Happy Winter, Magnolia Families!

During our last few weeks we’ve had big excitement with our Lantern Walk, family visits, gingerbread house making and more. Enjoy a peek into our fun here on our blog- we hope you all have a beautiful and warm winter break!

Winter Traditions

Here in Magnolia we’ve been enjoying music, library books, and projects that celebrate Winter holidays! Emily made some cinnamon dough and we rolled it out and created star, tree and snowflake shaped ornaments that are perfect for a tree or window. Emily shared that she still has one that she made when she was in preschool! We learned that many Winter holidays and celebrations center around light. We read books about Hanukkah, make latkes and even played a dreidel game. We read a story called “Winter Candle” about how neighbors come together to share the light and warmth of one candle. Nova’s family shared about a special tradition in Persian culture called “Yalda Night.”

Lantern Walk

Preparing for the Winter Lantern Walk was a big undertaking, and Magnolia friends were enthused and up for the task. Julianne visited and created the lanterns with us, the children beaded the handles, and families brought in wintery tree boughs for us to line the path. The Lantern Walk is a tradition we’ve held at the ECC now for three years! With singing, walking with our glowing lanterns and sipping warm cider we came together to welcome winter.

Sammy the Snake and Three Letter Words!

Not only did we meet sammy the snake but we also listened to a story about how the alphabet friends we’ve learned so far can SPELL WORDS! We made an impressive list of the words they all make and demonstrated them with a fun game. The children had to identify the letters by their sound and formation, then the audience helped them line up in the correct order!

Using our Five Senses

This time of the year is full of opportunities for the children to use all of their senses to experience the winter season. We learned about the five senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste) and through many activities we engaged our senses to learn and play. Mitra worked with children to make scented playdough using essential oils and food coloring. You could smell gingerbread, a winter wreath, the smell of a candy cane… our classroom smelled delicious! Check out our scientific observations from our Wintery activities.