These holidays around the world story stones are GORGEOUS! They are so inviting to look at and spark wonder and curiosity in both children and adults. They double as a beautiful learning tool and holiday decoration! 

These make a great addition to any Holidays Around the World inquiry unit and offer a great tactile element to your studies. 

Ready to make your Holiday Stones?! Here’s what you’ll need–

Supplies:

• Holidays Around the World Story Stone Graphics and Activities
• Mod Podge
• Stones
• Scissors

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Related: Check out Valentine’s Day Literacy Centers

Here’s How We Use the Holidays Around the World Stones and Printables: 

Step 1:

First you need to make your story stones. You just need the graphics, scissors, mod podge, and stones. You can see how I make my story stones in Four Ways to Use Stones in the Classroom. If you cut along the lines of the graphics, it will take a little time but they will look beautiful and last for a very long time!

Here are the rest of the printables that come along with the pack!

Search and Match Coloring Page 

Children will enjoy searching for the stones, matching them to the pictures, and coloring the pictures! My boys are in kindergarten and second grade and they both LOVE this activity!

Sorting Page

Children sort the different holiday stones on these mats without picture prompts. This is more of a challenge and better for older children. You can use the informational cards to help with this activity. 

List Page 

Children search for the stones and make a list of the holiday symbols. This is great for who are children learning how to write and spell! Again, you can use the informational cards to help with this activity. 

Cut and Paste Matching Page 

Children cut/paste and match the holidays around the world pictures. This is a great extension activity or assessment piece. 

Information Writing Graphic Organizer and Writing Pages 

The graphic organizers can be used in different ways. Younger children can name the symbols they put on the graphic organizer boxes. Older children can say what they learned about the symbols and then write about them on the writing pages.

Information Cards 

The information cards give a sentence or two explanation of the pictures on the stone. These are a great springboard for further research on these topics and also are a great supplement to all of the activities above!

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I hope you give these holidays around the world activities a try! I promise, your little nature lovers will love it as much as my boys.

∼Tara

Need more simple nature ideas?! Check out:

Pine Tree Jar Lanterns

Not Your Average Nursery Rhyme Activities

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This is a great way to get outdoors with kids in the winter or anytime of year! This is a great snow day activity, you can also use them to do some colorful cloud gazing if you don’t have snow on the ground. We’ve also hung them in our window for a fun indoor activity on those days that it’s too cold to get outside.

These are really easy to make! Here’s what you’ll need…

Supplies:

• Paper plates– You want thin paper plates so they are easy to cut.
• Colored Cellophane
• Scissors
• Tape
• Hot Glue or Elmers– Depending up how thick your plates are.
• Hole Puncher
• Twine

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RELATED: Check out Our Favorite Seasonal Nature Activity

Here’s How to Prepare the BEST Snow Say Activity:

Step 1:

Cut a circle in 2 paper plates at the same time. You will frame the cellophane with the plates, so you what the circle cut lines to be the same for each “frame.”

Step 2:

Cut the cellophane into circles so they fit in the paper plate frame. I doubled up the cellophane to create more vibrant color refections.

A couple things that aren’t picture here:

1. Tape the cut lines on the plate.
2. Tape the cellophane to the plate at this point too.

Step 3:

Glue the paper plates together to make a frame. I would suggest using hot glue for this, but Elmer’s glue did work for the most part. We had a couple of plates that seemed thicker than the rest, so we used hot glue for those.

Step 4:

This is what it will look like when completed. At this point, paper punch the paper plate and tie it up with twine.

Now for the snow day activity!

You want to make sure to hang these color viewers on a sunny day if you want to see reflections on the snow! I tried a few different areas in my yard until I found this perfect spot. I would also suggest hanging these on a calm day. It was pretty windy, so the twine got tangled a few times which was a little frustrating.

Leo loved looking at the colorful reflections in the snow! He liked calling out the colors and hopping on the reflections one by one. 

Leo liked running through the plates too! It was also fun watching the plates move and the colors mix after he ran through them!

But most of all, he had fun looking through the plates and seeing the world through a colorful lens!

I even took pictures of him looking through the viewers. He got a kick out of that and loved seeing his face change different colors! We had so much fun with this snow day activity and I hope you do too!

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I hope you give this snow day activity a try! I promise, your little nature lovers will love it as much as my boys.

∼Tara

Looking for more outdoor activities for kids?! Check out:

Create a Magical Snow Garden

Winter Solstice Hiking Stick

The post A Playful Way to Learn About Colors appeared first on Little Pine Learners.

