Too Much Glue Freebie!

Hey Kinder Friends,

Thinking about Back to School always makes me think of glue. I had my basket loaded with bottles just the other day and it seems like no matter how many bottles you have it just is not enough. So you probably have figured out that I use bottles in my class. Yep, plain old bottles of glue. It is what is on our supply list and it is what I get a few of at the beginning of the year. I have no fear of the glue bottles. I just have learned to deal with it. And right from the very start we quickly learn the expectations for glue.

A Dot Will Do!

After reading the book and having a class discussion the kids are ready to get some hands-on experience with glue. I make copies of the glue page on red, yellow and green copy paper and we are set for a couple of rounds of glue work. We practice gluing hole punched black circles onto the paper. We practice how to open and close the bottle. We practice where and how to put it away and clean up. It's a big deal. And we have fun with it.

Grab Your Freebie HERE!

Too Much Glue Freebie!





Hey Kinder Friends,

Just in time for Back to School comes the book Too Much Glue. You know I was excited to preview and read this book because I love glue and all things creative and messy. And this book sure is a cute one especially for this time of year when we are out and about shopping for glue and thinking about how to introduce the good old glue expectations for kindergarten.





After reading the Amazon review of this book, it kind of got that inner art teacher in me going! And here is what Amazon says:

Although Matty’s art teacher has warned him that too much glue never dries, Matty loves glue. After all, he and his dad make oodles of glue projects at home. One day during art class, Matty finds the fullest bottles of glue, and the fun begins. With a squeeze and a plop, Matty pours a lake of glue before belly-flopping right in the middle and finds himself stuck to the desk. When Matty’s dad arrives at the school, instead of being mad, he celebrates his son’s creativity and calls him a work of art. With vibrant language and artwork and a wild, silly plot, Too Much Glue is sure to appeal to all children who love to get messy.

Not only will this book appeal to children but it will appeal to any teacher who actually understands that glue expectations have to be taught to young children. You get what I am getting at. I thought so. And I am so sure we all have some fun and lively glue stories to tell...oh my.

At my school we do glue...as in bottles. There is no point in asking for sticks because we won't get them so we just deal with it. I could either run around for silly glue sticks or I could just deal with it. I don't do sticks or germy glue sponges. I do bottles and move on with life. I have bigger fish to fry in the scope of life. I am good with it. So, naturally I love the fact that I now have a book to go with the "glue pep rally" that takes place in my class year after year. I created the page you see above so that I could print it on colored paper like red, yellow or green and the children use a hole puncher with black paper for the dots. One by one they glue on the black dots. And the reason I say red, yellow and green paper is because in some years you might just need to do the glue lesson about three times!

And why not blast off into the new year and do a little shopping? You know the biggest sale of the year is going on right now. Everything is on sale so click on the sale image to start shopping and don't forget to click on the image for the freebie glue fun!

 

Only A Dot!



Sweet Summertime Kinder Friends,

It sure is nice to have the time to get things accomplished in hopes for a stress free year ahead. It's nice to look at the summer to do list and finally see some progress being made. It's also kind of fun to look back and remember what we did last year and decide if it is a keeper or not. The Number One Rule of Glue...Only a Dot Will Do! is a keeper for sure. This was a perfect way to introduce those glue bottles and expectations for independent use of glue. You know all they want to do is use those school supplies after bringing them in to school anyway. This sort of gets that right out of their system. This is a great one to print on colored paper and glue on hole punch black dots. If you are feeling real crafty you can add a worm to the picture. And if you need a little RTI for this activity just copy it on yellow or green paper next time and there you have it! If you need a copy just click on the image above.

Like I said scratching off things on that summer to do list has been fun. Just one less thing to think of and worry about for the coming year. And one of my goals has been to integrate my tiny little art center into something that supported Art and Language Arts goals. And one thing lead to another and soon there were over 280 pages of integrated good old fun. And then I walked away still wishing and wanting more...

And I really was happy for a while...or a few minutes. I still wanted more.

And even a little more...

I just can't help myself...it keeps growing! If you need additional information just click on the pictures above! And don't forget the Number One Rule of Glue!



Free IS Fun!

 

Hello Kinder Friends,

Well, I had a request for another Rule of Glue activity and I was happy to make this for my Kinder friends. We had fun learning about The Number One Rule of Glue so we just had to have an encore! This time around we are copying this page on red, yellow or green paper, making black hole punch dots to glue on each circle and making a fingerprint worm with paint. I think this might be something we can do on one of those indoor recess days. In any case, this was a fun way to teach a little glue control and the class was almost silent when trying to get each dot of glue just the right size and in the right place. Quite a few of the kids mentioned that they have never used glue before so they were excited to give it a try. If you need a copy for your Kinder friends, you can grab a copy by clicking the image above!



Week One!



Hello Kinder Friends,

We have had a successful first week in Kindergarten. I am so excited to say not a tear was shed! We were able to get things up and running pretty quick considering on day two I walked the children to class and put my stuff on my desk and turned around and everyone was sitting in a chair waiting on me to start. We had not been in class more than a minute. I quickly realized that they were ready for Kindergarten...anything! What teacher would not just love that?

 

 

One of the first things I wanted to start with this year was teaching the kids how to use glue. I will admit I did not do this last year and I regretted it all year I swear. I was pretty motivated to teach the expectations right away considering I actually got lots of bottles of glue this year. Can I say...it was Elmer's glue! We use tons and tons of glue so this was perfect for our first week.

 

 

We had a lot of fun talking about all the things we will do with glue this year and how to use it. As as luck would have it I decided to teach the class how to use the glitter tray... It wasn't hard or a big deal. I just thought it was a good time to get this out of the way before we get down to the nitty gritty of Kindergarten.

 

If you need your own copy just click on the image at the top of the post!  

 

Teaching Smart!

Hello Kinder Friends,

I am linking up again for just a little more fun for International Blog Hopping Day. Today I am going to share with you something that really would have made me a smart teacher last year. In over 11 years of teaching, I never really had a single problem with glue. In fact, I laughed when I saw posts about glue... After struggling with glue in my 12th year, I decided to be prepared for some fun "glue lessons" because I am not going to repeat what I went through last year. I was fortunate to be able to buy glue for a penny last year. This was the first time that I used this particular name brand and we struggled with clogs all year. We had a celebration the day we threw them all in the trash. But no matter the glue, I am armed with a few glue lessons and I thought you might want to be armed with them too!

Just remember...

The #1 Rule Of Glue...Only A Dot Will Do!