As you prepare for your child to go to school for the very first time it can be very exciting but it’s also an anxious time for both parents and your little ones. It’s a great opportunity to talk about feelings and what we do when we feel a certain way.

Here’s one special way to celebrate the first day of school with Magic Dust for your child.  

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

First Day of School Magic Dust Poem

To help make this transition go smoothly my daughter received a special First Day of School Poem from her teacher that was so precious I wanted to share with you. 

She was so excited about putting her magic dust from her teacher under her pillow all week long that we even had to make a special Count Down to School for the First Day of School.

You can use glitter or star sequins to create this magic dust to put under their pillow. Be sure to print out this first day of school poem below to read along with the magic dust.

Here’s a PRINTABLE Version of the available for just $1.50. FREE THIS WEEK!!!!!

First Day of School Tips for Parents

Check out this video for tips about the importance of reading books to help your child get ready for the First Day of School.

At the end of this video, you can take a peek of my daughter reading the Magic Dust poem the night before her first day of Kindergarten. (we were pretty surprised how many words she was able to read in the poem, typically you will want to read it with them to help out.)

Magic Dust Ingredients

• star sequins or extra fine white glitter or white glitter sand
• small glass jar or fairy dust jar
• small ziplock baggy

Just add a little pinch of the magic dust under their pillow in the small ziplock baggy to make the magic happen. We were feeling a little extra anxious so we also sent a little in her lunchbox too.

Here are the options for the Magic Dust Poem to download. They are available in white, gray and rose, when you purchase you will get all three options.

We’re making this download FREE for Back to School 2025. (For this week only)

Book Recommendations for Preparing for the First Day of School

Reading with your child about the first day of school and the things that they can expect in their new classroom can also help with anxieties.

Here are a few of my favorite First Day of School books that I encourage you to read with your child.

The Night Before Kindergarten by Julie Durrell

First Day Jitters (Mrs. Hartwells classroom adventures) by Julie Danneberg

On the First Day of Kindergarten by Tish Rabe

The Night Before Preschool by Natasha Wing 

Mouse’s First Day of School by Lauren Thompson

 The Kissing Hand (The Kissing Hand Series) by Audrey Penn

Mae’s First Day of School by Kate Berube

Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten  by Joseph Slate

Franklin Goes to School by Paulette Bourgeois

A Letter From Your Teacher: On the First Day of School by Shannon Olsen

Explore even more of my favorite Back to School Books for Kids here!

First Day of School Printable Book

My daughter and I talked about school a lot this summer to help prepare her for her Kindergarten experience.

We made a special “Going to School” Book by writing the text together about different parts of a school day and illustrating it together. She wanted to read it again and again with me as we talked about the various parts of Kindergarten.

PRINT  your own First Day of School Book  {HERE} for $1.50 FREE THIS WEEK !!!!!

Hope this helps your little one feel confident as they begin their school experience. Talking about the experience and sharing it through books and role play can help to make the transition easier for everyone.

Additional First Day of School Resources

• 16 Adorable First Day of School Books
• Back to School STEM Activities
• Back to School Resources for Parents
• First Day of School Quote and Magnet Idea
• Tips for Making Friends at School  
• 100+ Lunch Box Ideas for Back to School 
• Sending a Smart Kid to Kindergarten
• Does Your Child’s Kindergarten List Compare?  
• Preparing for School Brings Emotions for Both Parents and Children 
• 9 Back to School Tips for a Busy Family 

What are you going to do at your house to get ready for the First Day Of School?

As a parent, it has been my mission to enrich their after school learning with a minimum of one hands-on science experiment at home every week.

Disclosure: Amazon Affiliate Links used in this post.

Hands-On Science and Math Book Review:  Density Science Experiment

Many thanks to Gryphon House Publishing for sending me the book Hands-On Science and Math: Fun, Fascinating Activities for Young Children.

The author is a teacher and firm believer in STEM at an early age (can you see why I love her already!) She is a National Board Certified teacher with her BA in Elementary Education and masters degree is teaching English to speakers of other languages. Not only that, but, she has made it her mission to provide hands-on science and math to her early childhood programs. This book is a compilation of the kids and teachers favorite activities.