These penguins are completely inspired by an Oreo penguin snack activity that I did in my preschool classroom. I’m always thinking of ways to turn non-nature activities into adorable nature crafts:)

Here’s how I changed the snack activity to a sweet penguin craft for kids: 

• Instead of using Oreos, use rocks.
• Trade out candy eyeballs for googly eyes.
• Swap an orange M&M beak for construction construction paper (I also added orange feet to the rocks).
• Substitute white chocolate melting disks for the white tummy, I used soft cotton balls.

Sounds simple enough, right?! Here’s what you’ll need to make your penguin rocks…

Supplies:

• Rocks 
• Black paint if your rocks aren’t black
• Googly eyes
• Orange paper
• Glue stick
• Cotton balls

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RELATED: Check out 10+ Simple and Beautiful Stone Activities for Kids

Here’s How We Made this Penguin Craft for Kids:

Step 1:

Gather your rocks. If you don’t have black rocks, you can always paint them black. Painting rocks is such a soothing activity that kids just LOVE! We have a few black rocks from a local lake, so we skipped the painting step this time around.

We started from the top of the penguin and worked our way down.

First, we put the eyeballs on the penguin. These are sticky googly eyes, so they don’t require glue.

Step 2:

Next, cut the beaks and feet from orange construction paper. These don’t need to be perfect! Once you have them cut, glue the beak to the rock, right under the eyes.

Step 3:

Glue the cotton balls on the tummy area. I suggest putting glue right on the rock for this step so the glue stick doesn’t get stuck to the cotton ball. Then tear a little piece of cotton and spread it on the glue. You don’t need the whole cotton ball, just a little thin layer. I just love this part of the penguin rock! It turns it into such a soft and sweet rock craft. 

Step 4:

Finally, glue the feet on the stone. These turned out so adorable that we made more later in the day!

These are the perfect decoration, handmade gift, or play accessory.

Give this penguin craft for kids a try and let me know how it goes!

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I hope you give this penguin craft for kids a try! I promise, your little nature lovers will love it as much as my boys.

∼Tara

Looking for more simple and beautiful nature activities?! Check out:

Nature Constellation Matching Game

Work on Spatial Awareness With This Simple Nature Puzzle

The post A Simple and Adorable Penguin Rock Craft for Kids appeared first on Little Pine Learners.

This is one of those SIMPLE activities that you will return to over and over again! It’s the perfect outdoor center for a nature preschool or screen-free activity for home.

It was fun to show my kids that with just a dash of creativity, you can make a flower garden in the middle of winter!

Ready to create a magical snow garden? Here’s what you’ll need….

Supplies:

• Artificial flowers– We got ours from the Dollar Store. You can also find them in craft stores. I cut the stems from the bunch so they were individual flowers. You might want to add Duct Tape to the bottom of the stems if the wire is exposed.
• Flower pots
• Garden Tool Set
• Snow!

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RELATED: Check out Our Favorite Seasonal Nature Activity!

Here’s What We Did:

Step 1:

I set out the flower pots and garden shovels on our tree stumps. My boys loved filling up the flower pots with snow! It was the perfect alternative to dirt:)

Shoveling the snow in the pots is great hand-eye coordination practice!

Leo preferred the scooping method! He just put his flower pot right in the snow and scooped it up.

This kept them busy for a long time and they were having so much fun in the snow! They also loved patting down the snow into the pots. I knew this activity was a hit when they kept saying, “this is the best snow activity!”

Step 2:

Once all of the flower pots were filled with snow, I set out the artificial flowers. I put them on the ground by the tree stumps and they started “planting” their flowers right away!

Before I knew it, the snow gardens were complete. My oldest liked rearranging the flowers in different ways.

They looked so pretty when finished and added a some beautiful color to our yard!

We ended up moving them and they look so nice lined up against our house!

Here are so more ideas for flower play in the winter.

1. Make a flower field in the snow. Kids can just stick flowers right in the snow! No pots or shovels needed.
2. Stick the flowers in the snow before the kids get outside and have them make bouquets of specific colors or amounts.
3. Stick the flowers in the snow around your yard and have kids find them all.
4. Make snow castles with the flower pots and stick the flowers in the castles. So pretty!

Have fun and whatever activity you choose, it will certainly put a smile on your kids’ faces:)

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I hope you give this activity a try and have some fun in the snow! I promise, your little nature lovers will love it as much as my boys.

∼Tara

Looking for more outdoor activity ideas?! Check out:

Creating a Musical Forest

Beaded Sticks

The post Create a Magical Snow Garden appeared first on Little Pine Learners.

