End of the year ideas

Hello there! Summer is FINALLY here and I couldn't be more thrilled!!  At the end of each school year I have my class vote on fun activities that they would like to do.  This year my class decided upon ice cream and camping day - and of course I had a few more fun activities up my sleeves! 

These are my go-to summer books.  They're fun to read, and therefore PERFECT for this time of year.

Camping day is a super FUN end of the year activity, especially when the school year is winding down. If you'd like to try camping in your own class first set the stage- with A LOT of imagination and a few good props you can turn your classroom into a campsite.  Next, plan a few simple activities that will keep them engaged.  My camping day consisted of learning a new camping song, making S'mores how-to art, eating/ describing S'mores, brainstorming about what to bring when camping, graphing who has and hasn't been camping, and lastly learning about Smokey Bear's rules for fire prevention.  Check out The First Grade Parade for cute camping ideas, as well as, the graph and S'mores art that you see above.

Here is a cute informational cartoon about Smokey Bear's rules for fire prevention.

          Another easy activity to do at the end of the year is to have an ice cream day.  My ice cream day consisted of learning a song about ice cream, an ice cream cone craft and eating ice cream. I bought ice cream cups- which I have absolutely no idea why I have never done this before!  I didn't have to scoop, there was no mess to clean up and the kids loved the little wooded spoon that came with it (it was a win win situation).   

       We also blew bubbles, practiced spelling cvc and cvce words with Cheez- It's, and had an amazing graduation celebration.  If you're interested in how to make the graduation hat pictured above click here. It was a wonderful end to a great year!

A- Camping We Will Go!

Hello Everyone! My kindergarten adventure has come to an end and now it's officially summer vacation.  I am ecstatic about having a much needed break for a couple of months!  Being a teacher does have it's rewards!  The end of the year went by in such a blur which is why my poor little blog has been neglected. Take a look... and you'll see why!


All teachers know that the last couple of weeks of school can be well... a little painful. The kids sense summer break and their behavior changes with the season.  With that in mind I was trying to come up with a fun summer activity that would engage them and that's when camping popped into my head!  What could be more fun than camping?  Apparently nothing my class loved it!!!  

In order to prepare for my camping theme I headed on over to Eberhart's Explorers  and The First Grade Parade to get some ideas.  The campsite idea above came from Eberhart's Explorers it was easy to prepare.  The fire was made out of orange, yellow and red tissue paper sitting on top of sticks that I collected.  Thanks to my dad (who is a camping fanatic) for letting me borrow his camping chair.  

The kids were so excited to sit around the campfire (with the lights dimmed) and sing campfire songs.  Their favorite campfire song was called A- Camping We Will Go (tune: Farmer in the Dell).  Not only did we sing songs but we also learned about fire safety. The kids learned Smokey Bear's Five  Rules for Fire Prevention.  We talked about forest fires and how it effects the animals that live in our beautiful forest (it was an eye opening conversation for many of them).  

We started off our unit by graphing who has been camping and who hasn't.  The idea for the tent graph came from The First Grade Parade.  

Can anyone say, "yummy!"  My class sure did!!!  The kids had a blast making and eating their S'mores!  

After we ate our S'mores the kids made a keepsake to take home to remember the day.  I found this idea on The First Grade Parade.  

Together we brainstormed about the steps to make S'mores.  I typed their ideas and they glued them in order on the back of their art.  They were thrilled about being able to bring this home to share with their parents about how to make S'mores.  

This idea also came from The First Grade Parade.  I had the class describe how the S'mores tasted to them.  I was BLOWN away with the adjectives that came out of their mouths!


Before I sign off I want to share who showed up to grace me with his presence the day I packed up my classroom...

                                                                      This GUY!  

Thanks for stopping by!  I'll be blogging again soon!  

Miss Hood