan.

Editable Teddy Bear Invitation and Parent Letter

All About My Teddy

When the students arrived, they were instructed to carry their friends with them throughout the day. They began by filling out a writing sheet entitled “All About My Teddy” or “All About My Friend“. I’ve included these in color or B & W for you. I like to fill one out in color as an example to demonstrate expectations. Then my students color the B & W version and fill it in. They also colored the bear’s head and I stapled them to a sentence strip to make the most adorable headbands!

We settled at the carpet and I let each student come up to share about his or her stuffed friend. This led into the perfect time to complete the Teddy Bear Comparison page. The kids love seeing the other stuffed friends brought in. We were able to discuss various measurement terms, descriptive words, and sentence formation all with this one activity.

Teddy Bear Graphing & Color Words

The gummy bear graphing activity was an absolute hit! Walmart had a large bag of gummy bears for just a few dollars. Around 20 were placed in each snack size plastic bag and handed out along with the adorable gummy bear graphs.

I asked each student to lay the gummy bears on the correct spot on the graph. This was a great way to get in extra color word practice while visualizing the graph. After I checked each one, students were allowed to pick one bear up at a time to eat and color that spot using the same color crayon. As you can imagine, the kids went wild for this!

Another favorite graphing activity came to life with the help of our classroom rug. We used the labels across the bottom of the rug. Each child took a turn placing his or her friend or teddy bear on the rug. The rest of the class was quick to help the child decide what column to place him or her in. We used the results to create another individual bar graph.

Teddy Bear Graphing Activity using Classroom Rug

Picnic and Photos

By this point our teddy bears were getting quite hungry and I knew it was time to start the main event of the Teddy Bear Picnic Day. We made a Teddy Bear Trail Mix using the provided food labels and recipe. When we had our food, we sat together in a circle with our teddy bears to recite and sing 2 of the cutest little poems.

The kids looked so cute “feeding” their teddy bears before sneaking it into their own mouths! While the kids were eating, we pulled them over to make these quick teddy bear handprint keepsakes and snap a photo with their stuffed friend for the provided picture “frames”.

As some kids finished, they pulled out the plates and food center activity to work on one to one correspondence and number recognition. The kids loved filling each plate with the correct amount of food. The food really started to pile up!

Teddy Bear Picnic One to One Correspondence and Number Recognition Activity

Teddy Bear Picnic Activity for Number Recognition and Counting Practice

After our snack it was time for a bear comparison. How do real bears compare to our stuffed friends? We watched some videos about real bears and read a couple of books I checked out from the library. The kids had so much fun with this and found all of the information about real bears quite fascinating! Just a hint to view the videos beforehand to make sure there is not anything that your children would find scary!

Teddy Bear Sleepover

At the end of the day, the students took their teddy bears out to play. Since we usually don’t let them bring toys to school, this was a real treat and they were quite the envy of every other student!

I explained that our friends were getting sleepy so it was time to tuck them into bed. The children took this so seriously! We sang them a lullaby before tucking them under our picnic tablecloth in a circle. I turned out the lights and the kids snuck out so they didn’t wake the bears. I wish I could show you this. It was the cutest thing ever!

After they left, I went around staging the friends in all kinds of mischief. Some were getting drinks of water, some playing legos, others reading books, and they even spilled popcorn all over the floor! Those naughty bears!

As you can imagine, the kids were so surprised to see their bears in these positions! We created class books and completed some of the writing during our ELA block. Making class books is one of my favorite things to do. I choose one child to color the cover, each kid fills out a page for the book, and then we staple it and add it to our class library. They are always the first books to be checked out!

Page toppers are another favorite of mine. It’s a simple craft that provides just the motivation the kids need to work hard on a writing assignment. When they know they get to glue a bear’s head and paws to the top and hang it in the hallway, they are bound to try their best!

I’m also sharing this freebie with you! It is the perfect activity to use during your Bear Unit while reading the book “Going on a Bear Hunt!” Click on the photo below!

Going on a Bear Hunt Free Activity for Retell and Sequencing

What are Teachers Saying?

Take a look at what other teachers have to say about this unit!

“As usual, another amazing product from the one and only Pencils to Pigtails!! My sweet kinders (and their teacher) were totally engaged with all the activities you created in this hands-on resource! Thank you!

