December in the Classroom!

This December’s Winter Wonderland theme had us discussing and exploring the change of seasons from fall to winter.  What can we observe happening with the weather? The temperature? What changes can we observe happening to the trees? Why does it snow in winter? What is snow made out of? How does the change of the season change how we prepare for the school day and being outside? How do the animals prepare?  Many of these questions were also an important part of our discussions on Forest Fridays and will continue to be a focus into January!  This December was a bit warmer, but we are excited for all of the wonderful activities and changes that will come as winter progresses!  Here are a few pictures of some our snow theme activities.

This December we also explored what a folktale is, with a focus on various Gingerbread Folktales.  Did you know that different versions of the folktale The Gingerbread Man (or other Runaway Foods) can be found in almost every country around the world? With some versions going back many hundreds of years! We also looked at modern versions of the tale as well as new creative stories that feature runaway foods.  Our pretend center was transformed into a gingerbread house that students helped to decorate, and featured gingerbread playdough for us to play with.  We also decided that our gingerbread house would not include a wicked old lady, like in Hansel and Gretel, lol!   Before heading off for the winter break, we also created our own mini versions of gingerbread houses to take home! Deliciously creative way to work on fine motor (pincer grasp), problem solving, engineering, patience, perseverance, taking turns, hand-eye-coordination, and pride in a job well done!

This winter we will continue to explore families, communities, traditions, and identity.  We were thrilled to have Ezra, his sister Rose, and their mom Kate join us outside to teach us all about their Family Tradition of celebrating St Lucia Day in December.  Thank you for helping us to learn more about each other and celebrate the many different ways we are all alike and different!

 

 

 

 

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