Free printable spring coloring pages, Easter and life science lesson plans

 March 20-22 marks the vernal equinox, the first day of spring in many countries. For those of locked in ice and snow and cold, this date can't come too early. Many have had a long winter and are pretty happy to hear those cheery little birds singing and see tiny crocuses bravely trying to poke their lavender heads up through the snow. How about some free spring coloring pages, Easter holiday activities and spring crafts to occupy those children who are sick of winter and school? 

Coloring Book Fun free printable spring coloring pages are simple enough for the not yet seasoned colorers, and yet offer more challenging pictures for veteran colorers. This site has a huge stock of free printable spring coloring pages and spring crafts based on seasons, weather, Easter holiday activities, topics, Bible based pictures, multi-cultural and animals. You can find just about any cartoon character from G.I.Joe to Barbie to Pokemon to Rug-rats to Rainbow Brite to Dragon Ball Z to Dora, plus all your Disney favorites.

DL-TK provides all sorts of free printable spring coloring pages, seasonal spring crafts, lesson plans, puzzles, crafts, projects, scissor practice, sequencing practice, music, song sheets, stories, spring crafts and Easter holiday activities. DLTK has all kinds of preschool activities that will reinforce prereading, letter and number recognition, fine motor practice, telling time, tying shoes, counting, tracing and other skill builders based around a theme. You will find printables for baby animals, new life, butterflies and other insects, plants, flowers, rain, and more. 

Check out these really cute Easter holiday coloring pages from Print Activities. This site
has a really large data bank of banner and ad-free printables with educational themes, There's no sign up or registration, very few if any pop-ups and easy one click printing. I found many styles of cross-word puzzles, calendars, tracing, mazes, word scrambles, word sorts, connect the dots, connect the dot using math problems, Sudoku, fill in the blanks, color by numbers, color by math (students complete math problems and complete a code to color pictures. All these spring crafts and puzzles are themed on seasons, but you can find other topics with themed puzzles: Easter holiday activities, seasons, animals, It may take a moment to load, but it is worth it

Easter Egg Crafts and Bible Object Lesson Plans

For Catholic Christians, the Lenten season, which begins after Ash Wednesday is a journey with Jesus. The Catholic Church prays the Stations of the Cross, tries to imitate Christ in humility, prayer and sacrifice or fasting. Lent culminates at Palm Sunday and Holy Week which ends in the Passion, death and resurrection of Christ at Easter. Here are Lenten devotions and Bible object lesson plans using Easter eggs. Use these Easter egg crafts to teach science too. 

Holy Trinity Bible object lessons. Decorating Easter eggs is a great time to teach Bible object lessons. Use Easter egg crafts to teach children about the Holy Trinity. Show children that the eggshell is white, smooth and pure. It holds everything together and so represents God the Father. Hidden inside is the yolk, the source of life. The yolk represents God's most important gift, His son Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the Paraclete, the intercessor, the go-between. So the egg white represents the Holy Spirit as it is in the middle.

New life Bible object lessons. Easter eggs symbolize fertility and rebirth. In Lenten devotions, teach children that Easter eggs represent eternal life. Just as birds care for their young in eggs and rejoice when newborns emerge, a Christian experiences new life or rebirth from old sins in Jesus. Hiding Easter eggs simulates how a Christian should seek God. Easter baskets simulate nests which shelter baby birds. God shelters his children in safety of his love. Children might decorate their Easter egg crafts with images of birds, nest, chicks, spring, the cross or Jesus.

Resurrection Eggs Lenten devotions: Catholic Holy Week countdown using Easter eggs. For these Easter egg crafts. you'll need 8 plastic eggs, a basket and Easter grass or green construction paper. For Bible object lessons, place one item in each egg that relates to the Easter story and a slip of paper with the Bible verse that mentions the item. You'll find the Easter story in the Gospel of Luke chapter 22, 23 and 24 (verse 1-12), or Mark chapter 11 (verse 1-11)chapter 14, 15 and 16 (verses 1-8). It's contained in the other two gospels as well, but Luke and Mark are the best retellings.

Label each egg as follows and place these items inside:

Palm Sunday--a piece of palm, dry grass or a plastic donkey (to remember Palm Sunday, when Jesus made a triumphal entry into Jerusalem)

Monday of Catholic Holy Week--a piece of cracker or crouton (to remember Christ's institution of Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper)

Tuesday of Catholic Holy Week--a dime (the 30 pieces of silver Judas was paid to betray his friend Jesus)

Wednesday of Holy Week--a tiny piece of branch with thorns (Crown of thorns)

Holy Thursday--a nail (to symbolize that His hands and feet were nailed to a cross)

Good Friday--a cocktail sword or toothpick (to remember that Jesus was pierced with a sword in his side, from which poured water and blood)

Holy Saturday--a stone (the stone that was placed in front of the tomb of Christ and later miraculously removed)

Easter Sunday--Nothing! This reminds us of the empty tomb on Easter morning.

