Polar Express and Cookies for Santa

It's 4 days and change before the December holiday break, and I decided it must be a good time to start an ART class blog of things we cover.  Each month the principal choses a book, and December's was The Polar Express. Right now, our school is in full Polar Express mode.

I have been asked to help promote the Polar Express, so I am showing a story video of Chris Van Allsburg reading the book. We discuss a bit, and then I turn the project over to the kids.

This time of year, ART teachers have to weigh the depth of the project vs. time vs. the children's attention span. I chose to use this time to work on some basic fine motor skills I've noticed lacking in some of my younger children. This week, Kindergarten and First Grade are making a plate of cookies for Santa. My students need this. Coloring inside the lines is a skill, and one many of my students don't have. They also have a lot of difficulty cutting, so I encorporated the two skills into one project.

I have the kids decorate their plate (leftover paper plate centers) and their cookies (on a coloring sheet).

After coloring the plate and the cookies, the students cut the cookies out and glue them onto their plate. I also have a glue mantra in my classroom. "Baby dots of glue".

The kids have fun, they are uselizing fine motor skills, and I have a quick project that keeps their attention for the classtime.

Win - Win.

Georgia Performance Standards:

VAKPR.2.j - Develops manual dexterity through craft techniques.
VA1PR.2.g - Develops manual dexterity through craft techniques.