december 2024
Meet Pete the Elf!
Last week the children were talking about Santa, the North Pole and getting excited for Christmas! There was a special surprise this morning when all the children arrived at daycare. Underneath the Christmas tree was a letter addressed to the preschoolers, a present and a jar with an elf inside!
“Look what's here” - HT
“There's a present!” -CD
“Look an Elfy!” - HP
“Maybe he came on Santa's sleigh” - LR
We brought the items back into our room and began reading the note. The elf had traveled all the way from the north pole to make sure all the preschoolers are being kind, using gentle hands, using their listening ears and saying please and thank you! Some of the children mentioned that they have an elf at their home too! In the letter the elf shared some things that make him feel happy and things that make him feel sad. He said: It makes me happy when my friends ask me to play with them. It makes me sad when someone calls me a ‘bad guy' or says ‘you're not my best friend.’
“We should open the present,” -CD
The children worked together to unwrap the present.
“It's a book!” - MG
We decided to read the book after snack. In the meantime we all sat in a circle and took turns passing the jar around and introducing ourselves to the elf.
During snack we thought of name ideas for our elf. Here's what the
children came up with:
Frank, Muffin, Milk and Spot (BV)
Red, Firefighter (KD)
Unicorn, Santa Claus (LR)
Sweety (MG)
Cow (SM)
Bunny (CD)
Elf (HT)
It wasn't until after snack when BS said we should name our elf “Pete” and ALL of the children loved his idea. From now on our elf will be known as pete.
“Just like Pete the cat!” - LR
Throughout the rest of our day we have been focusing on using gentle hands, kind words, using our manners and having our listening ears turned on. The preschoolers have also been working on different things they can do when they feel angry or feel like hitting. The children are so excited to have our very own Pete the elf in our preschool room and look forward to seeing all the places he hides throughout the month!
Miranda Lange RECE, Alesha Spirka RECE