– Kelly A.

“Planning to use this pack to have a 2 day teddy bear celebration with my students. Can’t wait to use it, love how many choices are in this pack.”

-Carrie K.

“My students loved their Teddy Bear Day! I especially enjoyed that there were options for non teddy bears. Can’t wait to use it again this year!”

-Lauren S.

Your Turn!

Your children are so lucky that you are considering a Teddy Bear Day for them! I look forward to hearing all about your experience!

Click on the product cover below if you are interested in this resource for your classroom!

Teddy Bear Day Resource for Kindergarten, Preschool, and First Grade Students

Pin this so you can always find your Teddy Bear Picnic Day ideas!

Looking for more fun for your littles? Head over here to read about one of my very favorite units!

Happy teaching & mommy-ing this week friends!

Valentine’s Day in the Classroom – New Product & 2 Freebies!

February 16, 2019

Valentine's Day Centers, Games, Freebies, and More

Phew! It seems like January and February are so busy! I like to discuss Dental Health Month with my students. We kick that off with our study of the Tooth Fairy & El Ráton Pérez. If you haven’t had a chance to read my most recent blog post about that unit – make sure you do!

Of course, we are trying to get to Valentine’s Day and Presidents Day and just wrapped up a unit all about MLK Jr. We also just finished our 100th Day of School celebration. Busy! Busy!

I wanted to share some tips for making your Valentine’s celebration run as smoothly as possible and tell you about a couple of new FREEBIES in my store and a new product that I’m super excited about! Make sure to read the entire post so you can see the FREE CVC, CCVC, & Rhyming game I’m sharing with you today!

First up is a parent letter. After many years in Kindergarten, I’ve decided that THIS is the best way to celebrate Valentine’s Day with your kids and continue on addressing standards as needed. I’ve included color or black & white options as well as a couple of options for you to use depending on whether or not your want your students to bring in a mailbox from home. You can grab the free letters by clicking on the resource below! (Also as a side note, if you enjoy using a FREEBIE from my store, please take just a minute leave feedback. It just takes a second but helps me know if I need to continue making FREEBIES for you!)

Free Valentine's Celebration Letter for Parents from the Pencils to Pigtails TPT Store

We made these lovely heart wands using pipe cleaners and beads that I had on hand. I’ve seen them done with pony beads too. I had smaller beads which just meant that the kids got some extra fine-motor practice. I know some teachers shape the hearts for their students before-hand. I demonstrate how to create one heart for the class then set an example at my station. I think this gives them a chance to really try one for themselves.

Those were so simple and fun! We also had tons of fun with our Valentine centers! I have a HUGE pack of Valentine centers that you can use all during the month of February to work on syllables, CVC words, rhyming, addition, greater than/less than, and so much more! You can click on the product cover below to find the resource on TPT.

Our favorite center from the pack is this Valentine Fairies one where students “shoot” their arrows at the correct heart target depending on how many syllables are in the word. The kids LOVE this one. The best thing about this resource is that EVERY center comes with extension activities that will keep early-finishers engaged giving you more time to meet with your small groups!

Students love this rhyming words center where they are putting the puzzles together if they rhyme. If they finish before the allotted time is up, they simply begin to write rhyming words on the printable included. Rhyming is such an important skill for kindergarten but it can be so challenging for my students, especially my ESL learners. I love having any new activities to work on this skill with them and the Valentine’s theme really kept them engaged.

Valentine's Day Puzzles for Kindergarten Students

This Tally Marks and Ten Frames Memory Game was a hit with my kids. They LOVED that they could play it by searching for 2 cards or 3 cards at a time. (They called it a set instead of simply a match.) The included printable really gave them the practice they needed writing out tally marks to correspond to a given number. They are always wanting to make a cross over the marks even when they haven’t reached the fifth tally yet!

Valentine's Day Math Centers for Kindergarten or First Grade

Clip cards are always a great way to get some sneaky fine-motor practice in and the kids had so much fun with these Honey Bear Clip Cards. The counters really helped keep them motivated to solve the equations.

