DIY Farm Themed Crayons Made With Old Crayons and Silicone Molds

When life gives you old and broken crayons....create something new! I love crayons and I have to admit I even have my very first box of crayons. So over the years of raising kids, old or broken crayons went into a shoe box.........just waiting for a time like this!

I needed a farm themed gift for a sweet little one who loves his farm animals! So I thought I would try melting crayons into farm shapes. I dug out my box of old crayons! I did read that the name brand crayons work best for melting, so I stuck to using those for this project.

I took a trip to the local Hobby Lobby and found this silicone mold on sale for 50% off. When looking for molds, the thicker ones are the best. 

The hardest part of this project was peeling the paper off the crayons. Some of these crayons were over 35 years old. I have heard that soaking them in water helps, but I just kept peeling. 

I broke the crayons up and filled the molds, overfilling a little in those that needed to spread. I mixed the colors in some. The chunky crayons like the barn are best for littlest hands. Be aware that small details might break off of some molded crayons.

Putting the mold on a cookie sheet really helps  keep the melted crayon from spilling.  Melt at 300 degrees for about 10 to 15 minutes. Some colors take longer to melt than others. After it is melted, you can take a toothpick to both swirl and mix if you like and fill in areas that seem thinner.......like the legs on farm animals.

Let cool for about an hour before pushing out of the molds. This was very satisfying! I found a very cute box and some filler at the dollar store to complete this gift. 

I loved creating these and was thrilled with how they turned out. They were a perfect gift but would also be good for a farm theme in the classroom or at a party. Think party favors!

If you are doing a farm theme in your classroom here are a few resources that I created just for that. Here you will find math worksheets, emergent readers, cut & paste, pocket chart cards and writing activities.

Farm Themed Math & Literacy

These resources can be purchased separately or save money with a bundle. 

Farm Themed Math Worksheets

Farm Themed Rhyme and Read Emergent Reader

Grab a freebie here that includes a page from farm themed math worksheets! 

Sample Math Worksheets

I hope you enjoyed this farm themed post and learned something new!

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All Things Pumpkin - 9 Ideas for Pumpkins in the Classroom

Nothing reminds us of fall like the touch, feel, smell and sight of pumpkins! Pumpkins are a great medium to use for teaching in the fall. Here you will find 9 crafts, videos, resources, and activities to get you started on your pumpkin adventures this fall!  

1. This video is about the life cycle of a pumpkin. It really gets the students thinking about the different stages a pumpkin goes through before it is harvested. 

2. Wow, games using a pumpkin that practice sight words, spelling words, and math problems! They really give the students a chance to touch and feel the pumpkin as they roll it back and forth.

3.  Try this recipe for Pumpkin Pie play dough! Your students will love the Pumpkin smell!

4. A Pumpkin Hand print craft is a perfect way to save some fall memories. 

5. For science and sensory try out this pumpkin slime! Your students will love getting their hands oozing with a real pumpkin.

6. Grow a pumpkin in a pumpkin! What a great way to watch the sprouts grow!

7. Making an anchor chart like this one will help your students as they investigate and describe a pumpkin. For example, they can list how many seeds, how many lines, what's the inside of the pumpkin is like, and what the outside is like. So many questions and things to talk about. 

8. Create some sparkle with this pasta wheel pumpkin craft.

Positional Words Cut and Paste Emergent Reader

9. For more pumpkin themed fun, this cut and paste emergent reader works on positional words. Students love creating their own books as they cut and paste the pictures of a pumpkin!

I hope you learned some new ideas to utilize pumpkins in the classroom this fall. While putting this post together I learned some new tricks with blogging that I hope will help me create a more useful page. Keep on learning!
Let's Learn S'more!

Poetry in the Elementary Classroom and a Freebie

Poetry in the classroom motivates reading, develops phonemic awareness, practices sight words, builds vocabulary, and the list goes on. I love seeing the face of an aspiring reader when they realize they've read a sentence independently for the first time. These joyous moments are why I create resources that will help these learners... blossom into confident readers. 

Poetry Notebook Pages

You can implement poetry right from the first week of school with these poetry notebook pages. These original poems, written by Let's Learn S'more and designed by The Barefoot Teacher can be added daily, weekly, or as your plans allow. These were so fun to create and the response to them has been overwhelming!

Numbers & Colors Poetry

There are several resources to choose from: phonics, sight words or numbers & colors.  Each resource comes with several different options with and without blanks for students to fill in, both color and black / white. Laminate the full color version to create a classroom book. 

    Phonics or Sight Words Poetry

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For additional Poetry notebook resources or to purchase the bundle visit......

 The Barefoot Teacher

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Another resource that you might like is the Rhyme and Read emergent readers. There are 6 readers to choose from, each one comes in both a color and a  cut and paste version.  Besides rhyming, I tried to include some other skills as well, such as number recognition and positional words. The reader themes are frogs, ocean, farm, bugs, forest animals, and bees. 

Rhyme & Read Emergent Readers

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If your students love word searches.....these ones are mixed with poetry. These are available with monthly themes. Each original poem has highlighted words that student can find in the word search. 

 

Poetry Word Searches

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Bugs on Parade..............spring, bugs, and poetry go hand in hand! Bundle this up or purchase separately. Each page of the reader is a line of an original poem. Students will love to create their own reader with the cut & paste version. In the bundle, you will also find a poetry word search. Let your students create their bug hats and wear them as they have their own bug parade or participate in the write the room activity.

