Mother's Day Silhouettes!

I have always wanted silhouettes of my own children (hint, hint to my husband) so I decided to give it a try this year. I scoured my favorite site for all things crafty {pinterest.com, follow me here http://pinterest.com/bree_d_williams/} and found this really great activity making silhouettes. Visit the original tutorial here: http://www.thesitsgirls.com/food-lifestyle/do-it-yourself-make-your-own-silhouettes/

I tweaked the activity from "Women Get Social" to make it easier for me to complete for my entire class in just one afternoon. Here are the steps I took:

First, take pictures of the students up close against a neutral background. I choose our smart board. I covered of the child's face for anonymity. You get the idea. Kind of like a Kindergarten Mug Shot!

Then I printed all of the pictures in a 5X7 size on white paper from my classroom printer.

Next I copied those pictures (using the copier machine) onto black construction paper. Then I cut around each child's silhouette. You have to cut carefully and closely follow the lines of each child's picture. I have to admit they are so cute!

Last, I glued the reverse side (opposite where the picture is copied) onto the back of their Mother's Day Questionnaire. {Get the questionnaire for free from my post earlier today!}

All done and ready for the laminator! I will send this home as their final project for their Mother's Day Gifts! I am pleased with how they turned out and it only took one planning period (45 min) to print, cut-out, and glue.

I hope you've been inspired to try this with your students or your own children {Can anyone guess what I'm doing this weekend with my own kids? Check out the finished products on Sunday over at www.breewilliamsphotography@hotmail.com)

Mother's Day is coming!

Next Sunday we celebrate mama's everywhere! May 13th is Mother's Day! As a mother myself, it is a favorite day in my house. Every year in my classroom we complete a Mother's Day Questionnaire. I like to do activities with my students that I would keep myself if my children had made it. This acitvity is one that I would save and read again when the kids were grown.

In the classroom we sit in a small group and read each statement together. The students fill in the answers using inventive spelling. At this point in the school year, most students can write words with a beginning, middle, and ending sound. Then they color the border frame and back it with construction paper for a pop of color.The finished project is really special! I've included a sample but I blacked out the students name and nickname just in case mommy is reading this. We don't want to spoil the surprise!

If you'd like to use this document in your classroom or at home (hey, who wouldn't love to see this from their child?), click the document below to get it for FREE! Enjoy!

Happy Mother's Day Questionnaire

Welcome to Kinder Kids!

Hello and welcome to the blogging world! I am super excited to start my own blog on all things Kindergarten! My goal is to let you in my classroom one sneak peek at a time. I have been teaching for 10 years (WOW! Where did the time go??). I taught Special Education Preschool for 4 years, Intensive Learning Center Kindergarten for 1 year, and have been a SAM (Single Approach to Mastery, a.k.a one dual certified teacher serving typical students and students with IEP's in one classroom) for 5 years. I love my job, my students, and their families! I also love learning! The group of gals, and guy, that I work with are so inspiring and I love learning from them! We all have various levels of teaching experiences so we never run out of fresh new ideas! As I update this blog, I invite you to share your ideas and passions for all things kindergarten! Please comment below to tell us a little about yourself and the kinds of things you'd like to see on this blog!