Pay It Forward: Sharing the Fun!

You may remember my post "Sharing The Love from Pay It Forward" in February. When Karen from Flights of Whimsy posted about her package from British Columbia and offered to pay it forward, I jumped right in. The idea was originally the brainchild of Sherry and Donna from over at Irresistible Ideas for Play Based Learning. I was picked, and we got a lovely package filled with items representative of Australia. If you'd like to read more about our package, click here. Here's a picture of the wonderful goodies she sent:

Now it's my turn to "Pay It Forward" to other bloggers! Here are the rules:

• You must be willing to "Pay It Forward" to 3 more people, and share in a post on your blog.
• Leave a comment stating that you would like to play.I'll randomly choose 3 bloggers who comment.   You can be from ANYWHERE in the world.
• If chosen, you'll need to send me your mailing address, so I can send your package to you.
• Comments will be open for entries until Saturday, April 14, 2012. The winner will be picked on Sunday April 15, 2012

This has been such a fun experience! I hope that you'll join in the fun! 

  

Sharing the Love from Pay It Forward

I am so excited! We received a lovely package from Flights of Whimsy filled with goodies from "Down Under" in the mail earlier this month. This package was part of Karen's "Pay It Forward" post. The idea was originally the brainchild of Sherry and Donna from over at Irresistible Ideas for Play Based Learning. I am thrilled that I was able to participate, too!!! 


My gift package included: a calendar with beautiful pictures of the animals of Australia, 

And an adorable little kangaroo holding the Australian flag,

We were thrilled to discover "Wombat Stew",  a fabulous picture book filled with animals of the bush!

We've been reading "Wombat Stew" and I'm practicing my Aussie accent and silly animal voices with each reading.

And.....a BOOMERANG!!!!

We spent a wonderful afternoon trying out boomerang throwing. None of us were successful in having it return to us when we threw it, but it sure was fun trying!!!!

Our class wrote this thank you note to Karen that will be in the mail this week:

Dear Miss Karen,

Thank you for sending us a wonderful package. We are enjoying the calendar and book "Wombat Stew". It is very funny! Thank you for sending a boomerang! It is very fun! 

Love,  

Mrs. Ayn's class

I can't wait to "Pay It Forward" to 3 lucky readers in March. Be sure to check back and look for the opportunity to participate and Pay It Forward, too!

Celebrating Ramadan and El Ud Fitr in Pre-K

 

Our class had a wonderful treat today. One of the parents of my students offered to come in and tell the children about the Muslim holidays, Ramadan and El Ud Fitr. Ramadan is a holy month of fasting and El Ud Fitr is literally, "festivity" of "breaking the fast". Mrs. S. brought the beautiful poster above and explained the significance of each item.

She used a wonderful analogy for fasting using 3 different sized chocolate bars to explain fasting. She said the first time you see a little piece of chocolate and are fasting, you miss it, but it's just a little piece of chocolate and held up a small bar. A few days later, when you see that same piece of chocolate and know you can't have it, it seems bigger and you miss it more, and held up a regular sized candy bar. By the end of the fast, you really want the chocolate. Although the bar really hasn't grown in size, it SEEMS bigger to you. She then held up the giant candy bar. Mrs. S. also talked about how they make sure that those who have plenty, take this time, especially, to share with those less fortunate.

Mrs. S. also brought a beautiful children's books called, "Ramadan and El Ul Fitr" by Azra Jessa, written when she was 12 years old to help her classmates understand the holiday. Azra used the computer program "Paint" to illustrate the story.

After the "lesson", the kids were treated to cupcakes and goodie bags! The best treat of all? Mrs. S. very generously left us the book to include in our class library! The kids really enjoyed learning about their classmates' culture today and so did I! I knew very little about this holiday, so I am thankful that I had the opportunity to learn today, too.

We even learned the traditional holiday greeting during El Ud Fitr is "Eid Mubarak" or "have a blessed festival"!

Eid Mubarak!