Happy New Year! Einen guten Rutsch!

Posted in Holidays, Uncategorized by

It’s the last day of 2016! How do you celebrate New Year’s? One of the ways to ring in the New Year in Germany is with a Glücksschwein – a lucky pig! It can be made of marzipan or bread. But I’m not skilled enough for either of those 🙂  So in our house, we make pig pancakes!

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I ordered the Pig Breakfast Shaper – a silicone pig mold – on Amazon for about $6. Make sure your pancake batter is runny enough to fill out the mold. Then wait until it really sets on the bottom and lift off the mold. Then flip the pancake. Ta-dah! A pig pancake for New Year’s!

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Jingle Bells

Posted in Crafty Projects, Holidays, Story hour, Uncategorized by

Today in story hour, we were celebrating Christmas! For our last song, we sang “Kling, Glöckchen, Klingelingeling”. But you can’t sing that without some jingle bells, right?! So we crafted our own little jingle bell instruments.

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For the craft, you only need 2 materials: pipe cleaners in two different colors and some jingle bells! Make sure your bells have a large enough hole at the top for stringing the pipe cleaner through.

Instructions:

1. String the jingle bells on to one of the pipe cleaners.

2. Twist the second pipe cleaner around the first one with the jingle bells.

3. Bring the ends together to make a circle. Twist the ends to close the circle. Then tuck the ends around the circle. Remember, pipe cleaners often have a sharp end, so try to tuck those points out of the way as best as you can.

Need the lyrics to the song? You can view or download them here: Weihnachtslieder. Also included are the lyrics for “O Tannenbaum” and “Alle Jahre Wieder.”

If you’re looking for some children’s books about Christmas, we read these three in story hour:

  • Frohe Weihnachten, kleine Tiere (arsEdition, 2015)
  • Weihnachten ist bald (arsEdition, 2010)
  • Wir freuen uns auf Weihnachten (Ravensburger, 2010)

Fröhliche Weihnachten!

 

Christmas Punch

Posted in Holidays, Recipes, Uncategorized by

My very favorite memory from living in Germany is going to the Christmas markets in December. In every town, the market square is transformed into a holiday wonderland. Charming stalls go up from which vendors sell their handmade crafts, food, and drink. It feels like stepping into the magic of Christmas!

I only got to spend two Christmases in Germany. But both times, I made sure to visit as many Christmas markets as I could.

Every town in Germany – as with Austria and Switzerland – has a Weihnachtsmarkt. And every town has its own special Christmas mug. So as you stroll through the wonderland, you can keep warm as you sip your hot drink. For the adults, there is Glühwein, a mulled wine with spices like cinnamon and cloves that is served piping hot. For me it was an acquired taste. But as I made my way from one market to another – Freiburg, Mainz, Worms, Nürnberg, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Rüdesheim, and Innsbruck, just to name a few – I came to love that warm red wine that tasted like it was flavored with Christmas itself.

As I was only in Germany as an adult, I never bothered to try the children’s version of Glühwein. For them, there is an alcohol-free Kinderpunsch. Since I was visiting Froggy’s 1st & 2nd grade class today to share some of Germany’s Christmas traditions, I decided to bring them some Kinderpunsch. I found a few recipes online and tried them out until I got it right. Of course, I had no idea how it should really taste! So AP3 helped out 🙂  She had never made it herself, but she certainly knew if I’d gotten it right or not.

Here is the recipe that I came up with:

  • 1 liter of fruit tea (I used Celestial Seasonings decaffeinated rooibos pomegranate tea)
  • 1 liter of orange juice
  • 1 liter of grape juice
  • about 1/2 packet (about 5g) of vanilla sugar (I found Dr Oetker’s at my grocery store in the international section. I’ve also bought some from Savory Spice Shop.)
  • 1 tablespoon of honey
  • 2 or 3 cinnamon sticks
  • 3-5 whole cloves
  • 1 small lemon, sliced

Brew the tea in a pot. Then add the remaining ingredients and heat on low. I put my cinnamon sticks and cloves in a muslin bag, so they would be easy to remove. The longer you let the punch simmer, the more time it has to blend the ingredients. Serve warm and enjoy!

The children had mixed reactions, of course! Some loved it. For others, it was not quite their cup of tea!

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Nikolaus – Free Coloring Page

Posted in Coloring Pages, Holidays, Pre-K & K Class, Story hour, Uncategorized by

As we prepare for a visit from Nikolaus, we will be making our lacing boots today in Story Hour. (If you missed that post, you can find it here.)

If you’re looking for something quick and easy, I also made up a coloring page with Nikolaus along with the words to the first verse of “Lasst uns froh und munter sein”.

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You can download the PDF here: Nikolaus Malvorlage GitA

We are expecting some little ones in Story Hour today, so while the older children are lacing and decorating their boots, I thought our young friends could have this picture to color.

Nikolaus Boots

Posted in Crafty Projects, Uncategorized by

Next week will be time to put out your boot for Nikolaus! Children in Germany put out a boot (not both – you don’t want to seem greedy!) on the eve of December 5th. Oh, and it has to be cleaned first! Nikolaus comes in the night and fills the boot with little treats, like nuts, chocolates, and mandarin oranges.

