Holidays around the World with #kinderfriends

I am so happy to be joining my #kinderfriends for another blog hop!  We are giving away a $25 gift card to Teachers Pay Teachers.  We are giving away some fun freebies.  We are also sharing lots of great ideas for the holidays in your classroom.  Did I mention we are having a sale?  Yay!

I always want my classroom to be festive this time of year.  It is a magical time for little kiddos and at times they are bursting with excitement.  So it's helpful to keep them active and busy with FUN learning activities!

In December, I usually do a folktales and fairy tales unit that includes The Gingerbread Man and all the versions that go along with it.  Gingerbread originated in Germany so it definitely could be included in a Holidays Around the World theme.  Here are a few fun ideas to get your gingerbread on in the classroom:

Mix it and fix it sentences are a great addition to our sparkly gingerbread art.  Loving this bulletin board right now!

This pocket chart poem can be sung to Pop Goes the Weasel.  It makes a fun shared reading activity that the kiddos like to do independently after it has been taught.

These little guys above were made with oven bake clay.  It's a great fine motor activity and I just glue a magnet on the back and send them home as a holiday gift for the family.  Too cute!  Even though we don't study holiday traditions, we do some gift and card making in our classroom.  Projects with a purpose are great this time of year.

 

This craft is an oldie but goodie!  Who doesn't want a hand print Rudolph reindeer from their little darling?  These are easy and inexpensive, but they are treasured by parents for years to come!  Just do a brown hand print on card stock, trim and laminate, then glue on eyes and nose, put on a ribbon and done!  Another adorable holiday gift for sweet little students to give to their families.

My class really enjoyed this writing activity from my time saving Print and Go! Gingerbread pack.  Print and Go! packs can be a lifesaver this time of year.   There are fun pages in here for homework, morning work, or independent centers in the classroom when you are up to your elbows in arts and crafts projects. This product is on sale through Thursday December 15th.  Just search #kinderfriends on Teachers pay Teachers to find all my special sale items. 

Now, it's time for a little gift giving from me to YOU!  I am sooooo grateful for the TpT classroom community and awesome teachers like YOU.  So, this year I have two special holiday FREEBIES for you.  Here is freebie number one:

It's a design page for kiddos to design and create the perfect cookie.  I did this as a homework project last year.  You could do this project in the classroom too.  It would be a nice activity during the last week before your winter break.

It's included in that Print and Go! Gingerbread product above.  This is a Mrs. Byrd's Learning Tree blog freebie.  Just click this link to download that cookie design page:  My gingerbread cookie design

And here is freebie number 2:

It's from my December Pretty Papers & Prompts .  That's another time saving product with sweet engaging writing papers for excited little people in your classroom.  You will find this on sale through Thursday the 15th.  Just search #kinderfriends on TpT to find special sale items.  This freebie is a letter to Santa with an old world St. Nick.

Like my letter to Santa this year?  It's actually what I want from my husband... haha!
You can grab this printable in my TpT store right here: FREEBIE - Writing Activities ~ December Pretty Papers & Prompts

Giveaway time!!!  Best of luck!  You can enter to win a $25 TpT gift card right here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Keep hoping along to my friend Elaine over at Kitty Kitty Kindergarten for more Holidays Around the World fun! 

Thanks for stopping by.
Happy holidays!

Smile! It's a Teachers Pay Teachers SALE!

Just wanted to get the word out... there is a big sale happening at Teachers Pay Teachers this Monday Nov. 30th and Tuesday Dec. 1st.  You can save 28% on everything in my store.  Make sure you use the promo code: smile at checkout to get your extra 10% discount.

I am going to stock up on some wonderful things on my wish list!

I also wanted to let you know that I just finished two new products you might want to check out since they will be 28% off.

This is a great set of activities and printable practice pages to go with your gingerbread unit this December.  It has all the things I want for my own classroom along with a few others I thought might be helpful to you.  It's a really sweet set.  (No pun intended ;)  You can grab it by clicking on the image below or this link right here: Print and Go! Gingerbread

You may also want to see this helpful pack as well.  It is great counting and numeral writing review for throughout the year.  I love this activity because it is open ended and kids can challenge themselves.  It incorporates doing a detailed drawing, counting and numeral writing, and labeling parts of the picture.  I am going to keep these handy this year when I think we need some review or I need something quick in an emergency or for a sub.

This one is from earlier in the year before we learned how to label things in our drawings.

This one is from a lesson where students learned how to label.
Both activities went really well and I think this helps my students remember to include lots of details in their drawings.  You can take a closer look at this product by clicking here; Draw, Count, Write!  or clicking on the image below:

I hope you get some good deals on CYBER Monday!
Happy shopping!
Happy teaching!

A Very Merry Memory Game!

 

Ok, I know the holidays are over.  But, this is something I had photos for (although they are not great).  Sorry about that.  I don't know if it is my cheap camera, or the florescent lighting in my classroom, or both.... ugh!

This was something I had to do QUICKLY during that last week before winter break.  I know this is not some brilliant revelation, but I was easily able to make a cute holiday memory game using stickers I had on hand.  The whole thing only took about 30 minutes, including laminating!  It was just what I needed for one of my centers on the last day before break.  I wanted to make it a "fun" day and due to my schedule this year, I needed a quickie - something that would only take 10 - 15 minutes per group.  This sweet little game was perfect! 

I tried to use stickers that were somewhat holiday "neutral" because not everyone in our school community celebrates Christmas.  We had just finished a fairy tale unit which included gingerbread, so elves, cookies, and candy canes seemed appropriate.

I wrote the words on the cards just to add a little literacy to the fun.  The kids had a blast with it.  Our other centers that day included decorating gingerbread cookies the kids had made the day before.  They got to eat them later at our class party!  We also had a story reading center where I pulled out  my winter holiday books just for one day.  Most groups wanted to hear How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Suess.  I love that book!  So it was a fun day for all in Room 5. 

Hope you had a wonderful holiday season!
Happy teaching!