December 16, 2009

After circle time we sang our Christmas songs with the piano. Then we got out the jingle bells and the kids LOVED them. After singing Jingle Bells, we had some fundamentals of music time singing, "this is how we shake them soft, this is how we shake them loud. . . fast, slow" etc. Then we danced to the freeze song and everytime the music stopped, so did the bells. Very fun. They all cut loose today.

After finishing our workbooks we learned a little about Chrismas in other parts of the world and how some people call Santa Claus "Father Christmas". We also learned about how people put candles on the Christmas tree before electricity. Later we read Merry Christmas Strega Nona. We made a couple of crafts today, Father Christmas with his red hat and fuzzy beard, and a "pin punch" candle to hang in the window.

Play time consisted of playing flying Pegasus (mostly the girls) and Motor Works. Motor works is this drill set from Discovery Toys in which you can put together a car, a motorcycle and an airplane. Quinn, Mason and Laine REALLY loved it. (Missy or Katie--if you're ever looking for a gift idea, your boys could not get enough of this!)

Lunchtime was HILARIOUS today! We had pizza, apples and milk, and if only you all could have been flies on the wall listening to the conversation!!! This is kind of how it went:

"Mason and I are both 4, so I'm going to marry Mason when we get big!" Elizabeth

"Mason, do you want to marry me?" Elizabeth

(nothing) Mason

"The rule is you can't marry anyone in your family or your cousins, just your friends, so I'm going to marry Mason." Elizabeth

"I'll be the mom and you can be the dad and go to work. Do you want to get married Mason?" Elizabeth

(nothing) Mason

"Girls can only marry boys and boys can only marry girls. Girls can't marry girls and boys can't marry boys or it breaks God's rules. But I can marry Mason. Right Mason?" Elizabeth

(nothing) Mason

"When you're married you get to kiss!" Elizabeth

"EWWWWW" EVERYONE yells!

"How about you go to college and on a mission before you get married?" Teri

"Boys go on missions, OK Mason you can go on a mission and then we'll get married." Elizabeth

"Girls can go on missions too if they choose. I went on a mission before I got married." Teri

"OK, after all the missions and college then we'll get married, right Mason?" Elizabeth

(nothing) Mason

The marriage lesson had to be over when Elizabeth wanted to show Mason how a gentleman dances, "You put your hands right here and we'll dance." "Storytime! Everyone on your mats!" Teri

N is also in SANTA!

We can't help but love that guy, even though we know he's not the real reason for Christmas!

During circle time we had a discussion about the five senses and how we use them to experience the Christmas season. We see twinkling lights (and Santa); we hear jingle bells (and ho ho ho); we smell oranges (they actually did that with their eyes closed); we feel presents (and Santa's beard); and we taste cookies!

Everyone got a turn to help roll out the dough.


And then to cut out shapes. And don't worry, everyone also had a generous snitch of cookie dough before running off for play time!

We played a game with the letters S-A-N-T-A, scrambled up. I challenged the kids to put them in order of his name and Elizabeth was brave enough to give it a go. She first spelled Satna, which got some laughs, but not nearly as many as when she next spelled Satan. After she got it right, we replaced the S with many letters of the alphabet to see if we could find any rhyming words. I don't think we did, but Yanta and Zanta were popular possibilities.

We made the Rudolph craft and had lunch and then singing time. We sang Silent Night, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, and Jingle Bells. With Miss Liz' help, we had enough jingle bells to pass around so each child could shake them like mad at the appropriate moment in the song. We also used them in the reading of Polar Express.

At lunch there were spontaneous renditions of the ABC song and B-I-N-G-O and then green apple mouths.


Merry Preschool Christmas!

N is for Nativity

On Monday we talked about the "true Christmas", starting with the nativity. I had the kids close their eyes and open their cupped hands while I gave each of them a figure form our little nativity set. Each took a turn adding their piece and describing its role.

We played the "N" word game, during which I said various words and they clapped their hands if the words started with "N". My Lane clapped gleefully every time of course, but the rest did pretty well. Pea"N"ut almost had them stumped.



For our art time, we made little babies wrapped in swaddling clothes. We had shortage of glue in the house and in all the preschool backpacks, so we used copious amounts of tape.

For lunch we had "N"oodles and apple slices, after I showed them the star in the apple that was sliced on its equator.

The kids made a valiant effort at cleanup after hearing about the present game. I had wrapped several symbols of Christmas so we could practice receiving gifts and also discuss the meaning of each (star, bell, tree, candy cane, candle, gift, holly). The rules of the present game are 1. you must say thank you (loud and clear) and 2. you must say something nice about the gift. It was sweet to see their faces and thoughtful responses. Mason commented on the color of his gift with much enthusiasm. I plan to make use of the present game in coming days. I hear that preschoolers find it hilarious to wrap everyday items that we already own, especially underwear.