I don't know if other schools party like we do at ours. At least in Kindergarten and 1st grade there is a themed party every month where the students do educational activities and, like any good party, eat.
September is Apple Day, October is Spiders and Pumpkins, November is Thankful, Gingerbread Day in December, etc. One of the great things about being a SAHM is I can go help out on these fun days so I get to see first hand the great activities. This is good because J is not the best at remembering and describing what happened at school.
Today's activities included:
Rainbow Apple coloring (draw concentric circles in an outline of an apple and color the colors of the rainbow working on fine motor and science)
Pin the Worm on the Apple (color and cut out a worm then try to pin it on a giant apple while blindfolded - more fine motor)
Apple Graphing (taste test slices of red, green and yellow apples then pick your favorite, color a small apple that color and add it to the graph)
Apple Bobbing (each child had his/her own bucket, fresh apple and water swapped out for each child, contest to see who could do it the most times so we got to work on counting skills)
Apple Foods (apple juice, pie, chips, sauce - all store bought per district rules)
Plus they had been reading apple books and doing other apple projects throughout the month. I didn't get a good picture of the "10 Apples Up on Top" project, but it was adorable, she took a picture of each child looking up and printed them, then the kids cut out their picture and pasted it on the bottom of a strip of construction paper. Then the colored and cut and pasted 10 little apples on top of their heads. SO CUTE!
Luckily we don't have allergy issues in the class this year. Last year we had to deal with Gluten sensitivity, PKU, and Epi-pen in the office peanut and egg allergies. The parents were on top of it and we tried to accommodate the needs of everyone by making sure any contributions sent in were peanut free. And the parents of those effected often sent in separate food so their child would not feel left out. Both the parents with allergies and those without made sure every child was able to be included. No one felt left out or embarrassed. We made it work and it just took a little extra effort.
But back to this year. surprisingly the one activity the kids seemed reticent to try was the apple bobbing. "We have to put our face in the water! For the most part this ended up being the favorite activity, despite the fact we are dealing with 6 year olds. J's top teeth are coming in after losing two a few weeks ago. Two kids hurt their teeth and gums because of wiggly teeth and one boy lost his while bobbing. Aside from that, it was the favorite activity and most of the kids were drenched. Good thing it was 85 degrees outside yesterday.
And of course, J wants to do it all again tomorrow. Luckily I picked up a few apples and an extra bag of apple chips. Now to find an apple pie recipe.
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