January Reset

Things that I did in my classroom the week after winter break...

Sprinkled in a few New Year's Activities:

- One Word

Students create a Google Slide with a word that describes their year, goals, etc.

- New Year's Resolutions

Students think ahead to 2026 and the things they would like to accomplish.

- Vision Board

Students use Google Slides or Canva to create a vision board for the upcoming year.

- Winter Break Mood Check

I assigned this slide deck in Google Classroom for students to complete during the first week back. It gave them a safe place to let me know how their break was and how they are currently feeling about being back at school. You will be surprised what they will tell you!

Classroom Routine Reset:

Most things stayed the same, but I took this opportunity to change a few things for the second half of the school year and review the routines that were the most important to our classroom.

I also introduce a one rule classroom at this point in the year. It's simple and something that I can use to easily redirect as needed. Is what you are doing interrupting the learning of others? Then don't do it.

While I sprinkled in the activities above, we most importantly dove right back into learning. The middle of the year is 2 weeks away upon our return. That means mid-year testing will be quickly approaching and it is time to get their brains back on track. Kids also thrive off of routine, so establishing the schedule on day 1 is important.

Lastly, have some grace. Remember that the break was different for everyone. Some students may be excited to get back to school so that they have hot meals for breakfast and lunch. Some may be excited to see friends that they haven't seen in 2 weeks. Some may be tired because they were off their usual schedule (teachers included!). Some would rather be at home with their families. All of these things are completely acceptable. When jumping back into the schedule and routines, it is important to understand that some students may need some time to adjust and a few extra reminders.

Hope the rest of your school year goes well!

New Year's Eve with Kids Part 4

I was looking back through pictures to see what activities we did last year for New Year's Eve and I completely forgot we were kid free! The kids spent a few nights at my moms house and the hubby and I went out to an early dinner then spent a quiet night at home.

I decided that this year's New Year's Eve activities are going to revolve around games! I'm also switching it up and instead of doing bags, I bought balloons for them to pop each hour. Each balloon will have a game inside on a piece of paper.

I created 12 different game ideas, but we will probably start our countdown around 4 pm. I'm going to alternate between the minute to win it games and the other games.

The games are listed below:

Game #1 - Winter Pictionary

Take turns picking a card. The person who picks a card will draw the word on a paper or a dry erase board until the others guess it. Keep taking turns until all cards have been chosen.

Materials Needed - Click on the link above to get your copy of the cards, paper, markers

Game #2 - Heads Up - Family Edition

This game follows the normal heads up rules where one person has a word or phrase on their forehead and the others have to give clues about the word or phrase until the person guesses it correctly.

This edition of the game will use names of family members. You can set limits on the types of clues that can be given in order to make it harder or easier.

Materials Needed - paper to write down the names

Game #3 - Bucket List - Two Truths and a Lie

For this activity, everyone will take a few minutes to write down their 2026 bucket list items. What do they want to accomplish this year? They should also write down one item that is NOT a bucket list item (the lie).

When everyone is ready, take turns reading their bucket lists including the one lie Everyone else tries to guess which item from the list is the lie.

Materials Needed - paper and pen to write down the bucket lists

Game #4 - New Year's Eve Charades

Take turns picking a card. The person who picks the card will act out the word or phrase until the others guess it. Keep taking turns until all cards have been chosen.

Materials Needed - Click on the link above to get your copy of the cards

Game #5 - Categories

Take turns choosing a category. This can be holiday related by choosing New Year's Eve or Christmas, or a random category like food.

The person who chose the category will go first. They start off by naming an item from the category that starts with the letter A. The next person will say a word that starts with the letter B. Continue going around and see if you can make it all the way to letter Z.

Take turns picking a category and see which category was the easiest!

Game #6 - Kids Pick!

We have a TON of board games already in our house, so this allows each kid to pick a game from our house that we can all play. This could also be a time to give the family a new game if you wanted.

The next 6 games are Minute to Win It games. There are SO many options out there, these are the 6 that I have chosen.

Game #7 - Don't Blow It!

Each person will have a straw and attempt to blow pieces of candy from point A on the table to point B on the table. I'm planning to put some tape down on the table to make a line for point A and then a square for point B.

