Christmas Party at the Teacher's House

On Friday we had a Christmas party at my house.  We started off with a pizza lunch, then rolled and cut out some sugar cookies. While they baked and cooled, we watched a Christmas movie, played some games, and opened presents. After we decorated our cookies, we took a brisk walk to play at a nearby park. It was a fun and busy afternoon!!

Christmas Tree Brownies

On Friday, we watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and then we got to decorate our very own "Charlie Brown Christmas Trees"!

We started with triangle brownies:

 

Added candy cane "trunks" and green icing:

And then finished them off with some sprinkles!

Making Handprint Christmas Wreaths

Christmas Decorating

This week we have been working on getting the classroom decorated for Christmas! My kiddos enjoyed making and coloring ornaments for the Christmas trees we were putting around the room. They make the walls of the classroom look so festive!

Christmas Party!

We had a lot of fun at our Christmas party on Friday! We played lots of games including "Christmas Bump-It", "Ornament Matching", "Nativity Scavenger Hunt", "Christmas Words in a Word", and "All I Want for Christmas". The morning concluded with Mrs. Lytle's yummy ziti and bread for lunch! 

For "All I Want for Christmas", the kids had to think up things starting with the different letters of the alphabet. I was quite impressed with how well the 1st graders did with remembering A-Z!

I couldn't have survived the party without my fellow reindeer/sister, Alayna :-)

Christmas Shopping!

This afternoon we went Christmas shopping at a nearby dollar store. Each student had 3 people they could buy something for. During this Christmas season, we wanted to focus on the spirit of GIVING rather than the spirit of getting. Most of the students were buying presents for Mommies, Daddies, and Grandparents. Some were also buying for friends, so we had to make sure we guarded our shopping baskets so certain people couldn't peek!

They were each able to buy 3 gifts because they all earned 3,000 merits in school. You get merits for getting your work done, quoting Bible verses, getting 100% on your tests, showing character etc. 

This shopping event went really smoothly, for which we were all thankful! When it was first mentioned as a possibility, we weren't sure how we all felt about it. ;-) Organization was the key though!

Wrapping paper, tape and tags were also purchased, so when we got back to school, each group could wrap their presents. I think it is safe to say that everyone is officially in the Christmas spirit now! :-)

 

Celebrating Easter in the Classroom

We had a special treat this afternoon. Ella's mom offered to come in and tell the Easter story by using "resurrection eggs". It was a great object lesson for the girls! Each egg had a different object inside related to the Easter story. She definitely had the girls' attention. :-) They couldn't wait to see what was in each egg and pass it around. Of course, the best part was finding out that the last egg was empty, reminding the girls that Jesus rose from the dead - the tomb is empty!!!

After the story was over, the girls were able to decorate Easter egg cookies. They had a lot of fun adding icing, sprinkles, and little candies!

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Earlier this week the girls were working on a Valentine's Day project for their parents. I am glad we got them done early because today there is no school due to getting about 1 ft (or more!) of snow. *Sigh*... This teacher is ready for SPRING!

 Enjoy the pictures!

A "Jiggly Jell-O" Snack

Today I brought in some strawberry Jell-O for the girls to enjoy during snack time.  The girls tried using heart-shaped cookie cutters to make Valentine hearts, but alas, the Jell-O had spread too thin and was too "jiggly". One of my girls said that it looked scared because it was shaking. :-)

Oh well! Uncooperative Jell-O didn't stop the girls from enjoying their strawberry treat!

Christmas Party!!

We had so much fun at our Christmas party on Wednesday! The girls were really excited to visit their teacher's house for this event. :-) We baked and decorated cookies, watched a Christmas movie, enjoyed homemade pizza for lunch, played some games, and of course, sampled some of our yummy cookies. :-)

Watching Miss Follett mix up the cookie dough

Mixing, rolling, and shaping the cookie dough!

Watching a Christmas movie while the pizza was baking!

Enjoying our homemade pizza while listening to Miss Julianna tell about the animals she has seen in Africa. She definitely had their attention! :-)

Having fun exploring Miss Follett's room!

The cookies, icing and decorations are all ready - now time for chaos!!

We played a fun matching game with the Christmas presents I had for the girls. They had to turn over 2 boxes at a time to find the matching item.

Our finished cookies!

~Cally~

~Alyssa~

~Ayme~

~Sarah~

~Ella~

~Hope~