Quick and Easy Easter Printables

Can you believe that Easter is just a few days away? It snuck up on me!

Just in case you are looking for few quick and easy activities that you can print and give your kids to keep them busy over the weekend while you are busy cooking/cleaning/hiding eggs, here is a quick list of my fun (and educational materials!)

For PreK - 1st

Boost your child’s literacy and math skills with this fun, Easter-themed packet! This multicultural packet contains images of both the Easter bunny and cascarones.

The 10 activity sheets include:

• Easter vocabulary

• Shadow match

• Line tracing

• Counting activity

• Spot the difference

• Pattern recognition

• Roll and color

• Easter maze

• Count the bunnies

• & How many do you see?

Here's a peek at some of the activities...

Available in English and Spanish. 

Find it in my TpT store or MommyMaestra shop.

This is such a fun little booklet! Help your preschooler or language learner to learn their colors with this Easter-themed coloring book.

This file contains THREE books:

• a bilingual book (English & Spanish)

• an English only (for ESL)

• a Spanish only (for Spanish learners)

Find it in my TpT store or MommyMaestra shop.

Great for supporting math skills! Roll the dice and decorate your cascarón using the options provided. 

Find it in my TpT store or MommyMaestra shop.

For K thru 6th

Actually, this particular printable is good for ANY age. This mini-book is a brief history of the popular Hispanic craft of making cascarones. This book includes coloring pages of items related to the history of this craft, as well as brief descriptions in English and Spanish that are easy for young children to understand. At the end of the book are simple directions in English and Spanish for making cascarones.

This file contains THREE books: 

• a bilingual book (English & Spanish)

• an English only (for ESL)

• a Spanish only (for Spanish learners)

Find it in my TpT store or MommyMaestra shop.

For 4th - 12th

This is a one-page history of cascarones. From where they originated to how to make them, this informational text is written for students in 4th - 8th grade. Includes a 7-question comprehension quiz plus answer key.

Find it in my TpT store or MommyMaestra shop.

One-Page Reading Passage on Los San Patricios

St. Patrick's Day is quickly approaching so I thought that now would be a good time to remind you about a little-known group of men in history called Los San Patricios.

Have you heard of them? To the U.S., they were considered traitors, but to Mexico, they were heroes. If you are looking for a unique angle to the annual holiday, consider teaching your kids about this historical group. If you have older children/students, this would be a great time to teach them about Los San Patricios.

I have a one-page reading passage plus 8-questions quiz available in my shop. It's best suited for students in 4th grade and higher. And the good news is that it is now available in both English and Spanish versions!

To download it instantly, just visit my TpT store or my MommyMaestra shop.

SURPRISE GIVEAWAY: Bilingual Multimedia by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy

Ages ago, authors Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy reached out to me and generously offered a huge set of their materials to be given away to MommyMaestra readers. Sadly, the past year has been quite tumultuous and difficult for me and I just couldn't get to it, but they were kind enough to keep the materials set aside just for you. I am so thankful for their dedication to Latino families and their support of bilingual education.

SO let me tell you what this surprise giveaway is about!

Alma Flor and Isabel have put together 12 packages each featuring five of their works. These sets of multimedia materials are mentioned in their Transformative Calendar, a FREE download for parents and educators. It is full of suggestions for books and poems appropriate for each month of the year.

Each package includes:

1. Books plus DVDs
2. CDs
3. Book + CD

For example, one package contains:

• The books: Pasos from Puertas al Sol Quince Años Edition plus the DVD El encuentro mágico con el folklore infantil
  and Me llamo María Isabel plus the DVD  Lectura creadora
• The CDs: Poesía eres tú and ¡Pío Peep!
• The book and CD set: Música amiga Number 4 Corre al coro by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy, music by Suni Paz

And another has:

• The books: Uno, dos, tres… dime quién es from Puertas al Sol Quince Años Edition plus the DVD El encuentro mágico con el folklore infantil and Yes! We Are Latinos plus Path to My Word DVD by F. Isabel Campoy
• The CDs:  Todo es canción poems by Alma Flor Ada music and voice, Suni Paz
  
  and Cuentos que contaban nuestras abuelas read by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy
• The book and CD set: Música amiga Number 5 Con ton y son by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy, music by Suni Paz

Now just imagine...there are 12 of these prize packages!! All of them include materials in English and Spanish for children or their educators.

THE GIVEAWAY

There will be 3 (THREE) winners who will receive 4 (FOUR) packages each of some combination of materials by the authors. You don't get to choose...it will be a surprise!

To enter to win, simply use the Rafflecopter below.

¡Buena suerte!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Review: Playing with Osito

I'm going to start the week off with a resource for your preschooler. This one comes from Barranca Press, which is developing a line of bilingual children's books to support the development of multilingual children.

This review contains affiliate links.

Playing with Osito / Jugando con Baby Bear

by Lisa María Burgess

collages by Susan L. Roth

Playing with Osito / Jugando con Baby Bear (aff) is a bilingual children's book with full text in English and Spanish. The storyline itself is about two friends - Osito and a young girl. But Osito has a problem, his winter hair has not filled in completely and he's left with bare patches all over his body. It's up to the two of them to find a way to help Osito stay warm. The young girl tries one idea after another; when one fails, she looks for another solution.

I really like how the young girl in the book doesn't give up. She takes it all in stride when one if ger solutions doesn't work, and just says, "Breathe, think, and try again." It's a really great story to encourage children to try and try again and not get discouraged when their ideas don't work out the first time or two. Such a valuable lesson that all of our children should learn!

I also like how the back of the book includes pages with "Did you know? ¿Sabes qué?" facts. The information is all about nature and the animals featured in this book. There's also a section on where to find more information.

The illustrations are really fun, too. Susan Roth, who illustrated Parrots Over Puerto Rico (aff), uses paper to create the unique collages in this book. I thought it was pretty neat to read that much of the landscape in the story was made with tree bark paper, which has been made in Mexico since precolonial times.

The author, Lisa María Burgess, grew up in the Sierra Madre of northwestern Mexico. She apparently wrote this story with her father when she was a little girl. I love it when authors are inspired by their childhood and turn around and share it with others!

Educators: This book works well with lessons and unit studies about problem solving, persistence, bears, the Southwest, New Mexico, Mexico, imagination, bilingualism, multilingualism, the environment, storytelling, paper art, and more.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.