Cozy Kindergarten: ABC Countdown to Summer!

First, I must apologize for not posting sooner...shame on me!
I hope someone can use this next year!

Each year, my fellow kindergarten teachers and I countdown the final days of school with an ABC Countdown - it is so much fun! Each year, we tweak our ABCs a little bit. And this past year was a blast!

A - Animal Day: We each brought in our favorite stuffed animal to share and be our buddy for the day!

B - Bubble Day: We spent part of the afternoon outside blowing bubbles! Part of our morning was spent chewing bubble gum and seeing who could blow a bubble! (Left over gum makes for quiet writing times, too!)

C - Crazy Hair Day: We had some crazy hair for sure!

D - Dance Day: We did a lot of dancing on this day! Some favorites and some new dances!

E - Estimation Day: We had a few different jars the students used to estimate, this boy won the Skittles!

F - Friendship Day: The Guidance Counselor came to talk about being a good friend and not being a bully. Each student got a paper heart to wear.

G - Game Day: We played games on the Promethean Board, but we also broke off into small groups and played some board games too!

H - Hawaiian Day: One of my favorites! We gave each student a lei and many wore grass skirts or Hawaiian shirts! (This is one of the days we changed - it began as Hat Day, but our school allows that sometimes).

This is me with my principal on Hawaiian Day!

I - Ice Cream Day: We each made our won ice cream sundaes!

J - Joke Day: We told jokes (some from books and others from our minds!) and then made these "Why did the chicken cross the road?" pages.

K - Kindness Day: My kiddos around our "K is for Kindness" poster!

L - Lollipop Day: We of course had lollipops and did some lacing, too!

M - Muffins for Mom Day: The Friday before Mother's Day, we invite the moms (grandmothers, aunts, etc) to have breakfast with their kindergartner.

This boy also made himself a Mask in the art center!

N - Nice Note to a Staff Member and Name Game Day: We made a list of all the people who work in the school and then students made a card for one person and (most importantly) got to deliver it that person!

We also played name games including, making patterns with the letters in our names.

O - Outlaw Day: The week before, I took each child's picture with a bandanna and a cowboy hat so that I could make these:

We also had Outdoor story time!

P - Pajama Day: We wore pajamas to school!

We alsoate popcorn and watched a Peanuts cartoon!

Q - Questions Day: we played "Would you rather?" where I let the kids get up and move around to answer the questions. For example: "Would you rather eat worms or french fries from last year?" and the kids would have to move to either side of the room to answer the question. I would then ask a few kids WHY they choose that answer!

Oh! And we made a question mark! ;)

R - Reading Day: I had students pick a buddy and read together anywhere in the room.

S - Sports Day: My kids who play sports got to show off their uniforms at school! The rest of us supported our favorite teams or sport!

T - T-shirt Day: Wear your favorite T-shirt. These two wore Spider Man tees!

U - Unique Object Day: We had some very special objects come in. The black rock is a lava rock from Hawaii and the gray stuff in the bag is lightening glass! Cool!

V - Voting Day: We found out after our countdown began that Field Day was going to happen on our Y Day instead of Z Day (Zip into Summer!). So for V Day, I had students vote on what they wanted on Z Day - a Donut Party or a Pizza Party! We talked about what voting is and how to persuade someone to vote with you! So I had them write about which kind of party they wanted and why.

Donut Party won, in case you were wondering!

W - Watermelon Day: My twins brought in a watermelon for the class!

X - X Marks the Spot! We talked about pirates and how they hide treasures and create maps to help them find it again.

So, naturally, we made our own treasure maps!

Y - Yo-Yo Day: I only had one child bring a yo-yo this year (and I couldn't find mine!).

Z - Zip into Summer (with Zebra stripes!): Zip into Summer was meant to be Field Day, but as I said they had to change our Field Day to Thursday, which put it on our Y Day. So we wore Zebra stripes and had the party that was voted on on V Day!