Welcome to the Toddler One classroom! We are excited to show you what we have been learning this month. As Christmas approaches, we have been decorating our classroom to celebrate the season. We talked about how the Christmas tree can remind us that Jesus is never changing and steadfast. Most trees lose their leaves in winter, but an evergreen tree never changes or loses its leaves, just as Jesus never changes. We have also been learning about some fun activities we can enjoy in the winter such as sledding and building a snowman.
We recently introduced a new friend we call our Shepherd on the Search. This shepherd comes once or twice a week and hides somewhere or leaves us a surprise to open. This shepherd got lost from the other shepherds while going to see baby Jesus in the stable. When our shepherd visits, he wants to share something new about Jesus with us. Today he was hiding by our mini-Christmas tree in our classroom holding a tealight candle. He left us a note telling us he needed our help to get the animals back to the stable to meet baby Jesus since they had run away. Everyone got their own tea light and we walked around the classroom looking for the animals. The shepherd also left us a memory verse, “Jesus spoke to them again: ‘I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness but will have light of life.’” -John 8:12. Jesus is the light of the world; with Him we can live in freedom and love. Before Jesus came as a baby the world was without hope. With Jesus we can have a new life and shine our lights for Him.
Another activity that we provided was a fine motor and cognitive activity where we sorted different coloured balls. The Christmas tree had places to put the different coloured balls. Each child was given at least one opportunity to try this activity. The children really enjoyed it.
We started using a light table to explore different objects. Since we learned that Jesus is the light of the world, we set out objects that light can shine through to remind us that if we have Jesus in our life, He shines through us each day. This activity let us see objects in a different way than we normally get to see them.
A craft that we did to go along with the theme of Jesus being the light of the world is creating stained glass Christmas lights. We took sticky paper and put different coloured pieces of tissue paper on it. When we were done, we put the light bulbs against the windows to let the light shine through them into our classroom.
In conclusion we have been having a blast learning and exploring through activities, books and songs about the special gift God sent us at Christmas time. I hope you get to experience Jesus in a new way this Christmas as we have been doing in our classroom.