February 28, 2011

Be a Star




Did you watch the Academy Awards last night?  I have not seen The King's Speech, but it is now on my list of things to do. 
It was fun to watch the stars on the red carpet.  The ladies had on their fancy dresses and jewels and those shoes!!!   The guys looked pretty good, too.  
Anne Hathaway must have changed dresses about 20 times. 
 Life is short! So many dresses and so little time.....

Maybe you should set up a red carpet for your students.  It is easy with the new mini bulletin board from CTP. 


I laminated all of the pieces before I started so I could change it out and use it for different kids.  Of course Kate is my star so she got to walk the red carpet.
She chose pictures of her and her farmily to post along the walk.






I used the star cards in the bulletin board to make a book.  Each card was laminated.  Kate used a Vis-a-Vis pen to answer the questions.  I bound it with ring-its so it was quick and easy to make.   When another child is the star I can wash off the ink with a wet cloth and reuse the book. 

It even comes with an Emmy!

The award in front of the bulletin board announces the Star Student.

In kindergarten everyone is a Star.  All it takes is a crown!



Or....maybe they are all clowns with crowns!



Congratulations to all the Winners!




February 17, 2011

Valentine Sweets

One of the nice things about working for CTP is that I always have cute stuff to do kindergarten projects.  So when Kate came home and said she had to decorate a box for her valentines, I was all over it!  I have hearts of very color and size.  First, we covered the box.  Then, I put glue dots on the back of the hearts and she stuck them on her box. 

When it was all done she took the box to school.  That afternoon I asked her if hers was the cutest box.  (I am all about competition!) She said, "Well it definitely had the most hearts!" 

PERFECT! 
Remember my saying...less is less!  More is more!
   


 

So, this is Kate's decorated cereal box. 
I think there are exactly the right number of hearts.


The party was a little "over the top" too. 
 Mrs.  Hill knows that more is more!









The CTP 10" designer cut outs made perfect place mats for an elegant party.  Water served over crushed ice from Sonic  in the tall glasses makes a delicious nectur.






Several dainty sweets were served. 




Each couple was introduced as they entered the room.  They were addressed as Master or Princess.


(I talked to several of the kids from the upper classes later that day.  They could all remember the name of their partner at the kindergarten dance. )




Of course, everyone used their best manners at the elegant party.

So what do you do when you have given the children a ton of sugar??? 
You have a dance and let them work it off!!






YMCA
   
 
Hand-jive!



The Chicken Dance




Girls Just Want to Be Girls!









The Tango!!
What were the parents doing during this elegant party? 
Taking pictures, of course!


Memories are made of this........

February 3, 2011

Sanity Savers....New Products from CTP

Today, I remembered why I live in Texas.  I don't like cold weather!
It has been cold and icy all week. Cabin fever set in on the third snow day.  A sheet of ice covers everything and more snow is forecasted for tonight.  Looks like there will be no school again tomorrow. This afternoon I decided to venture out into the cold.  I got my boots, gloves, hat, and coat from the very back of my closet.  I was ready!  I opened the garage to find a 3-foot ice sculpture had formed from a downspout to the driveway directly behind my car.  There was no moving it....maybe it will thaw by May. I went back inside the house and put all my snow clothes in the very back of my closet. See you in May!

I saw this on Facebook this morning!

Tomorrow is the fourth day.  Don't expect too much from me!


Actually, I did have a few Sanity Savers.  The new product samples from CTP came last week. 
I sat down with scissors and glue
to see what I could do! 
(Oh, dear! I am starting to rhyme.)

 
This is the new bulletin board called Dress for the Weather.  This would be perfect for morning circle time.  You could record the weather using the spinner and then dress the kid appropriately.
He has quite a wardrobe. Look at all the pieces. 

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This is what I did with it. 
The backboard is magnetic. 
I put magnets on the back of each piece of clothing. 
The dress-up kid is taped securely in place. 

This would be great for a center.  Kate was visiting when I as working on this. She spent at least an hour dressing and re-dressing the kid. 
I added a laminated speech bubble.  You could write different messages from the kid with a dry-erase pen.  Since the piece is laminated you could erase and change the message.



Here is another new bulletin board called Happy Helpers.  This cute helpers chart features monkeys and bananas. 






It is great for tracking your helpers.
But.... 
I always try to look for a different way of using things.  This bulletin board screamed Chicka Chicka to me. 

This again is a magnet board. The chocolate stitch letters have magnets on their backs.  This was another favorite with Kate.  She moved the letters around as she read the book.  Then, she made words with some of the letters.




This bulletin board looks really good with the hot-pink paper for the background. If you use paper on top of your magnet board but sure to use strong magnets so that the magnets work through all the layers of paper.  I used craft magnets attached with glue-dots.


Thanks to CTP for sending me what is new.
With scissors and glue I now have plenty to do!