Gingerbread Exchange 2015

It's time for the annual Gingerbread Man Exchange!  Each December, wonderful Pre-K and Kindergarten classes have been mailing paper creations to each other and learning a little geography in the process. If you would like to participate this year, the deadline to sign up is November 27, 2015.

The gingerbread men must be mailed between December 1 and December 3, 2015. Gingerbread men may be decorated with glitter, yarn, fabric, stickers, markers, crayon, paint, etc. (no candy or food items.) Please include a short note from your class and if possible a photo of the students. You will mail one gingerbread man to each class on the list you sign up on.  You should receive one gingerbread man from each of the classes on your list.

If your class would like to send out and receive 12 paper gingerbread men, sign up HERE.
If your class would like to send out and receive 20 paper gingerbread men, sign up HERE.
You may notice that there is an extra sign up slot on your list, that is because your class will not be sending a gingerbread man to your own address.

When signing up, PLEASE LOOK to see who has already signed up on a particular list.  Everyone wants to send and receive mail from as wide a variety of places as possible.  Try to sign up on a list that does not yet have a school from your state signed up. (For some states like Georgia and Texas, this in unavoidable because we get a big response.  Let's try to limit each list to two schools from these states.)  Please don't sign up more than one class from the same school on the same list. I will be checking the sign up to see if it is filling up and we need to add additional lists.  YOU CAN edit your own sign up if you realize that you provided the wrong zip code, etc.

If you would like to Skype in addition to the mailing project, please put that information and your email address under your address.  That way, other teachers on your list who wish to Skype with you can contact you.

Have Fun!

Eilis

Gingerbread Exchange

Stay tuned... I will be organizing a Gingerbread Man Exchange again this year.  The sign ups will start  November 15th and the mail out will be in December.

Blessings,
Eilis

Fun Manipulative Found at Target's Dollar Spot

If it's the end of July....It's time to check out Target's Dollar Spot for great classroom materials.  I receive no compensation for this.  I just love to share good finds with other teachers!

Today I picked up five bags... yes for a whopping five bucks... of these cool toys:

There are 28 pieces in a bag.  They are advertised as being for children four years and up. These colors were packaged for "girls" and there were primary colored ones for "boys."  I chose these ones because I like the fun colors.    

This is what five bags (140) look like in one of those large school supply boxes:

These toys are great for fine motor development.  They are not hard to snap together or to take apart.

They could be used to make patterns.

They can also be snapped together verically (sorry for the fuzzy picture).

I plan to use them for counting, color sorting, and as a construction toy during free choice centers.

Blessings,

Eilis

Dollar Store Finds

It's been a while since I have treasure hunted at the Dollar Tree.  A few days ago, I stopped by for some dice, but came home with a lot more....

These two counting posters ($1 for the pair) match my classroom perfectly!  The kids and I both love the Count by 2's one.  It gives such a good visual to go along with this skill.  The count to 100 poster can also be used as a game.  I plan to use it this way during our 100th day of school activities.  (Sorry about the  shine, but I had laminated these before I got around to taking pictures...)

I do still have a traditional 100 chart poster for counting left to right and counting by tens, but the new one adds some variety.

I also picked up these two puzzles.

This game offers directions for two players and fun exposure to color words.

And for frosting on the cake...

Foam sight word dice (a little bigger than a one inch cube) and a two minute timer. I will be making some center games for these this week :).

There are just a few days left to sign up for the  Valentine Exchange!

Blessings,

Eilis

2015 Valentine Exchange

The 2014 Gingerbread Exchange went very smoothly using Sign Up Genius.  Thank you everyone for making it so easy on me!

I'm going to use the same system for the 2015 Valentine Exchange.  There is just one difference... There will just be groups of 13 classes.  Each group will send and receive 12 valentines from the other classes on their list.  If you wish to send and receive 24 valentines, you can sign up for two lists. I will continue to add more groups as they fill up UNTIL January 31st. 

As always:

Please mail one student created valentine to each of the other 12 classes on your list.

Please do not include food or candy.

Please include a short note about your state, school, and/or class.  Some ideas would include:  school mascot, favorite classroom activities, how many boys/girls in your class, field trips, etc.

The kids love to see a photo of the class if this is possible.

The valentines can be made from paper, fabric, stickers, ribbons, fun foam, markers, crayons, etc.

PLEASE TYPE YOUR ADDRESS VERY CAREFULLY when signing up.  If you find that you did make a mistake, you should be able to edit your own sign up.

Please mail all valentines between February 1st and 5th, 2015.

Here's the link for signing up:  Sign Up Genius

Questions:  Please email me at growinginprek@gmail.com.

Hugs,

Eilis