Educational meets Frugal…

Something I LOVE and have a passion for is teaching.

My Luci is entering pre-school age (turning 3 next month). It’s so fun introducing her to new “games” and “toys.” 

Purchasing educational “tools” can be expensive. I wanted to share with you some of the items I have found and use to teach Luci. Most of which are very frugal finds.

Gotta love puzzles. You can find the wooden puzzles between $1-$5 at Walmart and Target. I bought the foam number puzzle from Dollar Tree.
Skills: fine motor, number/letter/animal/color recognition

I found these at Dollar Tree. Yep. $1.
Skills: fine motor, color recognition, patterns

This was a GREAT find…in Target’s dollar spot (for $2.50). Luci and I call this “sewing.” This is a great car and church activity also.
Sills: fine motor, animal/color recognition

Good ol’ flashcards. I found these at Dollar Tree. Right now Luci and I are working on letter recognition. At almost 3 years old, she knows A, B, L, and O all by herself, no help needed.
 Skills (depending on the flashcards): color, shape, number, letter, sound, word recognition

Gotta love arts-n-crafts!! Coloring books, paper, markers, crayons, stamps, stickers, watercolors, play dough, cookie cutters…. I keep it all organized in bins so that it’s easy to get to and easy to clean up. Luci also has an art apron to keep her clothes clean (made by her oldest cousin). You can purchase art supplies $1-$5 depending on what you are looking for. We buy a lot of our art supplies at Dollar Tree.
Skills: fine motor, color recognition, creativity

Skills Luci and I are working on:
-numbers and counting
-ABC’s
-colors (she knows these VERY well…pink is her fave)
-fine motor skills
-shapes (she knows circle, square, and triangle)
-manners (she is very good at please, thank you, you’re welcome, and I’m sorry)
-sharing/taking turns
-gross motor skills (balancing, summer salts, running, skipping, riding a bike, etc.)

Teaching Tools:
-items shown above
-music/songs
-books
-pictures/posters (I make them or get them at Dollar Tree)

Luci’s favorite books:
One of Luci’s most favorite things to do is read and look at her books. Here are a few of her very favorites…

Great sites for songs/music for your preschooler:
Music & Rhyme Station
Everything Preschool
Preschool Rainbow
Videos of preschool songs

Here are links to a my favorite preschool/kid-friendly blogs:
Confessions of a Homeschooler
 ABC and 123
delicateCONSTRUCTION
Melissa & Doug Blog
Kids Create
Totally Tots
Muffin Tin Mom
Modern Parents Messy Kids
Pink and Green Mama

Are you a mommy to a toddler/preschooler? Do you have any tips, tricks, favorite sites, books, songs, teaching tools? I would ♥ to hear about them!!