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Our Nikolaus also brought some lollipops and even some holiday pajamas! (Froggy was disappointed not to get a toy. Oh well!)

To help get ready for his visit, we do a Nikolaus craft. Cut a boot out of folded construction paper (red, if you have it), punch holes along the edge, and let your child use yarn to lace it up! We’ll be making these at Story Hour this year, too.

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This year, I thought we would add an extra step: decorating it with stickers and gluing cotton balls to the top for a “fur” lining.

Meanwhile, if you want to try it, you can download the template here in PDF: Boot Lacing

Fold your construction paper in half and place the template over it. Cut out the boot and then punch holes approximately where the dots are. Cut a length of yarn. Put one end through the bottom hole and tape it to the back. Tie a knot in the other end to make it easier to lace the boot.

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Here are some of our results from Story Hour. The kids got a little creative! I thought the cotton balls would go across the top. But someone had other ideas. Other children also used crayons to color on their boots.

Let me know how it works out!

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Head, Shoulder, Knees, and … Feet!

Posted in Coloring Pages, Pre-K & K Class, Uncategorized by

Today at school, we brought back a favorite lesson from last year: Body Parts! The children loved singing the German version of “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” – which says Fuß instead of toes 🙂

We started off with the 8 body parts in the song:

  • der Kopf
  • die Schulter
  • das Knie
  • der Fuß
  • die Augen
  • die Ohren
  • die Nase
  • der Mund

Then we got to sing the song! In case you need the German words to the song, it goes like this:

Kopf und Schulter, Knie und Fuß, Knie und Fuß.
Kopf und Schulter, Knie und Fuß, Knie und Fuß.
Augen, Ohren, Nase, und Mund.
Kopf und Schulter, Knie und Fuß, Knie und Fuß.

We also did the Fingerspiel about the mouse family. (You can find it in my last teaching post: about Counting Mice.) And we read Eric Carle’s Von Kopf bis Fuß (Gerstenberg, 2011).

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Finally, the children got to do a coloring page I created with all those body parts they learned at the beginning of the lesson:

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Download the coloring page in PDF here: Kopf Schulter Knie Fuß Malvorlage GitA

Montags mit Mama: Presents!

Posted in Holidays, Uncategorized by

Hippo is really getting into the Christmas spirit! We put up our trees (yes, we have two! One with just ball ornaments in silver and red, one with all our special ornaments we’ve collected over the years), and now he wants to start putting presents under them! So he and AP3 have been “wrapping” presents!

He found a small empty box, filled it with some shape beanbags. Why? I don’t know! That’s just what he thought should go in the box! And then he and AP3 wrapped the box in some old Christmas paper.

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Is it perfect? Of course not! But he had so much fun! He was so happy to bring it to me as I’m working in my office (try not to look at the mess behind him!). And after I unwrapped his Geschenk, he wanted to do it all over again! I think they rewrapped the “gift” 3 times!

You don’t need anything special. Just grab an empty box, some old wrapping paper, tape, and whatever your little one wants to put in the box. Turn on the holiday music, and have some fun!

What a simple activity to do during the holidays!

Learning Vocabulary with an Adventskalender (Advent Calendar)

Posted in Crafty Projects, Holidays, Uncategorized by

Years ago when I was teaching at a German Saturday school, I wanted a fun way for my students to learns some Christmas vocabulary. I remembered making a paper chain advent calendar as a child and thought I could combine the two into a fun activity. For the past few years, I’ve been working on creating something similar for my kids. This new version includes printed stickers (that you make using round labels). Froggy has enjoyed it for the past few years. And now Hippo is old enough to get in on the action. I have the words printed on two different papers, so there won’t be any arguing over whose turn it is to do the calendar!

 

Here’s more on how it works:

Materials:

  • round white labels, 1 2/3 inches in diameter (compatible with Avery 5293)
  • white card stock, 2 pieces
  • tape
  • scissors or craft (X-ACTO) knife
  • letter-sized paper in holiday print, red and green, or whatever pattern/color you like, 2 pieces (I have a stack of 12×12 holiday crafting paper, and I just cut it down to size: 8½ x 11)
  • glue/tape/stapler

Instructions:

  1. Print the stickers on the round labels.
  2. Choose which version you want and print out the Adventskalender on the card stock.
  3. Tape the two pages together to make one long page.
  4. Carefully cut slits in the bottom page along the two black lines. (You can use an exacto knife or the blade of a pair of scissors.)
  5. Print the chain vocabulary words on patterned/colored letter-sized paper. *If using patterned paper, be sure to print on the back (white) side!
  6. Cut out the vocabulary words. A paper-cutter comes in handy here! Don’t worry if it’s not perfect. You won’t really see the lines!
  7. Begin making your paper chain, securing your loops with glue, tape, or a stapler. Be sure to save one strip to attach the chain to the Adventskalender. Be sure the word is on the inside and the decorative side is facing out! You can put them in random order or in alphabetical order (like the Adventskalender). Slip the last strip through the slits you made in the bottom of the Adventskalender and then through the first loop on your chain.

