Recycling reindeer - and paint them green

Tis that time of year, and we need to revamp our decorations a bit at Luna Towers - we seem to have a lot of Santas downstairs, and only one or two reindeer...

Break out the empty cardboard boxes!

We have a room full of junk (which really does need tidying up - anybody?) and a remarkable amount of raw materials if we rummage in a few drawers.

As we are little bit on the little side on Wednesdays, I didn't want to waste time & energy trying to cut the thick cardboard with tiny scissors; besides, a Stanley knife is rather sharp & dangerous. Best done as prep, especially as the antlers are fiddly. So, everything cut up & ready to paint, kids!

And paint themselves they did - on sleeves, faces, fingers as well as the table! Memo to self; tie on the strings first, then you can paint both sides and dry them easily. Another memo to self - check the reverse side of the box does not have printing on it, labels or cellotape (paint resistant) and remove ahead of project. Make sure the nippers roll up sleeves; we did this standing at the big table which worked better than sitting down...don't know why!

Eyes, noses & mouths done (Rudolph's), we could set aside to dry - but not in time before end of class (hairdryer would be useful). I'll get the string out tomorrow and finish the job off. Pics to follow!

Santa's grotto

We've actually stood back a bit and encouraged our little ones to contribute more to the school's Christmas decorations this year. Feels a lot more Christmassy as a result, and we're using up a big stock of cardboard boxes that would otherwise go to waste (Yes - see "Recycling" posting below!)

Jim's Tuesday lads built a colourful snow drift by numbers. We started with some simple origami, then we took turns to throw a dice and cut our patterns accordingly eg 1 - small triangle, 2 - big square etc. After that we used some old plastic sheets to add colour. Pretty fine outcome as you can see, which now decorates the tree in our main room.

Last year we tried to make reindeer, but the antlers were very fiddly/difficult for little fingers to cut with small scissors. Santa has proved to be a lot easier! Here you can see my rowdy boys getting stuck in. They followed simple written instructions on the board (reading is an issue with this class). Apart from a pompom getting chopped off in the cutting-frenzy, the result resembled the plan...we had five unique but recognisable Santas by 5:30 to dangle in the hall!

Stating the obvious, but the girls were a lot more careful and cautious - and were keen to take their trophies home, which was nice. Tana's attempts to build Christmas tree chains proved a lot more succesful than Jim's (fell to bits!) and her class coloured theirs beautifully. We're running out of walls to hang stuff on...only SIX sleeps to the big day now!