Let me start off by saying that we have only been in school for 15 days and never in my craziest thinking would I do a classroom transformation this early in the school year! But...all normal has been thrown out the door in #2020! So why not!
We needed a little fun, just some down right kindergarten fun! With all the masks, sanitizer, seating charts, and line orders my kiddos have been AMAZING and just needed some fun and excitement! This is where I must point out that doing something like this fifteen days into school wasn't my idea. That is where my amazing friend, sidekick, and teacher assistant comes in. A few Fridays ago she asked if we had a fun classroom day planed? "We just need some fun!" she said.
So voila this is where the transformation came about! I wanted something fun, that didn't take too much work, and would be academically appropriate for my students at this point in the school year. So here it is broken down for you! Our CandyLand classroom transformation:
Setting the Stage with sweet decor (get it sweet decor 😉)
I printed off candy clipart (included in my TpT product), laminated it, and cut it out to create candy pieces for the hallway and my door. I also used construction paper to create the CandyLand board. My assistant made candies out of pool noodles, bouncy balls, tape, and cellophane. How lucky were we that a lady I work with threw a Candy Land birthday party for her daughter previously and she brought in the cardboard props for us to use! To be honest, I didn't do much to the inside of the classroom, I hung a few candies from the ceiling and put in a chocolate river (brown bulletin board paper) and my kiddos loved it. "It's like our classroom has been transformed into a whole new world" according to one of my kindergarteners!
Getting the Kids Excited!
After recess, we came into this urgent message from King Candy (one of my teammates ideas, I was just going to send it home) giving us the challenge for the next day. I also sent home the little story to their parents that night. The next day all of my kindergarteners came dressed in their most colorful outfits ready to find the missing key to the castle!
It's CandyLand Day
We started the day off playing Candy bingo! This was a great way to practice letter recognition. When each kid got a "candy" they got to pick a sticker from the chocolate river.
We played a fun game of CandyLand on the Smart Board! I am so glad I figured out how to do this! I see lots of board games in our future!
For math we did a ten frame match from the chocolate river.
We did a skittle experiment that my students loved! This is where the best quote of the day was heard! "Mrs. Gardner, you're a genius! A literal genius!"
After each challenge, we opened an envelope. Each envelope told us that we hadn't found the key yet but we were getting closer. After the final challenge, we found the key.
It was a great day! So if you are considering doing a classroom transformation this early in the year I highly recommend it. I am teaching FTF, #2020 is so unpredictable, so I wanted to give my kiddos a chance to experience Kindergarten Mrs Gardner style. I can tell you it was 100% worth it!
If you want to try a CandyLand transformation, I have everything you need in my TPT product! Here is the link:
Hip Hip Hooray for Candy Day!
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