Getting Ready for the BIG day

Mailboxes ready and waiting to be filled with Kindergarten valentine cards.

These cans were not destined for the recycling.

One of my favorite days of the school year is February 14th. I teach in a school where many of the students have never received a valentine and have little knowledge of the concept.  Thus,   weeks of talking about friendship, kindness, cooperation; singing about it, writing about it lead up to the BIG day of passing out cards. The excitement is palpable.

Let's just say today in my classroom, that excitement. . . wow.  Is that what I experienced today? Sigh. It was tough.  We've all had those days when no matter what, the children in our lives just take things a different directions. Not my best day in the classroom, but I am ready to regroup and head back to celebrate with them tomorrow.

For several years I have been rescuing large tin cans from our school cafeteria recycling.  I use them for lots of things; drums, teaching about cylinders, as a base for paper maché projects, containers for sorting, storage of art and other supplies.

As I climb in our recycling bin, our head custodian has moved beyond asking me, "Why?"  Now he generally favors, " You're up to something again, aren't you?" I smile and invite him down to the room to see the transformation from can of peaches to said creation.  

Most recently the cans  became valentine mailboxes.  

Our school uses a special can opener that leaves no sharp edges. The kids rinsed and washed them out (though they were already quite clean), then dried them off.

They were given a large piece of paper with a heart glued in the middle.  They were to build around it  then I would tape it onto the can and then cut out the middle of the heart.

Students worked in small groups

Some kids laid out their work,
while others charged a head with an internal plan guided purely by the amount of glue they used.

 

This is after we cleaned up.

Fruit cocktail, anyone?

Some have taken on a happy clown like appearance.
 Others look a little like  they might bite.
 I suppose half the fun will be delivering the valentine cards past the friendly fangs!

They can easily be carried home in a backpack or in the proud arms of a student who will no doubt, spend the rest of the weekend admiring the contents!

Tomorrow is sure to be a memorable day for all! I can't wait!