Fun filled activities for your classroom that promote learning through play!
I think I have said this before but it is worth repeating, Christmas bows are awesome! They come in bright colors, they are shiny, and they can be used in all kinds of ways in the classroom…
Mrs. Courtney recently shared a terrific collection of ideas we have done in the past with gift bows which you can see by clicking here. After sharing her post, Margaret from Your Therapy Source left a comment with additional suggestions for getting kids moving with simple games with bows and so these ideas are compliments to you Margaret!
Color Hunt
For our first game, we tossed a bag full of Christmas bows in the middle of the floor then went on a color hunt! I called out a color and the children had to run, grab that color of bow, then go back to their spot in the circle…
A fun way to work on color recognition and get some exercise in the process!
Parachute Play
For our second game, the children gathered up all the bows and tossed them into the center of our “parachute.” We used a round tablecloth for our parachute because it was smaller and we don’t have a very large amount of space in the classroom for a big parachute…
Once all the bows were on our parachute, we worked together as a class to shake the bows off the parachute then put them all back on again…
Having fun and Working Together
Keeping everyone doing their part of the parachute game is a good lesson in cooperation and collaboration so we stopped every once in awhile to regroup and then off we went to shake those bows again…
Super simple fun! Thank you Margaret for adding fun ideas for play to our fun pajama party day!
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Deborah, how do you keep everything neat and tidy? I’m referring to items that you have to put away when you are not using. I have three bins of books at home and materials to rotate through out the year for my lessons but my basement is according to my husband a hoarders house with bins lol. He doesn’t understand teacher’s thinking. We are provided materials for the classroom through the school but some items I buy on my own to extend lessons and such. Perhaps you can give me some organizing strategies.
I sort things into extra large, large, medium, and small plastic ziplock bags that I can see through. I then store the bags in large stackable storage containers. It does require a little digging to get to things at times but instead of boxes on top of boxes spread from one side of my space to another, I found sorting things down to easy to grab bags makes it easier to take out and put away. If I pull out a bag of bows from the Christmas box, then I can fold the bag up while we play then pull it back out, fill it back up and drop it into the Christmas box for storage. I also get rid of LOTs of stuff anymore. I used to keep it but I found it was more costly to store it and take care of it and less likely I would reuse it than if I just started over collecting things each year again. It seems if I keep lids in a basket they will stay there forever. But if I collect them starting each year – I have them in mind and will actually use them. Don’t be afraid to purge – especially things that are cheap or can be resaved up. My students also love to take things home and so when we use something little (like lids or beads) that I really don’t need to store – I let them have it. They love the simplest things if they think they get to keep it. They know that they can’t take home “my toys” but that they can most likely keep a lid if they really love it. They are great about asking and accepting what decisions we make about what can go home and what needs to stay at school.
Finally, as far as books, I keep them all in my office on shelves. I sort them by theme or author or whatever I think will help me find them each year when I need them. Books are too heavy to keep in boxes and I need them out and displayed so I will remember what I have and will use what I have. But I love to buy new books so I also go through and donate what I consider “junk books” to Goodwill or places like that.
I hope that helps but you should know that even I get behind – seriously behind – and the next thing you know my garage also looks like a hoarder’s garage!
Thanks for the shout out. It looks like you had so much fun!!!!! I love all the colors. Since you have a small space, another idea is Santa Says. Just like Simon Says but Santa says put the bow on your head, Santa says put the bow on your feet, etc. Sometimes preschoolers don’t fully understand the rules for Simon Says but you don’t have to have children get out of the game if they make a mistake. It is a good way to practice right and left – Santa says put the bow on your right hand. Try positional phrases – Santa says put the bow under your foot, in between your knees, etc.
Merry Christmas!!!!
We just played “Gingerbread Says!” earlier in the week! LOL! We love that game but didn’t get to play “Santa Says!” Another game to mark down for next year!! Thanks so much for all your creative ideas.