Easy Science Project: Life Cycle

Posted on January 31, 2026 by Squarehead Teachers

A friend of mine sent me this photo and explanation of a simple life cycles project she uses in her kindergarten class. I love that this project is simple, almost zero prep for the teacher (other than gathering everyday supplies) and happens fast enough that the kids don’t lose interest. Here are the steps:

1. Soak lima beans in cold water overnight.

2. Put a lima bean in a moist paper towel.

3. Put the paper towel (containing the lima bean) in a Ziplock bag.

3. Seal bag so water doesn’t evaporate (kind of like making a terrarium).

5. Staple to the wall (we put ours near a window). Last year in a different classroom we taped it to a window.

6. Students kept a two week log (words and drawing pictures). At the end, send it home!

If you’re got an idea that works well in your classroom, let me know!

Counting Coins Worksheet

Posted on January 28, 2026 by Squarehead Teachers

Long time, no see! I’ve got another free worksheet for you. This time it’s a coin counting practice page. It’s appropriate for 1st or 2nd grade. I’ve included an answer key, so be sure to download that too. Click the “download” button below the worksheet to access it. Enjoy!

Pirate Treasure 2- money coin counting Download

Pirate Treasure 2- money coin counting ANSWERS Download

Paper Plate Hat: Cat in the Hat (Dr. Seuss)

Posted on March 3, 2025 by Squarehead Teachers

Happy Read Across America Week! (What would we do without Dr. Seuss?! Such creativity from one person!) My kids needed a quick Cat in the Hat costume for school and I didn’t have much time. I came up with this simple paper plate hat and it took me about 3 minutes. I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. It would be easy to have my class make them!

Supplies:

White paper plate (I used uncoated, but I’m guessing the coated would work as well. I would not use Styrofoam.)
Red marker
Scissors
Tape (I used packing tape, but Scotch tape would work too.)

Steps:

Cut the paper plate as shown below. Consider cutting a small hole to get each kid started (or if you teach younger kids, cut them out ahead of time and just let them color the stripes.)

2. Color 3 red stripes as shown below.

3. Turn the paper plate over and reinforce the fold with a small piece of tape. Without the tape, my son’s hat started to tear when he pulled it down on his head too hard. After we put the tape, it was just fine.

4. Fold the center piece up gently.

Note: you may need to cut more off (making the brim more narrow) if you’ve got larger heads you’re making this craft for. But overall, it was so simple and it turned out great. Enjoy!

Build A Jack-o-Lantern Race (Low Prep Halloween Math Facts Game)

Posted on October 28, 2024 by Squarehead Teachers

This game can be used to practice any kind of math facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) or really any content where the kids have to provide a specific answer (teacher asks a question, students provide a short responds). I don’t recommend this will spelling though, because it will be hard to hear 3 kids spelling the same word all at the same time and know who got it right. Here’s the game:

Prep:

Cut out paper pieces for each team: orange pumpkin shape, 2 eyes, a mouth, a nose
Need glue to assemble the team pumpkin
Tell your students a day or two beforehand that they will do a game using multiplication facts

Goal

Be the first team to build your jack-o-lantern by answering multiplication facts correctly the fastest!

Play

Divide the class into two or 3 teams (more teams means each kid practices more facts).
(Round 1) Each team sends a representative up to the front to compete against each other to answer multiplication facts for the first round. Teams may not help. Hold up a flash card, whoever answers the fact correctly first a point in the round (keep track of how many each team answered). Do 5 facts for the round, and do a tie breaker if needed.
Whichever team has the most points at the end of the round, chooses a piece for their jack-o-lantern. Only 1 team will get a piece each round.
(Round 2) different representatives compete to earn another pumpkin piece for their team. You can do the same or different math facts, because it will be different kids answering. Again, teams may not help.
Whichever team has the most points at the end of the round, chooses a piece for their pumpkin.
Continue having rounds of multiplication facts until one team wins.

Adaptation for last-minute play:

Instead of doing pumpkin pieces and building a jack-o-lantern, write Halloween themed word, like “ghost” or “witch” on the board once for each team (or, if you want the game to be long, write “Halloween”). Circle letters in the word every time you would have given a pumpkin piece to the team that won the round. This cuts out the prep for the teacher, but I don’t think it’s as fun for the kids. They seem to like getting to walk back to their seat with a piece for their team.

What other low prep Halloween activities have you tried that incorporate math facts?

