Jump-Starting the New Year
Posted by Debra Liverman on 30 Dec 2008 | Posted in: Holiday and Seasonal, Student Activities
Well, the holidays are winding down, and I’m guessing your winter break is almost over. It goes so fast, doesn’t it? I came back to work yesterday, and it took me a while to shake off the cobwebs and get back into the swing of things. Not to mention my endless supply of cookies and snacks wasn’t within arm’s reach–probably a good thing! What finally got me going was grabbing a cup of tea, putting in my favorite CD, and making a list of must-dos by the end of the day. Of course, it didn’t hurt that I found some chocolate motivation that had been left in the kitchen by my coworkers. 
When I was teaching, I always started the day after a long break with a fun, brain-thawing game we called The List Game. It’s simple, really, but the kids loved it and it really got their thinking jump-started. To play, simply divide your class into teams. Select one student on each team to be the recorder. Then, announce a topic such as “things that are red,” “things that are cold,” “things with wheels,” etc. Each group has one minute to list as many things as possible that fit the topic. When time is up, have the recorders read the teams’ lists. Award the each team one point for each correct answer. Next pick a new topic and do it all again. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
What gets you and your students going after a long holiday break? Do you do something special for your students or coworkers? Do you have an activity that helps shake the cobwebs out?
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We start off the return with our own pajama classroom countdown to recognize the New Year…
All the kids come dressed in pajama’s and we hold a New Year celebration all day long! Emotionally it helps them process the return to routine, and as a teacher it helps me transition into the new Calendar.
I’m going to use your list idea with my fourth graders. When I taught middle school as a substitute I would do activities like this at the beginning of class to get students involved. Even sixth and seventh graders enjoyed them.
I like to spend the first few days back after the holidays reaquainting students with one another. There is usually an influx of new students at this time of year, as well as sadness because friends have moved. Time to make new friends for a new year! We will vary our interviews from the first of the school year.
When my preschoolers return from a long Christmas Vacation, they arrive to find that I have set up a brand new center in our recessed train table. It’s a great activity for cold, January days. We call it the “Creation Station” and it includes all kinds of recyclables that I have been collecting for months-boxes, cartons, yogurt containers, tubes, tape in many colors, staplers, pipe cleaners, straws, crepe paper, yarn, etc. To anyone else, it would appear to be a huge pile of “junk”. To a four year old, it looks like terrific fun! There are very few rules: use anything here, make whatever you want, decide if you want it to go home or be displayed at school a few days, put it into your mailbox to go home, and clean up your work space when you’re finished, so that another child can create. Some of the children spend their entire choice time at this table and they create the most amazing things there! It’s very creative, very inexpensive, teaches them the value of recycling, and it’s loads of fun!