Next up we worked on Greater Than & Less Than concepts using the “chomping” gator. In TN we are required to submit a lengthy portfolio to demonstrate how much our students have learned each year and this is one of the standards that we will be addressing. I really enjoyed sitting on the floor with them while they worked on this little game so I could hear how they are progressing with this skill. It’s a tough one for 5 year-olds!

Valentine's Day Greater Than/ Less Than Number Comparison Center

As I mentioned, this is just a few of the games you will find in the resource. There are actually 10 centers included. My kids loved the writing centers too. Click on any of the above photos to head over to TPT and see what all you can use in your classroom. I love that mine are now printed on cardstock (or laminated if you prefer) and ready for me to pull out EVERY year!

Have you ever made heart kites with your kids? So much fun and so simple to do using paper that you already have in your classroom. I just tell my students to make 2 chains and then connect them. I write several fact families on the board that they can write on the big heart or I let them challenge themselves with bigger numbers if they please. As you can see, some students really go above and beyond!

I love how they look in the hall. Anything with that 3-D aspect gets all the heart eyes from me! While we are discussing Valentine’s Day, can I show you the ridiculous Valentine boxes Dustin and I created for the girls? 🙂

I made the mistake of letting them scroll through Pinterest & pick anything they wanted and they chose Unicorn Sisters. We will never forget the time and effort we put into these! 🙂 We really got a kick out of them when we lined them up next to the others. They were way over the top but the girls were so proud of them and I guess that’s what matters.

Let me be clear that the girls did “help” by painting the horns, wings, ears, etc but if you are thinking of tackling these for your children, be sure you understand that you may end up doing the majority of the work!

I had ordered a heart sweatshirt & when the girls saw mine, they HAD to have a matching one with Mommy!

I always buy them big so we can get 2 uses out of them!

Back to the classroom (or if you have little ones at home) – Have you ever taught them how to make a heart using the classic construction paper fold. I was surprised that NONE of my k kids knew how to do this and you should have hear the oohs & ahas that occurred when I demonstrated it for them. So simple but really motivated them to write. Of course, this is great for Valentine’s Day but they love making them any time of the year.

(They really loved that you could make a heart “hole” too!)

I promised you another FREEBIE and I’m telling you it was worth hanging on until the end for! I hope your kids LOVE this Valentine Candy Hunt game! My kids beg me to play it over and over again with them and I know yours will too!

Valentine's Day Free CVC, CCVC, and Rhyming Game

Click on the cover above to head over to TPT to download it for free!

Happy Valentine’s Day friends!

The Tooth Fairy and El Raton Pérez – STEM, Dental Health Activities, & More!

February 3, 2019

Tooth Fairy Unit, Toothbrush Painting Ideas, El Raton Perez STEM lessons, and more!

ESL learners, preschool, and kindergarten students will love learning all about the Tooth Fairy and El Raton Perez with this exciting unit! Find easy ideas to incorporate STEM and costume fun while learning all about these sweet traditions!

Have you ever hear of El Ráton Pérez? In most European countries and in Latin America, HE is the one who takes the child’s tooth from under the pillow. He is a little mouse and is saving the teeth to build a rocket ship to reach the moon made out of cheese. 🙂

With 8 ESL students in my classroom, I thought a unit focused on both the Tooth Fairy and El Ráton Pérez would be a hit. It certainly was!

I began by reading them The Tooth Fairy Meets El Ráton Pérez written by Rene Colato Lainez and illustrated by Tom Lintern. I LOVE this book and so do my students. They really giggled away when I tried to say the Spanish words that are included in the book. I highly recommend this book to you if you have Spanish-speaking students in your classroom. You can click on the picture below to see it on Amazon. (This is an affiliate link but no extra cost to you!)

The Tooth Fairy Meets El Ráton Pérez Book - Amazon Affiliate Link

The book tells the story about a little Mexican-American boy who loses his tooth. Both the Tooth Fairy and El Ráton Pérez arrive to collect the tooth. A little argument ensues with an adorable resolution.

I have created a resource on TPT that goes along perfectly with the book. It does stand alone if you have no interest in buying the book but it also makes a great companion to the story. This unit was a MAJOR hit with my kids and coincided perfectly with Dental Health month which we celebrate in February.

The Tooth Fairy and El Ráton Pérez Product Cover from Pencils to Pigtails TPT store.