Open one egg each day from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday. Light a candle for this special time. Ask a young child to explain to the family or group what this item could mean. The family can share their ideas, experiences or scripture references to the item. You might all sing a hymn or chant to remember this part of the story. Sing Crown Him with Many Crowns, All Hail the Power of Jesus's Name or Te Deum. Extend Easter egg crafts, by having children to illustrate Bible object lessons they've learned. Combine illustrations in a family memory book and use for Lenten devotions in years to come.

Earth Day recycled egg carton crafts for science games, lesson plans

Earth Day, April 22, is part of the larger Earth Month which focuses on caring for the environment. In Earth Month, the big 3 words are reduce, reuse, recycle. Teachers can demonstrate good Earth Month habits all year long by recycling materials, reusing them as classroom materials and reducing landfill waste. Here are science experiments and science crafts made from recycled egg cartons. Repurpose recycled egg cartons into science crafts and hands-on science games. 

Sensory exploration science games: Students practice sensory exploration using recycled egg cartons labeled with five senses and descriptive words. Sort picture cards or small objects representing items. Use one recycled egg carton per sense. Label with words like these. 

Taste: Sweet, sour, salty, bitter, metallic, tart

Smell: spicy, bitter, sour, soapy, flowery, fruity, moldy

Touch: furry, fuzzy, smooth, cool, warm, hard, rough, scratchy, bumpy, squashy (malleable), sticky

Sound: squeak, ring, buzz, beep, pop, clang, snap, crackle, scrape, scratch

Attribute sorting science games. Label recycled egg cartons with words or pictures of attributes to sort. Tailor science games to unit. Items may be sorted by color, shape, size, living/non-living, animal category, wood/metal/plastic, habitat. Play as a scavenger hunt in which students search for objects to fit each attribute category.

Science vocabulary games: Labeling and sorting materials into recycled egg cartons builds science vocabulary, adjective usage and description. Discuss which items may fit several categories. 

Ecology experiments for Earth Day using recycled egg cartons.

Paper or Plastic? Use cardboard and Styrofoam recycled egg cartons to demonstrate what happens to both in a landfill. Place a piece from each carton in water and soil put them in the window. Note any changes to each over time. Use this to explore biodegradable materials and renewable resources for Earth Month. Discuss how pollution is an environmental hazard and harms plants and animals.

Geology science experiments for Earth Month: Use recycled egg cartons to classify and identify rocks and minerals. Students should label the sections of recycled egg cartons and sort by:

hardness on the MOHs scale

rock type (metamorphic, sedimentary and igneous)

mineral composition (calcite, silicate, carbonate, etc.)

uses (building, abrasion, decoration, chemistry, etc.)

Biology life science games. Label the sections of recycled egg carton science crafts with taxonomy classifications from the kingdoms (plantae, animalia, etc). Students might sort by subcategories KPCOFGS (kingdom, phyllum, class, order, family, genus, species). Students cut pictures or make tiny cards with names of members of various groups. They sort pictures or words into categories. They can test each other in partners or in groups. Label the bottom of the egg carton with answers for self-checking. This can be adapted to any age or grade depending upon what you are studying.

STEM Systems science crafts. Most all science experiments are based on a system or cycle. Use recycled egg carton science crafts to make 3D flow charts or graphic organizers Places objects in each section to represent parts of the cycle and draw arrows to show how they interact. Demonstrate electrical current, the water cycle. food chains, human body systems, habitats, plant development and insect metamorphosis.

Science Timelines. Use a recycled egg carton to demonstrate how things change and develop (or regress) over time. Make timelines of science inventions, transportation, etc. Use this with any area of science that you teach.

Dr. Seuss activities, games, crafts, lesson plans for preschool learning centers

The Cat in the Hat doffs his cap on March 2, to honor the 117th birthday of his creator Ted Geisel, better known as the beloved Dr. Seuss. To celebrate Seuss, the NEA (National Education Association) hosts "Read Across America." March is also National Reading Month and a perfect time to explore Dr. Seuss. Here are a hatful of literature-based activities to extend reading in preschool learning centers.

 Dr. Seuss is right at home in the book or library learning center. Fill your book corner with Seuss books. Emergent readers will love the pictures. Scatter some comfy pillows and any Seuss character toys. If you're like me and not into licensed characters, gather generic stuffed animals with Seussian theme: from Horton Hears a Who: elephants (Horton), birds (Daisy-headed Maisie), monkeys (Wickersham brothers), kangaroo and joey, turtles (Yertle), moose (Thidwick), cats (in silly hats), dogs (Max from the Grinch). From The Lorax; swans, bears, fish. Throw a Seuss story party (details to follow in my next post). 

For a Dr. Seuss art center, display his books: The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, Bartholomew and the Oobleck, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Each day of Read Across America week, create Seuss-inspired artwork. Paint some of his crazy creatures at easels with brightly colored paints. Model creatures in clay or playdough. Create silly Seuss sculptures by poking recycled materials in Styrofoam blocks. But don't just model...create your own! 

To teach Dr. Seuss at the collage center, make Seuss toys from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Put out oddly shaped cardboard containers, egg cartons, aluminum foil and cans, plastic containers and colored fabric scraps. Students can design their own version of a Whoville Jing Tingler, Flu Flooper, Tar Tinkers, Who Hoover or Who Carnio Flunx. Make silly hats like Bartholomew Cubbins' 500! 