Set a timer for 1 minute and see how many pieces of candy each person can get into point B!

Materials Needed - timer, straws, small candy like M&Ms, skittles, etc.

Game #8 - Stack It Up

Each person will have 1 minute to stack candy on top of each other. They can only use 1 hand and the candy must stay on its own when the timer goes off. The highest stack wins!

Materials Needed - timer, flat candy like smarties, peppermints, etc.

Game #9 - Marshmallow Chopsticks

Each person will have a set of chopsticks and a bowl. Put the marshmallows in the center of the table. Each person will use chopsticks to try and pick up as many marshmallows as they can one at a time and put them in their bowl. Whoever has the most after 1 minute wins!

Materials Needed: timer, chopsticks, marshmallows, bowls

Game #10 - Ping Pong Bounce

There are many different ways to play this game and it can be adapted depending on the age of the children. We are going to have each person take turns to bounce the ping pong balls into cups on the table. You could also have each person stand on a chair and try to bounce or drop the ping pong ball into a cup. Whoever gets the most ping pong balls into the cups wins!

Materials Needed: timer, ping pong balls, cups

Game #11 - Scoop It Up

Each person will have a spoon and 2 bowls. Bowl A will be filled with candy and bowl B will be empty. Each person must move the candy from bowl A to bowl B using only the spoon which they are holding between their teeth. Whoever moves the most candy after 1 minute wins!

Materials Needed: timer, bowls, spoons, small candy like M&M's or skittles

Game #12 - Keep It Up

Each person is given a light object like a balloon or feather. Each person tries to keep their object in the air for the entire minute. Depending on the ages you can make it harder by using the rule that you can't use any hands or you can only use your mouth by blowing the object in the air.

Materials Needed: timer, balloons or feathers

Other ideas that we are going to do to fill the evening:

- sparkling apple cider with pop rocks

- poppers

- order pizza or Chinese food

**I will update the post with pictures afterwards.

Check out my posts from previous years for more ideas:

New Year's 2024

New Year's 2023

New Year's 2022

May the year ahead meet you with moments that matter most!

New Year's Eve with Kids Part 3

My daughter informed me 2 days ago that I better start planning our New Year's Eve bags. So I decided to be adventurous and explore New Year's Eve traditions in other parts of the world to incorporate into our bags this year. I attempted to find traditions for a country in each time zone so that we can celebrate all day long.

**All times will be eastern standard time. Each country will also have a link to the website where I found my information and will often give you more detailed information about the traditions that take place there.

6:00 am - New Zealand - bang pots and pans and sing Auld Lang Syne

8:00 am - Sydney, Australia - it sounds like this country is known for their elaborate fireworks displays, so we will be making a firework craft found here at Growing a Jeweled Rose.

 

9:00 am - Papua New Guinea - traditional dances

9:00 am - Guam - collect coins to jingle in pockets at midnight, make Bonelos Dago (yam donuts) or Nilagang baka (boiled beef)

10:00 am - Tokyo, Japan - ring bells 107 times, then once at midnight to banish all the human sins and purify participants

11:00 am - Philippines - celebrate with 12 round fruits (ie. oranges, grapes, cherries), wear polka dots, and scatter coins (we are going to do chocolate coins)

11:00 am - Hong Kong, China - learn about the Chinese New Year with crafts from Chalk Academy

12:00 pm - Thailand and Indonesia - both cultures have traditions that have to do with lanterns, so we will be making lanterns with paper bags and battery operated candles

1:30 pm - India - learn about Diwali from the Educator's Spin on It

3:00 pm - Dubai - this country is known for their elaborate celebrations and dinner, so we are going to dress fancy and celebrate by drinking tea and eating a treat (luqaimat recipe)

4:00 pm - Turkey - sprinkle salt at the front door and smash pomegranates, we are also going to let the kids scratch off a few lottery tickets

4:00 pm - Russia - mandarin oranges or sweets for the kids

4:00 pm - Madagascar traditions

5:00 pm - Greece - hang an onion over the door and make vasilopita (cake version or bread version)

5:00 pm - Finland - eat ready-made frankfurters, potato salad, french fries, and crisps. Feeling adventurous, learn all about melting tin to determine your future health, wealth, or happiness

