Plans are underway our class

HOLIDAY PARTY
Date:____________________________ Time: ____________________
Students will travel in groups to different areas of the room and learn about various winter holidays, including Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Years. At each station, parent volunteers will present some basic information about the specified holiday and then demonstrate and supervise a related holiday craft. All lessons and craft materials will be provided. We will also have a station for cookie decorating so students will have a yummy treat. Please sign up to help in any way you are able & return this by _______________________________________

--------------------------------------------------Holiday Party Sign Up

Students Name: ___________________________________________________________________________________ Parents Name: ____________________________________________________________________________________ Email address where room mom can contact you: ________________________________________________________ Please check all of the following that you are willing to help with. When all forms have been received, we will distribute the assignments and notify you of what you are in charge of. Supplies Needed: (for 30 Children) Pipe Cleaner Yarn (any color) A Hanukkah Dreidel A bag of small candies, ie. M&Ms or Skittles Small Ziploc bags Wide popsicle sticks Regular sized popsicle sticks Sequins Plain sugar cookies- store bought, any shape and size Small plates Napkins Plastic knives Frosting Holiday sprinkles or candies Capri Suns

Help Needed: Set Up: Arrive to the classroom at Clean Up: Arrive at the classroom at Present Lesson and Supervise Craft: Please specify which holiday you would like to supervise: Supervise Cookie Decorating

Final assignments for our class

HOLIDAY PARTY
Date: _____________________ Time: _____________
Thank you for offering to donate items for our Christmas party. Below is the final list of items we need you to bring: Students Name:

Please have all items brought to school with your child the day before the party. If you are no longer able to help donate items, or you cannot donate all of the items listed above, please email the teacher as soon as possible so that we can assign those items to another parent. Also, if you volunteered to help in the classroom with setup/ cleanup and/or supervising a station during the party, we have you on the list and really appreciate you giving your time. Please be in the class at ______ for set up and ______ for cleanup. Supervision assignments will be given on the day of the class party. Thanks again- this is going to be a lot of fun!

New Years Lesson & Craft

New Year's Day is the first day of the year. This day used to be a day of religious feast, but since the 1900s has become an occasion to celebrate the night of December 31, called New Year's Eve. It is also customary to make New Year's resolutions, which individuals hope to fulfill in the coming year. Some popular resolutions are to get in shape, learn something new, do something adventurous that you have never done before and save money. New Year's Day Celebrations

Polar Bear Plunges: People gather on beaches and run into the cold and sometimes freezing water. In Pasadena, California, the Tournament of Roses is held- a parade of floats all decorated with flowers. Hindus celebrate the New Year by paying respects to their parents and other elders.

New Year's Eve Celebrations

In Sydney, Australia, they have the world's largest fireworks displays In New York City, the huge Times Square Ball located high above Times Square is lowered starting at 11:59:00 p.m., or the last minute of the year, and reaches the bottom of its tower at the stroke of midnight with fireworks & flashing lights. In the Philippines, people light fireworks, loud firecrackers, booming sound system, bamboo canons as well as make a lot of noise with the belief that the noises would scare evil spirits away and prevent them from bringing bad luck to the coming new year. Coins are also jumbled in tin cans to make noise with the belief that this will bring them more money. Children are encouraged to jump about as there was an old belief that this was supposed to make you taller. It is popular to kiss loved ones on New Year's Eve. New Years Resolution Art Activity http://crafts.kaboose.com/resolution-magnet.html

What you'll need:

Plain paper or construction paper Crayons/ Markers White craft glue or glue stick

How to make it: 1. Across the top write I RESOLVE with a crayon of your choice. 2. Choose your resolution and write it below the title (i.e. to keep my room clean) 3. Draw a colorful picture depicting your resolution below the words.

