Thanksgiving Thankful Tree

This year I decided to put up a thankful tree and each day our son needed to name one thing he is thankful for and then I would write it on a leaf to hang in our tree. We started on the first day of November and stopped on Thanksgiving Day, and depending on your requirements, this can get tough for a 5-year old. We didn't allow him to name family members separate - he said family for his first leaf and then wasn't allowed to name mom, dad, or grandparents. He also said 'friends' which meant he couldn't name specific friends; he really needed to put thought into what he did say. Towards the end we helped because after about 20 days, it was difficult.

He liked trying to think of things each night and it made him realize he has a lot to be thankful for - which was my goal :). 

It's a simple thing to do but has a lot of meaning and I think it's great to do before the Christmas season.

His leaves - no special order…
going camping with dad
hot chocolate after playing in the snow
thanksgiving and turkey too
movie day at school
new pajamas for pj day
huge bed
friends at school
my sister
going fishing
recess
family
health
my house
my teacher
donuts for breakfast
pie
getting juice
my room
food
legos
church
having mom make me lunch
snow
television
toys
clothes
my school

Valentine's Day Party

Today was the big Valentine's Day Party at preschool and the kids and mom volunteers seemed to have a great time. I know I did. The little ones started out with being able to make their own sundaes, vanilla ice cream with a real fruit topping of their choice and the not to be forgotten whipped cream. The kids were excited about the ice cream but I think they would have liked anything besides goldfish. Goldfish are a great snack and they all seem to enjoy them but as a parent you know they are common.

Anyway after the preschoolers finished we moved on to the games and craft stations.

Station 1 - Craft: We painted the kids hands bright red so they could make a handprint heart on paper. Special note to parents - kids love paint and when you paint their hands with a brush they think it's "one of the coolest things ever."

Station 2 - Game: Place the sticker heart on cupid's heart - Valentine version of pin the tail on the donkey. The kids liked helping spin their classmate around three times.

Station 3 - Game: Move the tissue paper heart from the table to the bowl by using only a straw. After the kids got the hang of this, we would give them a minute to see how fast they could go and then they counted the hearts to see how many they had. (I can say this is the game I brought and while I thought it would fail because it wasn't fun enough - the kids really loved it and I was pleasantly shocked.)

Station 4 - Craft: Decorate the I love you sign language heart. No mess, no fuss and kids love stickers.

Painted Dragon

This weekend my son and I ran into Michaels in search of a fun project and after looking through a couple isles, I thought paint might be a good idea. So with paint brushes, paints and a toy dragon we were set and on our way home for my little boy to become the next da Vinci.

When daddy saw the paints he was curious why I purchased real paint and not the cheap little watercolor ones. I actually didn't see those at the store but those aren't near as cool as the real paints - you know the ones, the ones that make a mess of your hands, clothing and tablecloth.

Anyway while he may not be the next da Vinci...yet; our little guy loved using the paintbrush to create his art.