Run, Run, As Fast As You Can!

December brought all things Gingerbread!  It was gingerbread books, projects, and fun!  C’s mom made gingerbread play dough with the kids.  That was a big hit!  They played with it the rest of the month!  

You can’t have all that gingerbread learning without making cookies, so one morning I decided we would do just that.  Each child got a ball of “dough” to make into a gingerbread man shape.

I had my oldest daughter Adrienne in helping for the morning, so I sent her down to put the cookies in the oven.  When they were done we all walked down to the oven to get them.  I couldn’t believe it when we got there and they were gone!  I should have put them in there myself.  Adrienne obviously didn’t close the oven door all the way, and they got away!

All we found in the oven was a note from the gingerbread man giving us a clue as to where he went.  We had to chase him through the halls to hunt him down!

We finally caught him back in our classroom!  He can’t trick us!

We were shocked to find that all our cookies had combined into one big Gingerbread Man!  He couldn’t outfox us because we’re a bunch of smart cookies!  We gobbled him right up before he had the chance to get away again!

 

Side note:  The timing was perfect.  Right after all that excitement it was time for music.  I happily dumped dropped them off.  There was a sub.  Poor girl, I should have tipped her for that 1/2 hour:) 

Outdoor Center

Oooohhhh, I was so sad about this!!  Our first field trip(and one I love) and I had a very sick kid at home:(  I had no choice but to send a sub to outdoor center with them.  Luckily I left the camera out and she took pictures for me!  I’ve been on this trip many times, so I know exactly what their doing!  

It was beatiful day for outside leaning!  I’ve been there in many different kinds of weather, rain, below zero temps, and snow, but this day was perfect!

When you arrive at the Outdoor Center the classes split up and rotate through the different activities.  We were lucky to get the head teacher Mr. Riley as our guide for the first part! 

  

The first part of the lesson is looking at trees outside.  The kids take a small hike through the trees identifying different foods for the birds.

After the walk the kids get to see the big bird feeders and sometimes a bird even comes for a munch!  Then it’s inside for more bird discussion.  First, they look at a real stuffed bird and a stuffed Tweety bird and compare the two.

Then they make a bird feeder out of a pine cone and popcorn!  The kids push the popcorn into the little spaces in the pine cone.

 

   

Then it’s into the lodge room to play a game with items that you find on trees.  Everyone gets an item to bring up to the tree.

The second project is making a satchel of potpourri from items all found on trees.

Once the potpourri is done, they put it in their bag with the pine cone birdfeeder, and it’s time to head out.  It’s a short trip, but so perfect for our first experience together away from school!  I only wish I could have been there!

Pajama Day

The day before Thanksgiving was pajama and reading day in our classroom.  A very exciting day! 

In the morning we went to music.  When we got there I said to Mrs. R, “My students all forgot to get dressed this morning!”  She replied, “I’ll have to give them an Oops! slip.  Oops I forgot to get dressed!”  Everyone giggled, and then we noticed D’s bottom lip began to quiver.  We had to reassure him real fast that we were just kidding and he was not getting an Oops! slip! 

A was our snack helper that week, so she passed out the snack.  I let them eat it on their blankets which they thought was great fun!

The big excitement was getting to put all their little books they’d been making in their take home book box.  They spent a good part of the afternoon reading and organizing their books!

 

We have some very girly girls!  Pinkalicious!

 

 

In the afternoon we were lucky to have a special turkey snack donated by Gracie’s mom! 

So cute!  And healthy too!

Pajamas, books, and snacks…what’s not to like about that!

Not so furry pets…

Back in November we added some fish to our classroom!  They are glo fish, so they look really cool with the lights off!  When they arrived we talked about all the things you have to do to transfer them to the tank.

The kids helped keep track of the time for me.  Every hour we had to add more tank water to the bag to even out the temperature.  Finally we could dump them in!

For awhile the kids just wanted to sit and stare at them!  Finally we had to get back to other learning, but they still love to watch them! 

We have a “fish feeder” job that rotates each week.  Everyone has been very responsible remembering every day to feed them!  Just a pinch!