Ceramic Gingerbread Man Spoon Rest

Hopefully, all of our little gingerbread men made it home in one piece!  The kids had a fabulous time making this project for you.  It was a great first-time ceramic experience for our classroom.  We are lucky enough to have a kiln at our school and we do 2 or 3 projects each year.  This little spoon rest was project #1.

We started by drawing a gingerbread man, using a tracer.  Then I asked kids to draw a face, icing, buttons, etc.  This was a good practice, just to get the kids thinking about what a gingerbread man looks like, his characteristics, and how they want their gingerbread guy to look.

After rolling, cutting, and drawing features onto clay, we dried and fired the gingerbread men.  Then came the glazing.

Kids painted their features and then we fired them again.

Our frosted gingerbread men turned out so cute!  I hope you like them as much as we do.

Happy Winter Break!

A Sneak Peak

Here's a sneak peak at a few projects that will be coming home tomorrow.

Shhhh.  It's a secret.  We won't tell!

Tasty Gingerbread Men

Run, run, as fast as you can....

We can't get away from the gingerbread man!

Last week we baked gingerbread cookies.  The kids rolled the dough, cut the cookies, and we popped them into the oven.  Don't worry we didn't peek!  The kids knew, from reading the story, that if we had opened the oven door he would have jumped right out!  

We made our gingerbread men out of sugar cookie dough and gingerbread dough, since some kids don't like the strong flavor of gingerbread.  We frosted our little guys, and then sprinkled them up.  

Many kids talked about their experiences, baking with family at home.  I love that you are taking the time to be in the kitchen with your kids.  It's always a bit messier when kids help, but the experiences you provide at home directly relate to kids' literacy development.  We have been reading and writing about gingerbread men and baking for weeks, and kids are constantly relating their experiences to the books we have read in class!

Happy baking!

Gingerbread Friends

Our class gingerbread man has made his return!  We have been reading gingerbread books and we love seeing the gingerbread men your kids have created in our take home gingerbread project! Eleven gingerbread friends have made their way to school and we can't wait to see the rest of them.  Here are a few of our favorite stories that we have been reading this week.












We have several others that we have read too!

Sadly, the version that I grew up with is now considered "vintage".  Wow!  Am I really that old?  We read that version too, and I have to say, it's still my favorite! 



We'll be having fun with some gingerbread activities next week.  Keep those gingerbread friends coming in.  Our neighbors really enjoy seeing them on display in our hallway.  I hope you'll check out a few of these books at the library too.  The kids love hearing them again and again!

Happy reading!

The Light Table

One of the parents in our class works for a company that will Adopt-A-Classroom.  We received a donation   earlier this month and we were able to purchase an exciting piece of equipment to add to our classroom...

 a light table!

I've been reading a lot about the educational philosophy used in Reggio Emilla, Italy.  Much of their work is done through light, reflection, and natural materials.  Light tables are utilized for a variety of purposes throughout the day.


Right now, we're in the exploration phase of the light table.  Since we're studying rocks right now, the kids have been very interested in our rock slices.

We've been using our table to explore patterning with transparent colored chips, see through buttons, and a few colorful beads.


Kids have really enjoyed trying it out, and I can't wait to introduce new materials.  We will be using the table in art, math, science, and free play.  I can't wait to see what we notice when we place leaves on the light table!

Thank you to our Adopt-A-Classroom friends and the parent who made this happen!  Kindergarten is always filled with happiness and light, but now I'd say there is even more!

Eric Carle Painting

Books by Eric Carle are perfect for Kindergarten!

We love:






...just to name a few.

Over the past few weeks, we've read at least 25 books by Eric Carle.  Last week, we decided to try our hand at painting like Eric Carle.  Here is a link to Eric Carle's website, where he describes how he "makes" his own paper. 

We use washable paint and lots of different painting materials to get our fabulous texture.  I love Lakeshore Learning, and have purchased most of my painting supplies there.



We used brushes, sponges, and painting stamps to add just 3 colors to each paper. 



We looked at lots of paintings by Eric Carle as inspiration.

It was messy, but so much fun!

Most of the kids had never painted with anything except brushes or hands. These painting combs are amazing, when you paint an entire paper and then drag them through.  Although I suggested that kids try this, many wanted to try it their own way.  I love letting kids explore with art materials. 

The new techniques were exciting to try.

We'll be using our painted paper to create a class book in December.

Happy painting!

Noodle Pattern Necklaces

During November, in Kindergarten, we are usually spending quite a bit of our math time doing pattern work. Today we enjoyed making pattern necklaces and bracelets out of noodles.



The kids were SO focused!  They got to choose if they wanted to make a necklace, bracelet, or both.  They also choose their own colors and patterns.  We spent about 45 minutes developing our patterning skills AND our small motor skills.  

I brought in a beading kit for kids to use too.  They loved this!

This is a fabulous activity to do at home too!  Beading kits are great, but if you're the DIY type, here is a great tutorial on how to dye your own pasta.  I usually have kids tell me the colors they have chosen, as well as label the pattern.  For example, a red-yellow-red-yellow pattern would also be called ABABAB.  A red, red, yellow, red, red, yellow, would be called AABAAB.

Happy patterning!