Hop on over and check out a recently updated collection of Easter resources that can be utilized to bring some holiday learning and fun into your classroom. So, whether you’re in need of some lessons that contain a spiritual theme, or maybe you’re just looking for some seasonal fun, there’s a little something, something for everyone.

» NEW! An Easter-themed breakout game lives here.

» NEW! Check out another Easter-themed breakout game here. (This one was created specifically for elementary students.)

» NEW! The Educator’s Spin On It provides teachers with 12 Easter STEM activities for kids.

» NEW! TeacherVision can hook you up with all sorts of bunny and egg-themed lesson plans, printables, art activities and more!

» NEW! Easter brings to mind eggs, bunnies, chicks and candy—perfect topics for teaching science, graphing and creative writing! Join Education World for some spectacular activities fit perfectly for Easter fun and learning.

» NEW! Hop on over to TeachersFirst and check out a variety of Easter activities to incorporate into math classes, social studies lessons, writing workshops, and more! Activities for all grade levels included.

» Kids will not only love this egg-citing science activity, they will also learn about the cool chemical reaction that makes it happen. Check out the Easter Egg Rockets, a super cool experiment brought to you by The Stem Laboratory.

» Get your Easter on with 25 quick and fun activities from ThoughtCo.

» Need some secular and/or Easter activities and teaching ideas? A to Z Teacher Stuff has you covered!

» Lots of Easter games, puzzles, stories, crafts, poetry and more live here: Apples4theTeacher.com.

» The Busy Teacher provides educators with 64 Easter-related worksheets that can be incorporated into classroom lessons.

» Easter Teaching Resources is a Pinterest board filled with arts and crafts ideas, educational activities, and printables to help you celebrate Easter in the classroom.

» The abcteach Easter category page features hundreds of fun, educational activities for classroom or home use, including coloring pages, crafts, board games, readings, puzzles, interactives, and much more!

» Teaching Ideas offers an extensive range of ideas and resources to teach and learn about Easter—poems, stories, puzzles, curricular activities, images, banners, fonts, videos and Easter Egg Hunts.

» Poetry activities, interactive games, scavenger hunts, sequencing cards, puzzles, a variety templates and more await you on TES Connect—the largest teacher network in the world.

» Larry Ferlazzo’s Web Site of the Day is another site packed with online resources for teaching and learning about Easter and Passover. A few that stood out for me include a variety of Easter videos and articles from the History Channel, the Easter Bunny Rap, How Easter Works and Easter by the Numbers—a fun infographic about this holiday.

The Activity Village: Easter Activities has a huge selection of Easter activities to explore with elementary students, including coloring pages, printables, jokes, crafts, puzzles and more!

Brought to you by About Education: Easter Resources, this collection of 25 quick and easy Easter resources are sure to keep you and your students busy throughout this spring holiday!

» Harry Kindergarten: Check out this video entitled “The Bunny Goes Hop”, an Easter pattern song for kids, produced by my colleague, Pete Harry. (For additional educational videos and songs, visit the Harry Kindergarten YouTube channel and/or website.)

» And my favorite resource to date? A recipe for creating a really cool and yummy dessert with one of the best holiday treats money can buy! Check out Easter Peeps Casserole here. Your students (and family) will just love, love it! ♥

Classroom Connection:

Use these themed lesson plans, activities and materials to teach students about Easter and Passover.

What do you get when you combine the basics of electricity and circuitry with some copper tape, LEDs and a coin cell battery?

A super cool light-up Christmas card,of course!

Just click on the Geeky Girl’s Treasure #4 to learn more about how you and your students can create your very own customized STEM or makerspace project.

Are you ready to get your holiday greeting card on?

The full screen version of this interactive image can be accessed here.

Classroom Connection:

Use the resources embedded within the interactive image to have some fun celebrating the best holiday of the year!

In case you might be interested in checking out my 12 Digital Days of Christmas collections from previous years, here you go:

» The Twelve Digital Days of Christmas I

» The Twelve Digital Days of Christmas II

» The Twelve Digital Days of Christmas III

» The Twelve Digital Days of Christmas IV

» The Twelve Digital Days of Christmas V

Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more. ♥ ~The Grinch #somuchmore

Another day, another fun Christmas-themed resource awaits you behind Tech Treasure #2. Making its first appearance in one of my December lineups is a Breakout EDU activity—a holiday-themed game, of course! If you haven’t yet jumped on the breakout bandwagon, then there’s no time like the “present” (Get it? ha!)

Besides being a ton of fun, these challenging activities reinforce a myriad of important skills including problem solving, creative and critical thinking, communication, collaboration and teamwork. Quite frankly, students love, love these games, both the physical and digital versions (although maybe not quite as much me!) But enough of that for now… It’s time to get busy with one super cool winter breakout!

It’s nearly the end of the year… You look forward to presents and cheer. With holidays anon… You find they’re all gone! Why would they all disappear?

Just hover over the interactive image shown below to play Holiday Hideaway and solve the mystery!

The full screen version of this interactive image can be accessed here.

