Merry Christmas!!

 

Merry Christmas!! This week we are going to concentrate on the story of Christmas and Jesus' birth!

Our KDI for the week is community-Children participate in the community of the classroom. This week we will work together to present you the Christmas service, we will exchange gifts, we will wish each other a "Merry Christmas" and share in all the blessings that Christmas brings!

Table Activities- This week table activities include Christmas experiments with vinegar and baking soda, jingle bells and magnets, painting with bows, Christmas coloring pages, invite to create gingerbread, ornament making and a Christmas sensory bin.

Small Group- This week small group includes making a cover for our Christmas service, cookie decorating, making a nativity ornament and gift opening and our service!

Large Group- This week we will follow the star like the wise men and have a Christmas hide and seek.

Books of the Week- "Snowmen at Christmas" by Caralyn and Mark Buehner and "Star Bright, Christmas Night" by Hannah C. Hall.

Bible Story- This week we hear about the Magi who came from the east to worship Jesus. We aren't sure how the wisemen knew about Jesus or the star. Some speculate that Daniel in the Old Testament could have shared the prophecies about Jesus, others think maybe the Queen of Sheba who visited King Solomon could have brought the prophecies back with her. We don't even know specifically which countries they came from. The Bible doesn't even tell us there were three, just that they brought three gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. We do know that they came from the east and they followed the star to Jerusalem and then Bethlehem. It took them a long time to come, maybe even a year. By that time, Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus were no longer in the stable, but living in a house. The wisemen asked in Jerusalem if anyone had heard of a new king being born. That put everyone in Jerusalem in a state of panic, since crazy Herod had already killed a brother and other relatives so that he could remain king without challenge. The wisemen were directed to the small village of Bethlehem where the star stopped over the house where Jesus was. The wisemen worshipped him and gave him their gifts. The wisemen were warned in a dream not to go back and tell Herod where Jesus was like he had asked. The wisemen were safe and Jesus was kept safe by fleeing to Egypt. I kind of like to think God had the visit of the shepherds and the wisemen recorded to show us that Jesus was the Savior for all of us! Who could be more different- a small village shepherd, poor, dirty, not very well educated and a rich magi with resources to travel by camel for a year and well educated. Jesus came for us all- rich or poor, wise or not, from every land, language, color, people- all the world!

Joy to the world, the LORD has come!!

Merry Christmas!

Dd is for decorate!

 

This week we will listen and look for the letter Dd and decorate our classroom and outside for Christmas!!

Our KDI of the week is Art- Children express and represent what they feel, think, imagine and observe through two and three dimensional art. We will be making decorations, decorating objects and getting ready to celebrate Christmas!

Table Activities- This week table activities include making an ornament suncatcher, Christmas playdough, decorating giant gingerbread people, Christmas themed dot painting, decorating wooden ornaments, stamping Christmas lights, invite-to-create Christmas trees, Christmas clay mats and a wrapping paper and ribbon cutting bin.

Small Group Activities- This week we will make a beaded candy cane to hang on our tree, pinecone or snowman ornaments, adding Dd is for decorate to our journals, and decorating our own little Christmas tree.

Large Group Activities- Decorating each other, decorating our fence outside, dancing with ornaments and tinsel.

Books of the Week - "Mooseltoe" by Margie Palatini and "Mortimer's Christmas Manger" by Karma Wilson.

Bible Story- Our Bible Story this week is The Angels appear to the Shepherds. On the hills outside Bethlehem, shepherds were out with their flocks of sheep and goats in the middle of the night. This wasn't necessarily normal, it may have been lambing season, so the shepherds were extra protective of their flocks. Shepherds could have been men, boys and girls, we don't know exactly who was out there. An angel, just one, appeared to the shepherds and they were terrified! Usually an angel means judgement, but not this one! The angel told the shepherds not to be afraid because they have great news of great joy! Their Savior has been born!! The angel told the shepherds to look for a baby lying in a manger! Then suddenly 1000's or 1,000,000's of angels appears praising God and saying "Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to mankind, on whom his favor rests!" I always imagine it this way- the dark of night is like a curtain on a stage. One angel peeks out of the curtain to give the audience a message and then the curtain opens and you see the whole choir singing at the top of their lungs! I can't imagine how the shepherds felt!! As soon as the angels left, the shepherds said to each other, "Let's go and see this child" So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby! We don't know how long they stayed, but we do know that when they left, they told everyone they saw what had happened to them that night! They couldn't keep quiet about it! We have seen the same thing and your children will present it to you on Thursday, December 16th!! We can't wait!!

Some pics from our healthy eating week-

Hh is for healthy eating!

 

The great eating holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas are a great time to talk about healthy eating, but a very hard time to do it! This week we will look and listen for the sound of Hh and talk about healthy eating!

Our KDI for the week is Healthy Practices- Children engage in healthy practices. We stress washing hands a lot in preschool, keeping them out of noses mouths. Now we'll talk about what we should put in our mouths, good food!

Table Activities- Table activities this week include exploring different fruits and vegetables, printing with fruits and veges, "planting" a vegetable garden, fruit and vegetable sculptures, painting with fruits and veges, sorting fruits and veges in different ways and a fruit and vegetable bin.

Small Group Activities- This week we are going to sample different fruits and vegetables, add a healthy eating page to our journals and make a healthy plate with different choices for ourselves.

Large Group Activities- This week we will be doing different types of exercises, marching, stretching, aerobic exercise to get our hearts going!

Books of the Week- "lunch!" by Denise Fleming and "Growing Vegetable Soup" by Lois Ehlert are our books this week.

Bible Time- Our story this week is Jesus' Birth. Last week we talked about the angel appearing to Mary and telling her that she would be God's son. This week we hear about how it all came about. Mary and Joseph were ordered by the Roman government to travel to Bethlehem to be counted for the census. It was a long journey, about 80 miles, traveled by foot or donkey. By the time they reached Bethlehem, there was no room in a house or inn. They were able to find shelter in a stable that was most likely a cave in the hills surrounding Bethlehem. While they were there, the baby was born. We aren't sure if it was just Mary and Joseph or if other family members were there too. Mary wrapped baby Jesus in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger.  Everything that happened was a fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy-Micah 5:2 promises the Savior will be born in Bethlehem, born of a virgin was prophesied by Isaiah. God sent Jesus when the time was right and he will return when the time is right too!! He loves us so much, he became one of us! The preschoolers are working hard to share that message with you!

                                            Sailing our Mayflowers!

                                                    Playing in our corn, cranberry, sage and gourd bin!

    

                                                    

                                                        Making some playdough turkeys