The book is divided up into 5 chapters.

1. Learning and Experimenting
2. Measuring, Identifying, and Classifying
3. Changing, Bubbling, and Rolling
4. Cooking, Looking, and Listening
5. Growing, Adapting, and Exploring Nature

Each lesson is presenting in lesson plan format with the background of the academic concept and what to talk to kids about. These lessons also include a math and literacy connection for students to complete. The materials needed for the activities in are easy to find and include items such as

• bowls
• lids
• water
• Spoons
• Paper
• Markers
• coins
• Paper Towels
• Pipettes
• Magnetic Wand
• Magnifying Glasses
• natural materials
• Unifix Cubes
• Plastic Cups
• Food Colors

Density Science Experiment

I decided to set out an experiment on density and matter for their first after school science lesson.
The directions on how to set up and run the experiment are on page 57 of Hands-On Science and Math: Fun, Fascinating Activities for Young Children.

We talked about the vocabulary

Mass
Volume
Density
Matter

Then the children poured the liquids in and observed.

We discussed the results.

I handed them their science journals and asked them to draw and label the final outcome.

I encouraged them to write a few sentences about the experiment using some of the vocabulary.

More Hands-On Science and Math Resources,

You may enjoy these  education books too:

Science–Not Just for Scientists! Easy Explorations for Young Children

Tinkerlab: A Hands-On Guide for Little Inventors

The Garden Classroom: Hands-On Activities in Math, Science, Literacy, and Art

STEAM: Preschool Activities for STEM Enrichment

If you liked this activity, you may also enjoy these…

Almost every student receives a suggested Reading List for their summer vacation. Have you encouraged your child to work on it?

One of the biggest concerns with your child at home for summer vacation is the amount of literacy skills that can be lost, reading can help maintain those skills and entertain your child for hours.

The more they process that information the more they will remember it.

Here are some tips for helping support your child with their summer reading…

Tips for Summer Reading for Kids

• Make it fun! Let kids choose books that they are interested in.
• Set a good example by reading yourself.
• Make reading a daily habit.
• Talk about what you are reading.
• Visit the library often.
• Attend story time at the library or bookstore.
• Go on field trips to museums, zoos, and other places that encourage reading.
• Play games that involve reading, such as charades or bingo.
• Make a reading nook in your home.
• Connect reading with kid-friendly recipes in the kitchen.
• Reward kids for reading, such as with stickers, badges, or small prizes.
• Don’t force kids to read if they don’t want to.
• Be patient and encouraging.
• Remember that summer is a time for fun and relaxation, so don’t put too much pressure on kids to read.

Check Your Child’s Summer Reading List from School

As your child gets older for middle school and high school they have required reading and will usually be tested on the book the first few weeks of school. Can’t find the list, you can typically find them on the school’s websites.

The Association for Library Services for Children always have their summer reading lists for ages birth to grade 8.

Encourage your child to get it done this month, don’t wait until the last minute.

Summer Reading Challenge

At our house, we try to read the books our oldest has been assigned or at least follow up using online notes. It makes great dinner and car ride conversations to ask varying questions about the story.

For our children, it gives purpose to their reading and helps them to comprehend and create meaning.

Library Summer Reading Programs

Check out your local Library for their Summer Reading Program. They always have something fun for the kids each summer and special story times and events planned for them.

Image Source

You can find each year’s summer reading themes and slogans here from the Collaborative Library Program

The theme for many libraries across the nation in 2011 is One World Many Stories. There is so much you can do with that theme from teaching geography or diversity to your little ones.

Click here to watch a video on how we have connected some literature from around the world to our Childrens’ Atlas

Summer Reading Resources for Families

• 10 Ways to Cook with Books this Summer
• Diverse Books in Your Home Library
• Celebrating Diversity in Children’s Literature
• Magic Tree House Chapter Book List and Activities
• Get Kids Excited About Reading All Summer Long
• Tips for Reading with Kids
• Simple Activities for Parents to Help with Reading Comprehension
• Teach My Child to Read – Reading Resources
• Tips for Using the Library During the Summer

What children’s books are on your child’s reading list this summer?