A note from the authors, Aubrey and Moriah Yeh : This breakout, which is geared more for the middle and high school levels,  focuses on listening clues and reading for information. It even has a bit of coding thrown in there.

Classroom Connection:

Use the resources embedded within the interactive image to have some fun celebrating the best holiday of the year!

In case you might be interested in checking out my 12 Digital Days of Christmas collections from previous years, here you go:

» The Twelve Digital Days of Christmas I

» The Twelve Digital Days of Christmas II

» The Twelve Digital Days of Christmas III

» The Twelve Digital Days of Christmas IV

» The Twelve Digital Days of Christmas V

Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more. ♥ ~The Grinch #somuchmore

Since learning about escape rooms last January, I have been completely fascinated with the concept. In fact, one could say I’m a junkie as I’m always looking for a new room that will allow me to put my problem solving skills to the test. To date, I’ve experienced about ten different rooms, including one in Austin, Texas, but my all-time favorite thus far was definitely the Bootlegger’s Live Escape Room at Bube’s Brewery in Mount Joy, PA. This totally cool adventure is located in the catacombs of a historic 19th century brewery and museum complex. If you’re ever in the area, be sure to put this place on your must-see list!

Escape the Classroom

Of course, as I visited each escape room, the educator in me thought wouldn’t this be an awesome strategy to incorporate into a classroom setting?

And then I found out about Breakout EDU, an immersive learning platform containing various games which are designed specifically for students of all ages and content areas. Coupled with my interest in escape rooms, I’ve been using this site as inspiration to develop a number of activities for my district. These activities include but are not limited to…

» A training session for middle school teachers. Check ’em out below participating in a digital breakout activity. And then click here for info about the benefits of integrating this concept into the classroom.

» A Media Center Madness game, a scavenger hunt style activity in which students had to work together using QR codes, hidden messages and puzzles to unlock six boxes within a 45 minute time frame. Click here to read an entire post about this breakout game.

» A series of challenges for our annual district-wide STEM Night. Check out some of our students trying to solve puzzles based on the types of energy.

» A breakout game for our sixth grade environmental field trip. Dubbed Operation Recycle, this activity involved solving a number of puzzles that taught students about the role they can play in protecting the planet via recycling everyday items. Click here for additional info about my most favorite creation to date.

The Real Deal

My experiences with escape rooms and Breakout EDU games have led to my next super cool adventure—the opportunity to build an actual escape room in our middle school. Yep, thanks to BAMS principal Dr. Don Wagner, I am in the process of converting an ISS room into a ’70s style escape room that will be utilized with teachers, staff and students throughout our district—and eventually our community. How amazing is that!

As you’ve probably suspected, I’ve spent the last few weeks wandering through flea markets and antique stores in search of retro furniture, accessories, games and gadgets from this groovy decade. With the help of my Tech Club students, family, friends and colleagues, check out the progress I’ve made…

The ISS Room before removing all of the old stuff.

Some of the furniture, games and accessories we moved into the room. The boys had a fun time playing albums from the ’70s. Yes, the stereo actually works!

The boys and I visited the IQ Escape Room in State College, PA. We got busted in our attempt to steal the Mona Lisa, but we had a great time trying! These students now have a better understanding of the concept and therefore, will be invaluable when assisting me with the design of our new room.

My dad picked up some of the larger pieces of furniture I purchased as well as the TV and lamps that were donated by our Spanish teacher Senora Smith. With the help of my nephews Kyle and Haden, it was delivered it to school for me.

I’m currently working on developing various clues and puzzles using items that were popular during this decade—games, music, TV shows and more!

Stay tuned for updates as well as a sneak peek of our new logo…

#escapethe70s #basdescaperoom #superexcited #somuchfun

Earlier in the week I wrote a post about Operation Recycle, a brand-new Breakout EDU game I recently designed for our school’s sixth grade environmental field trip—one that was based on the importance of recycling.

The Concept: With 50 minutes on the clock, teams of students were “locked” in Mr. T’s laboratory, a room filled with clues, puzzles, riddles and brain teasers. The goal was simple… Solve the mystery to get out in time—and save the planet!

The Materials: Cans, bottles, locks, ransom notes, equations, a card sort, maps, puzzles, treasure boxes and more.

The Players: Teams of sixth grade campers.

The Outcome: Students used logic, problem solving skills, communication and teamwork to “breakout” of our makeshift escape room… And had a lot of fun doing so!

Highlights from Day 1:

Highlights from Day 2:

Kermit, Corey & Bailey—The guys who helped me make it happen…

We unlocked the the fun… Only at Camp Kanesatake!

Stay tuned for more info about how you can snag a copy of this breakout activity for your classroom…

What do you get when you combine cans, bottles and other recyclable materials with locks, ransom notes, equations, a card sort, maps, puzzles, ingenious treasure boxes and more?

Operation Recycle: My super cool breakout game designed for our school’s sixth grade environmental field trip!

Stay tuned for more details about my brand-new escape room experience that teaches students about the importance of recycling.

Unlock the fun… Only at Camp Kanesatake!