I guess it comes
as no surprise to most of you that I love holidays. I can’t help it!
Some of my happiest memories as a child and as a teacher are centered
around holidays. Holidays give us
something to look forward to and are an excuse to put a little fun in our
lives. I’m really not a bad person because I like to celebrate.
On the other hand,
there is a growing movement toward eliminating all holidays from schools. I certainly understand why and I
respect that decision. Those
people are no more party poopers than I am a pagan.
But you creative
teachers have found a wonderful way to celebrate and have fun while avoiding
the traditional trappings! For
example, one teacher told me that they do a “friendship celebration” instead of
Valentine’s Day. Each child brings
a fruit and they make a fruit salad they can enjoy together.
Last week in Texas
several teachers shared these ideas:
Nursery Rhyme
Parade (Carly Kettler, Erika
Ahumada, & Jennifer Ruiz)
To culminate a
nursery rhyme unit, the children dress up like nursery rhyme characters on
Halloween and parade throughout the school in their costumes. Afterwards they have nursery rhyme
themed stations with hands-on activities.
“Spider Cookie” –
Children create spiders from Oreo cookies with licorice legs and red hots for
eyes.
“Humpty Dumpty” –
Children balance plastic eggs on spoons and walk.
“Baa Baa Black
Sheep” – Children do finger painting.
Cowboys and
Cowgirls (Anne Alff)
After studying
about Texas in October, the children dress up like cowboys and cowgirls. They have a rodeo, chili, queso and
chips, etc.
P.S. I can’t help it, but I’ve got one more
Halloween idea! Let children
squirt glue on a sheet of wax paper.
Add some wiggly eyes. Dry
overnight. Punch a hole, insert
string, and you’ve got a necklace.
These don’t have to be ghosts, you know. They could be monsters or aliens or anything else you would
like them to be. So if you ever see a holiday activity on my site, you just go ahead and borrow it, adapt it, or steal it and make it work for you!
