Holidays
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Last Minute Teacher Gift Ideas
If you’re still looking for the perfect gift for a teacher that you know, make sure to check out this post – My Favorite Things for Teachers!
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Tips for banishing pre-holiday behavior problems
If you’re spending this week with young children – your students, or your own children – then I’m sure you’ve taken a deep breath and prepared yourself for chaos and tantrums. While some off the behavior problems you might encounter come with the season, others are a product of messed up routines, missed nap times, and too many sweet treats. Those are the kind of problems that can be avoided with some careful preparation. Here are a few tips that I’ve picked up along the way: Try to keep your routine as normal as possible. If you can’t schedule fun events into your normal routine, then prepare the children in…
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Last minute gift idea
If you’re still looking for something easy to make for your students or co-workers, check out the idea I have for you: I whipped up some of these snowman marshmallows over the weekend because I had some extra frosting left over from baking sugar cookies. These are so easy to make that you could even have your students make some of them for their families. All you need is marshmallows, black frosting, and orange frosting. I used piping bags to get the small details, but you could always pick up some tubes of the pre-mixed colored frosting for even less mess and hassle. Add a packet of hot chocolate to…
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Friday Freebie – Cookie Patterning
Happy Friday! We’ve almost made it to the holidays, and let me tell you, I am ready for a break! I had to share this Cookie Patterning freebie from Stuff from Steff because I’m pretty sure it was the first thing that I ever downloaded from TPT. I still use it every year, so I can attest to how wonderful it is, and how much my students love it! Go download your and enjoy your weekend!
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Talking about traditions
One of our social studies standards for preschoolers is to develop an awareness and appreciation of family and cultural stories and traditions. The holidays lend themselves perfectly to this standard so I make a special effort to encourage families to share their traditions with our class. Over the years I have had families bring in cookies to decorate with the class, I’ve had families make gingerbread houses with us, decorate ornaments with the children, share favorite holiday stories, and make traditional foods with the class. Each of these experiences has given the children the opportunity to compare and contrast their own family traditions, to see which traditions they…
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Winter Traditions
Around the holidays I love to encourage my families to share their favorite traditions with the class. Here is my winter tradition bucket list: All of these traditions would be fun to do with your students or with your own families!
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Friday Freebie – Holidays around the world
Happy Friday! As these weeks get closer to winter break I swear they get longer and longer! If you are still planning for holiday exploration (or evaluating how you want to teach this unit next year) today’s freebie is for you! This Holidays around the World Poster Pack from Sunny and Bright in First Grade is a great way to help your students visually organize the symbols and images that go with all of the different holidays. There are 8 holidays included in the set, and even if you don’t use all of the posters they give you a great starting point for your research. Download your copy and have…
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Books for learning more about Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa is one of those holidays that you might hear about annually – especially if you are teaching multicultural holidays – but the general population does not have a great understanding of the principles, symbols, or reasons for the holiday. It’s not easy to teach children about something that we don’t know much about ourselves, so books can be a great place to start. Here are a couple of great books for learning more about Kwanzaa. All links are Amazon affiliates. Titled simply Kwanzaa, this is one of my favorites because the real photos are of modern families and they avoid stereotypes to introduce the holiday in a way that…
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Books to help you celebrate Hanukkah
In my opinion, the best way to introduce new concepts to young children is through books. Whether Hanukkah is a new holiday or a near and dear one, these books will be favorites in your classroom celebration. All links are Amazon affiliates. Latke, The Lucky Dog is told from the dog’s point of view – what preschooler can resist that? The illustrations and text work together to introduce new vocabulary words in a way that feels natural and flows with the story. Dear Santa, Love Rachel Rosenstein is not exactly a Hanukkah book. It’s a book about a little girl who’s family is Jewish and celebrates Hanukkah even though she…
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Books to help you celebrate Christmas
It’s not a preschool holiday without some themed children’s books! Here are some of the best for Christmas – Just a note, I’ve always stuck with stories that stay away from the religious aspects of the holiday because that’s what I feel most comfortable with in the classroom, so that’s what I’ve got to share with you! All links are amazon affiliates. The Polar Express is a classic for a reason. I remember having this story read to us every year as a child and it’s an endearing tradition that needs to be shared. The illustrations are magical and the story leaves just enough to a child’s imagination to make…
