Merry Christmas!

We hope that your family Christmas celebrations are filled with joy!  Here's a peek at ours on the last day of school before break...
Anna Merritt's mom made these adorable gingerbread churches for our kids to decorate.

 They really enjoyed "decorating" them.  (more like a second snack time!)

I think Will was our most diligent decorator.

 This was a great little project...thanks Amy for the churches, and parents for the decorating supplies!

 Will's mom brought a tree for us to decorate...

 with handade ornaments by Bode's sister...

 We were sad that Bode was home sick, but glad we had the rest of the crew to wish you a...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Look forward to seeing you all again on Friday, January 4, 2013!

Our Nativity Story

Mary and Joseph traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

 While they were there, Mary had a baby that she laid in a manger because there was no room for them to stay at the inn.

 The night Jesus was born, there were shepherds watching over their flocks in the field.

 An angel of the Lord told the shepherds, "A Savior has been born today in the city of David.  He is Christ the Lord."

 And the shepherds went to see Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus.

Three wisemen (or one in our case) followed a star to the place where baby Jesus was.

 After worshiping the Savior, the wise men gave him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

 Then this very attractive crew went on a tour of the TOT Time school building to spread the good news of Jesus' birth!

 On their last stop before playing in the gym, they found some Christian brothers to share the news with (that's the 3 year II class).

 Take a bow little ones.  Great job!

CAST:
Joseph..............Will
Mary................Vivi
Shepherd..........Bode
Angel................Anna Merritt
Wise man.........Walker

Jingle Bells

The wreath is a symbol of God's eternal love for us (the circle has no beginning or end).  Our little guys decorated theirs with red sequins on Wednesday!

 Today we learned that J is for Jingle Bells and Jesus.  After hearing more of the Christmas story today, each of the children picked a jingle bell necklace and we danced to Christmas music.

 We had a rehearsal for the Christmas sing along in the morning...

 where they all got to try out the stage...

 and see baby Jesus in the manger.

 We're so glad you all could join us for the sing along!  I know your little ones were happy to see you arrive. 

Have a great weekend and "ho ho ho" from our own Anna Merritt :)  Too cute!

Exploration.

Isn't that what being a toddler is all about?   

 Last week we explored with Play dough.

And we explored with watercolor paints.

And sometimes they just explored each other and the room from different angles.

They explored drums in music class.

And the tunnels again in our room.  They are no longer shy when it comes to the tunnels :)

On Wednesday we start a new month.  Can you believe it's December already?  'Tis the season for shopping and celebrations!  In the midst of all the busyness, please make sure your little ones still get plenty of rest because 'tis also the cold and flu season!  We don't want them to miss out on any of the December fun we have planned!

 

Important dates: 

Friday, December 7 is the Christmas Sing Along.  Please join us in the video cafe at 12:30.  You should be able to sit right down with us (or at least near us) and sing along :)  Please plan to walk back to the class with your child to get their things at the conclusion.

 

Friday, December 14 is Spirit Day.  Please have your children wear their TOT Time t-shirts.

 

Wednesday, December 19 is our Christmas celebration in class.  Happy Birthday Jesus!  I believe Kerry will be in touch with you about how you can help with this. 

 

January 4, 2013 will be the day TOT Time will be back in session after Christmas break!

Thanksgiving friends

Please remember that there is NO toddler class next week due to the Thanksgiving holiday.  We will look forward to seeing you all back on Wednesday, Nov. 28th.

 

This week we talked about the pilgrims and a Thanksgiving feast.  On Wednesday they painted with green sparkly paint:

It wasn't exactly meant to be finger paint, but we love the enthusiasm :)

 and then we did hand painting in art.  Weren't those turkeys adorable?

 Today we made our friendship snack.  Thank you so much for sending in your items.  Each child helped add the ingredient they brought in.  We had plenty of leftovers, so please be sure to check your child's bag for it!  Yum...

 Enjoying the friendship snack with friends!

 Walker didn't want the fun to be over.

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving holiday.  We are thankful for all of you!