Thanksgiving feast

Thanksgiving Feast

Monday 11/21 from 11-1

Northside Aztlan Community Center

Please arrive promptly at 11am so that we can get the food in the kitchen and have the kids perform all the things they have been practicing.

This week was spent preparing for the Thanksgiving feast. We practiced our songs and play. We made our costumes and talked about what we are thankful for. The kids are so excited about the feast, they asked me everyday "is today our feast?" I love their excitement and I can't wait to share it with you all on Monday.

The Dragonfly class had a guest teacher on Friday. A nursing student named Megan came and talked to us about eating the colors of the rainbow. The kids really knew their fruits and veggies! We had fun listening to Megan talk about the role different veggies play in our diets and bodies. (i.e. carrots are good for our eyes) The kids completed a fun project with her, they colored fruits and veggies and glued them to a paper plate. This was a great craft to teach them about choosing fruits and veggies. I took some pictures with Megan's camera and when she emails them to me, I will post them.

Can't wait to see all of you at the feast!

Count down to the Feast

This week at Funtime we have been busy preparing for the Thanksgiving feast. Some of the things we have done are top secret... so you won't find them here in the blog. Don't fret, because you will see them at the feast!

On Monday and Tuesday we had a lot of fun using corn to paint a cut out of an ear of corn. I put popping corn in a knee high panty hose and tied the open end. The kids dipped them in paint and then bounced them onto the corn. It makes a pattern on the paper that looks like corn. This is such a fun craft, the kids really liked to bouncing the bags of corn. Sometimes they bounced a little bit crazy and onto their shirt on their neighbors arm... my apologies to the dragonflies - I forgot to put paint shirts on, so a few kiddos got paint on their shirts. A little spray and wash or other stain remover should take it out. Sorry about that!

The Dragonfly class worked on patterns and shape and number recognition for Monday math.

Wednesday the Dragonfly class made super cute hand turkeys. Ms. Sedeane painted their hands & thumb brown and each of their fingers a different color, then the kids stamped it onto a piece of paper. Because we ran out of time to finish them by adding a googlie eye, a wattle and feet, Ms. Sedeane added all of this on Thursday. They turned out really cute and I love to see how their hands grow over the course of the year. We worked on letter recognition as a whole group for our Wednesday writing.

Thursday and Friday the butterfly class and the dragonfly class did yoga during gym time. They were very excited about it and seemed to really enjoy it. Everyday as part of our circle time we do a few forward folds and some deep breathing. So it was really fun to expand on that and watch the kids try some new (to most of them) poses. They are so darned cute and I love their sense of adventure - so willing to try new things.

The caterpillar class played with balls and ran circles around me in the gym - they are so fast! We also danced to animal action in the classroom.

Here are some pictures of the kids doing yoga.

Important information and reminders:

Thanksgiving Feast is Monday November 21, 2011 at the Northside Aztlan Community Center. It is scheduled from 11-1, you do not need to stay the entire time, but please plan on being there at 11. The children have been practicing for a short performance at the feast and we will do this at the beginning before we eat.

Family and friends are welcome, if you have people visiting for the Holiday, bring them along.

If you haven't signed up to bring something to the feast, please do that by Thursday (11/17). The sign-up sheet is posted on the bulletin board outside the classroom.

Please remember to help your child use the bathroom and wash their hands at the YAC before class.

The winter Recreator is out and registration begins Thursday 11/17. Plan to log on, phone in or walk in and get registered for Funtime... I anticipate classes to fill quickly.

Please remember to keep voices down in the hallway when waiting for class to begin or end.

Enjoy this beautiful weekend!

Pajama Fun

This week went by so quickly! I hope all of you had a fun Halloween, I heard many stories, most of them involving huge amounts of candy. :-)

Our Pajama days on Monday and Tuesday were a big hit. The kids really enjoyed hanging out in PJ's, it was fun to here them talk about their PJ's and what stuffed animals or blankets they sleep with at night.
The Dragonfly class and the Butterfly class watched the movie Rio. I loved hearing them sing along to the songs and we even got up and danced a few times. Both days were really enjoyable and relaxing.
The Caterpillars made cute Turkeys out of construction paper and feathers.

On Wednesday the Dragonflies made the same turkeys, they got really creative with the feathers, making arms and legs out of them. They also glued beans on the outline of their name, these not only turned out really cute, but they are great for name recognition and fine motor skills (gluing the beans on).

Thursday and Friday we had a great time in the gym playing soccer and basketball. These kids have some serious skills, I am impressed!

Thank you all for making our Halloween celebration and our PJ day a success. I feel truly blessed to have such wonderful and amazing parents. I couldn't do this without you!!