Sorry to those who asked questions about the pumpkins in my last post... I always read comments, but often forget to answer - sorry! We managed to grow a total of 2 decent pumpkins this year... (apart from the zillions of butternut pumpkins) so the rest were bought from a grower in Hokkaido (maybe... my husband organised it all). The variety is Connecticut Field Pumpkin and they are just the right size for carving. You can buy the seeds at Tane no Mori in Japan. The templates are stuck onto the pumpkins then holes are poked around the lines and then the template is removed. Next you draw a line through all the holes to show you where to cut and then you cut away... it is actually pretty easy - even the small kids did a great job. Some of them were a bit off put by the scooping out, but a few really got into it and spent most of the time playing with the discarded innards!
Last night I had another of those "am I a dedicated teacher or just plain stupid" moments. I was teaching one of my kindergarten classes possession - as in "Whose is this?" "Mine". A fairly simple thing to teach.... unless you get carried away! Last week I took along mini-noodles that I had carved the top out of. They drew beautiful faces on them and we played a few games - making towers, asking whose was the first noodle on the tower, bowling them over and asking whose had fallen down etc. They wanted to take them home but I convinced them if they let me take them home I would bring them back transformed.... stupid me! I t
hen spent hours last night printing out, laminating and cutting out little chickens... putting all the mini noodles in little bags... putting eggs onto each noodle... attaching the laminated chickens to the bags with rubber bands then finding a way to transport them to the kindergarten without them getting broken. I then handed them out today asking "Whose egg is this?" and they answered "Mine"... it took all of about 2 minutes.... a lot of work for 2 minutes! I think I earned a few extra brownie points though and the smiles on their faces made it all worthwhile.... maybe! I have no idea how many of the eggs actually made it home unbroken, but I guess I will find out next week.
Last night I had another of those "am I a dedicated teacher or just plain stupid" moments. I was teaching one of my kindergarten classes possession - as in "Whose is this?" "Mine". A fairly simple thing to teach.... unless you get carried away! Last week I took along mini-noodles that I had carved the top out of. They drew beautiful faces on them and we played a few games - making towers, asking whose was the first noodle on the tower, bowling them over and asking whose had fallen down etc. They wanted to take them home but I convinced them if they let me take them home I would bring them back transformed.... stupid me! I t
hen spent hours last night printing out, laminating and cutting out little chickens... putting all the mini noodles in little bags... putting eggs onto each noodle... attaching the laminated chickens to the bags with rubber bands then finding a way to transport them to the kindergarten without them getting broken. I then handed them out today asking "Whose egg is this?" and they answered "Mine"... it took all of about 2 minutes.... a lot of work for 2 minutes! I think I earned a few extra brownie points though and the smiles on their faces made it all worthwhile.... maybe! I have no idea how many of the eggs actually made it home unbroken, but I guess I will find out next week.
That's pretty dedicated! Makes my mini Halloween loot-bags pale in comparison, though it was a bit easier stuffing a choc, some stickers and a phone tag into a 10yen bag...
ReplyDeleteMy vote goes to dedicated for sures. ; ) I think those are very cool and you took such time making those. I bet the kids loved them for sure. But I am positive the mother's loved them especially.
ReplyDeleteAt Christmas time when the Kumon teacher gives my kids small Christmas special things. I am always totally and completely won over. I always think..."wow what am amazing and kind teacher, we must go to her forever now" ; ) : ) Kids love stuff like that, but us mom's do too.
If it were me, I would have taken a picture of my child holding it. And then used the egg of course, let them keep their noodle (brilliant idea by the way) and kept the laminated chicken in their keepsake box because I think it's really neat and special and something to hold onto for sures.
Yeah dedicated awesome teacher for sures.
PS, I also thought what Rachel said she made sounds lovely too. Definitely thumbs up from us over here too. : )
I had seeds from Connecticut (that's where I'm from) and they were a total bust this year in Gifu. Only one tiny pumpkin (we got 10 last year). I would imagine they have better luck up in Hokkaido, closer to the right summer temperatures. Unlike Gifu, which is unfit for human habitation.
ReplyDeleteI asked my sister-in-law in Georgia (US) to get me some seeds for next year, hopefully I will have better luck with those.
I like your noodle egg-cups! I think I might try those for Easter. I did mikan jack o'lanterns (black permanent marker) and ghost lollipops to add a handmade touch to my treats for my students. Both are fairly easy, but I only have 18 students!
I'm in for dedicated!! We have our "halloween" party for my adult ESL class....I wonder how it's going to go....
ReplyDelete