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Views From a Step Stool

Open Minds & Messy Hands

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Butterfly Life Cycle Sensory Bin

Butterfly Life Cycle Sensory Bin

May 28, 2015 By Katie Chiavarone 1 Comment

Find out which types of pasta to use to make this fun and educational butterfly life cycle sensory bin. Dyed pasta with food coloring that kids love.  Sensory bins are one of our favorite ways to explore a topic. This butterfly life cycle sensory bin was super easy (and fun) to

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Filed Under: Elementary, Learn Through Play, Preschool Science, Preschoolers, Sensory, Spring, Toddler Science, Toddlers Tagged With: kids, moms, Preschool Homeschool, preschoolers, sensory play, toddlers

Erupting Sidewalk Paint

May 26, 2015 By Katie Chiavarone 1 Comment

Follow my blog with Bloglovin We celebrated Memorial Day with our erupting sidewalk paint! We chose to use red and blue to be patriotic and pretended that the ‘explosions’ were our fireworks! I love anything do to with sidewalk paint so when I came across Growing a Jeweled Rose’s post on Exploding

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Filed Under: Arts & Crafts, Learn Through Play, Outdoors, Preschool Arts& Crafts, Preschool Science, Preschoolers, science, Spring, Summer, Toddler Arts & Crafts, Toddler Science, Toddlers

Color Mixing in the Snow

Color Mixing in the Snow

February 3, 2015 By Katie Chiavarone Leave a Comment

  We are wrapping up our snow and ice activities this week before beginning all things love and Valentine’s Day! One of our favorite things to do when it snows, is bring the snow inside! We only last outside for so long and love to play in the snow, so

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Filed Under: Elementary, Learn Through Play, Outdoors, Preschool Science, Preschoolers, science, Toddler Science, Toddlers, Winter Tagged With: color mixing, kids activities, Preschool Homeschool, science, snow day

Arctic Small World Play

January 14, 2015 By Katie Chiavarone 1 Comment

    Continuing our ice and snow exploration for January, we put together an arctic small world complete with a block of ice, water, ocean animals and ice skaters. A small world is simply a miniature play scape intended to evoke imaginative play.   We used the freezing temperatures outside

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Filed Under: Babies, Learn Through Play, Preschool Science, Preschoolers, science, Sensory, Toddlers Tagged With: Preschool Homeschool

Magic Frozen Paint

January 9, 2015 By Katie Chiavarone Leave a Comment

Follow my blog with Bloglovin Calling all Elsa lovers! This super simple ‘Frozen Ice’ paint is just salt water! Kids love the magic of painting with ‘water’ and having it turn into ‘ice’! Plus, there’s a little science component as well 😉 We started by finding some coarse salt in

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Filed Under: Arts & Crafts, Preschool Arts& Crafts, Preschool Science, science, Toddler Arts & Crafts

Sugar Cube Igloos

Sugar Cube Igloos

December 9, 2014 By Katie Chiavarone Leave a Comment

We are continuing our ‘winter’ activities and started discussing igloos today! Whenever I’m unsure of how to explain something like how ice can be insulating and create heat to a 3 year old I turn to children’s books…much easier! Curious George Builds an Igloo to the rescue. So once we

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Filed Under: Arts & Crafts, Learn Through Play, Preschool Arts& Crafts, Preschool Science, Preschoolers, science

Simple Snowflake Craft: Painting Salt with Watercolors

Simple Snowflake Craft: Painting Salt with Watercolors

December 4, 2014 By Katie Chiavarone Leave a Comment

           This is such an easy and fun craft that incorporates a little bit of science! You only need a few materials that most of you probably have lying around your house. Have you ever painted with watercolors on salt? The watercolor travels along the salt making

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Filed Under: Arts & Crafts, Preschool Arts& Crafts, Preschool Science, science, Toddler Arts & Crafts Tagged With: crafts, kids activities, salt, science, watercolors, winter

M is for Magic Milk

July 22, 2014 By Katie Chiavarone Leave a Comment

Follow my blog with Bloglovin   Today’s letter M project was magic milk! This is one of our favorite science experiments to do at home. It’s super easy to set up and so much fun for the kids! As you might know, we are focusing on the letters in Mack’s

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Filed Under: Preschool Science, science, Toddler Science, Uncategorized Tagged With: Preschool Homeschool

DIY Pom-Pom Run

July 14, 2014 By Katie Chiavarone Leave a Comment

Follow my blog with Bloglovin     This project is now on our list of ‘boredom-busters’ as it was fun to make AND play with! Until Ava decided it was more fun to tear the materials off of the wall…but I guess that could be considered a way to play with

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Filed Under: Elementary, Learn Through Play, Preschool Science, Preschoolers, science, Toddlers

M is for Mining for Magnets

July 9, 2014 By Katie Chiavarone Leave a Comment

Follow my blog with Bloglovin   All month long we will be focusing on the letters in Mack’s name through arts and crafts, sensory play and science projects. Rather than sticking to traditional letter of the week learning, I am trying to give letters context and focus more on learning

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Filed Under: Elementary, Learn Through Play, Preschool Science, Preschoolers, science, Sensory, Toddlers Tagged With: Preschool Homeschool

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Welcome to Views From a Step Stool!

Welcome to Views From a Step Stool!

I am a mom to three little ones and love to create and explore every day with them! We have open minds and messy hands, come join in our adventures!

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What’s New

  • 12 Snowman Crafts for Kids
  • 10 Elf on the Shelf Printables to Download
  • 12 Elf on the Shelf Ideas
  • Candy Corn Sensory Bin
  • Emotions Sensory Bag
  • 10 Thanksgiving Handprint Crafts

What’s New:

  • 12 Snowman Crafts for Kids
  • 10 Elf on the Shelf Printables to Download
  • 12 Elf on the Shelf Ideas
  • Candy Corn Sensory Bin
  • Emotions Sensory Bag
  • 10 Thanksgiving Handprint Crafts
  • Build a Jack-o-Lantern Sensory Craft
  • Breakfast Smoothies for Kids with BlendJet Portable Blender
  • 12 Outdoor Painting Ideas for Kids
  • Educational Sensory Bin Ideas
  • 12 Animal Sensory Bin Ideas for Kids
  • 10 Insect Themed Sensory Bins
  • 12 Bee Crafts for Kids
  • 15 Easter Chick Crafts for Kids
  • 15+ Earth Day Crafts for Kids
  • St. Patrick’s Day Emotion Cut and Paste Printable Activity
  • Valentine’s Day Charades Words
  • Printable Color by Number Valentine’s Day Cards for Kids
  • Valentine’s Day Kindness Countdown Calendar: Free Printable
  • Valentine’s Day Pixel Art Color by Number: Free Printables

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