For our Christmas Social this year, the School-Age group 3 children invited their parents into our program to work alongside them to create their very own hand-carved wood slice ornament. Educator Keri had pre-cut and prepared the wood slices from a fallen tree branch that the group had found the week before in the forest. She sawed, hand drilled and sanded these down to make the perfect round ornament. Educators then provided acrylic paint, glue, rhinestones and various stencils onto various tables within the program. As they children patiently waited for their parents to arrive to our social, they engaged in a game of “pin the star on the tree”. Each child was blindfolded and handed a star with tape on one side. Children cheered each other on as they attempted to place the star at the top of the tree. You could hear the encouragement in the children’s voices as they brought each-others spirits up.
As parents began to arrive, you could once again feel the excitement within the program as the children ran up to their parents and invited them to join them at a nearby table. Children worked alongside their parents to make their vision come to life. You could hear the conversation between families as they engaged in conversation about their own Christmas trees at home, and where they thought would be the perfect place for this new ornament.
After each child had finished making an ornament with their family, they were then invited to take a family photo together. Christmas props were provided and the families were free to choose their own outfits. To finish off the social, rice krispie treats were also enjoyed by all. We look forward to making many more memories in our School-Age 1 program. Happy Holidays! We will see you in 2024!
