Author: Ms. Valentina

As one of the activities related to Christmas, the children have created their own Christmas cards to give them to you at the end of the term. Each child was given a folded construction paper on which they were encouraged to draw anything they wished for their families using crayons. After drawing in the inside of the cards, the children chose any colour of paint they wished and finger-painted the inside of the Christmas bauble outline at the front of the card, which was prepared from beforehand.

This activity encouraged the children to be creative and show their imagination to draw the inside of the cards. Some children wanted to write their own name and here their pre-writing skills were encouraged. By finger-painting the Christmas bauble on the front of the card, the children were given the opportunity to develop and enhance their fine motor skills.

The vetches were soaked beforehand at home for 24 hours. This is because before planting, they needed to absorb a lot of water to swell in size overnight. The activity was carried out in small groups where the children rotated in the areas until all of them had the opportunity to carry out the activity.

Each child was provided with a small plastic cup while cotton wool and seeds were put in the middle of the table. The children took turns and picked cotton wool to put in their plastic cups. Following this, each child took some seeds and dug them in the cotton wool of his plastic cup. The children were then be encouraged to water their vetches.

After finishing the activity, the vetches were placed in a dark place in one of the cupboards where they will grow. Throughout the remaining days of our project, the children will water their vetches every few days to make sure the cotton wool does not go dry. We will try our best not to expose the vetches to a lot of light until they are fully grown as they start turning from white to green.

Once grown, the children will then have the opportunity to take their vetches at home so with you parents, they can use them as a Christmas decoration.

Table set up

Pulling pieces of cotton wool

Putting cotton wool in the cup

Planting the seeds in cotton wool

Watering the vetches

As we are currently working on the HO HO HO, it’s Christmas Time! project, we are carrying out activities related to Christmas. In this activity the table was set up with bowls containing a small amount of baby oil, cotton buds and a circle outline on different coloured construction paper.

Firstly, the children were encouraged to choose their favourite colour from the construction paper available and cut along the circle outline using a pair of scissors. This helped them in enhancing and developing their fine motor skills. The children also felt proud of carrying out something which they may see as an “adult task.”

After cutting the circle, the children were offered with cotton buds which dipped in the bowl containing baby oil. With the cotton buds, the children were encouraged to scribble or draw anything they want to decorate the circle (which represents the bauble) they had cut. The oil eventually changed the construction paper as it gave the circle a transparent look. For comparison, the children were asked to dip a cotton swab in water and see if it changed the construction paper the same way the baby oil did.

When the children were done, the finished sun catcher-Christmas ornament was faced opposite to the window where the children watched it glow in the sunlight. The creations of the children were hung to the Christmas tree we have in the classroom to represent the baubles.

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