Thursday, December 24, 2015

Shopping List Activity

Right after our Thanksgiving week off, my school psychologist gave me a shopping game he thought I might be able to use with my kids. It was really old, but very cool. It had cards with store items on them along with a price, money, and shopping lists. The only problem was that it was from back in the 70's and the items and prices were way off what we would find or expect to pay in today's time. 

I decided to make a few of my own. I had started two separate ones, grocery store and pharmacy. Then one day during our morning meeting we were talking about items the kids wanted for Christmas. They were the normal things most teenagers would want, but I realized my kids had no concept of the cost for these items.

So, I put the grocery store and pharmacy cards on hold and started a new set using the items they had mentioned that morning. I even went to Amazon to get accurate prices. I cut and pasted pictures from the internet along with the prices I found. There are 24 cards in all and 4 numbered Christmas lists. I included four numbered envelopes in the box as well, along with the cash they would need and a calculator.

All the kids had the opportunity to do the activity before we left for Christmas break. I tried to emphasize the cost of the items as I went over their envelopes to check their work. My kids have the same thinking that my own birthed children had, at a much younger age, that all you have to do is "go to the bank" if you need more money! We'll continue to work on that as well! 

Well, I hope you are all enjoying your time off. It's Christmas Eve and I finally finished my shopping yesterday! Every year I say I'm not going to do that, but every year I do it again!

Happy Holidays,

Monday, December 21, 2015

2015 Christmas Card Displays

Here are a few of the displays I received from classrooms participating in the Christmas Card Exchange this year. I love them all!!! I have zero wall space, so had to use my door this year. We tacked all the pictures and letters around the outside of the door. The kids loved getting them in the mail, opening them, finding where they came from on our map, and adding them to our tree!
 Thanks again for everyone who participated. I look forward to doing it again in 2016!