Hang up your Adventskalender! I like to use double-sided poster tape. Each day, have your child take off one strip. Copy the word onto the black space (if using the version without words). And match the sticker to the word!

I used to hang ours on the outside of the pantry door in the kitchen. But this year, I hung it up in the dining room next to our German calendar. I like that the kids can see it while they are eating at the table.

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Download all the materials in PDF here:

Stay tuned for a fun craft to celebrate Nikolaus!

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So Many Vehicles!

Posted in Book Materials, Crafty Projects, Story hour, Uncategorized by

Today in Story Hour, we read and sang about vehicles … cars, buses, trains, excavators, fire trucks, tractors, submarines, ships, hot air balloons, rockets, and even soapbox cars!

After reading our books, singing our songs, and doing a finger play, the children created their own little book based on Kikaninchen: Wer fährt heute mit? Each child had a booklet with each of the days and a place to enter which vehicle was used and who got to go along. They could fill in the information (with help from a caregiver) and then add the appropriate sticker to match. Later on, when Froggy (our 7-year-old) heard about the project, he wanted to do one, too. He was able to write the words himself, with some spelling help. Here are two examples:

To assemble the booklet, you print out the two pages, double-sided, and cut them in half. Then you can staple them together to make the booklet. (You’ll need a long reach stapler to get all the way to the middle of the booklet.) Next, print out the stickers on round labels (1 2/3-inch):

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You can download both documents here in PDF format. Included in the download is a sheet with specific instructions.

The three books we read were:

  • Unser Ausflug. Wir fahren ins Grüne  by Chris Embleton & Louise Martin (Parragon, 2008)
  • So viele Fahrzeuge im Einsatz  by Stefan Seidel (Coppenrath, 2011)
  • Kikaninchen: Wer fährt heute mit?  (arsEdition, 2011)

We also did a fingerplay (Fingerspiel): “Tatütata” (click on the link to see a video of the fingerplay)

Tatütata – Wer kommt daher?
Tatütata – die Feuerwehr.
Tatütata – Es brennt ein Haus.
Tatütata – die Schläuche raus.

Wasser marsch!

And we sang two songs:

“Die Räder vom Bus”

Die Räder vom Bus, die rollen dahin, rollen dahin, rollen dahin
Die Räder vom Bus, die rollen dahin
Stundenlang

Die Türen vom Bus gehen auf und zu …

Die Wischer vom Bus machen wisch wisch wisch …

Die Hupe vom Bus macht “tut tut tut” …

Der Fahrer vom Bus sagt: “Fahrkarte, bitte!” …

Die Kinder im Bus machen “Blah blah blah” …

Die Leute im Bus, die schaukeln hin und her …

“Mit der Eisenbahn” (2010, von Ottmar Liedl)

Wir fahren heute Eisenbahn
und schauen uns die Welt mal an
Wir machen einen langen Zug
Platz für alle ist genug

Hallo, Du! Du bist dran!
Hallo, Du! Häng dich dran!
Mach die Türe zu
Der Zug, der fährt jetzt ab

Wir fahren heute Eisenbahn
und schauen uns die Welt mal an
Wir fahren jetzt in eine Stadt,
die den Namen Passau hat

Hallo, Du! Du bist dran!
Hallo, Du! Häng dich dran!
Mach die Türe zu
Der Zug, der fährt jetzt ab

Wir fahren heute Eisenbahn
und schauen uns die Welt mal an
Wir fahren bis zur Endstation
Da ist die schon

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Counting Mice

Posted in Coloring Pages, Numbers, Pre-K & K Class, Uncategorized, Word Posters by

This week in the Pre-K/Kindergarten class, we are focusing on numbers. The children have already been exposed to a few numbers. When we sing the Hello Song, I always say “eins, zwei” when they clap, or pat their legs, or especially when they stomp their feet, so that they don’t get carried away with the actions. It’s also a nice way to reinforce the first two numbers.

Today, we are adding the next three numbers. We will go over the numbers 1 through 5 using the number cards I made last year:

You can download the PDF file here: 1-5-farm-animals-gita

Then we’ll sing a song from our very first lesson this year. Now that I am going in to teach every week, I really want to bring back the songs and books throughout the year to reinforce the lessons for the children. So we’ll sing “Meine Finger, Meine Finger” from Die 30 Besten Spiel- und Bewegungslieder 3. There is no counting in the song, but we will do the different movements five times and count as we do.

I will also do a finger play called Die Mausfamilie. Again, there is no counting, but you use all 5 fingers to represent the family members. I did this finger play in class last year, and the children really enjoyed it.

 

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You can download the PDF here: die-mausfamilie-fingerspiel-w-translation

Finally, we will read the book Mein 1-2-3 Mäuschenbuch by Alexandra Dannenmann.

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This book is available from both Amazon.de and Amazon.com.

I’ll send the children home with a coloring page with 5 little mice.

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Download the PDF here: zahlen-1-5-mause-gita

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