This week we learned all about the story of Daniel in the Lion's Den. Monday we read the story in our Jesus Storybook Bible (this is seriously the BEST kids' Bible ever...)
Then we recited our memory verse, Luke 1:37 - "Nothing is impossible for God." And we danced to the song "My God is So Big". The kids LOVED this song! I think doing the hand motions makes it even more fun for them.
Then we got busy working on building strong hand muscles by cutting snowflakes! This was definitely challenging for the kids. The regular printer paper was too thick for them to cut through once it was folded, but they did better with coffee filters. They all worked very hard to make those scissors go!
All that cutting worked up an appetite! Our snack was lion rice cakes! I mixed peanut butter and honey together and pipped it on to make a mane. Then I stuck on chocolate chip eyes, a craisin nose, and oriental noodles for whiskers! They were a hit!
Doc didn't hesitate to get right in there...mmm...
Instead of reading the book of the week from the curriculum, I decided to share some of our favorite Christmas books during snack time. Monday's book was Mortimer's Christmas Manger by Karma Wilson. This is one of our favorite stories to read at Christmas!
After snack and story time, it was time to get our hands dirty! We made a giant batch of salt dough so we could roll and cut ornaments. We all took turns mixing the dough...
And the kids rolled it out all by themselves! Our arms and hands got quite a workout today!
Salt Dough Recipe
- Mix 1 cup flour, 1 cup salt, and gradually add 1 cup water.
- Mix until it forms a ball. (You may not need the whole cup of flour).
- Roll out on a floured surface and cut shapes with cookie cutters.
- Poke holes in the shapes using a straw (so you can add ribbon later for hanging).
- Bake at 200 degrees until dry.
If they are thick, you may need to flip them halfway. Our thin ones took about 3 hours to dry, but the fat ones took much longer. Then paint, or add glitter, gems or any other decorations you like. I doubled the recipe for our school group...just wanted to make sure everyone had enough dough!
Thursday...
As great as I felt after school on Monday, it all went out the window today. In reflecting on the morning, I realize that the majority of the problem was MY attitude not the children. I've been strugging with a 17 month-old who is teething and has decided that 5:15 is his new wake up time. By the time school starts, he is exhausted and clingy, and it made the morning very challenging for me. My patience had long vanished by the time our friends even got here today. Shame on me for being so foul...
But we pressed on. Huckleberry-dog decided to join in for calendar and Bible time today!
We retold the story of Daniel in the Lion's Den using our felt board. We sent the babies outside at this point so all was calm :)
Then we practiced making straight lines for writing "L's".
And we colored lions to make puppets! They really enjoyed this today. We don't give them enough time to color...
Cute!
Today's snack was "trail mix" with pretzles, wheat chex, yogurt-covered raisins, craisins, and Christmas M&Ms. And I read the story Humprey's First Christmas. Story time was a bit of a disaster. Doc whined the whole time and wanted me to hold him. And he managed to sit on everyone and spill at least 3 cups of trail mix. It was a challenge to even get through the story. I was extremely frustrated with him by the end and decided to just throw in the towel and let the kids play. We were supposed to do a number sorting activity and we were supposed to decorate our ornaments...but the kids were squirly, and I was in a foul mood so we ended school there. The kids played for a bit longer, then we put on Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas while we made lunches.
Evelyn led the kids in prayer before they ate...
Seems to me like we should have STARTED the day with prayer. Ah well...live and learn :)
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