Childhood Education

Have Trouble Learning Pronouns? Try Interactive Pronoun Games!

March 15, 2016

Is it who or whom? You and me — or you and I? Pronouns can be tricky. We tend not to think about them in daily speech, but using them correctly is essential to good grammar. Importance of Grammar Even though people can make themselves understood while using the wrong…

Bring ‘Operation’ to Life With These Human Body Games for Kids

February 29, 2016

One of kids’ favorite games is Operation. This game, which teaches anatomy by having players “remove” damaged organs with tweezers, has been around over fifty years and been released in numerous versions. It is, however, a bit hard for younger kids to play because it requires well-developed, fine motor skills.…

Fun Games and Activities to Learn How to Use a Dictionary

February 16, 2016

Adults might think that poring over a dictionary wouldn’t be the most fun way to spend an afternoon, but many kids find dictionaries to be fascinating. Dictionaries contain an abundance of information about words, including: Definitions Origins The part of speech the word is How to make it plural How…

Learning the States of Matter: Fun and Interactive Ideas

February 4, 2016

Ice. Water. Steam. Finding out that these are all the same substance is a “Wow!” experience for kids. After the initial wonderment, they often ask: “How can they be the same thing?”Learning that there are different types of matter all around us is an important science lesson kids will repeatedly…

Out of this World Space Activities for Kids

January 20, 2016

With the big splash the latest Star Wars movie has made, interest in space is again surging. Movies like this trigger kids’ imaginations as they picture themselves zooming through space in an X-wing fighter. Such interest creates a teachable moment, a time when parents and teachers can capitalize on kids’…

Teaching Kids Colors With Fun Animal Coloring Pages

January 14, 2016

Coloring is a favorite activity for many preschool kids. For the parent who wants to make the most of learning opportunities, coloring provides numerous ways to expand a child’s early education. Most parents are aware that coloring helps kids to develop fine motor skills, patience, and concentration, all of which…

Hop on Interactive Games to Learn the Frog Life Cycle

January 6, 2016

The frog life cycle is fascinating to both kids and adults. It’s amazing to watch the eggs hatch into tiny tadpoles that swim around like fish, then slowly grow legs and lose their tails until they finally hop out of the water as frogs. Witnessing this metamorphosis in real life…

Sight Word Activities

December 14, 2015

Learning sight words is an important step to building speed and fluency while reading. Sight words are simply those that are frequently used, and are the foundation to building a strong vocabulary. Below are seven easy sight word games for kids to improve recognition: Bingo Simply print out a Bingo…

3 Fun Ways to Learn About the Butterfly Life Cycle

November 11, 2015

With their varying shapes, sizes, colors, and patterns, butterflies have long captured the interest of children. Equally as captivating is the transformation, or metamorphosis, each butterfly endures to become the delicate and graceful insects we love. The butterfly life cycle is comprised of four different stages, each of which differs…

Online Math Games To Keep Your Child Excited About Learning

November 3, 2015

Math has a bum rap in our society. Almost universally, students dread math in the upper grades, college, and beyond. But typically, preschool and elementary school kids don’t share that attitude. During these early years, they are wired to learn and are as excited about learning math as they are about…

Games to Help With Number Recognition

October 27, 2015

Teachable moments in which we can help children learn popup at the most unexpected times. Our everyday world is constantly presenting opportunities to teach once we make the commitment to look for them. A great example is number recognition. Once you and your child start looking for numbers together, your child…

Kindergarten Word Searches to Begin Building Your Child’s Vocabulary

October 22, 2015

As most of us know, helping our children build strong language skills starting at a young age is incredibly important for their future academic success. One major component of these language skills is vocabulary. Among the many benefits to possessing a rich vocabulary are: improved comprehension when reading, the ability…

3 Unique Gravity Experiments to Try with Your Kids

October 20, 2015

Simply put, gravity is the force of the earth that pulls objects towards its core, preventing them from floating off into space. For many adults, explaining the concept of gravity to a child can seem daunting. However, through the use of the following gravity experiments for kids, children will gain…

Using Pre-School Games to Help Kids Learn the Alphabet

October 15, 2015

During pre-school, much of the focus for learning is on the alphabet. It takes time for a young mind to learn to identify all 26 letters — plus, they have to do it twice, once for capital letters and the other for small letters. That’s a tall order for a…

Teaching Kids the Steps of the Water Cycle Through Video

October 1, 2015

Learning about nature is something that is really exciting and fun for kids, and getting a good understanding of basic climate and biology principles is a fundamental part of science for any elementary school student. Using videos really makes the weather, climate and habitat information come alive for kids, giving…

Making Grammar Fun Through Simple Sentence Worksheets

September 29, 2015

Writing doesn’t have to be a struggle! Through the use of tools like a simple sentences worksheet, quizzes and games, kids can get the practice that they need to build a strong foundation in writing in a fun way. The reason that it’s so important for children to learn to…

Letter Recognition Games for Long Road Trips

September 24, 2015

Road trips offer a unique opportunity to visit national landmarks and natural wonders unique to a particular state or region. However, the travel time in between attractions can leave kids in need of entertainment. While movies and handheld video games serve as fun distractions, they don’t always offer the most…

150 Examples of Compound Words for Kids

September 22, 2015

What are Compound Words? Compound words are formed when two or more words are joined together to create a new word that has an entirely new meaning. Click here for Compound Words Games, Videos, Quizzes, Worksheets and Lessons. For example, “sun” and “flower” are two different words, but when fused…

5 Creative Ways to Make Rhyming Fun Through Games

September 17, 2015

Kids just love to tell stories, recite poems, and sing songs. Once they start, there’s no stopping them. Let them do it. It might seem to be just for fun but it can work to develop their skills too, especially phonetics and syllables. These two skills are an essential component…

Interactive Games to Teach The Water Cycle

September 9, 2015

As a new school year begins, teachers and parents once again have the opportunity to introduce their students and children to new and exciting topics. Summer rain, hot days at the beach, and water sports on the lake make for an easy segue into one such topic on the…

5 Ways to Help Your Third Grader Master Verb Tense

September 8, 2015

Verb tenses might be the most difficult of all English grammar skills to master. And for good reason – there are so many rules to learn and so many guidelines to follow. Do you know that Chinese language doesn’t have any tenses? Seems incredible, right? But English grammar doesn’t offer…

The 10 Most Important Science Facts That Every Student Should Know Before Leaving Elementary School

September 4, 2015

At TurtleDiary.com, we were recently challenged by fellow educators to come up with the ten most important science facts we felt every child should know before graduating from elementary school. Honestly, we couldn’t come up with the ten most important. There are so many things kids should know about science…

Our 5 Favorite Math Games for Second Graders

September 3, 2015

Parents often claim that they have difficulty helping their kids with math. It’s no wonder – if you think back to the subjects that you had trouble with in school, chances are that math is at the forefront. You probably began experiencing problems as early on as second grade math.…

Using Online Jigsaw Puzzles and Other Educational Puzzles to Stimulate Your Child’s Learning

September 2, 2015

Kids love to learn. You know this, because you’ve seen your kids over and over picking up new skills that you never expected. Just think about learning to walk – they pretty much pick it up all on their own! And next thing you know, they’re talking and singing and…

The Shapes All Kindergartners Must Learn

September 1, 2015

As kids get older, it’s important to start teaching them how to identify basic shapes. In real life, they’re going to see circles, squares, rectangles, hexagons, and more. There are several questions surrounding this topic. For instance, where do you start teaching basic shapes to your kindergartener? What’s the importance…