5:00 pm - South Africa - toss furniture (or a bucket of water to be more kid-friendly) out of the front door to signify leaving all of the bad things behind in the new year

6:00 pm - Spain - eat 12 grapes, one for each month of the new year

6:00 pm - France - make paper hats and paper confetti

6:00 pm - Germany - make German Berliner (a jelly filled donut)

7:00 pm - Ireland - bang a loaf of bread on the wall to banish bad luck and bad spirits from the house

7:00 pm - Scotland - build a fire to ward off evil spirits and "burn the old year out", sing Auld Lang Syne

7:00 pm - England - make new year's resolutions, make a Cannelig for good luck

9:00 pm - Greenland - make masks

10:00 pm - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - wear white to celebrate, put a bay leaf and money in your wallet and leave it there all year then next December 31 donate the money and throw the bay leaf in a running water stream

10:00 pm - Argentina - shred old documents and throw the paper like confetti, eat dried fruit and nuts, take the first step at midnight with your right foot to everything goes right throughout the year, eat beans

10:00 pm - Chile traditions

11:00 pm - Puerto Rico - they also throw a bucket of old water out of the front door and they sprinkle sugar outside their house for good luck

11:00 pm - Bermuda - make a paper-mache onion and drop it down at midnight

12:00 am - Colombia - run around outside with an empty suitcase if you hope to travel a lot in the new year, they also eat 12 grapes at midnight

12:00 am - Cuba traditions

12:00 am - Peru traditions

1:00 am - Mexico City, Mexico - learn about how the color of your underwear is a sign of what kind of year you will have!

2:00 am - Calgary or Edmonton, Canada

3:00 am - Vancouver, Canada

**if anyone knows of any Canadian traditions for NYE let me know! It seems like they just get together with friends and family and eat food, which sounds lovely!

If you are a Canva user, here is the link to the cards I made. You can make a copy and then edit them to fit your needs.

Click here to access the Google Slides with the cards for each country.

Do you have any special traditions from countries around the world that I can add to this list?? Let me know!

Previous Year NYE posts:

New Year's Eve with Kids Part 1

New Year's Eve with Kids Part 2

New Year's Eve with Kids Part 2

We had so much fun last year with the kids on New Year's Eve that we decided to do it again! Our daughter is in 2nd grade and is learning to tell time, so I decided to use analog clocks this year for the bags. 

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Last year we started the first bag at 4 pm because coming up with 8 ideas for bags is plenty!

4 pm - New Year's Printables

There are so many options out there but this year I picked ones from Oh Rubbish Blog.

5 pm - New Year's Hats

Use the numbers for the year and a strip of paper (or two) to create a headband style hat for the kids to wear.

6 pm - Reflection Questions

I found these cute questions from Artsy Fartsy Mama and decided to print them out and put them in a bag.

7 pm - Game Time!

We have SO many board games in our house including some new ones we got for Christmas, so we let the kids each pick 1-2 games that we could play as a family.

8 pm - Popcorn and Hot Chocolate 

This is always a favorite, so even though it was on last year's list we decided to do it again this year!

9 pm - 2022 in review

We also did this last year, but it is fun to see how their answers have changed in a year

10 pm - New Year's Poppers

I found some cheap ones at Walmart this year, but also found this DIY version using toilet paper rolls from Honey and Lime.

11 pm - Sparkling Juice Toast

This year we picked up a bottle of sparkling juice and some plastic flutes from The Dollar Tree for the kids to do a toast at midnight.

See New Year's Eve 2021 post here.

From my family to yours, we wish you a year of full of happiness!

via GIPHY

New Year's Eve with Kids

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

We are staying in this year because you know this pandemic is never ending, so I decided to use the internet to come up with some fun ideas to do with our kids (ages 4.5 and 7)!

Beginning at 4 pm there will be a bag to open at each hour. Some of the bags will have games, some will have things to do, some will have little toys to celebrate.

Here is my plan:

4 pm - New Year's Around the World

Print a blank map of the world time zones. Color in the places that have already celebrated New Year's and then each hour you can see what part of the world is celebrating at that time until you get to your time zone.