Flower activities aren’t just for summer, they can be enjoy year round! Here are some reasons I love this activity:

• If you don’t have flowers available outdoors, just buy a bouquet at the store!
• You can take the activity outdoors on a warm day or make it an indoor activity if the weather isn’t cooperating.
• The flower confetti adds a fun and festive touch! It’s the perfect invitation to play for New Year’s Eve, a birthday party or any other celebration!

But you don’t need a special occasion for this activity! Try it today!

Here’s what you’ll need..

Supplies:

• Whisky ice cube molds– You can use regular ice cubes.
• Flowers- It’s currently winter, so we used bouquet flowers.
• Scissors
• Fine motor tools

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RELATED: Check out Creating a Musical Forest for more sensory activities.

Here’s How We Made Them:

Step 1:

Make your flower confetti ice cubes. You can use whatever ice tray you have laying around the house or get creative and find a different ice tray shape. We love using sphere ice trays and these large square whisky ice cube trays.

Just cut some flower pieces and place about a teaspoon of flower confetti in each cube. Kids can work on their scissor skills and help with this!

Then fill up the tray with water. You will notice that all the flowers float to the top. If you want flowers dispersed throughout the ice cubes, you will need to fill a third of the tray with water and flowers and freeze it, then do this step two more times. Now you will have flowers at three different spots in the ice cube!

Step 2:

Set up the invitation to play. Just place the ice cubes in a tray or large plastic bin.

If you play with the ice cubes as soon as you take them out of the freezer, they will stick to your fingers and that can hurt! Let them sit out for a few minutes to give them time to defrost for a bit.

Step 3:

Set out warm water and fine motor tools. We’ve had this set for years and the kids still love playing with these tools!

Step 3:

Invite children to free the bits of flower confetti from the ice cubes! My kids are always up for this challenge. I swear it never gets old!

First my boys put the ice cubes directly into the warm water. The flower confetti looked so pretty floating in the bowl!

They also love using the tweezers once the ice starts to melt. This is great for both hand-eye coordination and fine motor work!

I had to switch out the water because it was getting cold. Once I added a fresh bowl of warm water, they used the grabber to transfer the water from the bowl to the tray.

We had so much fun with this activity and it kept the boys entertained for 45 minutes!

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I hope you give this ice sensory activity a try! I promise, your little nature lovers will love it as much as my boys.

∼Tara

Need more flower confetti ideas?! Check out:

Natural Play Dough with Flower Confetti

Pinecone Nature Confetti Shakers for New Year’s Eve

The post Ice Sensory Play with Flower Confetti appeared first on Little Pine Learners.

Yes, I love setting up ice sensory play activities! They look so beautiful and inviting, which is why kids are so drawn to them. Both of my boys are fascinated by ice. They love to watch it melt, feel how cold it is, and they really love freeing pieces stuck inside ice!

So far we have freed flowers from ice for summer and spooky eyeballs for Halloween. I was so excited to try this idea for winter and have even more ideas for spring!

Supplies:

• Evergreen Pieces
• Berries, This is one of the only times that I recommend getting fake pieces of nature. I recommend fake holly berries because they are poisonous to humans and animals if consumed.
• Fine motor tools
• A tray or pan to hold the ice ornaments
• Twine
• Sphere Ice Molds

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RELATED: Check out Pine Needle Sweep {A Fine Motor Christmas Activity}

Here’s How We Set Up This Sensory Ice Play Activity:

Step 1:

Put evergreen pieces and fake holly berries in the ice sphere trays. You could also use red plastic beads or glass gems in place of the holly berries.

Then you will want to put the black cover on the ice sphere tray and pour water through the top.

You will see that I looped pieces of twine once the trays were filled with water. I also used the twine to push down the pieces of nature, to make sure they weren’t blocking the hole from filling up the mold with water.

Step 2:

Freeze the molds and set them out in a tray! You might want to let them sit out for a minute before starting the activity or else those tiny fingers will stick to the ice and it can hurt a bit.

Step 3:

Bring out your fine motor tools to unfreeze the pieces inside the mold! We used warm water and a dropper, tweezers, and scoopers for this activity. We are a huge fan of this fine motor set and use it allll the time!

First, my boys squirted some warm water on the icy ornaments. It really brought out those beautiful colors inside the chunk of ice!

At this point, they were touching the ice and trying to pick out the pieces.

After about 30 minutes of playing, the tin started to look like winter sensory soup! The bits and pieces were slowly freed and a good time was had by all! This sensory ice play activity was a hit.

Pin this activity to save it for later!

I hope you give this sensory ice play activity a try! I promise, your little nature lovers will love it as much as my boys.

