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How to Create Back to School Power Words

by BrainNinjasWP

Try this quick activity that will last all year. We use power words instead of making goals. We talk about growth mindset and words that help us be our best. Then we make a display to share our words. This makes a great back to school activity or works perfect in the New Year. Come take a look!

Do your students write goals? It can be an effective way to have students learn to take responsibility for their behaviour or learning. We tried something new this year. Students chose power words instead of goals.

Back to school is a great time to reflect on past years in school. It’s the right time to think about the positive changes you and your students can make. This will help you all have a wonderful year together.

[Read more…] about How to Create Back to School Power Words

Filed Under: Engaging Lessons Tagged With: Back to School, Bulletin board ideas, Bulletin Boards, Classroom Community, Classroom Set Up, Goal Setting, Goalsetting, Growth Mindset, Holidays and Seasonal, Power Words

How to Make Recycled Cork Ornaments

by BrainNinjasWP

Recycle some of those corks or small round containers to make some adorable Christmas ornaments. This makes a great Christmas craft for the classroom or homeschool. Come get all the instructions and suggestions to make your own.

Do you have a bunch of wine corks lying around? Don’t worry; we’re not judging. Well, they can make great ornaments with a little paint and detail. Recycling materials to make Christmas ornaments is a great way to use materials destined for the landfill in a way that won’t just become a piece of garbage because the family will treasure the ornament for years. We created these little recycled cork ornaments that families love.

These recycled cork ornaments make great Christmas gifts for your students’ families. Wrap them up with some tissue paper and make a card that students can take home with them before the break.

[Read more…] about How to Make Recycled Cork Ornaments

Filed Under: Engaging Lessons Tagged With: Christmas, Christmas activities, Christmas Crafts, Makerspace, recycled materials

How to Create Fingerprint Art Projects

by BrainNinjasWP

Create adorable ornaments that use simple materials. These Christmas ornaments can be shared with friends and family. You can even use them for other times of the year like Halloween or winter.

Are you looking for a quick and not-too-messy project for any age? Well, look no further than fingerprint art.

Using a little paint, construction paper and markers, your students can transform their fingerprints into different art projects with lots of engagement and very little time or clean up.

Even though this post focuses on using fingerprint art for Christmas, there are lots of ways you can use this type of art.

[Read more…] about How to Create Fingerprint Art Projects

Filed Under: Engaging Lessons Tagged With: Art Lessons, Christmas, christmas cards, Christmas Trees, Crafts, fingerprint art, Holidays and Seasonal, Makerspace, Winter

How to Spread Joy With Handmade Community Christmas Cards

by BrainNinjasWP

Get your students involved in their community by making and delivering Christmas cards. It's so simple and yet makes such an impact. Find out how in this post complete with different types of cards to make and how to involve your whole school.

For eleven years we have been part of a proud tradition in our community: delivering Christmas cards to all the homes and businesses that make up our school community. We mail them to agencies and businesses involved with our school community. It is so easy, helps build community and teaches our students to do things for others.

Students love making cards. And they don’t need to be just for Christmas. You can apply this strategy to any type of holiday at any time of year.

Here is how you can start the tradition for yourself.

[Read more…] about How to Spread Joy With Handmade Community Christmas Cards

Filed Under: Engaging Lessons Tagged With: Art, Art Lessons, Christmas, Christmas activities, christmas cards, Christmas Crafts, Classroom Community, Holidays, Holidays and Seasonal

Gift Festive Christmas Classroom Activities to Your Students

by BrainNinjasWP

Do you need some Christmas classroom activities to keep your students busy during December that are still valuable learning opportunities? Look no further than this list of easy to implement (and barely prep) ideas.  Come check out some Christmas math or design a social media account for an elf. These Christmas activities are perfect for your upper elementary classroom.

You know that week in December when you’re constantly called down to the auditorium for concert rehearsals, some of your students are away sick, some have left for vacation early, and you have to keep a classroom full of excited kids busy? Do you need some Christmas classroom activities to solve the problem?

Christmas is fun and all, but it’s so hard to keep kids interested in learning, and it’s a challenging time to introduce new concepts with all those interruptions. What’s a teacher to do?

[Read more…] about Gift Festive Christmas Classroom Activities to Your Students

Filed Under: Engaging Lessons Tagged With: Christmas, Christmas activities, christmas cards, Christmas Crafts, Christmas Math, Christmas Trees, ELA, Holidays, Logic Puzzles, Math Worksheets, Puzzles, Seasonal, Teachers Pay Teachers, Writing Prompts

How to Make Recycled Can Characters

by BrainNinjasWP

Upcycle cans from your house into these adorable can characters. It's great as a Christmas craft or a language arts character study.

Here’s a great reason to eat potato chips (you don’t have to eat them, but it’s a good excuse). Have your students collect Pringles cans or any other metal or cardboard can that has a plastic lid and upcycle them into a great holiday activity. Our students have loved making recycled can characters over the years.

This activity will work with other types of cans that are made of cardboard with a metal base and plastic lid.

We made our cans into snowmen, gingerbread men, penguins, Santas, elves and reindeer as a fun Christmas craft activity that parents will cherish for years to come.

[Read more…] about How to Make Recycled Can Characters

Filed Under: Engaging Lessons Tagged With: Art Lessons, Christmas, Crafts, ELA, Holidays, Holidays and Seasonal, Recycling, Seasonal, Upcycling, Winter

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  • We like to try teaching our students new watercolour techniques that will make their paintings more realistic. Being elememtary generalists means we're not experts but we've broken down this watercolour candy cane lesson so you can try it out with your students. It's a great Christmas art project, but more importantly you can teach students how to add light and shadow to their art projects to make them come alive.
    Sweet and Simple Two-Colour Watercolour Candy Cane Paintings
    We love to teach students new...
  • Do you have lots of odds and ends leftover from various Christmas art porjects and crafts over the years? Here are five projects to help use them up. Come find the free art project instructions and get some new ideas for your upper elementary students. These make great gifts or decorations during the festive season.
    Five Easy Christmas Tree Projects for Leftover Bits and Pieces
    Rolled Christmas Wrapping Paper If you're like...
  • Add these books with characters who are overcoming challenges to your classroom library. Having a growth mindset is important for learning and these books are a great way to show students how to work through learning challenges. Come check out our list and tell us which ones we've missed.
    40 Great Books for Inspiring a Growth Mindset
    Having a growth mindset means knowing...

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