On Tuesday, December 22nd the kids and I had planned a holiday concert for all that could attend at 4:00 pm. This was so exciting for the kids to plan and prepare for! Little did they know that I really had Santa set to arrive at the house to surprise them! We started out Tuesday finishing up our song props. The kids planned on singing "Jingle Bells" (with our bells Mother Goose provided us), "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" (with our deer headbands Mother Goose provided us), and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" (with Santa's made from paper plates).
Here K is painting her plate red for her Santa body...
Coloring Santa's body...
Next, the kids wrapped their Christmas tree ornaments that they made for their parents for their Christmas gift. I set out brown paper bags, ink pads, Christmas stamps, and Christmas stickers. I encouraged the kids to decorate the bags any way they desired and then make a card as well.
These kids LOVE being creative!
Once all the song props were ready...
...and all the gifts were wrapped...
...I called Santa to confirm! He was definitely set to arrive at 4:00 pm! I was SO EXCITED!!!
The tables and chairs were set with a few Christmas foam crafts I purchased from Oriental trading. One craft was a Santa frame!
The parents started to arrive around 3:40. Everyone got started on their crafts and helped themselves to cookies and milk.
Santa arrived and the kids were all a buzz! It was a perfect surprise! Out of 20 children, only 4 cried, and 3 of the 4 eventually warmed up. I would say that was a pretty good turn out for a preschool event! I was worried that keeping it a surprise may have been too scary for some preschoolers. It is understandable that some children this age are not yet comfortable with the big guy in a red suit quite yet.
The kids settled down and sat in front of him right away...
They all sang Jingle Bells right away!
Then Santa read "The Night Before Christmas!"
Next, every child had a chance to sit on Santa's lap and share what they wanted for Christmas!
Next, Santa gave each child a Rudolph nose. We all sang "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." Lastly, Santa gave all the children the gifts that I prepared for him to pass out.
It was such a fun time!!! Thank you to Andra for taking photos, to Abbie for the help with the cookies and crafts, and to EVERYONE for your help with the kids! It made me so happy to see the kids so happy!!!
Thank you all for a memorable 2015! May 2016 be a year of new beginnings for Sweet Smiles Preschool!
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