Happy hump day friends…. welcome to another edition of…
The holidays are such a magical time of year. Even if our holiday celebrations look different within our classroom there’s no denying the whismy of the bright lights on people’s homes and the songs we hear. For some reason, the month of December has phenomenal feeling about it.
Addressing holidays around the world and offering a special share time for your students in December has always been a highlight. I love hearing how different students celebrate the holidays and what their family traditions are within their home. It’s always so enlightening to hear and ask about how student’s celebrate and what they celebrate.
One of our favorite crafts in December is my snowman holiday countdown. I love it because it lends itself to celebrating any holiday or just the countdown to winter break. Kids love holidays and a break from school usually so why not count down each day?!
You can find this adorable countdown here.
Another favorite in this month is an extension from a classic folktale: The Gingerbread Man. Encouraging retelling of the story is easy with these engaging crafts. The kids run home to ‘retell’ the story to their family/loved ones.
You can grab this fun pack here.
Also, I have a separate retell craft that is fun for kiddos to use as a retell as well, this one only has pictures rather than a space for writing so it’s perfect for TK and Kindergarten.
This sweet retell craft is available here.
Another favorite for the holidays is reading The Snowy Day – you can culminate the unit by having a snowball fight with plush snowballs. I got mine at The Dollar Spot at Target.
If you are interested in this fun SNOWY DAY pack – grab it here.
I also like to keep their behavior in check during the month of December ~~ there is always such excitement for the upcoming holidays/vacation. This has been super helpful for that. Grab a seasonal chair back cover at the Dollar Tree, Santa hat is perfect for December. Move it around all day for kids that are on task, engaged, being extra kind, etc. At the end of the day whoever still has it on the back of their chair gets a ticket, prize, etc. They LOVE this and if I forget to move it they tell me. LOL
This is just a sweet gift I love to give my students. It’s truly the gift of love and appreciation. Your class is an extension of your family and I promise they feel the same way about you. This is just a sweet way to let them know you love them and it won’t cost you a thing..even better right!?!?!
I hope you can use some of these ideas either this month or stash them away for upcoming years. Bookmark this page and you’ll always be able to find this post when you need it. Take care, stay healthy and….
happy teaching!
xoxoxo,
