Gingerbread House Day!

Whimsy Clips

It's one of my favorite days of the year - Gingerbread House Day!!!  Friday was the kind of day that you imagine when you decide you want to be a kindergarten teacher.  There were no assessments, no scripted lessons, no rush to squeeze in as much as you can in 5 minutes.  It was children and their families interacting and creating together, turning a small milk carton into a masterpiece.  It's the simple things in life!

One of my professional goals this year is to increase parent involvement.  Families have one opportunity a month to come in and complete an activity with their child.  The goal was created to foster positive home/school relationships, but the surprising result has been how much I've gotten out of it.  I get choked up every time I walk around the classroom watching dads, moms, grandparents, aunts, even family friends and babysitters working with children.  At the end of the gingerbread house activity a babysitter came up to thank me.  She had tears in her eyes and expressed how much she loved coming in.

I truly believe that these kinds of hands-on projects are the best way for students to learn.  I wish every day was like Gingerbread House Day, and I try to create as many of these kinds of activities as time allows, but that big monster "time" gets in the way all too often (due to some of those things mentioned above).  I hope the pendulum swings back and we begin again to allow little ones to experience and interact with materials, and to use their imagination to create.