Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

Today we were all about Christmas Trees, and Bristol and Ryan started their morning touching and feeling Christmas tree branches.  We talked about how good they smelled, and we compared long ones and short ones.  We wondered how many needles were on each branch and thought that the needles on the branches felt a little pointy, but also tickled our hands when we brushed against them.  We also thought it was fun to hide behind them!  Everyone also had a lot to say about the Christmas Trees that they have at home.

Where is Ryan?

This branch feels pointy!

Over the next two weeks we will be working very hard on the songs that we will be singing for the Christmas program.  So after a short morning circle, we learned some new Christmas songs. We then headed out to a very wet playground.  But, that didn't stop us from having a ton of fun!  We were the only children on the two-year old playground to brave the damp weather today, so we had the whole thing to ourselves.  What a treat!  The humidity was perfect for bubbles that hung around us and all over the ground for some good popping and stomping!

We all had great eye contact and smiles during a good game of chase as Ryan and I pushed shopping carts together to try to catch Bristol!  We also did the usual fun with balls as we put them through tunnels and down wet slides.  It was a perfect way to target vocabulary for "wet" and "splash!"  Ryan and Bristol also opened a concession stand where they were selling pizza.  

Good wet fun! Splash!

After getting fresh diapers and clothes from our adventures outside, we headed to our room for language circle.  Our book today was Christmas Tree by Wendell and Florence Minor.  This sweet rhyming book challenges the reader to imagine what type of Christmas tree he/she might be...a tree at the top of a lighthouse or the Statue of Liberty? a tree in a tiny mouse hole? a singing Christmas tree? or a tree just for cats, dogs, or horses to name a few.

After reading our book, we made our own Christmas trees using construction paper of basic shapes.  We glued green triangles of different sizes to make the tree (working on terms big, bigger, biggest), a brown square for the trunk, a yellow star, and multi-color circles as the ornaments.  We reviewed all of these shapes and colors and counted them as we glued them all together to make a beautiful Christmas tree!

While Bristol was finished her tree, Ryan enjoyed playing with the cat & mouse puppets!

                                     

We finished up our Christmas Tree theme by watching the Dancing Christmas Tree Song.  Feel free to play this and practice at home because you just might see it again at the Christmas program!

We spent the rest of our morning making a special Christmas present for mommy and daddy and eating lunch with our other Speech Garden friends.  I am really looking forward to Bristol and Ryan's first official "Out and About" to see the Singing Bears on Thursday!