Bringing Dr. Seuss to music learning centers, is as easy as cut, glue, decorate! Using ideas from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", make homemade Seuss-ical instruments. Create noise-makers like the Grinch's hated Gar Ginkers Trum Tupers Slu Slumkers Blum Bloopers Who Wompers and Zu Zitter Carzays. Encourage students to give their musical instruments silly sounding names. 

Dr. Seuss fits perfectly in dramatic play or dress up learning centers. Have students design masks of Seuss characters: Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose, Horton the elephant, Yertle the Turtle, Maisie the bird, the Wickersham monkeys, the Kangaroo and her joey.  Let children create their own Seuss creatures. Encourage kids to perform a Dr. Seuss parade like the one in his first book "And to Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street." Dress in homemade Seuss costumes, play musical instruments and show off homemade toys.

Dr. Seuss finds a play in science learning centers, using Lorax inspired life lessons. The Lorax deals with environmentalism and respect for biomes and animals on the planet. Set up an experiment on decomposition and pollution. Place different pieces of trash in zippered bags with a little water. Monitor them over time to show students how slowly trash decomposes. Students could also tend "truffula seeds" (use any flower seeds, sunflower, cosmos or daisy). Explore the food chain and animal species and habitats using these free printable habitat dioramas from First-Palette. Make Oobleck mixing liquid laundry starch and white school glue.

To teach a Dr. Seuss practical life area, use "The Cat in the Hat", "Green Eggs and Ham" and "Horton Hears a Who." These books deal with caring for others, preparing food and house cleaning. Do a Cat in the Hat tidy up relay race. Cook green eggs and ham. Care for an insect or goldfish.

Supplement with these free printable Dr. Seuss activities from Rock Your Homeschool. These are just a few of the Dr. Seuss activities to inspire a love of learning and reading in preschoolers. 

Free printable Thanksgiving activities, booklets, worksheets, lesson plans

Thanksgiving Day is October 12 in Canada and the third Thursday in November in the U.S. Here are free printable Thanksgiving booklets and fall themed activities and lesson plans for Thanksgiving Day. These activities explore pilgrim settlements, early American and Canadian exploration, Acadian settlements and western history. Activities cover native Americans, tribes in Canada and their interactions with Europeans. There are also coloring pages of turkeys, pilgrims, Indians, fall and autumn crafts and more. Teach children that Thanksgiving isn't just eating. It's about gratitude for blessings. Make Thanksgiving crafts and send as greeting cards to shut-ins.

U Create is mom blog that provides this free printable Thanksgiving booklet. It contains word games, word searches, puzzles, crossword and tic-tac-toe games based on Thanksgiving vocabulary. Homeschoolers and teachers, use for homework! Homeschooled Kids has free printable Thanksgiving activity booklets. There are lots of crafts, greeting cards, games, recipes to accompany it. You'll find enough for a complete Thanksgiving party guide.

Go to Enchanted Learning scads of free printable Thanksgiving mini-booklets. Activities cover a spectrum of Thanksgiving topics and learning connections: math, writing, spelling, reading, counting, social studies, science and more. Print maps, charts, diagrams, crafts, games and puzzles, too. DL-TK has a printable preschool Thanksgiving theme booklet. Use these activities to keep bored kids productively occupied in holiday preparations! Use for homeschool, rainy days, sick kids stuck and home, homework or just for fun!

Valentine candy hearts cookie recipe, math lesson, craft, preschool counting games

Looking for ways to use up leftover valentine candy hearts? Here's a cute Valentine craft and snack that teaches math using Valentine's Day Necco Sweetheart conversation hearts. They're an edible flashcards to help children practice counting and other mathematics skills.

Counting Hearts Cookies

You'll need 55 candy hearts per child and a roll of sugar cookie dough (enough for 10 cookies per child). Let children slice their dough logs into circles. This provides fine motor practice and eye-hand coordination. Talk about shapes as they cut; discuss geometry, circles, cylinders. Have children think of other round and tube-shaped objects. Make a list. Children can write it down in math journals or illustrate later.

Next have children divide candies per circle. Place 1-10 candy hearts per cookie, so each cookie has a different number of hearts. Count as you go. You might have to spread the 10-heart cookie thinner to get them all on.
When baked, use cookies as flashcards. Play counting and adding games. Say "show me three hearts." Or how many is "two hearts plus five hearts?" Let kids eat number cookies on the hour. Eat the 1 cookie at 1 pm, 2 at 2 pm. You can use these Valentine counting heart cookies in any number of ways.

For more free educational activities visit my blog Free Lesson Plans 4U. For specifically preschool lesson plans visit Preschool Child Activities. For more leftover use-up recipes, visit Great Food 4U.

Free Printable Spider-Man Coloring Pages for Math and Reading Flashcards

Here's a lesson plan to use Spider-Man or any superhero to teach reading. Choose your favorite superhero or cartoon favorite (you can print DC or Marvel superheroes, Barbie, Disney, PBS, Looney Tunes and more). Print small 2x3 versions of coloring pages. Have children color the images and make this activity do double duty as a craft project. Attach to index cards and label. 

