We had a wonderful party at school today!
We have been doing a circus theme all week, making crafts of lions, tigers, elephants, monkeys and clowns. Then today was party day! Our first hour was spent playing 9 different circus games. There was the Tightrope Walker stepping carefully across the balance beam, the Tumbler doing somersaults and roll-overs on the floor mat, the Knock-the-Clowns-Down with a ball thrown at the shoe boxes,
the flannel board Clown Faces, the "painted" Animal Crackers using spray-can icing and sprinkles, the ever popular Bean-Bag Toss into the basket, the Where's the Tiger's Ball Hiding? game with the ball hiding under one of three cups,
the Ride the Horse Around the Ring using galloping horses and a circle of masking tape on the floor,
and my personal favorite....The Monkeys Have Escaped where I made a monkey cage out of a cardboard box and cut a small door in one side. I copied several (47 to be exact) monkey pictures on colored copy paper and taped them all around the room. Each child was instructed to find 3 monkeys and return them to the monkey house. 
As each child entered the school, they had to purchase a ticket to the circus and receive a game card with stickers. With instructions to place a sticker on their game card each time they played a game, they were sent through a Hula Hoop "ring of fire" and into the playroom to begin.
I spent almost four hours yesterday setting up the room to prepare for the fun. When I was finished, it didn't look like much until.....TODAY when it was filled with 14 children, 6 alumni siblings, and parents and grandparents of all! WOW! What a turnout! It was like a bee's nest of activity in there! Everyone playing games and mingling and talking and smiling! Cameras were flashing and everyone seemed so happy. I stood back and admired the whole thing. I felt good about my year and my class. Such a great group of children and parents this year. We had become a family!
And it didn't end there. An hour after the party started, we had to clear a space for the CLOWN! A real, live clown came to perform her magic and fun with the children! She did tricks and songs and face/hand painting for an entire hour! Freckles the Clown paints the BEST figures... .
We have been doing a circus theme all week, making crafts of lions, tigers, elephants, monkeys and clowns. Then today was party day! Our first hour was spent playing 9 different circus games. There was the Tightrope Walker stepping carefully across the balance beam, the Tumbler doing somersaults and roll-overs on the floor mat, the Knock-the-Clowns-Down with a ball thrown at the shoe boxes,
the flannel board Clown Faces, the "painted" Animal Crackers using spray-can icing and sprinkles, the ever popular Bean-Bag Toss into the basket, the Where's the Tiger's Ball Hiding? game with the ball hiding under one of three cups, the Ride the Horse Around the Ring using galloping horses and a circle of masking tape on the floor, and my personal favorite....The Monkeys Have Escaped where I made a monkey cage out of a cardboard box and cut a small door in one side. I copied several (47 to be exact) monkey pictures on colored copy paper and taped them all around the room. Each child was instructed to find 3 monkeys and return them to the monkey house. As each child entered the school, they had to purchase a ticket to the circus and receive a game card with stickers. With instructions to place a sticker on their game card each time they played a game, they were sent through a Hula Hoop "ring of fire" and into the playroom to begin. I spent almost four hours yesterday setting up the room to prepare for the fun. When I was finished, it didn't look like much until.....TODAY when it was filled with 14 children, 6 alumni siblings, and parents and grandparents of all! WOW! What a turnout! It was like a bee's nest of activity in there! Everyone playing games and mingling and talking and smiling! Cameras were flashing and everyone seemed so happy. I stood back and admired the whole thing. I felt good about my year and my class. Such a great group of children and parents this year. We had become a family!And it didn't end there. An hour after the party started, we had to clear a space for the CLOWN! A real, live clown came to perform her magic and fun with the children! She did tricks and songs and face/hand painting for an entire hour! Freckles the Clown paints the BEST figures... .
I saw beautiful princess faces and Spiderman characters and Batman and snakes and Hello Kitty and fire engines and Clifford the Big, Red Dog and diamond bracelets and Ariel and a tiger face and, oh my goodness, I can't remember them all. Oh yeah, there was a big beautiful butterfly, too!
When Freckles finished her show, it was time for the circus snack. Not a healthy food in sight! Peanuts, Cracker Jacks, Candied Apples, Cotton Candy, Mini Hot Dogs, Ice Cream...you name it. If you could find it at the circus, it was on our snack table! It was all topped off with a Party Favor Bag to bring home with stickers, bubbles, and popcorn.
We ended our day outside on the playground under clear skies of about 80 degrees. Man! It just doesn't get any better than that! I went outside to sit and chat with the parents and to say goodbye to some of our children who were leaving the program for the summer. I talked and sat under the shade of our very own Playschool tree which we planted several years ago and just thought about how lucky I was to be there.
When everyone went home, I went back inside and found that the room was completely cleaned up from the entire days' activities. I grabbed my keys and my teacher bag full of the circus plans, turned off the lights and closed the door. Another day done in the life of a child.
When Freckles finished her show, it was time for the circus snack. Not a healthy food in sight! Peanuts, Cracker Jacks, Candied Apples, Cotton Candy, Mini Hot Dogs, Ice Cream...you name it. If you could find it at the circus, it was on our snack table! It was all topped off with a Party Favor Bag to bring home with stickers, bubbles, and popcorn. We ended our day outside on the playground under clear skies of about 80 degrees. Man! It just doesn't get any better than that! I went outside to sit and chat with the parents and to say goodbye to some of our children who were leaving the program for the summer. I talked and sat under the shade of our very own Playschool tree which we planted several years ago and just thought about how lucky I was to be there.When everyone went home, I went back inside and found that the room was completely cleaned up from the entire days' activities. I grabbed my keys and my teacher bag full of the circus plans, turned off the lights and closed the door. Another day done in the life of a child.
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