The Nutcracker Ballet Unit Study (Make your own from more that 60 free web resources)

In a few weeks, the girls will be auditioning for their parts in their ballet school's Christmas production of 'The Nutcracker.' Miss K, especially, has been excitedly reading and learning all about the characters and their dances. It seemed like great great opportunity to add a Nutcracker Ballet unit study! 

Below you will find all the links to the free web resources we will be using. I have listed them by subject rather than by the order we will be using them. Including nine study guides from different Ballet Companies all over North America might seem a bit over the top but they are all different.  Be sure to check out each guide as they all have unique suggestions for activities, puzzles and games. Each guide also outlines the theatre, cast and crew for their performance. Some of the photographs of the dancers and theatre alone are worth pouring over with your kids! We hope you have as much fun as we will studying the Nutcracker! 

History 

Timeline history of the Nutcracker Ballet and some great photos -Ballet Minnesota

The History of the Nutcracker (the tool/ornament) at Magicofnutcrackers.com

Study Guides


San Francisco Ballet Nutcracker Study Guide -PDF Printable

National Canadian Ballet Nutcracker Study Guide PDF Printable

Inland Pacific Ballet Nutcracker Study Guide- PDF Printable

Milwaukee Ballet Nutcracker Study Guide- PDF Printable

Boston Ballet Nutcracker Study Guide -PDF Printable

Lancaster Performing Arts Center -PDF Printable 

Houston Ballet Nutcracker Study Guide -PDF Printable

Reif's Performing Arts Center Nutcracker Study Guide -PDF Printable

East Alabama Community Ballet Nutcracker Curriculum Guide -PDF


Language Arts Nutcracker activities

5 Nutcracker Language arts based activities from the Union City Youth Ballet

Nutcracker themed Handwriting Practice Pages from TwistyNoodle.com

The Nutcracker Reading Comprehension Worksheet from ESLprintables

Drama, Theater and Dance activities

Exploring international dance styles, design a ballet and pantomime 

A short play based on the Nutcracker Story from coreknowledge.org

The Dance of the Flute activity lesson plan from Lesson Planet

Comparing Smooth and Sharp movements of Dance from Lesson Planet

Analyzing two Dances from the Nutcracker and creating a Dance Map from Lesson Planet

Watch Elmo and Jamie Foxx sing a 'The Nutcracker Mash' -You Tube: Sesame St 

Math Based NutcrackerActivities

2 Math activities for Pre K - 1 from the Union City Youth Ballet

Compare Nutcrackers with a Venn Diagram printable from Teach123

Symmetrical Nutcracker Activity from A Faithful Attempt


Science Based Nutcracker Activities

4 different areas of science to explore from Union City Ballet 

Learn about Clarks's Nutcracker bird at Allaboutbirds.org

Hands on activity to explore different kinds of bird beaks from Utah Education Network

Hands on activity to explore Levers in everyday use (incl. worksheets) from ingridscience.org

Hands on Activity exploring the basic Dance element of Force from Lesson Planet 

A video about how snow is formed from crystals  

Make your own crystal snow flake -an experiment from Science Kids New Zealand

Social Studies & History Activities 


Ideas about studying the history of Ballet and the Country of Russia (the origin of the story)

Timeline history of the Nutcracker Ballet and some great photos -Ballet Minnesota

The History of the Nutcracker (the tool/ornament) at Magicofnutcrackers.com

How Nutcrackers are handmade in Germany (video)-YouTube

Music 


Learning about Tchaikovsky

Active Listening to different dances in the Nutcracker -From Elementary Music Methods

Play along music for Dance of the Sugar Plum fairy from Teaching Music

Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra -An interactive online book/game from the Carnegie Hall site

Hey Kids, Meet Tchaikovsky at Making Music Fun

A great collection of Musical instrument worksheets can be found at Enchanted Learning

Free 60 Pg Musical Lapbook Printable  from 123Homeschoolf4me.com

Music Coloring Pages from Coloring.ws

Bay Area Little Symphony Coloring Book

Active listening and Discussion worksheet for 'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy' at Lesson Planet

Listen & watch how Bike Parts were used to play the Nutcracker Suite at creativedigitalmusic.com

