We're going Seuss-y!!

 We started Dr. Seuss! This week we focused on Cat in the Hat. We did a number game where we pulled a number from the cup, wrote the number and drew that many stripes on the hat.

Then we made our very own hats and had a parade! The kid did so well. They decided how many stripes to cut and glued them on all on their own. They loved it! We marched through the school and other classes and then outside around the school. The Elementary school across the street had some children on the playground and my kids were convinced the elementary kids loved and wanted their hats.

Children used any space they could find.

March (or January) of the Penguins!

This month we covered Arctic life spanning from the people of the arctic to the weather and the animals. One of my *new* most favorite activities paper mache penguins!!

 These are just DARLING!! We learned that the biggest penguin is the  Emperor Penguin. We also talked a little about Polar Bears and did this cute activity. The kids had to stretch the cotton balls out before they could have any glue which inspired them to work a little harder than usual.

 

After all that stretching and gluing we winded down with a little Gummy (polar bear) graphing. We laid them out and then colored in the squares. Most of the kids did a great job waiting to eat their bears. We talked about greater than, less than, more, less, most and least. They loved the activity and I'm sure there will be similar activities in their future!

Blurrrr

The holiday season is always a blur for me but my goodness! Now that I am blogging (really new and not too great yet) I can really see how long I have been away. So this will be one long catch post. We are in out Arctic Animals theme this month and we are covering the people, the animals and the homes that you would find in the arctic. Here is our temporary Igloo with the tissue paper fire...


We learned that the Inuit or Eskimos sometimes have to cut a hole in the ice to fish so we have ice fishing available in our dramatic play area and also have a drying rack set up for the Eskimos to hang their fish after catching them.

We tried to bring the theme out to the patio too so we put our figurines in dry cornstarch, I mean snow.

Our Arctic Toob in the snow (cornstarch)

The kids are getting really good with their beginning sounds and they have lots of practice with them as we make lists, charts and copy our picture "flash cards" to make our very own books.  We do a cooking activity each week and this is our first week's activity, Iceberg Jello. We learned that we only see a part of the iceberg because so much of it is under the water.

Iceberg Jello

We created our own puzzles by using pictures of the arctic and cutting it into a puzzle. These puzzles were way harder for the kids than I imagined though.

 And my favorite of the whole month...

 The Milk Jug Igloo! We lined up the milk jugs and counted, wrote our count (or estimate) and in the end looked at the info to see who was the closest. After the counting I started construction.

 Its only about 1/3 of the the way but this is what we have so far!!
 

What a break!

Our break is coming to an end now and I am more excited than ever to see my kids and get started on the next theme "Arctic Life." While the kids have been away I have been busy, busy, busy planning a little boy's birthday party. I don't like the fact that he is growing up so fast but thrilled to see the boy...man...he is and will become.

10 days and counting

I like to party, party!

This year the holiday party and gift exchange was the best ever. We had just enough parents to help out and it showed. A special thanks to those who helped decorate in my last minute scramble. Everything turned out great and I couldn't have asked for things to run more smoothly.



 We had a table set up with the gifts (boys brought a boy gift and girls brought a girl gift) but the teachers did the present handing out to cut back on chaos.










I had a wonderful parent supervising the food table while we sent children a few at a time to fix their plates.










Once everyone was done eating we formed a circle on the floor. The gifts were handed to the children and the rules laid out. A few adults were armed with markers to put names on gifts as soon as they were opened. (The rules included staying on their bottoms and not opening boxes/packages, along with a few others)

When every one had their gift opened and labeled we gave the children the gift from the teachers which included a super cute scarf, pink for girls and blue for boys (of course).

And at the end the parents were given their gifts. A gingerbread boy or girl with their child's head in place of the gingerbread kid's and some homemade cinnamon ornaments in the reindeer gift bag. What a HUGE success. I'm still in awe of how well the party went!

Deck the halls?

Well surely you have to build them first! It is a tradition in my class that we build "gingerbread houses" out of good ole' graham crackers and frosting.This activity is not for the meek at heart, it takes perseverance and practice and repetition because the integrity of the structures aren't always the best. This year instead of eating them as soon as they were finished the children took them home to share with their families.

Whew!! I'm back.

So it's been a little crazy in my life lately and I haven't been able to do a lot of things that I have wanted to (like blog of course). Now that I'm back from my vacation and in the swing of things maybe we can catch up.

We set up our fabulous Dramatic Play area fully equipped with a fireplace, armchair and Christmas tree which has decorations to take off and put on. 

I tried my kids at an "ABC" pattern and most of them got it!The Pattern was Red, Green, White and we made a chain to hang on our Handprint tree. It turned out great...pics to come. 

We made some wonderfully delightful  

Cinnamon ornaments and finally painted them today. 

And what is the holiday without a festive Wreath?! 

Our school is also taking the time to show appreciation to the teachers with the 5 Days of Giving. I love seeing all the things our parents (and kids) come up with but I really enjoy the chance to show my son's teacher how much we appreciate her.

And here is our gift for tomorrow....

Of course he gets in on the action.

Marshmallow Snowmen!!!!