Creativity Fair

Happy May everyone! Is it just me, or did May totally just take over my calendar? I've got graduations, banquets, campouts, and end-of-the-year activities galore this month. Jesus take the wheel.

One of the big highlights for the school year at SDA Elementary is Creativity Fair. Everyone and their mother came out last Thursday for this event--so much fun! (And LOTS of work!)

The first part of the fair is a classroom exhibition where students display their projects and learnings. The second part of the fair is a program for the parents and families come and watch their child's class perform anything from a song, to a skit, to glow-in-the-dark performances (I told you it was fun). After agonizing for far too long what to do with my kids, I decided to do Ancient Egypt!

I divided my class into 6 different areas of study: Archaeologists, Pharaohs, Pyramids, Scribes, Farmers, and Soldiers. All of the kids loved their roles and quickly became experts. They did research, created posters, and other objects (like chariots and scrolls) to display with their project.

Over the month, our classroom looked like a brown box construction zone. I was raiding the local grocery store for boxes like nobody's business. I'm sure they are glad this fair is over! We built a Sphinx, an Obelisk, and a pyramid. Then we painted a mural, a pharaoh photo booth, and made the Nile River out of blue plastic bags. (Credit for the Nile River goes to one of the Student Missionaries here...her creative mind is insane!) Last but not least, like legitimate Egyptians, we made papyrus! It was super easy and what kid doesn't love making a mess? (I actually had one who was going to die from putting his hands in a tub of glue...hilarious) We decorated our papyrus with hieroglyphics and hung them up. Pretty neat, huh?

We put banana leaves all over the tables and decked them with fruit, all donated by the wonderful parents. And of course we had to take advantage of living on an island and covered our walls in coconut branches--all for free! Love this island life!
Needless to say, my kids were P U M P E D.

Once our classroom was on its way to looking good, I wanted us to SOUND good and be ready for our presentations. My students took notes on index cards and practiced their little talks with partners and then in small groups. We focused on eye contact, volume, talking clearly, and how to answer questions.

That evening, the students came to school in their little Egyptian costumes and looked absolutely adorable. Egypt was definitely the right choice.

That night one of the first people to walk around my room for the expo was of course, my husband. He went around to each one of the projects and made sure to ask the kids lots of questions. I was beaming like a proud mama bear at how excited they were and how well they did.

After the expo was time for performances. We performed a wordless skit set to music about giving our hearts to Jesus. Let's just say my eyes weren't the only ones glistening. Maybe when I get back to the States I can upload the video. Just precious.

Everyone did an awesome job--there was singing, some LED light action, and skits. Such a cool night. Definitely one to go down in the books.