December Christmas Fun

December is a month of wonder, awe, and almost a "magical" time. In our preschool world, we have been learning about the wonders of Christmas though the Advent Wreath. 

Each week, we lit a candle on the wreath. We started with the first purple candle, the Candle of Hope. Romans 15:13, May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The second week of Advent we learned about the Bethlehem Candle, or the Candle of Preparation, Luke 3:4-6, “A voice of one calling in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

    make straight paths for him.

5 

Every valley shall be filled in,

    every mountain and hill made low.

The crooked roads shall become straight,

    the rough ways smooth.

6 

And all people will see God’s salvation.’”

The third week of Advent we lit the pink candle (the one they had been waiting for), the Candle of Joy, Luke 2:9-14, An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”  Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

We were not in school to light the fourth and fifth candle, but will be still be learning about them. The fourth candle is the Candle of Love, 

John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

The final candle, the pure white candle in the middle of the wreath, is the Christ Candle. We light this candle on Christmas Day. It is to remind us Jesus was sent to take away our sins. John 1:29

 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

During this Advent/Christmas Season our class spent a lot of time in preparation. We prepared our classroom, created things to take home and spent a lot of time preparing gifts for their parents. 

Students enjoying the fresh air before it gets cold

"Mrs. Potato Head earrings fit on me!"

Getting our classroom ready for Christmas,

Setting up the Christmas Tree!

Making ornaments for the tree

Making paper chains to hang on the tree

After we thought they were done with paper chains, they asked what else can you make with strips of paper? 

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,

    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:10-14

Students created beautiful Christmas Angels. They are hanging up in the hallway. 

Afternoon fun!

Christmas time is always the best nap time.

 

Mr. Akerson, our CCLS Middle School 5th Grade teacher came to make cheese quesadillas with our lunch crew. They love it when he visits our class at lunchtime.

Using their landscaping and engineering skills, along with their creativity and imagination, they developed various Christmas tree farms and Winter Wonderlands. 

Writing Center 

Thank You Mrs. Audrey for our new chairs. We love them! But we sure do miss you!

Chapel with Mrs. Metcalf learning about the birth of Jesus.

Block Center Creations

Retelling the Christmas Nativity Story

Quiet Reading Time

December Magic House Trip!

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Morning Journals

Practicing our letter recognition, letter formation and sounding out words as we had a lot of different Christmas journal topics.

Taking Christmas Pictures

Finishing up our Christmas Angels

Using teamwork they designed Baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Shepherds and sheep for our Nativity scene.

Filling up our ornaments with "snow"

Cup Building and Design

Roll A Reindeer

Working on their number recognition and drawing skills, they made their own reindeer by knowing what to draw after they rolled the dice and matched the number.

December Portfolio Drawing: The Nativity

 We were able to watch the Lutheran High School South Band practice for the concert.

Gym Time

Working on our large motor skills. 

During the Christmas Season we talked a lot about giving to others. Not just with tangible gifts, but with our gifts of time, gifts of helping, and gifts of sharing ourselves with others. They each spent a lot of their time on decorating their parents' Christmas presents. 

Chapel with Pastor Will Hanke, hearing about the greatest present ever.....JESUS!

We always love our visit from the Kirkwood Library. 

 Students cutting out and decorating their own Christmas trees, while working on their fine motor skills. 

The writing center is a very busy place.

Quiet Christmas Snuggles.

Investigating the physics of magnets.

A little more engineering exploration.

The Christmas Nativity 

Our second trip to the Magic House. 

 

 

  

 

  

 

 

A special Christmas treat! Making cookies with the Mrs. Meghan and the 2 year-olds.

  

 Finishing up all the decorating in our classroom! They loved the paper chains. It takes such patience to make a paper chain. The class did an awesome job!

 

Students practicing their basketball skills during gym time.

Making candy cane reindeer ornaments for their Christmas tree at home! Yes, there is a lot of Christmas excitement! 

We also worked on AB pattern skills by making bead candy canes and also worked on our fine motor skills.

Chapel with Mr. Butterfield learning about gentleness and peace. 

Loving the paper chains, seeing how long we can make the chains to cross all around the room!

It was such a fun team effort! 

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.....well not quite in our class at nap time. So we made a Christmas memory with a Christmas movie nap time. They were all snuggled  in for a long winters nap!

Merry Christmas, God's Blessings and Happy New Year!