Sometimes simple is best!

We had the nicest Fun Friday today. No frills, nothing fancy, just good ol' fashioned fun! 
I need to do this more often. This afternoon, after we put some finishing touches on our to-do list for the day, I showed the boys and girls some Christmas stencils that I had and invited them to enjoy some "Preferred activity time". 
It was so nice to sit back and watch the kids interact with each other.  They traced Christmas stencils, played games and enjoyed some of the other toys I keep in my room for indoor recess.  
I know we'll have a long winter ahead of us, and I'm sure there will be plenty of indoor recesses to come, but it was so, so nice to spend this quiet time with the kids.  
Seeing them all working away on the carpet on their different projects and then watching them move their things to different parts of the room with their friends so they could really focus was just really heartwarming. 

It's neat to watch the kids treat the classroom like a little home. They looked like such a family with all that sharing and passing around of the stencils, My Little Ponies and game pieces.  Then off they went to find their cozy space to get serious about their "work".  

I loved that 30 or so minutes so much I completely forgot to take pictures to share with you.  You'll just have to picture it all in your mind I guess...boy was it sweet.

It's fun to let the kids be kids and worry less about being in the driver's seat and more about letting them run the show. 
Thank you to all the boys and girls for another great week! 

You always work so hard and make me so proud to be your teacher.