Write lists of associated words on the back For Spider-Man, you might use: spider, arachnid, insect, bug, super, hero, fly, web, city, save, science, villain, spin, swing, octopus, mask, sky, night. Use these flashcards to help children learn to read in fun, hands-on ways. Children might write stories of Spiderman's adventures using these words. Here are free printable superhero coloring pages and activities. 

For Marvel comics printables from Captain America Civil War including Iron Man, Avengers, check out Pic Gifs.  I've linked to Spider-Man but search the bar for any free printable Marvel or DC superhero coloring pages. Coloring-Book.info has more free printable Spider-Man coloring pages. Use the search bar for to find any free superhero printables for Superman, Flash, Thor, Captain America and more. Disney Family has free printable Avengers Captain America Civil War crafts. 

KidZone has free printable spider lesson plans. Learn about spiders with these games, crafts, puzzles. math activities, songs and stories, writing prompts, science worksheets and diagrams and reading lesson plans too. 

No Roses for Harry Recycled Yarn Craft, Book based Snacks, Printables

Are your kids going winter stir-crazy? You need a craft afternoon. I learned as a teacher/homeschool mom to make lesson plans hands-on. My craft parties include an interactive story and snack and lots of free printable book-based activities. 

One of my husband's favorite children's literature characters is Harry the Dirty Dog, created by Gene Zion and drawn by Margaret Bloy Graham. There are several books featuring Harry the Dog. My mom described a yarn bush she made for the birds and it reminded me of Harry. Here are activities based on "No Roses for Harry."

 

Story Party Book Activity: Read "No Roses for Harry" in ebook online at Open Library. You can hear an audio reading on Youtube. Pause the story at various points and encourage children predict what will happen next. Let children color these free printable Harry the Dirty Dog coloring pages, make a booklet and retell the story. Here's are printable No Roses for Harry coloring pages. 

Story Party Science Activity: Make a yarn bush. Gather up recycled bits of string and yarn. Place them in trees and bushes for the birds to use in nest building, like the bird did in "No Roses for Harry." Look for your yarn in bird's nests. My mother says her yarn has been disappearing, so she knows the birds are nesting. You might get a bird guide and ID the birds you see in the yard. 

Story Party Recycle Bin Craft: Teach kids divide by 2 by braiding yarn. Wind yarn braid into a concentric circle Sew a few stitches to hold it together and you have a recycled craft pot holder. These are great for preschool crafts. If you are crafty like Grama in "No Roses for Harry" teach children simple finger knitting or use large blunt needles. Let them knit a washcloth. 

Story Party Math Craft. Use this free printable rose pattern to make paper roses. Teach about spiral patterns. 

Story Party Snack: Make "roses" by spreading cream cheese on a scallion, pickle spear, carrot or celery stick. Wrap a slice of ham or other lunchmeat around it. Cut radish or tomato roses. Make open face jam sandwiches cut in flower shapes. Make flower shaped pancakes. 

Story Party Math Craft Snack: Make flower cookies. Roll sugar cookie dough in little balls. Arrange four in a square or five in a circle. Bake and frost. Decorate with candy sprinkles and an M&M in the center. Decorating cookies is a great preschool craft snack!  

Warm up after snow day play with cocoa cookies and more Harry stories! Or cool down after summer play with lemonade and Harry the Dirty Dog, Harry and the Lady Next Door or Harry By the Sea. 

Recycle Bin Crafts for Bored Kids: Homemade Hats for Learning Centers

So this Covid 19 quarantine is getting long, huh? A lot of you parents got thrust into the role of teacher unexpectedly. If you're homeschooling children, maybe you need my teacher mama first aid kit, with quick, easy CHEAP ideas to perk up the school day. 

Just in time for earth Earth Day on April 22, how about recycle bin trash craft? Homeschoolers and teachers, your recycle bin in your best craft supply resource. Let kids repurpose, recycle and reuse household stuff in science projects and eco-friendly crafts.  

Today's recycled trash crafts feature homemade hats for kids! The prototype was developed by our oldest daughter at 20 months old. We kept her toys sorted in recycled 5 pound peanut butter pails. One day, Little Miss emptied one, plopped it on her head, tucked handle under chin and voila—an instant helmet. Then she proceeded to saddle up and ride baby brother like her noble steed! I removed the bucket handle for her safety and her from brother for his. 

But I realized what really cool homemade hats for kids can be made with a little repurpose and reuse. Let kids sort through your recycle bin for plastic ice cream buckets, butter tubs and coffee canisters. Organize by size.  This is a great way to teach preschool sorting, measurement math and Earth Day environmental science. 

Make helmets for hands-on social studies crafts. Repurpose and reuse recycle bin milk jugs as knight's helmets. Remove handle, cut a flap to use as a helmet visor. Cut a piece of plastic and attach with brads to make a visor flap. Wrap in aluminum foil for an armored helmet. Explore the history of helmets and armor with these free printable coat of arms activities from Pinterest. 

