One of kindergarten’s favorite celebrations every year is 100 Day. It is quite an accomplishment for these five and six year olds. 100 days of growing mentally, physically, and socially! We geared up for our big day by learning how to count and write to 100. Numbers have patterns and rules just like letters do so these tasks became a lot easier once we learned those. On 100 Day we all dressed up like we were 100 years old! Some students really got into character! We found 100 Hershey’s kisses hidden around our room, counted how far we could get in 100 steps, did 100 exercises, made trail mix with 100 snacks and so much more!

December was a whirlwind of activity in kindergarten. We had a great time with our December morning work drawers, especially learning how to make paper chains for the Christmas tree and cut snowflakes. The wrapping paper station was a big hit too and students were definitely working those finger muscles by cutting paper and tearing tape. We even had some exciting visitors to help make our last week of school so much fun.

Kindergarten has been learning all about pumpkins! We read the book Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubble to learn about the pumpkin life cycle. Then we carved our very own Pumpkin Jack. Pumpkin pulp is NOT a favorite in kindergarten! But roasted pumpkin seeds were a surprising hit for some students. We came back from Fall Break to see that our pumpkin had started to decompose. Eww! He quickly went outside for us to observe from a safe distance. Hopefully we will see a pumpkin sprout in the spring. We also made pumpkin pies in the classroom. Ask a kindergarten student what their favorite ingredient was. You can bet it was the whipped cream on top!

What fun we had exploring apples and making our very own applesauce! Cooking in a kindergarten classroom is not just about enjoying the final product- we also learn a lot along the way. The students each got to cut their own apple. It was harder than it looked! We added cinnamon and sugar and had to wait patiently for it to cook all day! It sure did make our classroom smell delicious. Finally, it was ready. I was so proud to see everyone try a bite. Trying new foods can be a bit daunting for some children but there was no pressure to taste it. Some liked the applesauce and said me said it didn’t taste like the applesauce they were used to. That’s okay! Everyone has different opinions. They can’t wait to see what we make next month.

We’ve been hard at work in kindergarten learning new routines and schedules. One of the students’ favorite activities is our Morning Work Drawers. They come in excited every morning to see what drawer they will be working with. Every drawer has a developmentally appropriate fine motor task for the students. These tasks range from cutting, sorting legos, counting beads, to manipulating therapy putty to find objects. These activities seem like play to the students but they are actually working on building those finger and hand muscles that will be so important for writing later on in the year! We love our Morning Drawers!