February Holidays

F-E-B-R-U-A-R-Y
Shortest month of all!!

Wow to be so short, we sure do cram a lot of fun holidays in it!

We made little groundhogs for Groundhogs Day, Abraham Lincoln log cabins for Lincoln's b-day on Feb. 12, and George Washingtons on his b-day Feb.22. Oh, and how could I forget Valentine's Day!! We made some very cute heart wreaths for Valentine's Day!

Little Groundhog

It was made out of hearts. I think it would have been easier to have patterns for the eyes and nose, so I will next year. I let them free hand their hearts for certain parts. An older group wouldn't have as much trouble. We used pipe cleaners for the whiskers.

Abraham Lincoln Log Cabins

I let the kiddos free hand their cabins and then fill in with logs (pretzles). Some of them made large cabins and then had trouble filling it all in. They were fun and took on each child's personality!;)

Valentine Wreaths

Use a normal size paper plate as the base. Cut out the center. My aide cuts out the center of each plate. It's a good idea to have pre cut hearts so they will all be the same size. We used some really fun patterned paint rollers to paint our hearts. I got them at Lakeshore. We painted one day and then glued the next. Very cute!!

George Washington

The kiddos traced a round face pattern and then a tri-cornered hat pattern. Glue the hat to the head before you glue the cotton balls or draw the face. Our kids each got 4 cotton balls. They could pull them apart a bit to make the white wig.

On top of all these fun crafts, we featured Laura Numeroff as our author of the month. Oh, how the kids love her books!! We even wrote our own story. "If You Give A Bull Some Popcorn." We are getting ready to illustrate it, so I'll try to post pics of that. :)

I hope you enjoyed this month as much as I did. ;) I'm looking forward to March and spring! March 2 is Dr. Seuss's birthday. We'll be dressing up as our favorite Seuss character. I'll post pics of that after our fun day!

The 100th day of School 2010 Pictures

We made it!! Whew, it felt like the 100th day would never come. Here are the pictures of our festivities!!

Enjoy!

100th day postponed again!

Okay,

We've had quite a snow/ice storm this year! So, the 100th day of school has been moved another day. I've had some extra planning time this year. :)

I figured out a new song to sing when we finally celebrate. It's to the tune of "Happy Birthday".

The 100th Day
It's the 100th day of school
It's the 100th day of school.
We've learned a lot
We're 100 days smarter!
It's the 100th day of school!
Hooray! ( Just yell this at the end.)

I also went to a party store and got a giant 100 dollar bill and a big 100. So, when we finally celebrate it will be a GREAT party!!

I'll post pics when we finally have our day!

The other thing we'll need to celebrate is Groundhog day. Boy I sure hope he isn't scared by his shadow!! Here are some fun songs for Groundhog's day.

Mr. Groundhog (sung to Mr. Sandman)
Mr. Groundhog, bring me a spring.
Make it the nicest that I've ever seen.
Please don't let your shadow be seen!
Mr. Groundhog bring me a spring!

Little Groundhog (frere jacque)
Little Groundhog, little shadow,
Where are you? Where are you?
Winter time is here.
Spring will be here soon.
Wake up you! Wake up you!

100th day coming soon...

Due to the snow, we had to postpone our 100day celebration. My k kids were so sad. When I announced that they had already decided to not have school the next day you could hear a pin drop. One little boy kept saying, "I'm SO MAD that we don't have school!" :)

I'll post pics on Mon. after we have our festivities. The kids are going to wear clothes with 100 things on them or decorated with 100. We will also have many centers with the 100 theme.

100 day activities~

Put 100 things on a 100 (made out of paper plates and a 1) We'll be putting marshmallows and chocolate chips.

Make a 100 necklace (100 fruitloops)

Draw a pic of what they will look like when they are 100

Eat 100 gold fish

Make a picture out of 100 cherrios

To help them count out 100 of each thing, we put 10 circles on a legal size piece of paper. They'll put 10 in each circle.

The 100 snack picture is from last year. We'll have that again this year. I also ordered the 100 day pack from Really good stuff. It has 100 glasses, a book with 100 day activities, a 100 day sack, and stickers. It will be a day full of counting and fun!!

Beach Day

Today was a fun filled day of beachy fun in K!! The kiddos wore their beach clothes and brought all the extras too!

We danced to beach boy music with a bubble machine and had a fun relay race with flippers, goggles, and a snorkel. After our fun relay race, we had an ocean treat, octopus! Yummy! Then the centers started. We sorted various goldfish, painted crab t-shirts, made paper plate crabs, dug for shells in the sand table, and saw what things would float or sink in the water center. Whew! This teacher and her aide were tired, but it was fun! To end our exciting morning we read "The Big Bad Shark and The Three Little Fish". A fun time was had by all!!

Sweet Starfish

We made some sweet starfish today! They turned out really cute! Pictures tomorrow. ;)

I found the idea in one of the Best of Mail Box magazine books. 1st you'll need a starfish pattern. My kids traced their starfish on yellow paper. Then you mix up sugar and water to make a paste. Add some food coloring, we did red, and then have them paint it on their starfish. We painted with q-tips. We are doing LOTS of things this week to get ready for Beach Day and Open House.

The sugar mixture, when dried, looks like crystals. The kids were licking their fingers after this craft!;)

Winter is here!

Brrrr.... Baby it's cold outside! We are staying warm inside.
My K kids came back from Christmas break with lots of excitment and enthusiam for the new year! Of course we've started singing new songs and doing new crafts too! Here are a few for you to enjoy!

"A Sledding We Will Go" (Sung to the Farmer in the Dell)
A sledding we will go
A sledding we will go!
We'll hold on tight
And sit just right,
As down the hills we go!
Wheee!!

"The Mitten Song"(Sung to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)
Thumbs in the thumb place
Fingers all together.
This is the song, we sing in mitten weather.
When it is cold it doesn't matter whether.
Mittens are wool or made of finest leather.
This is the song we sing in mitten weather.
Thumbs in the thumb place, fingers all together.

Here's a fun winter time food experience~ Ice Cream Snowballs

Scoop out vanilla ice cream and put each scoop on wax paper. Let it harden in the freezer before you begin the activity. Let each child decorate their scoop with sprinkles and then eat and enjoy. It's a simple but fun way to enjoy winter. :)

More to come soon! Beach day is next week and 100th day is coming! Jan. is such a busy month.

Enjoy your New Year!!