Art and Crafts

Oil Pastel on Black Paper Nutcracker Lesson from Art Projects for Kids

Printable Nutcracker Character Puppets to Make from Printables 4 Kids

Nutcracker Paperbag Puppet Printable from Jim Gamble Puppets

Make Nutcracker & Clara puppets with this printable from Lesson Planet

Recipe for Sparkly Sugar Plums from the Cupcakeproject.com

Recipe for Sugar Plum Fairy Cupcakes from the Cupcake Project

Instructions to Build your own Lego Nutcracker from Lego my Mamma

Ballet

Ballet Lap n Note from Homeschool share: 

Topics Incl.: Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker, history of ballet, creative writing, positions, tutu 

Preschool Nutcracker Ideas and Activities

Christmas Theme: The Nutcracker Pre K Printables from PreschoolMom.com

Lesson Plan and crafts for The Nutcracker Ballet from funlessonplans.com

Nutcracker Cut & Paste Activity from Makinglearingfun.com

Nutcracker Montessori 3 Part Card Printables from Laura's Place

Nutcracker Number Match Game Printable from Prekinders

Ballerina Preschool Printable Pack from 1+1+1=1

Nutcracker Coloring Pages from Supercoloring.com

2 Math activities for Pre K - 1 from the Union City Youth Ballet

Free Clipart and images to add to your project

Free Music Themed Black and White GIFs at ClipArt etc

Free Dance Themed B & W GIFs at ClipArt etc

Free Theatre Themed B & W GIFS at Clipart etc

Color Nutcracker image at Phillip Martin Clipart

Male Ballet Dancer Image at Phillip Martin Clipart

Openclipart.com has a lot of ballet themed images

Candy and Gingerbread Clipart at Mycutegraphics.com

Free iOS Apps

Nutcraker -Ballet School Stores iOS

Tchaikovsky. The Rhythm Game iOS

Christmas Stories: Nutcracker Puzzle Game iOS

Speekee #SpanishforKids Giveaway & Review

The idea of teaching your kids to speak Spanish, when your entire knowledge of the language comes from Dora and Diego, is daunting.

Our eldest child (8.5 years) was fortunate enough to take Spanish through a Homeschool Co-op but since we moved from Texas, I have to admit it has been a struggle continuing without Ms. G.

I was thrilled to be offered the chance to review the online version of Speekee Spanish. We have checked out some of their DVDs from our local library so we are familiar with the fun videos and the cute characters: Speekee, Dino and Lupi.

Speekee Spanish for kids is an an online program design for children between the ages of 2 and 11 years. The program is has a total immersion approach meaning that the videos your kids will be watching are all in Spanish. The activities in the videos make it clear what the kids are saying however. There is also the option to turn on the english captioning so you can watch to see that your child is saying the correct words. 

The videos teach everyday words like parts of the body, food, colors and things that you might see at the park. For younger children Speekee has a Fast Track Program which gives you 40 weeks of Lesson plans and links to download free worksheets and flash cards.

For children over 7 years there is the Speekee Spanish Challenge. In this program Spanish is taught through over 40 videos and and game play. There is also the option to interact safely with other Speekee Members. As an added bonus Speekee tracks your child's progress and sends you reports by email.

When we first logged on, I have to admit I was a bit confused as to which track to take.  I settled on the Fast Track program so we could all do it together. It took a few videos for our 4.5 year old to get that the songs and dialogue were in Spanish. Once she understood this she got into the swing of it and began interacting more.  Try as I might our 8.5 year old just didn't want to engage with the program until she realized that little sister was picking up words she didn't know yet. I didn't push the issue and after a few days she was joining us in the lessons. She began to explore the Speekee Map too. 

Speekee Spanish makes learning Spanish simple and fun. A basic account is free so give it a try! Login and click on the gold bell and you will be given your first activity.

If you go to the bottom of the Speekee Homepage you can print some of the flash cards to try and view the Fast track lesson plans. I would recommend this program to all parents looking to teach their children spanish as a second (or third) language. 

A paid membership gives your children access to all of the videos, games and locations to explore and unlock.  Try out the free trial today and I'm sure you'll agree it is worth the affordable membership fee.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Entry-Form

MagicBlox Online Kids library: Read Great Books for Free!

