Begin with the End in Mind!

Begin with the End in Mind! I have decided to share pictures from last year! For the past 4 years I have held a Family Day Luau at the end of the school year! The Family Day Luau is held in honor of Mother's Day and Father's Day! It is truly a fun time for everyone!

                            Fishing for Contractions!!!

 First Grade Fishing for Contractions! Supplies needed: Blue bulletin board paper, dowel rods, drill, fishing line, small round magnets, baskets, foam sheets, a permanent marker and large paper clips! Drill small holes at the end of each dowel rod, drill one small hole through the center of the magnet, slip the fishing line through the hole in the dowel rod and tie it off, next slip the fishing line through the magnet and tie it off with a knot at the bottom, cut fish patterns out of colored foam, write a contraction on each fish, be sure to write the matching word pair on the same color fish as its matching contraction, last, attach a paper clip to the mouth of each fish! As students find matches they should place them in their baskets or buckets! 

 Ocean in a bottle! Tub of white sand, funnel, bottled water (labels removed, names printed on each), blue food coloring (2 drops! Adults only!), small seashells, glitter, glass beads and small rubber fish!

Personalized visors! Preparations: find each students' Hawaiian translated name, name cards with name and Hawaiian name printed on each,  permanent markers, and beach theme foam stickers!

The Tikki Snack Shack in the background of the picture above served as our snack station! We had cupcakes, fruit kabobs,  and Island Ice drinks! Our fifth grade Poetry Pals pictured below, came to work at the Tikki Shack and helped to serve our guests!

Family Day Banners/Flags! Scrap booking paper, hole punchers, ribbon, paint and paint brushes! Each family member placed their hand print on the banner and then signed their name below their hand prints! Students and family members decorated the banners when they were finished!

Photo frame centers! We made and decorated family day photo frames to display the pictures taken in our photo booth!

We also attempted to learn how to hula, by watching the DVD Hula for Children! It was awesome to see the parents join in and dance! It was especially funny to watch the dads trying to hula!

  The year before last I took my class outside and we played "Surviving the Hawaiian Islands!", a spoof off of the show Survivor! Students and parents had five minutes to study a map of the Hawaiian Islands and were then given five minutes to put the Hawaiian Islands in order! (I made the islands out of card board and used an overhead projector to trace and make my patterns.) The teams that came the closest to getting the islands in order, earned immunity!(The immunity idols were wooden apples!) Those who did not do as well had water balloons thrown at them! On such a hot day, a water fun game was certainly welcomed! We also did the limbo, and had a hula hoop contest! Unfortunately, I haven't taken pictures of the outdoor events, so I'll be sure to do so this year, weather permitting!

     This is one of my absolute favorite and fun-ta-bulous first grade events! I look forward to it each year and get excited when I find new ideas to incorporate into this special day! I have found so many awesome ideas on Pinterest for my Family Day Luau and well, just about everything!  I'm eager to learn from and share with each of you! Have a wonderful school year!  Stephanie McVey

P.S. As I mentioned in my first post, this is my first blog....it took me an entire day to get my Pinterest button to work, 2 days to make and attach my slide show,  and as of this evening I have now figured out how to display the blogs I have been following and add pictures to my posts! WOO! HOO for ME! LOL! I thought I knew quite a bit about computers, but I guess I was wrong!