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Differentiated Kindergarten’s 100 Days Smarter and It’s Time to Start Thinking Green!

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There are days when I thought we weren’t going to make it, but we finally did!  We are now a 100 Days Smarter for the 2013-2014 school year. Despite many snow days which delayed it from happening (only 8 for my district so far), 100s Day has come and gone.  As I like to tell my boys, we are now officially on the slippery downhill slope of the school year.  Yippeee!
 
But really, who doesn’t love 100s day?  All the celebrating and super charged fun are just more reasons to love kindergarten.  As I watch my boys, one by one, grow up and move  beyond their kindergarten years, I realize that this is the last year that I will be able to celebrate the fun and excitement of 100s day with them.  The celebrating just isn’t the same after this first year of grade school.  The newness of it and anticipation just can’t be duplicated.  Yep, this year’s hundreds day is definitely bittersweet for this momma.  So if you don’t mind, I’ll indulge you with a few of my favorite pictures of the day in my classroom and maybe a couple from my sweet kinder boy’s class as well.
Why is it whenever I blow up 100 balloons to get this day started off with a bang, it never looks like THAT many, but when it comes to them popping them, it takes what seems like forever.  One of the favorite activities of the day doesn’t cost you more than a bag of balloons and the giggles and squeals can be heard down the hallway.  I LOVE it.  
 
 
I had a bit of help from my friends this year when it came to all the different center activities planned for the day.  From my sweet Michigander blogging pal, Maria, from Kinder-Craze, the day wouldn’t have been complete without and interactive reader.  My kindergarten friends love these books, this one is so sweet.  I especially love when the girls in my class get to the ‘when I am 100, I will have a mustache page’ and they giggle and say ‘no I won’t’ and I thinking, ‘well yeah, we all will probably have a mustache of some kind if we live that long sweetie.”
 
Solo cups are something like $6.00 for a hundred so when it came to finding cups for cupstacking, these little Dixie cups worked just fine.  200 in a box for $2.25 on sale —SCORE!!! And look how cute they are.  We also build with 100 legos too (which I somehow didn’t get a picture of in the 100s I took).
 
From my pal from the south, Jeannie, of Lifestyles of Kindergarten, I secured these cutie patootie crowns to draw for he day’s celebration.
 
And from Donna, of the legendary Kinderglynn, my students scoured their sheet to spy 100 items.  
 
and added 100 gum balls (bingo dotters) to their gum ball machine. 
 
 
100s day is never complete with some kind of snack.  Yes we hid the 100 kisses.  Did they find them all? Ummm NOPE!  We are still 4 short and my rule is that you have to find them all before we eat them.  One year it took them three days!  I’m hoping I can hand these out before then, but we’ll have to get back to class and see if they have it in them to find the rest.  
 
100s day snack was anything but healthy, but everything that is good and delicious about being a kindergartener.  Gold fish crackers (in two flavors), raisins, chocolate chips (2 kinds), pretzels,  chex cereal, fruit loops, chocolate teddy bears and . . . jellybeans!!! (I had to go peanut free this year so those jellybeans were my life saver for a 10th item.   
As I said, this is my last year having a kindergartener to celebrate this magical day with so I am especially delighted that I have the chance to teach right next door to his class.  While my friends were at music, I snuck next door to see what he was doing in his classroom.  I love the ‘when I’m 100 craft’ they did.  He said he would live in Florida, eat hotdogs and going skiing with his friend.  He also said that “When I’m 100, I will look like a baldy.”
This is the face of an end of an era for my 100s day fun as a mom of a kinder.  I’m sure gonna miss it.  It was pretty bittersweet, but at least it ended with having a snow day the next day.  I was able to do some snuggling, playing with my sweet boys and working on some magic for my favorite green holiday.
 
Here’s a peak, but make sure you stop back.  I’ll be laying out all the fun I have planned with this pack to keep my kinder friends engaged and in love with leprechauns.  
 
 

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Marsha Moffit McGuire

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