∼Tara

Looking for more pine activity ideas?! Check out:

A Simple and Adorable Holiday Wreath for Kids

Pine Needle Sensory Writing Tray

The post Icy Ornament Sensory Play appeared first on Little Pine Learners.

This is the perfect activity for one of those days when you can’t get outside and feels like the day is just dragging along. You can make this simple fine motor activity in less than ten minutes and you only need a few supplies for hours of fun!

My boys played with their pipe cleaner candy cane “shop” throughout the day and it’s also been a big hit in my preschool classroom. Multiple children can work on the candy canes at the same time and work together to finish a fun project!

Here’s what you’ll need..

Supplies:

• A cardboard box
• Pipe Cleaners
• Pony Beads
• Tape

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RELATED: Check out Holiday Candy Cane Stick Bouquet

Here’s What We Did:

Step 1:

Poke holes through the top of a cardboard box. You want your pipe cleaners to stand up straight, so this will make it easier to push the pipe cleaners through without bending them.

Step 2:

Push the pipe cleaners though the holes. My four year old helped me with this part:)

Step 3:

Tape the pipe cleaners to the inside of the box so they don’t fall through when you thread the beads. I probably could have cut them in half because I pushed quite a bit through. But the good thing about pipe cleaners is they are reusable! You can either save this box for next year or take out the pipe cleaners to save them for another activity and recycle the box.

Step 4:

You pipe cleaner candy cane shop is ready to go! Now set out your beads. I love wooden beads, but we didn’t have enough for this activity. We happened to have these around the house so we used pony beads.

I showed my boys how to make a candy cane. Just thread the beads, bend a bit of pipe cleaner over the last bead to prevent them from falling off, and curl them over to look like a candy cane! They look pretty cool standing on top of the box!

You can work on different patterns for math work or just work on threading for fine motor skills.

My boys revisited this activity throughout the day so we moved the box several time to follow them! I love how easy it is to move this activity and the candy canes staying in one spot. It was a great way to cure those cold weather blues while making something festive and fun!

Pin this activity to save it for later!

I hope you give this simple activity a try! I promise, your little nature lovers will love it as much as my boys.

∼Tara

Looking to Strengthen Fine Motor Skills?! Check out:

Rescue Stick Man: Icy Sensory Play

Pine Needle Sweep {A Fine Motor Christmas Activity}

The post DIY Pipe Cleaner Candy Cane Shop appeared first on Little Pine Learners.

We’ve all been there…You finally get the kids ready for a wintertime hike and after five minutes of walking, they start complaining and want to go home. I thought this fun hiking stick was just the motivation they needed to stay outdoors and hike a bit longer on those chilly winter days! I borrowed this idea from Creating a Musical Forest and tweaked it a bit to match my boys excitement for all things Christmas. Remember, you can adjust the bead colors and shapes to reflect any time of year!

Here’s what you’ll need to get your kids excited about their next outdoor adventure.

Supplies:

• Branch for a walking stick
• Scissors
• Green and/or Red– Yarn or string
• Beads and jingle bells 

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RELATED: Check out Hands-On Skip Counting with Sticks

Making Hiking Sticks with Kids:

Step 1:

First you need to cut some string or yarn and wrap it around the branch. I tied the string right above a knot on the branch so the string would sit there if it loosened a little.

We found it easiest to have one person hold the branch and spin it around while another person held on to the string and moved it up and down the branch.

Our branch looked like this after the first step. You can also add silver, gold, or red string at this point but we only had green available.

Step 2:

Next tie a new piece of string on the branch. This piece of string will be used to thread your beads and bells.

You might need to tie the end of your piece of string to keep it from fraying.

It took my boys some practice, but once they got the hang of it they really enjoyed this part of the activity. This is a great way to get in some fine motor work!

Once all of your beads and bells are on the string, you can wrap it around the branch the same way as before. You might need to move the beads and bells to space them out as you go. Also make sure you tightly wrap the string around the branch or you will need to tighten it later.

Now you are ready for your hike! The boys were so excited to get outside to use their newest hiking accessory.

Once you are finished, just lean it up against your house and it doubles as a festive outdoor decoration until your next hike!

Pin this activity to save it for later!

I hope you try making these hiking sticks! I promise, your little nature lovers will love it as much as my boys.

∼Tara

Looking for more hiking stick ideas?! Check out:

Glow-in-the-Dark Mummy Hiking Sticks

How to Make a Flower Hiking Stick

The post Jingle Bell Holiday Hiking Stick for Kids appeared first on Little Pine Learners.