This is a Sponsored Post. I received compensation in return for an honest review. All opinions are my own

I would love for my children to have a vast home library! Like most families, however, purchasing and storing hundreds of books is out of the question. We use the local libraries, but are never able to visit as often as we would like.

Recently I was introduced to a kids book library that you can 'visit' at any time of the day or night! Magicblox.com is an online children's library that features over 600 titles for ages 1-13 years. Every week new books are being added by Authors and Publishers from all over the world.

The cost is as exciting as the variety of fiction and non fiction titles!  Read one new book each month for free!  Upgrade to unlimited family access for less than $4 a month.

The site is bright, fun and easy to navigate. All of the books can be previewed on the homepage. Browse by Reading level or Subject. Looking for a less traditional story time? Search by feature such as Narration or Music. Many titles are also offered in a bilingual format so they can be also read in Spanish, Italian, and French.

Once you have selected your title, click on it to launch the book reader. If it is not yet on your reading list you are able to preview several pages before deciding if that is going to be your book selection for the month.

The first book we selected was 'The Tangle Fairy' by Seema Barker. The illustrations by Kirsten Richards are as cute and colorful as they would be in a physical book. My daughters loved how the reader made it look and sound like the page in the book was actually turning! Currently we use MagicBlox on our PC. I was excited to hear that there is a MagicBlox app coming soon for iOs and Android Devices.

Magicblox fits our need for a low cost and portable way to access kids book. An added bonus is the
chance to discover books we may not see in our local library!
Along with Traditional publishers Magicblox works with authors and independent publishers from all over the world. Every book is reviewed and categorized before it is uploaded to the library so you can be sure your children will be reading quality books.

Visit MagicBlox childrens' library to view all the great titles and register for your free membership today!

Be sure to tell your friends and earn a free month of full access (see site for details).

Disclosure: I received compensation in exchange for writing this review. Although the post is sponsored, all opinions are my own.

Our Favorite Weiner: Schnitzel Von Krum Forget Me Not App Review

 This Post may contain affiliate posts. Thanks for supporting us!

 

Each month we join a group of creative Bloggers and feature a Children's book and learning activity . This month's theme is Transportation!

Transportation makes us think of travelling and the good old fashioned 'Road trip'. This is probably because we move so frequently! One of our Favorite travel themed books is Schnitzel Von Krumm Forget-Me-Not (Hairy Maclary and Friends) by New Zealand Author and illustrator, Lynley Dodd. We own a very well-read book copy and the Q Book version.

It is Summer Vacation time for Schnitzel Von Krum (with a very low tum) and his Family. Everyone is running around packing up the car as the confused Weiner dog keeps getting under foot. He gets  shooed away and is accidently left behind! What's a lonely Pup to do? Thankfully there is a heroine give him a ride and save the day.

You really can't go wrong with any of Lynley Dodd's books. The characters are as lively as the illustrations. The rhyming text are fun for parents to read aloud and young kids love to read along with you (because you have read it so often!).  Now that we have a hound dog of our own they love reading about Schnitzel even more. A close second to this title would be Schnitzel Von Krumm's Basketwork (Hairy Maclary and Friends).

Mini Piwi did the book activities this month during our Pre K time together. She was excited to see the activity I had made which asked her to imagine that it was our Pup, Butter going on a Summer Vacation. The printable consisted of a 'place mat' featuring Butter's Backpack and 'house' and a set of Summer and Winter themed picture cards. Mini Piwi sorted items into two groups: The Summer Gear to pack in his backpack and the Winter gear he could leave at home. 

Other ways we used the picture cards were:

• Counting the number of items in the backpack
• Comparing the number of items in the back pack vs. those being left at home
• Classifying items as 'wear it' or 'play with it'

Here is the cute Puppy we used to animate our own Puppy, Butter.





Please grab a free copy of this activity for your own Preschool Travel or Summer theme!

Here are the Download links...

Butter's Backpack and Doghouse Placemat

Summer and Winter picture cards for Sorting

 



If you have wheel-crazy kids too then be sure to check out all the participating blogs. Don't forget to link up your own Transportation posts as well!

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