Don’t Eat Pete Game Template

Posted on April 10, 2020 by Squarehead Teachers

Don’t Eat Pete is one of my family’s favorite games. It’s also been a favorite in my classroom! Since so many people have been sheltering-in-place because of the coronavirus, my mom (and former teacher herself) had the genius idea to make Don’t Eat Pete kits to drop off to local families with kids. She made each family a game board (or included stickers so the kids could decorate it themselves) and also included candies to use to play the game. (Click here or here to read my posts on how to play.)

So, here’s the template and you can let your kids decorate their own board! Crayons, stickers, markers, glitter*, paint* or colored pencil, just let your kids get creative!

Click here to download the PDF: Don’t Eat Pete – game template

*If you use craft supplies like these, I suggest putting the board in a page protector sleeve if you’ll be playing with something edible.

Click here to check out my other Don’t Eat Pete boards to download.

Easy Die Cut “Don’t Eat Pete” Board

Posted on October 30, 2019 by Squarehead Teachers

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I’ve written about Don’t Eat Pete before (How to play, How to play/easy Valentine’s board and St. Patrick’s Day board), but I just love this game and it’s perfect for any holiday. Seriously, I played it at every single classroom party (as a kid since my mom was often the Room Mom and again as a teacher) because it just continues to be a kid favorite… the there’s hardly ANY prep involved!!

But if you’re that teacher who wants to make something once and never have to worry about it again, here’s a post for you. My mom made this style of Don’t Eat Pete board for each holiday and then all she ever had to do was buy the candy, cereal or snack she was going to use for the game.

Step 1 – choose 9 die cuts from your school’s Halloween collection. If your school doesn’t have die cuts and you don’t want to head down to the district office to do it, just wing it and cut some simple shapes yourself. Cut them out of colored construction paper (Be careful which construction paper pack you get! one I recently purchased from Amazon didn’t include purple! Here’s a small low-priced pack that has all the basic colors!)

Step 2 – Lay them out 3 across in 3 rows on big construction paper (here’s a low-priced pack) and place small strips of construction paper between them to form a grid. If you’re in a pinch, just draw in lines using a sharpie or other permanent marker (here are some awesome metallic ones that work great for writing on black!)

Step 3 – Write numbers on each shape. This just makes it easier to remember which one is “Pete” for that round. You can also silently remind your kids by holding up fingers.

Step 4 – Laminate the entire thing! Now enjoy!

Halloween Classroom Attention Getters

Posted on October 16, 2019 by Squarehead Teachers

It’s Halloween time, so it’s time to change things up! No more “Get it? Got it! Good!” when you need to get your students’ attention! We’ve come up with a list of fun, Halloween attention getters for the classroom!

Teacher: “Who you gonna call?”
Students: “Ghostbusters!”

Teacher: “Monster!”
Students: “Mash!”

Teacher: “Knock, knock!”
Students: “Trick or Treat!!”

Teacher: “Skeleton!”
Students: “Bones!”

Teacher: “Scare me!”
Students: “Boo!”

Teacher: “Pumpkin, pumpkin shining bright!”
Students: “Halloween’s a scary night!”

Teacher: “It’s not Santa Claus!”
Students: “It’s the Great Pumpkin!”

Teacher: “Vegan Zombie!”
Students: “Graaaaaaiiiiinnnnss!” (like how zombies say “brains”)

Teacher: “If you’ve got it…”
Students: “…haunt it!”

Teacher: “Boil, boil…!”
Students: “Toil and trouble!”

Teacher: “I feel cold!”
Students: “Goosebumps!”

If you’ve taught your class any fun Halloween poems, you might consider using lines from those also. For example, if you taught your class the popular “Five little pumpkins” poem, you could use a line and have the students respond with the following line. If you’re not familiar with that poem, you’re missing out! Here it is:

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.
The first one said, “Oh, my, it’s getting late!”
The second one said, “There are witches in the air!”
The third one said, “But we don’t care!”
The fourth one said, “Let’s run and run and run!”
The fifth one said, “It’s Halloween fun!”
Then woooooo, went the wind
And out went the light
And the five little pumpkins
Rolled out of sight!

Click here for more fun Halloween stuff!

Halloween Coin Counting Practice

Posted on October 11, 2019 by Squarehead Teachers

Happy Halloween!! Do you have your costume figured out yet? I don’t, but I’m working on it! Anyway, use the excitement for Halloween to sneak in some coin counting practice. Enjoy another freebie!