The holidays are approaching again, and many teachers are wondering what they can do to include all the students. Make the holidays about family, and incorporate your family’s ideas.
My students usually do a book exchange during this time of year, it is fun and an inexpensive way to get everyone involved. I instruct the parents to wrap the book and put who it’s from. We sit in a circle, and each student chooses who they want to give their book to.
We do color day each month. The students wear the same color, and we do collages and music and movement for the color. During the holidays I chose the colors red and green, so each student can wear a Santa hat or just dress up with the colors, it is really up to the parents.
Right before the holidays, we do a winter performance, which usually consists of something we have been doing in class, and I usually add a song, that is about winter.
One year we were working on the rhyme Jack be nimble, so I included that in the winter performance. Each student made a candlestick, we used the tubes from wrapping paper.
Each student put down their candlestick, said the rhyme, and then jumped over the candlestick. The parents got to see what we were learning and the students were proud of what they had accomplished.
We then sang a few winter songs, and that was the entire performers, short and sweet. We did all of this in our classroom.
I gave each parent a holiday card with a picture of me and their child. I thought it would be a great keepsake.
At the end of the performance, each teacher handed out gifts to each student. They each received three gifts. This was a fun and exciting day for the parents and students.
Another thing that I did, is to have one parent come in each week to read their favorite holiday or nighttime story to the class.
These events happen throughout the month, so the students and parents have something to participate in.Â
I hope these ideas make your preparations for the holidays a little easier.
If you have something special that you do for the season, please share them in the comment section.
🎄 Darla the Teacher 🎄
