End of School

On the last day of school, the Kindergarten class had a special awards ceremony followed by a class party.

Here all the kids are sitting and waiting for things to begin.

Lila found me (right in the middle of the picture).

Each child received an award. Lila got the Creative Thinker Award. When we got home, she asked me what that meant, and after I explained, she said, "Oh! That IS a good award for me!" :)

The party was a luau theme. All four Kindergarten classes had the same theme. We had the party in the gym, each class took a different corner.

I volunteered to make the Sun cupcakes.

Everyone in the class got a "goodie bucket" and a lei.

The room mom made each of them a little photo book with pictures of all the kids in the class.

Wyatt was very concerned that he wouldn't get a chocolate cupcake (I had made two flavors), but fortunately enough kids wanted the other flavor that he could have a chocolate. 

They played one game: the limbo. The kids didn't seem to care whether you touched the floor or not, though - just get under the stick! :)

We went to the party bearing gifts. Going along with the beach/summer theme, I put together this little gift for Lila's teacher. The tag said, "Now that the year's all wrapped up and done... may you relax and have some fun in the sun!" Gum, sunscreen, a crossword puzzle book (you could also do a magazine if you knew the teacher's interests), and flip flops were wrapped up in a beach towel.

For Lila's classmates, I made these treats. They were a big hit. Some kids didn't even wait till they got home to eat them! I put two graham crackers, a mini hershey's bar, and a large marshmallow in a clear treat bag. I just folded my tag over the bag and stapled it shut.

A few weeks before school ended was Teacher Appreciation Week. I had seen on Pinterest this idea of doing a class basket. Each child was supposed to contribute an item for the basket that corresponded to a letter of the alphabet. Our tag said, "You've sure got the ABC's of teaching down! Thanks for making our Kindergarten year so special! Love, Your Students". I had to fill in the gaps a little bit, but we got pretty good participation. There were 24 students in the class, so I didn't assign anyone the X or Z. I bundled up some letters submitted by parents & students and labeled them "Xpressions of Gratitude" for the letter X. Q was a Quik Trip gift card, and Z was a box of Ziploc bags (which the teachers are always needing). Lila's teacher LOVED this basket. It really was a great way for the whole class to participate, but each family could contribute whatever and how much they wanted.