Around Our Schoolroom: Easter

Over the last couple of weeks, I've been adding a few Easter items to our schoolroom shelves. The rotation of activities helps keep my kids interested in learning and mastering/practicing skills. They especially like it when our theme is holiday related. The activities below are designed for various ability levels; my youngest is three and my oldest is six.  For my oldest, Big Buddy, these are a supplement to his first grade curriculum. 

 Language 

Creating patterns with glitter eggs.
The glitter eggs are from dollar tree. I cut a few egg cartons in half and then glued
them together to create a long but divided row. 

Upper and lower case egg matching with phonic inserts.  The younger kids just match the 
letters. While the older kids match the letters and insert the correct corresponding picture. 
The inserts were purchased from Monstessori for Everyone and printed at 60% so they'd fit into the eggs

tonging and sorting pastel pom poms 

Clothes-pining matching tails on to bunnies.

Matching Beatrix Potter Cards
*We also use these cards to play goldfish and memory.

Opposite eggs.

Sequencing The Story of Easter cards.
cards via Bible Story Printables

Bunny letter hop - I spread the letters around the floor and then depending on the age of the child
 I either call out a letter, make the phonetic sound, or say a word and ask them to find the
beginning or ending sound. 

Math

Counting eggs into numbered baskets.

the baskets are reused applesauce containers

Pulling carrots dice game - children roll dice to see how many carrots they can pull. Child with
 the most carrots at end of the game wins. 
I unfortunately cannot remember were I purchased the carrots. The board is styrofoam, colored brown, and with
duct tape on the edges to keep it from flaking. 

Pattern blocks and an Easter puzzle.
Pattern blocks via PreKinders.

Bunny number hop - I spread the numbers around the floor and then depending on the age of the
child I  either call out a number or hold up a flash card. They then have to hop to the correct egg. 

Science

Rabbit x-ray.
Animal x-rays can be purchased here. 

Parts of a hare nomenclature cards. 
I have made these three part card available for free here. The hare figurine can be purchased here. 

Other

Colored rice, plastic eggs, and bunnies. Little Ladies favorite thing to do with this activity
is to make shakers.

Threading pom poms. The boys especially like this activity, but they call it "stabbing" instead
of threading.  :)

Painting with cookie cutters.
These 101 cookie cutters, which include letters, numbers, and multiple holidays get a ton of use at our house.

I strongly believe that no unit study can be complete without quality books!  Below are three, that I highly recommend. They covering every range of Easter: the first passover, the resurrection, and our modern day traditions of bunnies and eggs. 

• The Longest Night: A Passover Story - Told from the perspective of a young Jewish slave girl the story of ten plagues of Egypt and the passover come to life. The watercolor illustration of this book are also breathtaking. 
• The Easter Story - another book full of beautiful watercolors, this simple retelling for the Easter story is perfect for young children. 
• The Easter Egg - This book by Jan Brett is of course filled with her charming illustrations. It tells the tale of a bunny who is preoccupied with winning the egg decorating contest until he stumbles upon a robin's egg. 

If you are looking for more Easter ideas be sure to check our bunny bookmarks. You can also find more units and crafts on our homeschool page. 

Lots more great kid friendly ideas can also be found at these link parties: Link and Learn, Weekly Kid Co-op, Montessori Monday, After School, Hip Homeschool Hop, Preschool Corner, For the Kids Fridays, and Show and Share Saturday.