MINDS IN BLOOM BLOG

Free Hanukkah Menorah Logic Puzzle

Hanukkah starts tomorrow night! So here is a fun and free menorah logic puzzle to try with your students. You may also want to read this post from last year about why the holidays can sometimes be a hard time for Jewish children, especially when Hanukkah comes early, as it does this year.

The question, "What are you thankful for?" seems pretty basic at the outset. However, this post describes a lot of fun twists that you can add onto the end of it to encourage students to really think creatively about their answers. Try out a few questions as you prepare for Thanksgiving break!

What are You Thankful For? Ask it Better

“What are you thankful for?” asks the teacher, or the parent, or the Sunday school instructor, or Aunt Ethel, or Grandpa Joe, or the guy at the checkstand at the grocery store, and on, and on, and on. And what is the answer? My family, my home, my friends…maybe the toy of the moment. And these are all great answers, but you can get kids

Free Hanukkah Word Search and Matching Activity

Even though I am not a huge fan of word searches, I decided to make one about Hanukkah anyway. It has a vocabulary matching activity for 12 Hanukkah-related terms, which redeems it somewhat. I also included some “secret words” in the word search that are not on the word list (like the names of the Hebrew letters on a dreidel) that some kids may find on their

The holidays are a special time of year, and we want to be sure to celebrate them all. This free Hanukkah activity is just one of 15 free holiday activities I've made available to my followers. Enjoy and Happy Hanukkah!

Free Holiday Activities for Your Students

I have decided to create about 15 free holiday-themed activities between now and about mid-December. The first one is a grid-style logic puzzle with a latke (Hanukkah) theme. I realize this may seem a bit early since Thanksgiving is still a few days away, but Hanukkah is really early this year! You can get the free logic puzzle here. I will continue to posts links to

Fun ways to teach idioms in the classroom

8 Fun Things to Do with Idioms

Teaching Idioms? I know I’m preaching to the choir when I say that idioms are more fun than a barrel of monkeys. There is a boatload of idioms at GoEnglish. Beyond going over the literal meaning of such phrases as, “It’s raining cats and dogs,” there are many other out-of-this-world things to try. They are the cat’s pajamas, so give them a whirl!    

Valentine’s Day Homophones Story

There are over 50 homophone mistakes in this story. Can your students find them all? Tony decided two make a Valentine’s pitcher four his mother. He got out a clean, white peace of paper. Than, he got out his crayons and started to color. He drew his hole family. Then, he maid a yellow son in the blew sky. When he was done, Tony rote, “Eye

10 Fun Activities for Dictionary Skills

10 FUN Activities for Dictionary Skills

10 Awesome Dictionary Activities Are you looking for some fun activities for National Dictionary Day? It’s October 16th, which was Noah Webster’s (the father of the American dictionary) birthday! Hopefully, you’ve got dictionaries, maybe even a class set. They are, of course, great for looking up words and you will use them to teach dictionary skills, but there are also other great things you can do

Send your students on a multiplication scavenger hunt--right in your own classroom! There are tons of things in your classroom that can be turned into multiplication problems, giving your students much-needed practice in multiplying. Check out this list of ideas for a scavenger hunt!

Send Your Kids on a Multiplication Scavenger Hunt

Multiplication problems are hiding all around the classroom, just waiting to be discovered by your students. Next time your class is feeling restless, and you just can’t bear to make them do another set of math problems, give everyone a clipboard (or every pair–this would be a terrific activity to do with a partner) and challenge them to find and solve as many multiplication problems

Activity Kits for Kids – Put Together a Gift Your Child will Love

Is your child a budding artist? Does she love science? Is he always building things? How about putting together a kit full of the things your child loves best? Of course, you could buy one, but if you have the time (and the money – a lot of little things can add up fast!), then it can be better to make one yourself. One problem

Fun ways to teach students about following directions

Giving Directions Drawing Activity

Here is a fun drawing activity to help kids analyze and improve how they communicate when giving directions.Pair kids up. Give them each clipboards, paper, and colored pencils or crayons. Then have the pairs sit back-to-back. Tell the pairs that they will each be drawing a picture. The goal of the activity is to make their pictures as similar as possible. Begin by having one

Traveling with Kids: No Screens Allowed

Yes, you have a portable DVD player (your vehicle may have even come with one), and yes, your kids have a wide array of handheld video games. And yes, making use of these devices ensures a quiet and peaceful ride. It also ensures that your kids’ brains will be on autopilot and that no interaction of any depth will take place. The alternative? Make a

The REALLY Long List is a fantastic creative writing idea for the classroom. I provide several ideas for how you can use this list and what its theme can be. Your students will love the REALLY long list and will sure want it as a keepsake!

Creative Writing: The Really Long List

Remember this book? It first came out in 1990 and inspired countless teachers to have their students make their own Really Long Lists of things to be happy about. That is a great idea for several reasons: NOTE: As Amazon Associates, we earn from qualifying purchases. Keeping a Really Long List over time will result in many different entries – ones that would not have

Spoonerisms occur when writers switch the initial sounds of two words in a phrase. Have fun with your class teaching them how to decode spoonerisms!

Fun with Spoonerisms

You can have a lot of spun with foonerisms. Kids love to stead rories with spoonerisms. They are also a wood gray to get kids to look at wow hords are put together. A spoonerism is made when the initial sounds of two words in a phrase are switched. A great way to introduce a unit on spoonerisms is to read Shel Silverstein’s last book

how to keep kids happy while waiting

3 Games to Play While Waiting for the Food

 You are at a restaurant waiting for the food to come, and your kids are…shall we say, a little squirrely. Here are some games to play to keep their hands and their minds busy!   Memory Quiz Make a grouping of 7-8 objects from the table: sugar packets, silver wear, salt shaker, etc. Give the other players 10 or so seconds to look at it.

This heart maps art project allows the artist to express their individual traits and hobbies, as well as things that are important to them. Great for decor!

Heart Maps Art Project

I found this great Heart Maps project at Creative Literacy. I love this project because: It is such a clear, graphic representation of what is truly important to the artist. There is so much room for creativity – what a great display they would make! Pretty much any age child can do this. In fact, it would be neat to see the same child do

What are some fun word games to use in my classroom?

Try TriBonds

mail ~ shoe ~ lunch What do these three words have in common? TriBonds or, as it is sometimes called, the Game of Threes is yet another way to practice higher level thinking. Finding the common link that joins three words, that on first glance seem to have nothing in common, requires analysis and deductive reasoning. Just another way to help children learn to think

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