Teach STEM lesson plans making homemade hats for robots, soldiers, aliens, animals, astronauts. Make homemade crowns for kings and queens and princesses (cut both ends out to make cylinder shape and decorate. Here are free printable paper crown patterns too. 

Make cone-shaped medieval lady hats for kids by rolling a square of paper in a funnel shape. Trim edge even. Staple recycled crepe paper streamers to hat. Cut decorations from recycle bin stuff. Repurpose and reuse old headgear in cute homemade hats for kids costumes. Repurpose and reuse silk flowers, fabric scraps, ribbons, yarn, buttons, appliques, and faux gems as decorations for your recycled trash crafts. 

Earth Day recycled trash crafts: Cross-curricular Cellphone Cases

Looking for jazzy recycled trash craft projects for Earth Day? How about homemade cellphone cases? You can pick up cheap cases for iPhone or Android and decorate them. Empty the recycle bin and let students create mosaic or patterned cellphone cases from recycled trash. Make cross-curricular crafts. 

Math crafts: Make tesseracts, mosaics, 3D images, spirals (to teach Fibonacci numbers) and other mathematical patterns. 

History and social studies crafts: make cellphone cases with timelines, statues of famous people, Egyptian scarabs or jeweled reliquaries. 

Geography crafts: Draw maps on cellphone cases. Create your own treasure map! 

Literature crafts for lesson plans: Make a cellphone case that resembles a book, or index from card catalog. Choose a favorite book and make cellphone cases on that theme. This could be an extension for hands-on book reports. 

These Earth Day recycle bin trash crafts are perfect for interactive art lesson plans too. 

 

Homemade, Recycle Bin Shoe Box Dioramas, Miniatures, Props with Free Printables

Does this scene sound familiar in your home? It's 8 pm and darling daughter is wailing. She forgot to make her school shoebox diorama project due TOMORROW! Been there done that. I wanted to say "tough luck. Take the F" (which she deserved). But being a forgetful, eleventh-hour girl myself, I confess, I empathized. So I bailed her out. The whole family helped. We made an awesome woodland Native American shoebox diorama with recycled trash and household stuff. 

For homemade shoe box dioramas for any content area, all you need is a recycle bin, craft scraps, household junk and a little ingenuity. Here are free printable dollhouse miniatures and free printable habitat diorama backgrounds. I've included free printable scale model building patterns too. 

* Backdrop. Stand shoe box upright inside box lid. Get little-miss-last-minute busy drawing background inside lid (or on plain paper to attach to lid. Our shoebox diorama required an eastern woodland background. For a science habitat diorama, draw a nature scene. For English literature, create a scene from book. One son made a baseball field for a shoebox diorama from "The Chosen." Glue on cotton balls for clouds. Tape tinsel to box top for rain. 

* Buildings. Make 3-D house from smaller box. For 3-D yard or city scene, cut boxes and attach small portions to sides. Make a row of different sizes boxes for city. Cut doors to open. Decorate as house, church, store, office building, school. We made a longhouse from a butter tub. For a tipi, use a paper cone or cup.

* Furniture.  Use dollhouse furniture. Cover small boxes with fabric, wallpaper or wrapping paper for couch, table, bed or chairs. Cut chairs from cardboard. 

* Figures. Use action figures, dolls, Fisher Price or Lego people or Polly Pockets. Or draw face on round-head peg clothespin, pencil or toilet paper tube. Bend pipe cleaners or twist ties into dolls. Add wooden bead for head or paper face. Stuff a glove. Tie with yarn to make arms from outer fingers, legs from middle, head from thumb. Wrap dolls in scrap fabric or colored paper for clothes. Tie. Glue yarn, twine, plastic or paper scraps for hair. 

* Props. Use game pieces, toy sets, doll and action figure accessories, building sets, miniatures. Postage stamps and stickers make rugs, pictures, decorations. Roll paper strip and tie with yarn for scroll or diploma. Tiny yarn balls, beads and marbles make fruit, balls, rocks, cannon balls. Lids, pill bottle covers and tube caps make glasses and dishes. Thimbles and spools are buckets, hay bales, workshop accessories. For our native American shoebox diorama fire, we used broken pencils as logs and orange and red clear plastic for fire. Cut props from cardboard. Staple fabric scraps for curtains, blankets, doors. 

* Landscape. Use small branches for trees. Draw a"garden" on brown fabric or use striped material. Cover little boxes and pill bottles with fabric, grey for rocks and brown for hills, blue for water. Make paper trees and plants from paper tubes or straws. Use plastic toy animals for farm or nature scenes. 

* Military. Use vehicles, weapons and equipment from toy soldiers or GI Joe sets. Make bandages from brown grocery bags colored red (I used this in my Crimean War diorama from "Lady of the Lamp" in 6th grade). Drape material over tripod of sticks for tent. 

Make shoebox dioramas for literature, science, history or social studies crafts. 

Free Printable Ramadan and Islamic Activities for Children

For Muslims, Ramadan is holy season marked by prayer, fasting and abstinence. Ramadan, in the Islamic calendar is a month-long observance, falling roughly in the months of July or August. Ramadan fasting ends with the festival of Eid al Fitr (lesser Eid). It's celebrated July 17 in 2015. Here are free printable Ramadan Eid al Fitr activities to help Muslim children explore their faith and for non-Muslims to understand it better.