You can head over to my TPT store to see more of what’s included by clicking on the product cover above. In this blog post, I want to show you a first hand look of everything we did in our classroom!

El Ráton Pérez's mouse door in our classroom! — Our Very Own El Ráton Pérez’s door!

After reading the book, I asked if any students had a wiggly tooth. Several of the students raised their hands and I said excitedly, “That means El Ráton Pérez’s door has probably appeared!” I explained that sometimes his door magically appears in our classroom when a student has a loose tooth.

I asked the kids to help me hunt for it and this little set-up was waiting in a corner of the classroom. I know, I know! This is totally unnecessary so don’t feel pressured to make anything like this but it was so fun for me to go shopping for dollhouse accessories that would work! It really kicked off our unit in a fun way and my students were THRILLED to find his door sitting there. Every now and then when they weren’t in the room, I would move the toothbrush or the bicycle and they had so much fun checking to see if their little mouse had been out of his door lately!

We completed a STEM activity where students made and executed a plan to build a door that opens and closes. I wanted them to each have one to take home so that they could have a door set up in their rooms so instead of working in partners like we usually do, the students each created his or her own door.

Students making a plan to build a door for El Ráton Pérez.

Let me share some of the finished projects with you! Remember this is kindergarten! While the goal was to build a door that would open & close, we celebrated any of the students who built a door for El Ráton Pérez!

El Ráton Pérez's door STEM activity from Pencils to Pigtails TPT resource

As you can see, the child above had a different idea of how to build the door. The other children were quite jealous of his creation and started trying to imitate it.

Señor Pérez's door from Pencils to Pigtails TPT store

I made the one above. If you taped the ends of the pipe cleaners to the wall, you can see how the door would open and close. I didn’t show this to students and some of them came up with this on their own!

Aren’t they precious? The resource includes a letter explanation for parents. I wanted to be sure that when the students came home with their doors, that the parents knew just what to say to them. I even encouraged the parents to play along by leaving a note from the Tooth Fairy & El Ráton Pérez!

You can see a little different approach above too!

El Ráton Pérez's STEM activity from Pencils to Pigtails TPT store

I thought this one was rather clever! She showed me how her door would open and close using the paper as a flap.

Isn’t this adorable? Later I saw this same little girl checking to see if her door would work outside.

Student testing her door for El Ráton Pérez outside.

The kids LOVED “painting” large teeth with toothbrushes.

Painting with a toothbrush from Pencils to Pigtails TPT resource

These looked so cute in the hallway next to our El Ráton Pérez assistant applications! (I’ll show you those in a minute.)

Isn’t his smile the sweetest? It makes my day when I see it!

So much fun and the perfect time to talk about the correct way to brush your teeth!

I’ll quickly show you a few more things we were able to do with the unit. There are so many activities, its hard to show you all of them!

I Lost a Tooth Photo prop from Pencils to Pigtails TPT resource

I let the kids use photo props when they lost a tooth.

Research and compare the Tooth Fairy and El Ráton Pérez printable from Pencils to Pigtails TPT store

We compared the Tooth Fairy and El Ráton Pérez. This colored example is included in the resource!

Tooth Fairy & El Ráton Pérez Research and Compare from Pencils to Pigtails TPT store

Lost tooth take home bags from TPT resource

And I created the cutest “lost tooth” bags so when students lose a tooth, I finally have a place to keep them and send them home easily instead of frantically searching for something!

Tooth Fairy costume made from items in my girls' dress up box

I loved this next activity! I let the girls work on making wands and crowns out of construction paper while I met with the boys to help them fill out El Ráton Pérez assistant applications. Later we switched and the boys worked on their headbands while the girls filled out applications to be the Tooth Fairy’s assistants. They LOVED this writing activity! I raided my daughters’ dress-up trunk and came up with enough tutus for the girls. You will find the applications, headbands, and teeth necklaces/badges in the resource. They had so much fun dressing up one day!

Tooth Fairy assistants from my TPT resource

My little tooth fairies above and my little mice below!

El Ráton Pérez official assistants from my TPT resource

Toothbrush counting game to go along with The Tooth Fairy and El Ráton Pérez resource on TPT

You will find some super cute math activities and a mouse feelings memory game!

