Santa came to visit us at the daycare today!
My classroom is the main room of the building, and so when he rapped on the door, my kids perked up like a bunch of little meerkats.
Santa brings each child a little gift when he comes to visit, so each child was eager to have his or turn on Santa’s lap, as well as get their hands on whatever he brought them.
I have to say, the four year olds, my kids, are probably the best age group to have when Santa is visiting. They’re old enough to not be scared of him anymore, which makes getting pictures a LOT easier than it is with some of the younger kids. I got a good bit of wonderful pictures for all the parents who couldn’t make it.
We’ve been doing a lot of Christmas crafting in class lately. I plan on doing a full post on those next time, but for now all I have to share with you is one of our first “Critical Thinking” activities of the year.
I really enjoy doing activities like this with the kids, but I try to wait until we are a few months into the school year to start really pushing them, since I feel like the four year old program is when they really start getting ready for grade school, and preschool becomes more of a school than a daycare. I feel like my kids have adjusted to the quicker pace of the K4 program, and so it’s time to start working on critical thinking skills.
Anyway, we read a Christmas book (I honestly cannot remember which one!), and I asked them to describe Santa Claus. After a few responses, we got around to his “bowl full of jelly” belly, and every last one of them got a case of the giggles. Once we got over that, I asked them what they would do if they woke up and found Santa stuck in the chimney.
I copied down all of their responses, then we put together these little chimneys with Santa stuck upside down in them. I thought they turned out so well! I loved reading all of their different responses, from some wanting to show Santa their go-karts and playhouses to worrying about getting Santa back into his sleigh, they each had a unique, heartfelt response about how to help Santa out of his predicament.
That’s all for tonight, guys. See you tomorrow!
A
The Happy Teapot 
I don’t know why, but when I first looked at that little craft, I thought it was an abstract reindeer. Haha. Also the little meerkat in the middle with his mouth wide open is so cute.
I LOVED that picture of the meerkats. It reminded me so much of my kids. Perhaps if my Santa had more realistic legs, it wouldn’t have looked quite so strange. Haha. His feet are ridiculous.