Kwanzaa and New Year

This week we learned about Kwanzaa and the New Year. We learned about Kwanzaa principles such as unity: being with friends and family, self-determination: knowing what we want to be and do when we grow up, teamwork, creativity, and supporting businesses by shopping. We made a Kwanzaa classroom book, Kwanzaa candles, and had a Kwanzaa parade. For New Years we made New Years resolutions by sharing what we want to learn to do or do better in the upcoming year. We made 2011 crowns and noisemakers! On Friday we watched the ball drop in our gym!

Our poem of the week was about Kwanzaa:
Seven candles
All in a line.
Waiting to be lighted
At Kwanzaa time.
Come let's count them
One, Two, Three
Four, Five, Six, Seven.
Seven candles I see!

A Kwanzaa hug for you!

Waving African flags in our Kwanzaa parade

Painting Unity cups

What we like to do with our families!

What we want to be when we grow up!

Our Kwanzaa candles

Our New Years crowns

Painting noisemakers

Watching the ball drop

The New Years ball drop in Doodlebugs style!

Christmas in the USA

During the week of Christmas we learned about traditions in the USA. We made a classroom book of our Five Senses of Christmas. We made ornaments and cards for our families for Christmas and read stories about Santa and his reindeer. Miss Kate got an email from Santa! He sent her a video of his workshop with the reindeer! When he opened his magic book we saw pictures of our classroom that he took with the SantaCam. Santa even came to visit our classroom during our Holiday Party. He brought us yummy candy canes!

Painting ornaments for our families

Our favorite Christmas book

Dancing to Christmas music

Santa came!

Our Christmas artwork

Our gingerbread houses for mommy and daddy

Hanukkah Celebrations!

This week we learned about Hanukkah! We learned about the menorah, star of david, and we spun the dreidel. We read books about Hanukkah and learned some Hebrew words while playing spin the dreidel. When we spun the dreidel if it landed on "nun" we got no candy. If it landed on "gimel" we got all the candy. When it landed on "hay" we got half the candy and if it landed on "shin" we had to put one piece of candy back in the jar. We also had a holiday sing-a-long with all the Doodlebugs! classroom. We sang our Dreidel song along with "Jingle Bells."
This was our Hanukkah song of the week:

Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel
I made it out of clay
And when it's all ready
My dreidel I will play!

We put cut-out paper dreidels in an empty container with paint and marbles and shook it up!

Look at my dreidel! 

Playing spin the dreidel 

Matching Hanukkah shapes 

Handprint menorah

Friends at centers 

Singing our dreidel song

Hanukkah prints 

Snowman with circle shapes!

Making our names with our letter cards in the morning

Painting a star of david 

Building Santa's workshop at the block carpet, all ready for next week's theme: Christmas in the USA!

Holidays Around the World!

This week we continued learning about holidays around the world. We learned about traditions in Poland, Sweden, Germany, Mexico, and America. In Poland, they celebrate the Festival of the Star, while in Germany parents hide a pickel ornament in the tree, and their children look for the pickel on Christmas morning. The child who finds the pickel receives an additional Christmas gift. In our classroom, we made stars for the Festival of the Stars, and searched for hidden pickels. In Sweden, they celebrate Santa Lucia Day, which is the shortest day of the year. On this special day, the eldest girl in the family gets up just before dawn and puts on a white dress and a wreath of candles. She walks through her home, with a tray of yummy treats for her family. In our classroom, we made wreaths of candles, and talked about nice things we could do for our families during the holidays. In Mexico, their the holy flower is the poinsettia, and they celebrate Posoda Day with a Mexican hat dance, pinatas, and Posoda vests. In Classroom 8, we learned the Mexican hat dance, wore posoda vests, painted poinsettias, and worked together to make a Santa pinata. We also learned about how Santa's elves have very special jobs at the North Pole. We have been busy being little elves ourselves, by making Christmas presents for our families!
Our poem of the week was:

Santa had some little elves.
Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho!
They made toys
To put on shelves.
Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho!
With a train set here,
And a teddy bear there.
Here a ball, there a doll,
Toys that went from wall to wall.
Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho!

A sombrero from Mexico!

Christmas ornaments for our families

Celebrating Poland's Festival of the Stars

Our elf and elf poem!

Celebrating Sweden's Santa Lucia Day

Our Santa Pinata!

Glueing on Santa's beard

Santa handprint!

Celebrating Mexico's Posado Day

Displaying this week's crafts

Playing in the sensory bin full of glittery reindeer food!

Holidays Around the World

This week our theme was Holidays Around the World. We learned about holiday traditions in Germany, Holland, Italy, and America. We read holiday stories and made crafts including wreaths, snow covered trees, ornaments, and Christmas teddy bears. During our writing time, we wrote about Santa's workshop, what we want in our Christmas stockings, what goodies we will put out for Santa Claus, and how we decorate our houses for the holidays. Our favorite moment was when St. Nicholas came during naptime and filled our decorated shoes with candy!

Our poem of the week is one of our favorite holiday songs:
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way,
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh!

Who is inside Santa's workshop?

Letters to Santa

Christmas ornaments

Mittens

How do you decorate your house for the holidays?

Christmas handprint teddy bear

Christmas ornaments shaped with play-doh and baked in the oven

Painting ornaments

Shiny ornaments

Our wish list

Counting the days until Christmas!

Helping write what we want in our stockings!

Thank you St. Nicholas!

Yummy treats in our St. Nicholas shoes

Handprint winter tree covered in snow!

Our beautiful trees

Handprint Christmas tree with ornaments

Spanish words of the week

Wow! St. Nicholas came while we were sleeping!