Mouse feelings memory game to go along with The Tooth Fairy and El Ráton Pérez resource

See what I mean about there being too much for me to show it all to you? Other things you will find in the resource include word wall cards, more writing prompts, individual books, a variety of class books, and so much more. I hope your students LOVE this unit as much as mine did!

Happy Teaching & Mommy-ing this week sweet friends!

Classroom Tour – Easy Ways to Organize Your Classroom

August 16, 2018

Are you looking for easy ways to organize and setup your classroom? I’m sharing my top teacher hacks, freebies, and more in this classroom tour!

Don’t you just love seeing other classrooms? Our principal really encourages us to throw out (or donate) things we don’t use anymore. Having a clutter free classroom is essential for student success and your sanity! A couple of years ago I got rid of SO MUCH stuff in my room that all of my coworkers felt sure I was leaving my school. It wasn’t the case, but once you get started decluttering, it will become a little contagious!

I started watching my kids. I noticed that they hardly played with a kitchen set during indoor recess so I donated it to a local church in need of one. I sent a stuffed animal home with every single child! I had bought those thinking they would be good book buddies but I realized they were just taking up valuable learning real estate. You get the picture. Get rid of things your students no longer need or use.

My principal had us walk around and vote on each others classrooms for a variety of awards from most colorful, to most inviting, to most organized. There were lots of winners. She gave out $5 Sonic gift cards but it was so nice to see what other rooms in the building look like. We just don’t have time to see them all!

I receive more questions and compliments on this area of my room than any thing else I’ve done. I took all of my center activities out of their original boxes, put them in coordinating bins from the Dollar Tree and slapped my Editable B & W labels on them. (You can find them in my TPT store by clicking on the picture above.)

This picture was taken after I’ve used them for over a year and I still love this set up. It makes it so easy for me to find the activity I’m looking for.

I bought these little supply boxes for 48 cents a piece at Walmart. You’ve got to love that price. They are sturdy, last a whole year in the classroom, and then I send them home with each student at the end of the year. Each child puts a box of crayons, a pair of scissors, and 2 glue sticks in his or her box. I put each student’s name on them and then we place them in these red organizers I found on Amazon. Later in the year, I can use the other side of the organizers for whatever I need the kids to have access to. We have always shared our supplies with the whole table, but I grew so tired of some students peeling crayons or chewing on them. Others would purposefully break their pencils. You don’t have to worry about this when they have individual supplies!

Ignore those supplies behind my table! Still sorting!

The 2 pictures above show you my work area. The longer I’ve taught, the smaller and smaller “my area” has gotten. I ditched the desk a few years back and keep my teaching materials in that dresser with the red polka-dot fabric. My assistant hot glued the yellow fabric underneath the table to cover up any messes that might occur there. I love this set up. I can pull a group of kids to my table, test them with ESGI or work with my small groups there on reading or math activities. It just makes so much more sense to have a kidney table then it does to have a desk.

(By the way, I wrote my students a “love letter”. You can download it for free in my TPT store by clicking the photo above!)

Speaking of ESGI, it has made a huge difference in the way I organize my assessments and communicate with my parents. It is super user-friendly. I am still meeting with the students to test them one-on-one which I love, but I can immediately print out individualized parent letters and even flash cards for the items they miss. The folks at ESGI are so sweet and helpful. Right now you can get a free 60 day trial and gain full access to all of ESGI’s features. You don’t have to input credit card information to try it which is huge for people who are worried about forgetting to cancel something. If you decide to purchase it, you will get $40 off with the code “pigtails”. Use that code now to sign up for the free trial by clicking here. You will also be entered to win one of ten free $50 Amazon gift cards or one lucky winner will win a $500 gift card! Oh the things I could purchase with that! Click on the ESGI screen below to head over and grab your free trial!

If you want to learn more about how I use this assessment software in my classroom, type ESGI in the search box and you will find a recent blog post about it!

Can you tell I have a thing for collecting vintage chairs yet? My mom is so good at recovering them with a cute fabric and the kids love them! The biggest change here is that I moved 4 computers spread out across 2 of these tables onto 1. We gained so much room! I loved this easy change!

