Handprint Calendar 2018

Every year I make a Handprint Calendar for my students to give their families during the holidays. It is a calendar for the entire year and is such a precious keepsake for parents. My new template is up on Teachers Pay Teachers and I wanted to share it with you because it is the perfect time to begin working on this project.

Each day I will pull students back (or have a volunteer do it!) and paint students' hands. Some days I can do 2 different pictures at once and saves me a lot of time. Each month gets its own hand print that matches a poem that is printed on the calendar. You will place the hand print on the back of the previous month so that when the calendar is flipped you will see the painting! Check it out here:

Tips:

• Print every month on a different color card stock.

• Combine like colors when painting. For example, you can paint the pumpkin and the goldfish on the same day because the color is orange for both. 

• Make sure you paint the hand print going the opposite direction from the previous month printed on the other side. You want the direction of the hand print to flip when parents change the month. 

• DO NOT bind the calendar until after you have painted all of the hands. If you make a mistake, you can just change out one page instead of taking the whole book apart. 

• Use markers and glitter glue to decorate your hand prints. The more elaborate you get, the better they look!

Feel free to ask me any questions regarding the calendar. I hope your families love it as much as mine!

Cut and Paste the Months of the Year

Teaching the months of the year can be very fun. Of course, the words are incredibly long and I don't actually expect my students to know how to spell them, but I do want them to be able to read them. Each month I do a cut and paste the month sheet. We spell the month name orally at calendar daily and this activity will let them use that practice to find and order the letters in the name. Grab my cut and paste sheets here.