Returning to School on January 3rd

I hope that all of you had a wonderful Holiday!  I was very blessed this Christmas.  Besides spending quality time with my family, my husband surprised me with a new laptop for Christmas.  So,  I am typing this blog post on my new laptop.  My old laptop was at least 5 years old and "died" in October.  Since then,  I have been using my teenagers' laptops.  But sometimes they need their laptops for homework, so I'm not always able to get to use a computer.  I love my new laptop but it is taking me a little bit to get used to Windows 8.  You see, I'm not always good with change.  But, I'm making an effort (and trying not to bug my 18 year old with too many questions).

Like many of you, I return to school on January 3rd.  So I have had to plan for a day and a half of school with my kinders.  (At my school, the students only attend school until noon on Fridays.  Because we teach our own specials during the week, we use Friday afternoons for planning and professional development.)

Since it will be a very short week, I have planned some fun New Year's activities for the students to do.  I thought I would share some of the freebies that I found on Teachers Pay Teachers with all of you, in hopes that you can use them also.

First, I found a New Year's banner for my students to make on the Teaching with Love and Laughter blog.



Click here to see the blog post with the activity.
I am also going to have my students make New Year's necklaces by stringing noodles that have been dyed different colors on yarn and using the "favors" from this "Happy New Year Poem and Printables" freebie by Shelley Rolston.  Click here to find the freebie in her store.
Our New Year's fun won't be complete without hats.  I found this freebie to make headband hats with paper strips in Marta Almiron's Teachers Pay Teachers store.  Click here to get to her free download.
Besides making hats and necklaces, I am going to have a "New Year's Eve" party in the afternoon.  We are going to countdown from 10 to 1 and then jump on bubble wrap.  I think my little ones will love it.  Then we are going to have a small snack, popcorn and juice and play Bingo.
I hope these ideas will help you to make returning to school at the end of a week a little bit easier.
Happy New Year! to all of my friends and followers.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

Happy December Everyone!

I love the month of December in my kindergarten classroom.  My own kids are teenagers and even though they are excited about Christmas, it just doesn't compare to the excitement of young children.  I feel very blessed to share in my 5 year olds' spirit of Christmas each year.

This year I decided to have an "Elf on the Shelf" in my classroom.  (I received a free one from the company.)  I have a very well-behaved class.  So I figured that they could handle the craziness of finding the elf in a different place each morning.

They love finding the elf each morning.  I love seeing their smiles when they find him.  They also love to share his escapades with the teachers across the hall.

Here are some pictures of our elf from last week:

Our elf, Red, played in the magnetic letters on Tuesday night.....

 

and he left the students a message.

On Thursday, he brought the class a special treat from the North Pole, to celebrate 

the last day our student from the local college was with the class.  (He began eating

one before the class came in.)

Thank you for stopping by to visit and see the Adventures of Red The Elf,

My First Freebielicious Freebie

Happy December!

Good Saturday morning everyone!  I hope your weekend is off to a great start.  I know mine is, I love creating freebies to share instead of cleaning my house.  This past week, I had a Gingerbread theme.  So I made this Memory Game for my students to play during Math centers.  I hope that your students like it also.

Click here to get my Gingerbread Memory Game.

I also linked up with Freebielicious Freebies on the First.  Visit them to get more freebies.

 

Thank you for taking time out of your busy weekend to visit me.