Merry Christmas

How Many Gingerbread Men Tall Are You?

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Christmas Party Day

Today's Party Highlights 

Snack Time Sillies

Singing "Hush! There's a Baby" with the video

Playing Christmas Bingo

Shoveling "snow" with a shovel (spoon)

After a little bit, they loved just playing in the "snow".

Tossing the jingle bell into the cups

Decorating a stocking with stickers, while ....

... waiting to add a handprint ....

... to our Christmas tree. It's already hanging in the room.

Thanks you so much to all the parents who helped with our party!

It was a great success!

Christmas Party Day

Morning Chapel

Gary the Puppet visited us today. He was all wrapped up in lights, wrapping paper, and ribbons. He told us his lights remind him that Jesus is the Light of the World (John 1:5). The wrapping paper and ribbons remind us that Jesus is the best gift ever (John 3:16).

Christmas Party

Dance Party

Make your own Nativity Scene

Candy Cane Fishing

Make your own Reindeer Ornament

Toss the Jingle Bell

Thank you so much to the parents who helped make the party so much fun!

Cold Weather Day

On Cold Weather Days

We spend a lot of time putting on our coats, hats, and gloves.

We walk to the Commons, take off our coats, and then we run as much as we can.

Since we are hot, we walk outside to get back to our room. We love checking out our new outdoor play space. Today we noticed painting easles. Oh, it will be so wonderful to play and explore this space. But we are waiting.

We play inside. This trio played "Spy" today.

These magnatile creators were focused on their creations.

This guy continues to make circle ornaments for our tree. I do believe he is determined to use every bead in the container. He is close.

On this cold weather day, we read two great books, The Wonder of Christmas and Gingerbread Friends.

Before lunch, we went to the gym and ran some more.

Having big rooms to move and run is so wonderful on a cold, weather day.

Christmas Joy

Chapel Time 

Today's chapel volunteers rang their bells making a wonderfully joyful sound. When we ring bells, we are reminded of Christmas joy. 

Jesus is born!

Dancing Joy 

We love sharing our Christmas joy as we dance to some fun songs. Today's included two of our favorites - "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" and "Jingle Bell Rock."

The guys loved jamming with their air guitars.

After reading many Gingerbread Man books, they started designing their gingerbread person.

Other happenings

Today's Joyfilled Smiles 

More Christmas - Gift Wrapping

Morning Activities

Everyone was busy! They painted our manger, wrapped "presents," acted out the nativity, and continued to light the Christmas lights. They are having so much fun!

Outside Time

Even though it was cold, the air was very calm this morning. It was a wonderful morning to spend a few minutes outside. The highlight was exploring the ice patches.

The New Playspace 

The amazing crew has been working in the cold to add the finishing touches. It is an amazing space! We need to wait a little longer before we can play there.

Jesus Time

We just love the story of Jesus' birth! Today we watch the video of Starry, Starry Night and read the book That Special Starry Night. 

Free Choice Time

Wrapping "presents" continued to be popular during free choice time. 

They loved opening the presents and then wrapping again. The kitchen definitely had the "after present opening" look.

The Action in the Block Area

Christmas Experiences

Morning Activities

Caring for Jesus' animals

More children experimented with the Christmas lights and batteries.

Our Special Guest

Mrs. Haun read There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell by Lucille Colandro. Mrs. Lohman assisted with putting the things she swallowed in the old lady's mouth.

We loved listening to the story.

Then, she showed us her favorite Santa. He is bowing down to worship Jesus. We also did a service project. We decorated trees to give to residence at Breeze Park Senior Living. We added a magnet to the back and decorated a gift bag for them.

Free Choice Time

What a tall tower they built with the magnatiles!

Christmas Lights

Morning Activities

Can you turn on the Christmas light?

The answer is yes!

All of the children figured out how to touch the wire to the battery to make the light go on. What a great experiment!

 Pattern Blocks

More amazing symmetrical designs

Morning Meeting

Three candles are now lit on the Advent wreath. Christmas is getting closer, but we are still waiting. We talked again about things we wait for.

Jesus Time

We once again took turns acting out the story of the nativity. We will probably continue to do this until everyone has a chance to be Mary or Joseph.