I'm so excited to share the blog with one of my sweet friends, Katie, who is also a super talented preschool teacher and has been for over 14 years! She writes over at Preschool Inspirations and she's going to share some of her favorite activities in this post and a follow up post next week. I love her work! One of my favorite posts of hers you will find below -- her Rainbow Discovery Bottle. Isn't it breathtaking?

It is such a pleasure to share some of my all-time favorite preschool activities today! I’m Katie, and I’ve enjoyed the incredible job of teaching little ones as an Early Childhood educator for 14 years. For six of those years, I’ve also had the extra delight of being a mama. I have three sweet children, and two have already gone through preschool with me!

Preschool is a magical time – definitely one of my favorite ages -- and I believe in making it a place where learning is just as enchanting. I teach children to learn about the world with their senses and invite my students to connect with it through hands-on play.  I’m excited to share two types of activities that my preschoolers have found to be the most magical: rainbows and discovery bottles. I'll be sharing the first set of activities (rainbows) today and I'll be back next week to share my favorite discovery bottles.

It’s really hard to narrow down our absolute favorite rainbow activity because there are two that cannot be topped! The first rainbow project that the preschoolers and I absolutely adored was this Rainbow Rolling Pin Art project (bottom left). It takes only a few minutes to prep, and the results are absolutely gorgeous!

Our other favorite rainbow project is made of buttons in a Rainbow Button Collage Canvas Art (middle left). Follow my tutorial to help make symmetrical arches, and the rest is a piece of cake!

Another simple art project that turned out beautifully was when we made rainbows with our 3 ingredient Puffy Paint Recipe (bottom right).  These are completely picture frame worthy.

We loved sorting rainbow colors with water beads in the sensory table with this Water Bead Sorting Activity (not pictured). Sensory activities and water play are a must for little ones!

For my advanced preschoolers, we worked on this Rainbow Sight Word Lacing Busy Bag (middle right). Lacing tends to be an activity that falls through the cracks, but it is so important for little fingers.

Lastly, we made a Rainbow Discovery Bottle (top)! I’ve been wanting to make one for ages that was “liquidish” and didn’t run together six seconds after making it. The colors do eventually blend together, but I loved turning it into a color mixing experiment at the same time.

Another place to find some of the best rainbow activities and discovery bottles is right here on Fun at Home with Kids! I adore these rainbow play ideas, and these rainbow discovery bottles are hands-down some of the most beautiful and inviting ones I’ve ever laid eyes on.

For more preschool ideas, activities, and resources, feel free to come visit me over at Preschool Inspirations. I also love chatting with my readers over on Facebook, and you can see some of my favorite ideas on Pinterest.