Here’s how to explain harvest to preschoolers. 

At 8:00 this morning, my kids were outside in the garden. It’s HARVEST time!!! Our garden is tiny, but we still have herbs and vegetables to harvest. I want my preschooler to understand what it means to harvest the food that he planted from seed.

And then, I want to help him make connections to what the harvest theme means for people around the world!

Take your Kids on a Virtual Harvest Theme Field Trip:

I am a HUGE fan of gardening with kids. In fact, we even have an entire label on our sidebar dedicated to gardening with kids. Children can learn SOOOOO much in a garden. From math, science, history, geography, art and real life skills such as patience, hard work and persistence.

Here are some of my favorite articles here At The Educators’ Spin On It:

• Best Herbs to Grow with Kids 
• Best Flowers to Grow with Kids 
• Best Vegetables to Grow with Kids 

HARVEST isn’t just the act of picking a vegetable from the vine, it is a season for collecting the crops and celebrating the plentiful gifts our garden has brought to us.

People all around the world plant and harvest crops to feed their families. They plant fruits, vegetables and wheat that match their soil type and temperatures. Many countries plant similar crops such as potatoes and root vegetables.

Often times when we look at the world through a global lens, we come to the realization that we are more alike than different.

LEARN: Harvest Preschool Activities for Social Studies:

• Watch a few videos together. Look at the pictures.
• Discuss. See if you can see any similarities and differences in these harvests around the world.
• Open your fridge and see where the produce you bought was grown.
• Grab a map and find those places in the world.

This activity will combine SOCIAL STUDIES AND TECHNOLOGY!

NOTE: I have previewed MANY harvest videos and selected the most appropriate. Most contain advertisements in the beginning and music in the background. They would all work well muted and you can click, skip ad after a few seconds.

Potatoes from Egypt

This is a really cool informative video about growing potatoes in Egypt. I was amazed, but it may be a little bit over a preschoolers understanding. You can skip to 7 minutes to see the harvest of potatoes in the desert.

Midwest U.S.A. At Grandma and Grandpa’s garden:

Tomato Harvest – Mostly Heirloom

Onion Harvest

The grandkids helping pick the vegetables.

At a Wheat Farm in North Carolina

Different views of a wheat harvest set to music

South, U.S.A our tiny garden:

Red Potato Harvest

Broccoli Harvest

Papaya Golden from Brasil – FARM

They live in Izhevsk, a city East of Moscow. See if you can find it on a map!

Squash Harvest

Big Beets in Russia

Japan Rice Harvest

Now – don’t let your Harvest Preschool Activities stop with the virtual field trip, bring your learning back to the couch and snuggle in with a good harvest theme book.  

Then, craft, explore, and make even more Harvest Preschool Activities.

Affiliate links included in this post

HARVEST Themed Books for Preschoolers

For every thematic unit we do at home, I like to gather the books in my home that relate to the theme.  We also check out books from the library and purchase books to build themes. I like to display these books on an open bookshelf with the covers facing out.  My preschooler tends to read these more than if they are tucked in the depths of my bookshelves.  Setting them in a basket near the couch or reading chair would work as well.  Here are some that I would include on our bookshelf for this unit.

Apples for Everyone (Picture the Seasons)
This book is a National Geographic reader with stunning pictures to show the seasons. A perfect literacy connection to a harvest trip to an apple orchard!
Read the Full Book Description

Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie (Picture the Seasons)
This book is the companion to Apples for Everyone.  Vibrant pictures show the transition of pumpkins from seed to harvest. A perfect literacy connection to a harvest trip to a pumpkin patch.
Read the Full Book Description

Kids’ Pumpkin Projects: Planting & Harvest Fun (Williamson Good Times Books)
Crafts and projects are interwoven with pumpkin stories. Although geared for Kindergarten to 3rd grade, preschoolers could do most of these projects with adult support.
Read the Full Book Description

Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden
This is the story of the life cycle on a pumpkin and how it is all connected in a big garden circle.
Read the Full Book Description

Rainbow Stew
Children harvest vegetables from Grandpa’s garden in this delightful tale.
Read the Full Book Description

Yum! Mmmm! Que Rico! Americas’ Sproutings
From chili peppers to papaya, this book highlights an enormous variety of fruits and vegetables that are found in the Americas.  A non-fiction text accompanies each Haiku for an enriched learning experience.
Read the Full Book Description

PIN this image to your Reading & Literacy or Fall Board!