Islam 101 offers free Ramadan lessons. Ramadan is an Arabic word that refers to a dry, parched season. It is a season for sacrifice and purification, like the Christian Catholic season of Advent and Lent and the Jewish feast of Yom Kippur. Muslims seek to draw closer to Allah by practicing the Five Pillars of Islam. They are: Iman (faith), Salah (prayer, said five times daily, facing the Holy City of Mecca and recited from the Qu'ran.), Zakah (almsgiving, sacrificial giving, pruning back one's lifestyle to honor God and help others), Sawn (abstaining from food, alcohol and sexual relations with spouses), Hajj (pilgrimage, if possible to Makkah, otherwise known as Mecca).

Islamic Playground has free printable Ramadan and Muslim holiday coloring pages and Arabic letter worksheets. There are also quizzes, worksheets, jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzles, activities and word searches about Islam. The Holiday Spot has free printable Ramadan word games,crossword puzzles and word searches, using words and concept from Islam. You can print free Ramadan greeting cards, Children might like to make these and send them to family and friends.

Primary Games has free printable Ramadan and Islamic coloring pages. 123 Greetings has free printable Ramadan greeting cards in several designs and styles.

 

Free Printable Famous Places Around the World Coloring Pages for Social Studies

 The most interesting social studies activities are hands-on. Explore geography and cultures around the world with free printable coloring pages, maps, famous landmarks, buildings around the world. Students will love taking around the world tours of different countries with these interactive, hands on social studies lessons. Then keep reading for free printable 3D paper models of landmarks and famous buildings.

Our trip around the world begins at Activity Village has free printable coloring pages of famous landmarks, famous buildings of the world and sights to see in different countries. Your free printable around the world tour covers England, Scotland, France, Brazil, Egypt, India, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa and the United States. Print the Loch Ness monster, Eiffel Tower, Table Mountain, Statue of Liberty, Christ the Redeemer statue (to name a few famous landmarks). Print world maps showing national products, landmarks and sights to see.

Now for free printable 3D models of famous buildings to print--hang onto your hats because Paper Toys has free printable 3D paper models galore. Then when you thought you'd seen all the cool 3D paper models of buildings you could want, hit this site for more free printable 3D paper models of famous buildings. Get free printable paper models of castles, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, a haunted house, a medieval manor house, plus really cool 3D paper models of artifacts, vehicles, ancient wonders of the world and even Jimi Hendrix's guitar and Guy Fawkes mask! There are masks, race cars, pyramids, ships, paper airplanes, paper dolls and more.

Free Printable Castles, Medieval History paper crafts

Cut and paste activities make ideal educational tools. 3D models and dioramas are excellent book activities for reading response lessons. How about some free printable paper castles and 3D castle models for kids? This article includes free printable coat of arms patterns and designs for heraldry crafts to decorate.

Here are free printable cut and paste paper crafts of castle models of Neuschwanstein Castle in the Clouds. This German Cinderella castle is the poster child for fairytale castles. Neuschwanstein is one of the late Medieval castles in baroque renaissance style.

Here’s a website with tons of cool medieval stuff! There are free printable paper crafts of castles, a crossbow, knights, jousting, archery, medieval navigation and more. Visit  Storm the Castle. Print Assassin's Creed and Game of Thrones paper crafts too. 

Use these free printable castle models for dioramas, history lessons, engineering and design history lessons. Make these free printable castles part of a social studies unit on medieval times. It's always good in any unit to incorporate as many different subject areas. Cutting and assembling paper crafts adds science and math components to units. Students may want to design and color medieval castles before construction.

Now how about some free printable medieval castles, paper crafts and coloring pages? Visit--if only virtually--Skipton Castle in Yorkshire, England. Built in the 12th century Skipton Castle is beautifully preserved. The website includes free printable castle models paper crafts, knights, activities on kitchens of medieval castles, Elizabethan lord and lady and more free printable heraldry activities. DL-TK has a bunch more free printable medieval fantasy crafts.

What's heraldry, you ask? Heraldry refers to the crest or emblem associated with royal and noble families. Here are free printable coat of arms coloring pages.  These ancient symbols, also called family crests or coat of arms were used as ornamentation and communication, on battlements, flags, armor and weapons. A coat of arms, worn on shields, signified who led the army. Here are activities to make your own coat of arms. 

Free Printable Apple Themed Lesson Plans

Autumn in Michigan means apples. Apples are a common theme for preschool and elementary school students. Teachers and homeschoolers, are you teaching a unit on apples? Have I got a great sweet treat for you: free printable apple-themed lessons, apple coloring pages, apple games, worksheet and activities. There are math, social studies, science, reading, history, writing connections and more. 

 A to Z Teacher Stuff for more links to dozens of free printable apple lesson plans, crafts, mini booklets, games and worksheets. Most are geared to ages pre-K to grades 4.There are apple crafts, games, life science lesson plans and more!

