“G” is for Giving & Gifts

(Delainey practicing her G’s)

Today at preschool we focused on the letter “G”.  We started off with some handwriting and coloring (“G” is for Gift).  As they worked on this I talked a little about giving gifts and told them we were going to make a gift for them to give to someone they love! After they finished their worksheets we went into the living room to decorate Christmas Ornaments with their pictures on them. These were in the shape of stars since the wise men followed the star to Baby Jesus , and that’s what we were going to be talking about today. After they finished decorating their ornaments, it was time for math stations!  They really enjoyed getting on their own carpet squares and completing their tasks.

(Joseph enjoying snack time)

We did math stations for about 10 minutes, and then we cleaned up for circle time.  Lainey said our opening prayer, Joseph held the scripture spotlight (3 Wise Men Matthew 2:11) and Max reported on the weather. We learned a new finger play rhyme for rhyme time:

The Wise Men traveled from afar,

Following the Christmas star,

When it stopped they jumped for joy,

And worshiped baby Jesus boy.

Then we did show and tell and I asked them to bring a picture of someone they loved. Joseph brought a picture of Jesus, Max brought a  picture of he and his cousins Ellie and Addie, and Delainey chose a picture from her room of Sam holding her as a baby.  We discussed that the Wise Men brought gifts to Jesus, and we also show our love for other people by giving them gifts. This was a good intro into having the children act out the story of the 3 wise men. But FIRST we went back to the craft table to make wise men hats out of paper plates. Once these were finished, I let them each choose a gift and then we “searched” for the star…Max found it first (atop our Christmas tree) and we all followed the leader to the Christmas tree. Then they kneeled down and I let them open their gifts. They each had a picture in their gift bags…a picture of gold, frankincense and myrrh. We looked at the pictures and discussed that these were the actual gifts that the wise men brought baby Jesus many years ago.

(Max eating some “gold”)

After we acted out the wise men, it was time to SING!  First we sang Jingle Bells with instruments, and then we worked on “The Nativity Song” that they will sing at their Daddy Program. We learned the 2nd verse with some pictures, and it was honestly such a tender moment seeing their eager eyes and sweet voices all singing about that night. I was so touched!  I know their dads will be too when they perform the whole song. After singing time we ran to the kitchen for SNACKS!  For snacks today we had cheese itz (gold), popcorn (frankincense) and raisins (myrrh). While they ate I read them a Christmas story.

(Look how wise they look in their hats)

After snack time we attempted to make a finger painting of the three wise men following the star, where their upside down handprints were the camels and then their thumb prints were the wise men, but that didn’t really turn out. : ) But that was okay…I tried to fit too many activities into our time today I think, so it’s ok that one didn’t work out.

(Wise Men Opening their Gifts)

After we cleaned up our hands from finger painting, the children played. Then we cleaned up, sang the goodbye song, and the mommies were here!  Joseph and Max were so excited to give their special ornament gift to their moms…sorry about the wet glitter glue ladies! : )

Today was by far the best day of Gilreath-House Preschool yet. All three kiddos were incredibly well-behaved…they played well together, they shared, they sang, and it was just a lot of fun.  I love preschool!