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Merry Christmas!
I hope that your day is full of joy and happiness! My posts will be a little light this week, but I’ll be back with the new year and a ton of new ideas to share! Have a wonderful holiday!
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DIY Christmas Cookie Plates
I always strive to create gifts for parents that are going to be both meaningful and useful. One of my all-time favorites was the year that my students made plates for their cookies for Santa. I found 65 cent plates at our local glass factory outlet and we decorated them with special ceramic paints. Here are some ideas for your own Christmas Cookie plates: Sharpie Cookie Plates Handprint Cookie Plates Snowman Plates Dear Santa Plate How many cookie plates for Santa does one family need, because I’m feeling crafty!
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Family Engagement – Cookie Night
It’s not the holiday season without cookies – no matter which winter holiday your family celebrates, there is likely a traditional favorite cookie (or sweet pastry) for it. A great way to explore cultures and family traditions is to invite all of your families for a cookie night. Ask each family to bring a tray of cookies to share with everyone, along with a card describing why these are a family favorite. Gather copies of some of the following books that parents can read to their children as they enjoy sweet treats (links are affiliates): Christmas Cookies Gingerbread Baby A Cookie for Santa For more great ideas for cookie night,…
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Holiday Thank You Notes Made Easy
This time of year is a little chaotic. There are holiday events for school, on top of personal holiday parties and celebrations. There are lists upon lists of things to bake, people to shop for, and traditions to remember. It can be difficult to remember and manage all of this, adding one more thing to your to-do list can make your head spin. For me, one of the hardest things to manage at the holidays is finding time to write thank you cards for the gifts that I receive from students and colleagues. These are so important, but so easy to forget because there are just so many other tasks…
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Friday Freebie – Christmas notes
Happy Friday! We’re almost there! Whether you get time off for the holidays or not, it’s still the home stretch for 2017. Today’s freebie is a template for a sweet little note you can write to each of your students before the holiday. They will so appreciate that you are thinking of each of them during this crazy time of the year! Download yours from Simply Kinder and have a wonderful weekend!
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Pre-Holiday Classroom Cleaning Tips
Did you read that title? Do you think I’m crazy yet?! Seriously, one of the most important things that I do before leaving for winter break is to CLEAN. One year my students made ornaments with cookie sprinkles and I was finding sticky sprinkles for months – not really something that you want to do when Christmas is over. I’ll be the first one to tell you that staying to clean my classroom was always the last thing I wanted to do, but it always made coming back to school after break so much easier. The decorations were already put away, all the party frosting was cleaned off the tables,…
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Holiday To-Do List
The holiday season is in full force, and my to-do list is a little bit crazy at the moment. The shopping, wrapping, baking, parties, teacher gifts, decorating and all the events can get a little overwhelming. I really needed something to help me keep track of it all because the random lists on my phone just weren’t cutting it anymore. Here are some of the amazing planners that I found to help sort out all of the chaos and help make the holidays just a little less stressful! Giant Holiday Planner Everything Christmas Planner Sparkle Holiday Planner These are amazing, and I’ll definitely use one of them next year to…
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Friday Freebie – Random Acts of Kindness Calendar
Happy Friday! Yesterday I shared some random acts of kindness for the holiday season. Today I’m sharing a freebie that makes it nearly impossible to NOT do some random acts of kindness this month! This Random Acts of Kindness Calendar is an amazing way to plan for, and keep track of the activities you want to complete. Go download your copy from Herding Kats in Kindergarten, and have a great weekend!
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Holiday-Themed Random Acts of Kindness
The holiday spirit is a powerful thing, and I love to take advantage of this time of year to encourage my students to do nice things for others. Here are some random acts of kindness that work perfect for the holiday season: Tape a sweet note to a candy cane and leave these throughout the building Go Caroling Write special Christmas cards to people who have been especially helpful Collect toys for children in need Share baked goods with local first responders Hang Christmas lights around the school for everyone to enjoy Make the janitor’s job easier by cleaning the classroom really well Put together a special gift for support…
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Secret Santa Ideas
I feel like secret santa is one of those things that you either really love, or really hate. Personally I love it. I’ve participated in a secret santa (or secret pal as we call it at my current job) at a number of different jobs and I think that it can be a really great way to know each other better, and to help connect people who otherwise may not spend time together. The most successful secret santa activities include some sort of questionnaire, this gives the gift giver some really strong ideas about what the receiver would like, and ensures that everyone doesn’t receive the same candles, lotion, and…