There are so many advantages to using a sensory writing tray! Children get to use multiple senses while learning and playing which means you can suit any child’s learning style. Children love smelling the pine, moving their fingers in the tray and touching the needles. I promise, they aren’t sharp and my boys didn’t complain about how they feel.

Another reason I love sensory writing trays is because they appeal to children of all ages and are a naturally differentiated activity. Preschoolers can work on prewriting skills and mark making, while older children can work on writing alphabet letters and even spelling words!

Ready to make one? Here’s what you’ll need….

Supplies:

• Pine Needles
• Scissors
• Tray- We repurposed a Melissa and Doug play dough container for this activity
• Optional- Branches, stones, beads clothespins and sensory tray writing prompts

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RELATED: Check out Fall Leaf Sensory Writing Tray

Here’s What We Did:

We used all of the pine needles from the Pine Needle Sweep activity and had to collect a few more fallen pine branches from our yard because the sensory tray required extra pine needles.

My boys helped me cut and tear the pine needles off the branches for extra fine motor work. I added some red beads to make the tray look a little more festive!

I also included a paintbrush in case my boys didn’t want to use their fingers in the pine needles, but they enjoyed both methods.

My four year old liked making large strokes with the paintbrush. He swept all of the pine needles to one side and then the other of the sensory writing tray.

I wasn’t worried about him making letters because there are so many benefits to just using a paintbrush. When holding on to a paintbrush, children build fine motor skills because it requires them to use a pincher grasp to hold the paintbrush. It also encourages them to move their hand, wrist and arm to create an image.

He also liked filling in the empty spaces with the red beads. They looked like holiday berries in the tray!

My six year old was a little more precise. He enjoyed making letters and filling them in with the red beads.

Leo liked watching his older brother make different letters, so he joined in and helped him fill in the letters with beads.

I taught them how to put the beads back in the jar and then shake the pine needles in the tray to start over for a new letter. They were busy for a long time with this activity!

Pin this activity to save it for later!

I hope you give this simple sensory writing tray a try! I promise, your little nature lovers will love it as much as my boys.

∼Tara

Looking for more winter activity ideas?! Check out:

A Simple and Adorable Holiday Wreath for Kids

Winter Small World Play Using Natural Materials

The post Pine Needle Sensory Writing Tray appeared first on Little Pine Learners.

Recently we tried a couple of fine motor leaf activities that my boys loved! The fall leaf sensory writing tray and leaf sweep activities were so fun that we had to recreate them with pine needles since we are heading in to the holiday season.

You can either search for fallen pine branches outside or use pine needles from your Christmas tree before you take it down for the year. Either way, this low-waste activity is the perfect way to counteract all the excess holiday waste that is created every year.

Ready to combat plastic learning tools and toys?

Here’s what you’ll need…

Supplies:

• Cut up pine needles
• Box lid
• Wooden beads (optional)
• Markers
• Paintbrushes

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RELATED: Check out Practicing Prewriting Skills with Sticks and Stones

Here’s What We Did:

Step 1:

First, find a cardboard box lid and draw a simple tree outline on the inside part of the lid. This lid will help contain the pine needles.

If you want to make this activity a little easier, you can draw one large triangle for the pine tree.

Step 2:

Then you will need to cut some cut pine needles. We have at least 20 pine trees on our property, so it wasn’t difficult to fine a few fallen pine branches.

My four year old loved helping me cut the pine needles! It took us both about 15 minutes to cut enough needles for the activity.

I suggest not adding too many needles because it can be difficult to sweep all of them in the tree outline.

Check out Pine Needle Sensory Writing Tray for another great way to use these pine needles!

Step 3:

Once all of the pine needles were cut, I swept them to the outside border of the tree and invited my son to sweep them in the outline to make a tree.

Leo got sweeping right away.

You can offer a variety of paintbrushes to try. As mentioned above, we did a similar activity with leaves so I already know that Leo prefers the thicker paintbrush. They’re easier for him to hold and they sweep more pine needles at one time.

This activity is great because it took a while to finish and kept his interest the whole time! He loved the challenge of getting all of the pieces in the tree outline.

Once he was finished, Leo wanted to “decorate” the tree. I thought this was great idea since Christmas is right around the corner, so I got him some beads to place on the tree!

Need Christmas Gift Ideas? Click on the following photos for unique and fun ideas!

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I hope you give this simple activity a try! I promise, your little nature lovers will love it as much as my boys.

∼Tara

Looking for more simple pine activities?! Check out:

A Simple and Adorable Holiday Wreath for Kids

Pine Needle Sensory Writing Tray

The post Pine Needle Sweep {A Fine Motor Activity} appeared first on Little Pine Learners.