Happy Holidays Pre-K & K Style!

Happy holidays... happy holidays... let the merry bells keep ringing... happy holidays to you!  

Probably one of my favorite holiday songs!  Can't read it without singing!

Anyways... it's Jennifer with Simply Kinder!  Excited to be back in a flash and share some great holiday resources and ideas with you that will work great in your preschool and kindergarten classrooms!  

First is my most favorite... my parent gift!  I love making these scented ornaments and they are smell for years and years!  

Here's how to make them:

1.  Mix 3/4 cup apple sauce (plus a dash more) and 1 cup cinnamon with about two tablespoons of  glue.  I would suggest buying 2 of the tall Cinnamon's and 2 of the large jars of apple sauce.  That should get a classroom of about 30 very easily. 

2.  Knead the dough.  It's important that there is NO creases or folds in the dough.  You definitely have to work it.  In the picture to the right I would probably want to get those folds at the bottom worked out otherwise he may crack.  

3.  Roll it out onto wax paper. 

4. Then stamp with a gingerbread cookie cutter.  Poke a hole with a toothpick for the string.

5.  And lastly place to dry. They will have to dry for several days.  Turn them over every half day or so.  I would also suggest prewriting your students names on the wax paper so you know whose is whose!

6.  Decorate with students' faces, hot glue works best.  Ribbon hot glued through the ornament's hole, a sequence, and anything you want to add!  Make adorable holiday gifts that will smell delicious for years!  I like to use items I have in my classroom each year and so this year it was silvery sequence and red ribbons!

We will wrap them by putting them in brown paper bags with just regular old paper towels to keep them protected.  We will write on the backs of old Christmas cards I collected from last year, staple them together and they are ready to go!  (The trick is to ask for them now so no one throws them away before they return from break... and save them for next year!  The kids also love using these cards in the writing lab!)  To read more about my Christmas Card centers that kids will love click here!  Your students will love my fun and easy center!

We have always done these fun gingerbread houses and then the big push for rigor came around and "no more fun" seems to be the philosophy.  Well... don't tell me I can't do something!  So, in this fun activity students will create a graph using addition, subtraction, or counting and then use that graph to build their house!  {Stop by to see more pictures and read what's included!}

This is my most favorite addition to the holiday time of year!  I noticed on a trip that my own son could not sing Christmas carols on a family trip to the North Pole!  Saddened my hear to realize a lot of the kids on the bus weren't singing!  So... what does a rigor teacher do?  That's right.. we are using them for fluency and close reading!  We started these last week and let me tell you... I have never seen my kids so excited to read all year!  They are especially great for the more advanced kids!  Also, interactive as the kids can select the image to glue onto their carol!  You are sure to love these!

Check out this fun bulletin board we made!  Of course the faces are my own little magic elves for privacy issues!  These we so fun to make and are going to make great keepsakes for the families!  If only you could see their actual little bright shining faces behind!  Click the image for other elf antics in kindergarten (it has a freebie so be sure to do so!)

That's the holiday fun we have had so far!  Be sure to stop by and visit!  Tell me you found me from Pre K and K Sharing!