So I have painting on the brain—interior house painting, to be exact. My husband and I are in the process of moving to the house he grew up in, and it needs some cosmetic improvements. His mom, who was a wonderful lady we all miss, had a thing for flowered wallpaper. We had the wallpaper…
Are you a pet owner? My husband and I have five cats—and I suspect we’re owned by them instead of the other way around. They’re all boys, most are very large, and four of them are orange. Pets are so enriching and we love the craziness of our household. Here are the top 5 things…
It’s that time of year…the time when bugs come back to plague us with their presence. I actually find a lot of bugs to be fascinating, even the stinky, bitey, and icky ones. And I suspect your students are also captivated by these little critters. That’s why this collection of insect cards will grab their…
I know you love patterns…and you also love center activities! I stumbled upon these cute little Easter basket patterns on our website and knew they would be perfect for some easy-prep ideas. Check out my activities below, and then tell me what you would do with these patterns. Idea #1: Have a child color a…
It may not look like it where you live, but Monday, March 20, 2023 is the first day of spring! When I lived in Michigan, the spring equinox generally didn’t look anything like spring, but it still gave everyone a sense of hope that within a month you could put away your snowblower. Here in…
I love Pinterest! It’s such a good way to keep track of activities you want to use in the classroom —and cookie recipes, because cookies. Posting on Pinterest is one of my tasks for The Mailbox. So of course, I can see what teachers are viewing the most during the last six months and what…
As a teacher, you know that games are a fun way to reinforce important skills, but you also know that creating the games can eat up a lot of your time. That’s why The Mailbox® has a Bingo Game Maker! It comes with your Gold subscription along with tons of other goodies to make your…
March 1, 2023, is National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day. As a child, I would eat almost anything—cooked cabbage, pickled beets, and liver were all perfectly fine. But peanut butter? I despised peanut butter. I would even give my Dad all of the peanut butter cups from my trick-or-treat bag every fall. (No, I have no…
As I drove to an appointment this past week, I noticed a woman outside her home decorating her yard with faux Easter eggs on sticks. It took me about a mile more to process that it’s February and Easter isn’t until April. That’s a bit like decorating for Christmas in October. I’m all about people…
I can tell you the exact moment as an adult when I gave up and embraced the crazy sweet-filled extravaganza that is the classroom Valentine’s Day party. I was teaching kindergarten at the time and decided that instead of parents bringing in tons of candy and sweets for the party, I would lead the children…