Allison McDonald

Bainbridge Island, United States

Founder and Writer at No Time For Flash Cards

Teacher. Author. Runner. Fan of glitter and skittles. Play is learning and reading is a basic need. B.Ed, M.S Early Childhood and Family Development. She/her

Featured in: Favicon

notimeforflashcards.com

Articles

Australian Animal Activities For Preschoolers

3 days ago | notimeforflashcards.com | Allison McDonald

One of my favorite weeks of teaching preschool every year is the week we learn more about Australian animals – especially marsupials! All year, part of our STEM curriculum is about animal habitats and how animals adapt to their environment. This week, we focus on how Australian animals are so special because many are found only in Australia! Here are some of the Australian animal activities for preschoolers that we explore in my multi-age preschool class.
FREE Summer Camp Activity Plans

1 week ago | notimeforflashcards.com | Allison McDonald

I am on a mission to get parents to play more with their kiddos and to make more time for play at home, inside and out! With this mission in mind, I have refreshed my FREE summer camp activity plans program, Camp Learn & Play. for summer 2025! I’ve removed ads to make navigation easier and created a new newsletter with freebies all summer. If you are a parent of children aged 3-8 or a homeschooling parent, our free summer camp activity plans program is for you.
Preschoolers Need More Free Play At Home

1 week ago | notimeforflashcards.com | Allison McDonald

Do you chat with co-workers before and after school as much as I do? I am lucky enough to have incredible co-teachers, and we spend a lot of time discussing students, their strengths, challenges, and how we can work as a team to scaffold their growth and help them develop at just the right pace. We assess, strategize, brainstorm, and vent – it’s one of the reasons I love my job.
Family Craft For Mother's Day - Updated 2025

1 week ago | notimeforflashcards.com | Allison McDonald

This family craft is perfect for Mother’s Day. In a preschool classroom, you can do it all at once or work on different parts slowly. I’d do the cutting for toddlers, but I’d require my preschoolers to do the cutting themselves.
Watermelon Crafts & Activities for Preschool

2 weeks ago | notimeforflashcards.com | Allison McDonald

One of my favorite themes for summer crafts and activities is watermelon! My favorite watermelon craft is below.
Bug Letter Recognition Game

3 weeks ago | notimeforflashcards.com | Allison McDonald

One of the skills we are working on in my PreK class right now is recognizing lowercase letters. If you follow my blog and subscribe to my newsletter, you know that this year I’m teaching a multi-age class. This bug letter recognition game honors the many levels of letter recognition knowledge and various skill levels of my students, all set to a theme they love: bugs! The bug images on the game pieces act as two different scaffolds for learning.
Earth Day Preschool Activities

1 month ago | notimeforflashcards.com | Allison McDonald

Earth Day is an excellent reminder for all of us to take some time to explicitly teach our students and kiddos at home about being good caretakers of our planet and learning about ways to be more mindful about energy consumption, reusing items instead of just throwing them out, and, of course, recycling. More than that, this is a great time to remind our little ones that we share this planet with many other people and animals and must keep it healthy so all can thrive.
Spring Scavenger Hunt Printable

1 month ago | notimeforflashcards.com | Allison McDonald

I don’t think homework is appropriate for children before middle school.
Bug Activities That Match Eric Carle Books

1 month ago | notimeforflashcards.com | Allison McDonald

It’s no surprise that I am a child of the 70s and 80s, and a teacher of the 90s-present love Eric Carle books. They hold precious childhood memories and have been launching pads for countless preschool learning activities in my classrooms for decades. These bug activities that match Eric Carle books are perfect for spring and are just a few of the educational activities for Eric Carle books I have to share with you. Check out my Eric Carle-inspired activity archive and extra resource pack here.
Small Group Games and Activities For Preschool & PreK

1 month ago | notimeforflashcards.com | Allison McDonald

Small group activities for PreK shouldn’t be an extra or add-on component to your curriculum. Small group learning is a powerful tool for teaching specific concepts, working on targeted skill development, and building relationships with your students. More than anything, it is also an imperative tool for differentiating instruction and assessment. These small group games and activities for preschool and PreK are well worth adding to your lesson plans.