See the little table and chairs? I grabbed those at Hobby Lobby. When I started teaching 11 years ago, my sister Heidi suggested that I stick with primary colors. I have NEVER regretted that decision. It makes my classroom colorful, I can ALWAYS find the totes, name tags, supplies, etc I need, and I have never gotten tired of this color scheme. I know there have been some adorable themed classrooms on Pinterest lately but make sure you pick something that will last!

I LOVE this new reading corner. My friend Michelle was moving to third grade and graciously donated this to my classroom. I have a few puppets here that my students can use to read a book with. I am planning to fill out a Donor’s Choose request for a comfy bean bag chair for that area on the right.

This is one popular area during indoor recess. My sister donated this Lego table to my classroom a couple of years ago. Everyone loves it. The center holds Legos. (Notice how the primary colors work perfectly with my classroom “theme”!) I put an inexpensive rug on this train table to spruce it up. When I was studying what my kids played with the most, I realized a train table, Lego table, blocks, and a dollhouse were at the top of the list for kindergarten!

I have 19 students this year. We have 5 kids at each table except for one.

This is a view of my 2 Interactive centers, my white board, and my rug. I filled out a Donor’s Choose request for this beautiful rug a few years ago and it was funded. We love it! If you have not read about my Interactive centers, click on the photo above to watch a two-minute video preview. They are lifesavers in the classroom!

They help us stay so organized and we love having centers where my young k kids work independently giving me valuable time to meet with my small groups!

I REALLY love my little library area. I spray-painted this display shelf red and like how cheerful it makes my room look. I prefer having my books organized in baskets by author/theme.

I often tell students to sit on the “ABC” rug if we are going to watch short videos or dance with Go Noodle.

I was so sad when I had to take my Curious George off the wall in the corner of this classroom. Do you remember him? Our former art teacher, Mrs. Soozie, had surprised me with him and a fabulous tree. Unfortunately the fire marshall was not a fan of the materials. 🙁 Some of my kids were in tears when I took him off the wall!

Here’s a view from the reading corner looking towards the door. I’m not happy with those cubbies on the right. I just haven’t figured out exactly what I want to do with them yet. See the “legos” above my cabinets? My sister had made those with wrapping paper and cardboard boxes for one of her son’s birthday parties and I’ve kept them there for years. It would be hard for me to store anything up there and I like the way they look. 🙂

We are so fortunate to have these beautiful cabinets to hold our supplies. Believe me, I have been in some tiny rooms with no storage and 23 5th grade students. I feel grateful everyday when I walk into this large classroom with so much storage!

This is an example of what a completed and semi-completed math ring tower would look like. Since it is August, my students haven’t started building their “zoos” yet. Click on the photo above to watch a 2 minute preview about the “Zookeeper’s Math Ring”. It is a unique math system that I came up with that teaches students their math facts for the entire year. You will love it!

I like to hang our objectives from these rulers and pencils I grabbed in the Dollar Spot at Target. I created these when we switched to the new TN standards. I wanted to use a kid-friendly “I Can” statement at the top, a colorful picture, and the detailed and complete “teacher version” of the standard at the bottom in a small print. We love these. Grab them for your classroom by clicking on any of the photos above. I have them for math and ELA for kindergarten and first grade Common Core or TN standards and I’m about to add the Kindergarten Science standards for TN teachers or teachers using NGSS later this week!

My friend Michelle also gave me this “Star Student” rug and this great idea. In the morning, I look for a student who came in quietly, was helpful to others, and finished their morning work. That person gets to sit on this place right in front of my reading chair on the rug and be the line leader. It really helps with morning routines!

Do you know about my obsession with folder tasks? I LOVE them! When I moved from teaching 5th grade to kindergarten, I had another teacher give me a box of them. I LOVE using them so much that I’ve created hundreds of folder tasks you can find in my store. Guess what? You can grab the tub labels above and a free folder game by clicking on the photo above!

If you sign up for my newsletter from this blog, I will also email you a free CVC words folder game and a freebie once a month!

This is the game you receive for free when you sign up for my newsletter!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tour of my classroom and that is has inspired you to get organized!

Happy Teaching and Mommy-ing this week friends!

Goodbye Wasted Bulletin Boards – My Interactive Writing & Math Centers Organization & Setup Ideas Plus Teacher Hacks!