Free Printable Boats, Maritime Lessons Plans

Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Schools and businesses get in on the fun. You can, too. Here are free printable pirate coloring pages, paper crafts, boat and ship models, maritime lessons and nautical themed activities. I've included lessons on ancient navigation tools, pirate coloring pages, Disney ship crafts, marine and navy lessons and more. Plenty of cut and paste and hands-on lessons. That way teachers and home-school parents can indulge their inner pirate and call it educational. 

Boat-Links is subtitled "The Mother of All Maritime Links," and it's rightly named. The site is a comprehensive collection of hundreds of free printable maritime and lighthouse activities, resources about nautical science, navigation, sailing, maritime history, merchant marine, the U.S. Navy, naval history in other countries, naval warfare, maritime museums around the world, nautical music and boat images.

Celestial Navigation offers free printable vintage maritime activities. Before modern navigation, pirates and sailors relied on the sky to guide voyages. Ancient instruments such as the sextant, astrolabe, cross-staff, quadrant, kamal (latitude hook) and nocturnal were indispensable. This site shows how to make old navigational tools.

US Lighthouse Society has free printable lighthouse lesson plans, crafts, coloring pages, worksheets and educational materials. You must create a user Id to access. Boats, Ships and Subs has dozens of links for free printable paper boat models. There are sailing vessels from all periods in history, including clipper ships, Chinese junks, Roman warships, Coast Guard boats, viking long boats, pirate ships and models of the Titanic and Thor Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki.

Disney Experience has free printable nautical toys and crafts from maritime-themed Disney movies. There's a Spanish galleon, Capt. Nemo's Nautilus, Jack Sparrow's compass, dead man's chest, Cortez's treasure chest, a Mark Twain riverboat and several other models. The Toymaker has a free printable puppet theater in which children can act out the adventures of Florimel the Magnificent. Florimel is a rabbit sailor who has adventures on the high seas in a boat that looks very like Sir Francis Drake's "Golden Hind."

Yes, Coloring has has dozens of realistic free printable coloring pages of boats, ships and submarines for many periods in history. There are also coloring pages of pirate ships.

Free Printable Fantasy and Fairy Craft Activities

I'm personally very fond of fairies, sprites, nymphs, nyads, dryads, pixies and all manner of wee folk who live in the forest.  Here are dozens of free printable fairy craft activities to use in fantasy literature, art and social studies lesson plans.

Start with Rainbow Magic fairy stories created by a collection of authors writing under the pseudonym "Daisy Meadows." Rainbow Magic is illustrated by Georgie Ripper. There are several dozen Rainbow Magic fairy stories. Here are free printable Rainbow Magic fairy crafts.

Here are free printable coloring pages of fairies from literature such as Shakespeare. There are old school Tinker Bell images and pictures of the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio. Here are more free printable fairy princess crafts and Medieval fantasy crafts with fairies. Here are free printable Barbie Fairytopia coloring pages. And you can't let an article about fairy crafts go to print without a nod to the greatest fairy of all Tinker Bell! No, don't get mad Tink, because the best is always saved for last! Here are free printable Tinker Bell and the Fairies of Pixie Hollow coloring pages.

Print a whole booklet of Tinker Bell, Barbie Fairytopia and Rainbow Magic activities to occupy a sick child or pass the time on a family car trip. Pack her a "Care-y Fairy Package," including printable booklet, crayons or markets, stickers, scissors, glue sticker and pencil. For extra fun, add some glitter (fairy gurus often refer to this as "pixie dust.") By the way, June 24 is Fairy Day!

Free Printable Cinco De Mayo, Mexico Coloring Pages

Cinco de Mayo, or Fifth of May, celebrates the victory of the smaller Mexican army over the mighty French juggernaut, in the Battle of Puebla, 1862. Cinco de Mayo is not the Mexican Independence. Here are free printable lesson plans for Cinco de Mayo. 

Cinco de Mayo means the fifth of May. But it isn't Mexican Independence Day nor the equivalent of the U.S. Fourth of July. Cinco de Mayo is the day Mexicans remember El Día de la Batalla de Puebla (Battle of Puebla). Cinco de Mayo is mostly an Americanized Latino holiday. But also a great day to explore Mexican culture. Here are free printable Cinco de Mayo lesson plans, worksheets and games.

Mr Donn has free printable Cinco de Mayo activities, games, coloring pages, Powerpoint presentations, social studies worksheets, history lesson plans and culture study activities.

A-Z Teacher Stuff has free printable Cinco de Mayo unit and lesson planner kit with materials, worksheets, games, crafts, recipes, movies and activities.

Enchanted Learning has free printable Cinco de Mayo worksheets, mini-booklets, history and social studies lesson plans. Print a map of Mexico, Mexican flag, info on the Battle of Puebla, Mexican leaders, posters, history, images and recipes. Print a nice poster featuring Cesar Chavez and other Mexican labor activists, political figures, scientists, artists, musicians and more.

The Teachers Corner has free printable Cinco de Mayo crafts, counting lessons, words in Spanish, cultural heritage activities and more. Lesson Planet has free printable lesson plans on Cinco de Mayo to sample.