Make: HARVEST Activities for Learning

Plan your PRESCHOOL Harvest Theme Learning Week with Activities from the Playful Preschool Education Team:

Learning with Gourds: Comparing, Sorting, and Labeling for Fall by Still Playing School
Corny Science: Will it sink or float? by Capri + 3
Harvesting in the Carrot Patch by Powerful Mothering
Preschool Math: Measuring Pumpkins by Mom Inspired Life
Making Bread by Rainy Day Mum
Alphabet Activities: Letter Harvest by Growing Book by Book
There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves Sequencing Cards & Power Point by The Preschool Toolbox Blog
Go Global: Harvests Around the World by The Educators’ Spin On It
Harvest Time: Jamaican Style Music by Learning 2 Walk
Little Red Hen Activity – Retelling through Sensory Play by Fun-A-Day
Pumpkin Play and Learning by Little Bins for Little Hands

PLAY: Harvest Play Ideas for Preschoolers

I have come to the realization that after teaching many years in the kindergarten classroom, I REALLY like harvest and farm toys.  They are so versatile and lend well to incorporating many important ideas and academics into play.

Small World Toys Living – Peel ‘N’ Play Velcro Play Set

I make most of my own playfood with felt and hand sewing. We do have several wooden food items too. This plastic peel set is a hit with my kids though because you can take the pieces apart and put them together again.

Fisher-Price Little People Fun Sounds Farm

 Yes it is plastic.  If you like wood better, there are many great products. I happen to have an older model of this farm and my kids use it often.  We set it up on our train table and they take the train to the farm.  We set up an apple orchard and they pretend to harvest apples.  In all, it has seen MANY hours of use.

Farm Animals, 12 piece

 So, this is more farmy than harvesty, but I made my kids a really cute set of playmats with fields of plants and the animals naturally fall in with the harvest unit.

String A Farm Beads

 Ok – so this one is more farmy too. BUT, I have looked for vegetable beads to no avail.  Beading is so good for fine motor. And YES, these are in with my wooden beads. Didn’t I tell you I had a ton of farm and harvest toys!

Ertl Big Farm 24 Pack Of Small Square Bales

 Last, but not least, doesn’t every kid need a pack of hay bales.  So, I do not OWN these, but trust me, if I did, I would SOOOO use them.

GO: Making the Most of Harvest Photographs

If you do not have a garden, I strongly urge to you head to a u-pick farm or pumpkin patch and let your children experience the word HARVEST with their own two hands.

AND for those of you who always post super cute pictures of your kids harvesting apples, or pumpkins, I’d like to end on these pictures.

Here is a picture of my preschooler sitting nicely near a pumpkin, smiling for a photo…. NOT, but you take what you can get! LOL.

Don’t miss our other POPULAR posts in the #PLAYfulpreschool Series:

•  Apple Theme Preschool Activities
• Farm Theme Preschool Activities
• Family Theme Preschool Activities

For more Fall Virtual Field Trips for Preschoolers you might also like…

Teaching Kids About Saving Seeds

We want our kids to know

• where seeds come from
• how seeds form
• how plants begin
• how nature assists plants in making more (wind, other animals…)

There is just something extra special about teaching children to grow something from their own seed.  How powerful can one seed truly be? Well, in our case, one seed grew this GIANT sunflower which we all enjoyed.

Then it turned brown, but we didn’t dig it up. Over time, the seeds formed and when they were complete, we took the whole plant and hung it upside down in the garage to dry. This week, we brought it inside and the kids took all the seeds off the plant.

Saving seeds preserves plants for another generation.

They decided to split the pot 50-50. Half for the bird feeder and half to save for planting next summer.

Can you believe it? With only one seed, we were able to feed our birds AND have tons to plant for more flowers next year. Seeds are pretty powerful!

Watch the video to see my saving seeds in action!

You may also enjoy these activities with your child…