Gingerbread Day

The classroom has been abuzz with thoughts and activities to prepare for Christmas and one exciting event was when we went to the Grove Park Inn to look at the gingerbread displays.

The time and talent that goes into these works of art is priceless and the kids had such a great time looking at them.

It's hard to believe this is all made out of gingerbread or other confections.

We were inspired to make our own gingerbread houses after this trip. Here's the process the kids went through to make some really creative gingerbread houses.

We're off to a good start!

Adding a little more...

The final products:

There may or may not have been a large consumption of sugar that day, but we had a great time!

Serbian Dance Performance

We love it when we get visits from people outside our school who can share their talents and experiences with us. We got a chance to enjoy this opportunity when a dance troupe from Serbia came to perform. They were incredibly talented and so much fun to watch. They told stories through their music dance and the kids had a blast watching it. They even took pictures with the kids afterwards and told us a little bit about themselves.

The costumes were colorful and intricate

They did some amazing tricks!

Picture Time!

Even though we couldn't understand their language, we were still able to connect with them through their music and dance.

Pilgrim Day

Hi! It's been another crazy month filled with trips, special events, learning, and fun and we've made it to Christmas break! It's been over a month ago now since we celebrated Pilgrim day before Thanksgiving break. Many of the kids dressed up and we had crafts, activities, and a (somewhat) authentic Thanksgiving meal.

We wove colorful paper placemats:

We made butter in jars; this was everyone's favorite!

Here are the kids exploring some authentic pilgrim games with the direction from a parent helper:

Here we are celebrating a thanksgiving meal:

Some authentic dishes (some went over better than others)

What a great opportunity to look back on what the pilgrims endured to by able to worship God freely and start a new country. It's also the time of year when we think back on what we have to be grateful for. Hopefully we don't reserve these thoughts to a single holiday, but show gratitude to God and others continually.