Stick People

These stick people turned out super cute and the kids really enjoyed making them.  It would be even better to extend upon this activity and bring in literacy by having children create stories about them!

Oh, the possibilities...

Ben's Bells

Ben's Bells is an amazing local nonprofit here is Tucson.  

"The mission of Ben's Bells is to inspire, educate, and motivate people to realize the impact of intentional kindness, and to empower individuals to act according to that awareness, thereby strengthening ourselves, our relationships and our communities."  

It's truly a heartwarming group, that has worked with schools to promote kindness at such an influential time in a child's life.  

They promote many inspirational projects within schools, but some are called "Kindness Trees".  Here are our mini Kindness Trees we made for Father's Day.  You can't see it, but behind each Kindness Coin (the little flowers that say "be kind") is a dictated quote about what there father does that is kind.  

Please check out Ben's Bells website to learn more about them and how you can inspire your school to become a Kind School.

https://bensbells.org 

Fairyland

A few weeks ago the children at our school noticed something strange happening is our flower bed.  It looked as if someone tiny had taken up residence?  First there was a clothes line with some clothes on it, then a set of tables and chairs, then a swing, and then hats and gardening equipment...?

"There are fairies living in our garden!"

The children were excited to discovery that fairies must like our garden so much they have decided to call it home!  They love seeing what new things the fairies have been doing and watching the fairy garden grow. The children even leave them drawings and notes asking them to come out.

It's endearing to watch the children play in the fairy garden.  It creates an open environment for children to use their imagination and creativity.  It has also been a positive experience for me trying to build upon their stories and expand the fairy garden to include different elements.

 

Another fun project is trying to thing of clever ways to make furniture to add to the fairy garden.  Some children have brought their own things in, but most have been made at home with a glue gun and sticks.  Not the most durable, but certainly cute!