August 8, 2018

I’m sharing my favorite ideas to organize and set up writing and math centers for your students! You’ll find some fun teacher hacks, the printables and activities I use, and how to put your bulletin boards to work for you!

Are you right in the middle of setting up your classroom? I really worked on a complete classroom makeover a couple of years ago. It has made my life so much easier! You can actually view a video about an easy way to organize your room by clicking the photo below. I was completely honored when TPT featured this video in a newsletter that is distributed worldwide. Seems we all need tips for keeping our classroom organized!

The other thing major thing I’ve done and I discuss it in the video mentioned above is create 2 Interactive Centers. I have 2 bulletin boards on each side of my white board. I placed a table in front of each, 2 chairs, and colorful drawers beside each table. **If you don’t have colorful drawers, consider using a box with hanging file folders. (You can click on the photos below to see my Interactive Writing or Interactive Math Centers on TPT!)

This gives you an idea of what it looked like while I was setting the center up.

On one board I tried sheet protectors to hold my choices. This is what it looked like when I first set it up.

The major thing that makes the Interactive Centers different from anything you’ve purchase on TPT is that students have a CHOICE of what they want to work on. They beg to go to the centers because having a choice is so important to them. Even kindergarten students can work independently at these centers because COLORED EXAMPLES (or B&W Examples) are included for every single activity. Your students no longer have to interrupt your small group time to ask you how to complete something. They simply look at the example on the board. They also no longer interrupt your time to say, “I’M DONE! WHAT DO I DO NOW???” If they finish one of their activities, they simply move on to another. You may have bigger bulletin boards and can offer students even more options. I like to give my kindergarten students 4 choices. I put 2 sheets they may need for reference on the bottom row and I hang the supplies they will need from a ribbon that is strung across the bottom of the board. Clothespins make it so easy to change these out as needed plus it just looks adorable!

As the year went on , I decided the board was a little too busy. I removed the ribbon on the edges of the sheet protectors and made it much easier to replace the activities. Instead of labeling the page protectors with words like “journal” or “book cover” that I was constantly having to change out, I simply added a 1,2,3, or 4 pencil. All of these labels, the bulletin board title, and the numbered pencils come with the resource on TPT!

Students look at the choices and go to the corresponding numbered drawer. If I want to do option one, I look in drawer number one. If I choose option 2, I look in drawer number two for my supplies.

Keep in mind that this is just a SAMPLE of the possible options on my board in August. There are many different Options included in my Interactive Writing Center on TPT. For this example, option one is labeling. Students will find labeling sheets in the drawer and a colored (or B & W) sample on the bulletin board.

Option 2 is the Class Journal. We LOVE our class journals so much! At the end of each month we staple all of the pages together, add the author page, and cover page and place the journals in our class library. Students LOVE to check those out from the library. The pages get progressively more difficult as the year goes on. I’ve also included a journal appropriate for preschool through kindergarten students and a separate class journal for first through second grade students.

Option 3 is that students can design a book cover. They love this one!

In this example, students will design a lunch note for option 4. If they aren’t sure what to do, they can simply look at the colored (or B & W) example on my bulletin board.

Again, this is just an example. I love that the resource on TPT has writing practice for every major holiday, poetry practice, and ways to respond to texts.

Let’s move on to the Interactive Math Center. I really love the way this turned out. I spent an entire year working on this center for you. I decided to decorate some clipboards with wrappping paper. It was such an inexpensive way to redo these boring old clipboards. The clipboards are also even easier to change out than the page protectors I used on my Interactive Writing Center.

In August when I start using my centers, I will only give kids 2 options. This is an example of how it might look at first.

The bottom row has a reference sheet to use as needed. If students choose option 1, they will be putting the shape puzzles together.

Option 2 is to sort flat shapes.

Of course in the writing center you will need to make copies but I love that the math center has lots of reusable activities, from sorting to puzzles to clip cards! Let me share some other examples of how your board may look.

There are so many cute activities included. You simply change out the activities and samples on the board to go along with what your students are working on!

Please let me know if you’ve tried my Interactive Centers. I would love to hear about your experience!

Happy Teaching & Mommy-ing this week friends!

