This week is all about welcoming December, jingle bells, candy canes, baby Jesus and jumping! The classroom is decorated, our running track is back and the Dirt Pumpkin has sprouted four pumpkin plants! Read on to learn more about our play today.
We have several Story Time books this week in our ongoing search for baby Jesus’, jingle bells, candy canes and stars. In fact, many Christmas children’s books will have at least one of those items. You can find out which your child likes the best!
J Week Activities
Here are some J things for the week you can look for in photos, conversations and backpacks!
Golden Letters: We’ve got 4 Golden Letter friends…maybe you know some of them!
Jingle Bells: We are doing jingle bell sticker work (great fine motor work with an emphasis on one-to-one correspondence as they put a bell sticker on the end of a drawn string).
We have jingle bells in the Cloud Dough along with magnets, including a tub for any broken bells which slows down the play as children pause to shake and listen for the sound.
Candy Canes: Oh that silly letter J takes off their hat and turns themself into a candy cane! There is a little poem you might start to hear at home: You might think it’s just a J from our alphabet song, but really it’s a candy cane about to be gone!
We have our Alphabet Friend, Joey the Jokey J who is dressed up as a candy cane. We have pretend candy canes in our Water Table with mint water. There are beads and pipe cleaners for candy cane J ornaments all week.
Baby Jesus: We have 12 of them in the classroom.
They all have their own swaddling cloth and love to be held. Over the years they have acquired names including one who is simply known as Jesus because she was Jesus in a church play once. You can read all their names in the question segment below. Our sound cradle let one friend pretend to be baby Jesus and one of our dolls came to snack too.
Jumping: in addition to our daily practice of this week’s Jumping Jacks Coping Skill (read more below), Jumping Land is back! This happens at the Circle Time rug and uses all the pillows and blankets we have.
Color of the Month: December’s Color of the Month is red and we’ve switched things out: the play dough and tools, the Tiny Things, the books, items in the Family Corner, puzzles and dress up clothes.
Here are 3 questions to learn more about our day:
What did you eat for snack today?
We are so thankful for our new snack trays! Children started carrying them today from the kitchen to their spot at the Big Table.
In the morning we had Jello Js, party muffin Js and jungle animal crackers from Arthur and Julian. In the afternoon we had decorated Christmas cookies and cheese sticks dressed up like snow people from Annie. Thank you so much, friends!
What doll do you like best for Baby Jesus?
After looking at different babies being Baby Jesus in our books, we looked at our 12 dolls that can also take turns being Baby Jesus. Here they are:
- Newborn Girl (anatomically correct female)
- Toddler (may be small but looks older)
- Jesus (she was in the church play as Jesus once)
- Baby with Low Muscle Tone (very floppy)
- Real Baby (her textured hair is very realistic)
- Curly Girl (for her long red hair)
- Sports Guy (he came in a basketball outfit)
- Big Baby (our biggest)
- Heavy Baby (weighs about 5 pounds)
- Newborn Boy (anatomically correct male)
- Famous (she was on KWCH 12 news once in a Safe Sleep segment)
- Sleepy Baby (the eyes open and close)
What color paint did we use today?
Green! This is the first layer of our Christmas Wreath project. We had four shades of green available and will add something new each time children come.
Coping Skill of the Week: Jumping Jacks
This week we are practicing jumping jacks! Jumping in any form can be a coping skill for children to release and manage intense emotions, such as excitement.
Jumping can also be a therapeutic tool that helps children develop gross motor skills, improve proprioception systems, and boost the lymphatic system. Jumping involves complex motor planning, which requires coordination between muscles, timing of movements, and spatial awareness. These cognitive skills are important for tasks that require precise movements and adaptations to different environments.
During Story Time we looked for stars in the books and then had our own bodies move between star pose and skyscraper pose (you can watch my video below)…these are the jumping jack moves!
newcreationpreschool.com 