For preschool and younger kids, visit DL-TK for free Cinco de Mayo coloring pages, crafts, games, puzzles and recipes. Kids Soup offers free Cinco de Mayo printables to sample.

Apples 4 the Teacher offers free printable Cinco de Mayo lessons, maps, history projects, puzzles, games, music, crafts, recipes and more. There are ideas for several ages groups. ELCivics has printable Cinco de Mayo lessons for older students.

Free Printable Leaf Identification Charts, Tree Coloring Pages

One of the most popular autumn lesson plans is to assign students to make a leaf identification booklet. Here are free printable tree identification charts and leaf patterns and fall craft stencils. Parents, homeschoolers and teachers, make flashcards with these tree and leaf patterns. Use in hands-on Montessori style games for nature science study. Make tree and leaf books. Assign students to collect leaves, press them or make leaf rubbings. Students should label leaves and trees using identification diagrams.

Tree Hugger has free _printable leaf patterns for tree and leaf identification from common trees around the country. The site also has textbook-quality, beautifully detailed free printable leaf coloring pages taken from naturalist Charles Sprague Sargent's leaf plate illustrations. Each page features a different leaf with its corresponding tree, berry, nut and foliage. These printable illustrations include cut-away drawings and other helpful identification data, plus the Latin classification for genus and species of the tree. The website gives the leaf and tree names in their American variation. Use these printables for taxonomy lessons on KPCOFGS (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family Genus and Species) as developed by zoologist Carolus Linnaeus.

Arbor Day offers several printable nature science resources and online tree and leaf identification activities.  Here are more links for tree and leaf identification on conifers, deciduous trees, hardwoods, and other assorted trees from different biomes and habitats. Don't miss these free printable forest map activities showing location and region of different types of trees. Scroll down to find the region and tree type you are looking for. Here's a free printable tree and leaf matching game. Print as coloring pages of leaves. Here are websites with free printable fall leaf patterns for autumn crafts. Here are free printable leaf stencils for decorations and children's activities. First Palette has free leaf pattern printables too. 

Mask Making Crafts for Social Studies

Mask lore is fascinating and tribal masks are significant in many world cultural traditions, religious activities and ceremonial dances. Ceremonial tribal masks are important in Native North American, Central American, South American, Pacific Islander, Asian, African, Maori and other tribal groups. Here are several social studies activities on mask-making and recycled trash mask crafts to help students explore the tradition masks. 

Paper plate, paper bag or Styrofoam mask crafts are the easiest. Use mask-making lessons in preschool through high school social studies activities. Mask crafts incorporate green, recycled trash materials. It may seem odd that tribal masks of such significance could be made from recycled trash. But it's important to stress in social studies activities that most tribal masks are made from just that--"found" materials, scraps and natural elements. The gorgeous collection of African tribal masks at the Detroit Institute of Arts are made from leaves, grass, mud, clay, pebbles, shells, animal fur, skin and hair, human hair, seeds and nut hulls. It the artisan's ability to create beautiful mask crafts from found objects that makes mask-making so fascinating. 

The teacher's role in mask-making social studies activities is facilitator. She provides recycled trash, art supplies and found objects for mask crafts. Students bring the creativity. For preschool mask making, adults might draw eye and mouth holes on mask crafts for kids to cut. Older students should be left to explore different facial features, eye hole and mouth hole designs for their tribal masks. They might decide to shape mouths and eyes like stars, squares or diamonds. They might make animal head mask crafts (a common design in tribal masks). They create teeth, hair, skin, fur or scales. 

Here are art supplies and recycle trash needed for mask-making social studies activities. recycled paper or Styrofoam plates, large paper grocery bags, turned inside out to hide advertising print hot glue guns, school glue or Glue Dots. Glue dots are extra tacky, easy to work with and reduce mess by pricey. If glue dots are too expensive, school glue will work. Use up leftover school glue by melting in microwave to remove from bottles. recycled pot pie tins or egg cartons for glue and paint holders and mask-making details. You'll need Q-Tips cotton swabs, tape and staplers. 

Mask decorations from recycled trash or found objects include --old jewelry --craft feathers --beads, glitter --appliques --faux gems --animal feathers --pebbles --shells--assorted dried seeds, beans, popcorn and legumes (these make excellent teeth) --assorted scraps of yarn, twist paper, twine, raffia, straw, reed, strips of paper or plastic, string, scrap electrical cord, wire for hair (unravel recycled knitted garments for curly hair) --fabric scraps --tissue paper, wrapping paper, construction paper and magazine scraps --gift ribbons and bows --assorted recycled pom poms, tassels, buttons, ribbons, --paint or markers (don't allow students to simply draw a design; encourage them to create a 3-D mask with found objects) --plastic mesh from orange bags (excellent for decorating) --recycled trash container lids, milk rings, small lids, jar lids, cardboard scraps (nothing sharp and all thoroughly washed) --clay or play dough: mold into embellishments and decorations, allow to dry, glue in place, paint.

Provide pictures and examples of native tribal masks. Encourage students to choose a basic mask theme (animal, facial expression), sketch it out and create pattern using a collage of materials.