Mother’s Day Tea Party – Tips for Hosting this Memorable School Event

May 11, 2018

I’m sharing tips for hosting a memorable Mother’s Day Tea Party for your school today. Your preschool, kindergarten, and first grade students will love creating hats, keepsake crafts, and serving their parents during this fun event!

I’m going to begin by sharing with you how the Mother’s Day Tea went. I am pretty sure that it was the most meaningful and touching thing I’ve EVER planned as a teacher. Let me start at the beginning.

If you haven’t read my first post about planning this event, click below:

Mother’s Day Tea – A Unique Way to Celebrate Your Students and their Moms!

If you want to plan a tea for your students, you can grab the resource by clicking on this product cover:

Most of the moms were able to attend the tea. I asked our vice principal and reading specialist to stand in for the 2 that weren’t able to.

The morning of the tea we gathered around before the moms arrived and really spent some time thinking about our mothers. I enjoyed explaining the sacrifices moms make on a daily basis for their children. You could see the light bulbs as the students began to realize how much their mothers do for them. I told the kids that they would come up one at a time during the tea to finish the sentence “I love my mom because…”. They were so excited to do that. I also explained to them that when each mom arrived, they would meet them at the door with their hat and beaded necklace. They were told to lead them to their seat and help push the chair in. Each child was to take their mom’s order and make sure their mom “paid” for it. (See menu below!)

We also practiced singing a couple of songs (Skinnamarinky-dinky-dink… & the song from Barney “I love you, you love me….”). The kids helped me set the tablecloths out and put the hats on the chairs.

AND THEN I had my assistant take them outside to play for about 30 minutes while I finished setting up. I told them to be careful outside because I had asked for them to be sent in their “Sunday Best”. (See post linked earlier.) If you plan one, you will definitely need to enlist some help from a couple of people. -Preferably not the moms so you can surprise them!

I was so happy with the way the room looked! I grabbed 4 plastic tablecloths from Walmart and I collect teacups so it was no problem to find those. I put a cupcake inside each teacup and added silver sprinkles. We put some of the crafts the kids made and the menu they colored on the table. I’m so glad I did that because it gave the mothers something to look at as we got everyone seated. If you don’t want to mess with hot tea or the cupcakes in the teacups, just grab some cute paper cups and serve cold sweet tea. 🙂

I hung the Tea Time Banner up beside our cubbies. (Included in the resource!)

Another assistant helped me cut up some fruit and boil the water for tea. I bought an electric tea kettle about a month ago and that worked perfectly!

See the little animal pitchers? The kids were instructed to come tell us if their mom wanted hot tea so we could safely carry it to them, but the little animals were at each table and the children loved pouring cream in for their moms.

When everything was ready, the kids answered the door one at a time. It was so sweet to see the mom’s faces when they were presented with a hat and necklace!

I loved this picture of one of my students pushing his mom’s chair in. Just like we practiced!

The kids had a lot of fun trying on the hats themselves!

We set up a little photo backdrop using the banner in the resource on TPT. While the moms started eating, I took pictures of each mother and her child.

When the moms finished their tea and food, the kids came up to sing their songs and walk up one at a time and tell why they loved their mom. They said things like, “I love my mom because she tucks me in at night.” or “I love my mom because she loves me.” It was really sweet to hear their thoughts and I was proud of how they spoke with confidence.

Finally, I read the book “I’ll Love You Forever”. The kids were in charge of saying the verse, “I’ll love you forever. I’ll like you for always. As long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be,” on each page. When I closed the book I looked out to see many of the moms crying. It was a tear jerker!

It did take me quite a bit of time to prepare it all but I was able to save the decorations to use next year and now that I’ve made the resource I can use it again and again. You will be able to reuse it each year too as it is an EDITABLE resource!

I didn’t have to buy too much since I already had most of the materials and I just baked the cupcakes at home. I drink hot tea all day every day so I already had plenty of tea bags. 🙂

It was so worth it to me for the kids to make such sweet memories with their moms. The moms were such troopers wearing their hats and necklaces with pride. 🙂 I could tell that the moms felt very loved and that was the main goal. I definitely plan on doing this every year from now on!

What about you? Have you ever tried a Mother’s Day Tea with your students? Let me know in the comments.

Happy Teaching and Mommy-ing this week friends!