Kwanzaa Lesson & Craft

Kwanzaa is a weeklong celebration from December 26 to January 1 each year. Families celebrating Kwanzaa decorate their households with objects of art; they dress in colorful African clothes and the have a Kwanzaa ceremony that may include drumming and dancing, gift giving and feasting. Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the following principles, as follows:

Umoja (Unity): To strive for and to maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race. Kujichagulia (Self-Determination): To define ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves. Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility): To build and maintain our community together Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics): To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses Nia (Purpose): To educate our community and restore them to their traditional greatness. Kuumba (Creativity): To do always as much as we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful Imani (Faith): To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, and our leaders. Kwanzaa Feast Placemat http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/kwanza/placemat/

What you'll need:

Construction paper Scissors

How to make it:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Take a sheet of black construction paper and fold it in half lengthwise. Using chalk, draw horizontal one-inch lines from the fold to within one inch of each edge. With the paper folded in half, cut on these lines, but be sure not to cut all the way to either edge. Next, cut several one-inch wide, horizontal strips of red and green construction paper. Weave these strips through your black piece of construction paper, alternating the two colors. *Steps 1,2 & 4 will be completed by a parent volunteer before the day of the class party

Christmas Lesson & Craft

Lesson: Read a Christmas story, such as The Night before Christmas.

http://crafts.kaboose.com/craft-stick-christmas-tree-ornament.html

Christmas Tree Ornament Craft

What you'll need:

1 jumbo craft stick 5 regular craft sticks Green and brown markers 12 yarn or ribbon 2 Pipe cleaners 25-30 colored sequins Scissors White craft glue

How to make it:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Cut one of the regular craft sticks in half. Put aside. Cut half an inch off of each end of two of the regular craft sticks, discard cut ends. Color the jumbo craft stick brown and the others green. Glue the green craft sticks horizontally onto the brown craft stick. Bend 1 pipe cleaner into the shape of a star. Trim excess if needed and glue to the top of the tree Cut the other pipe cleaner into four pieces, each one smaller than the other (4.5, 3.5, 2.5, 1.5). Curve each of the pipe cleaners and glue them onto the tree as garland. Glue various spots on the green craft sticks. Place sequins onto the glue dots and set aside to dry. Turn the ornament over and glue a looped piece of yarn onto the back for the hanger.

Hanukkah Lesson & Activity

Hanukkah (also known as Chanukah) is the Jewish Festival of Lights and lasts eight days. Jews celebrate Hanukkah to commemorate the Miracle of the Oil. Over 2000 years ago, the Jews rebelled against their ruler because he insisted that all Jewish people must worship Greek Gods. After three hard years of fighting, the Jews won and, to celebrate, they restored the Temple of Jerusalem - which had been taken over by the enemies - and rededicated it to their God. As part of the celebrations they lit an oil lamp which should have been kept burning all the time, even though they could only find enough oil to keep it burning for one night. But a miracle occurred, and the oil lamp stayed lit for eight days, which was the time it took to make new oil for the lamp. This was the Miracle of the Oil. It was then declared that every year, Jews would remember the day with an eight-day Festival of Lights and celebrate the miracle of the oil by placing eight candles in a Menorah (a special candlestick) and lighting one candle for each evening of the celebration. The Hanukkah lights are meant to remind those walking by the home about the holidays miracle, so the Menorah is displayed at a prominent window or near the front door. During Hanukkah, people exchange gifts, give to the poor and needy and celebrate by playing games, such as the Dreidle. Some say the dreidel game was devised by the Jews to camouflage the fact that they were studying their Jewish religion, which was outlawed by Greeks. The Jews would gather in caves to study. If soldiers were spotted, the Jews would hide their scrolls and spin tops, so the Greeks thought they were gambling, not learning. Dreidle Game Activity 1. Distribute the tokens/ candy evenly among all of the players. 2. Direct each player to place one token in the middle of the circle to create "the pot." 3. Take turns spinning the dreidel, starting with the youngest player. The dreidel will land in such a way that one and only one letter shows on top. According to the letter appearing, the player should perform the following: Shin (or "put in" in Yiddish) - Put one more token in the pot.

Nun (or "nothing" (in Yiddish) - Do nothing.

o

Gimmel (or "everything" in Yiddish) - Take all tokens from the pot.
o

Hay ("halb"or "half" in Yiddish) - Take half of all tokens lying in the pot. In case of an odd number of tokens, round up.

4. Pass the dreidel on to the next player Keep playing until someone wins by collecting all the tokens in the pot!