Friendship Garden

The school year has begun. I have 18 wonderful students that have spent the last two weeks making new friends and getting to know each other. What a great bunch!

For the first unit of the year we have been learning about Friendship. Things that go along with this unit are:
* God made me special
* I can use good manners
* I can treat my friends how I want to be treated (Golden Rule)
* I can make a new friend
* I can be a good friend

One activity that I love during this unit is the Friendship Garden. I read the Winnie the Pooh story, "The Friendship Garden" to my class and then we made sunflowers out of torn paper. Every sunflower looks different, but they are all beautiful. This is just like the children in my class. No two children are alike, but they are all very special because they are exactly who God made them to be.

We also did a group puzzle activity. Every child got 3-4 pieces of a Winnie the Pooh floor puzzle and we took turns placing our pieces. The students had to wait their turn and also urge on the others to keep checking their pieces so the puzzle could progress. It was such a good feeling of accomplishment when the puzzle was complete and everyone knew that they had taken a part in the activity.