Bugs on Parade Bundle

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Click below to get a sample from the poetry notebook pages!

Poetry Freebie

I have loved poetry since I was a child, and I have really enjoyed creating these resources! I hope that your students enjoy them too and fall in love with poetry as much as I did. 

Let's Learn S'more

                        

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All Things Apples - Fun Apple Ideas for the Classroom

When it comes to fall, what could be more fun to learn about than APPLES? Whether it's an apple classroom theme, teaching the life cycle of an apple, making an apple craft or tasting apples, there are so many ideas one can use when teaching with apples in the classroom!



Look at this cute apple tree door display! It's a perfect addition to your classroom theme. Let students write their names on the apples before placing around the tree!

Adding apple themed number posters will help set your theme and can be utilized as an learning tool for your students!

Numbers 1-20


If you decide to teach about the life of an apple, this video will get you started..

A fun way to learn about the apple life cycle is with this cut and paste emergent reader! Students will love creating their own book as they learn about the life of an apple!

 The Life of an Apple


Encourage your little readers with these free bookmarks!

Freebie

Write the Room is a fun and educational way to learn the life cycle of the apple! It will also give the students a chance to practice their writing skills. Leave the posters up to add to your room decor.  
This bundle also includes apple themed math pages making it a complete resource for your apple unit!

The Life of an Apple


"Let's Learn S'more" and add a science experiment using apples! Students will love this fun little explosion. 




There are so many crafts you can find related to apples but this is one of my favorites! 



No apple unit would be complete without a fun snack. Student love tasting different kinds of apples and it's a great opportunity to talk about and compare the different varieties.. Or, try this snack idea!

Ocean Animals

            The end of the year or summer is the perfect time to learn about ocean animals, since kids already have their minds on being outdoors and water play. These fun ocean creatures are a lot of fun to make and will get your students minds thinking about what lives in the ocean.


           I love this ocean themed bulletin board, you can change up the animals that are caught in the net. This board really pops out at you! Adding each animal as you introduce them to your students makes this a changing and developing board.


              

         These math worksheets are the perfect addition to your unit. Made with kindergarten standards in mind, students will love adding, subtracting, count and color, word problems, positions, classifying, and comparing in these worksheets. 
                                 

Ocean Themed Math Worksheets

               This simple craft comes in both color and black / white. There are 11 ocean animals to choose from! Students love choosing and creating these ocean animal hats and the shark one is great fun for shark week!

Ocean Animal Hats

                                                                      This fun freebie for your ocean unit will encourage your little readers to keep on reading! Bookmarks are a perfect little gift for a job well done!
                           

  Free Ocean Themed Bookmarks

For more ocean themed fun these products come alone or in a bundle!

       

Pocket Chart Cards and Writing Activities

                                                                                                                                                               

Positional Word Emergent Reader

               

I hope you learned some new ideas or found something useful for your ocean unit or classroom. For new resources and freebies follow my store at the link under my logo! 

Let's Learn S'more!

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The Life of a Honey Bee Activities

Students love bees and whether you are learning about the life cycle of the bee, decorating your room with a bee theme, or just having some bee themed fun, these resources will support your classroom or at home learning!

Bee Themed Math & Literacy

Emergent readers are a great way to reinforce life cycle studies. This book goes through the life cycle of the honey bee and comes in three different printing options. The first book has colorful pages and makes a great classroom resource. The second book is black and white and can be colored for students to have their very own book. The third option is a little more challenging; students will cut out and paste the pictures that complete each page. 

The Life of a Honey Bee Emergent Reader

There are two copies on each page, so you can just cut and staple the books together.

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The next bee themed resource gets students up and out of their seats. Write the room posters and writing activities are perfect for students to practice their writing skills and reinforces the honey bee life cycle. This resource includes 10 colorful posters, both a full page size and a mini size. Post these around your room for your students to find and write the words!

Bee Life Cycle Posters and Writing Activities

Four different writing activities are included with this resource.

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For some honey bee math fun check out this learning cube activity! Students can create their very own learning cube in order to complete the graphing activities, or you could set this up with laminated copies to use at your math center.

Included in this resource package is a poetry word search. Students will find highlighted words in the poem and circle them in the word search!

Learning Cube with Graphing Activities

This is great for independent learning or as a group activity!

These honey bee life cycle resources can be purchased alone or save money with the bundle!

Honey Bee Life Cycle Math & Literacy Bundle

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For s'more math and reading fun check out this bee themed positional word reader. Students love creating these books while they learn positional words. 

Can You See the Bees? Positional Word Reader

Students can cut out the bees and glue them on each page. They can see the bees as they read and learn positional words! Each book come with two copies on a page, so you can just cut and staple.

                      

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This next reader will encourage reading with its sing song rhymes! 

Bee Themed Rhyme and Read
 

This bee themed reader is great for some rhyming fun as students work on rhyming, reading, positional words, colors, and numbers. They love creating these books to read again and again! This book comes in three printing options, full color, black & white, and a black & white cut and paste version! 

                            

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These free bee themed bookmarks are perfect to encourage reading or as rewards for a job well done!  

Bee Themed Bookmark Freebie

I hope you found just the right bee themed resource for your classroom or at home learning as you are teaching about the life of a bee!

Let's Learn S'more

                                               

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