Christmas Card Project

For a fun Christmas project my class participated in a Christmas card exchange with other elementary classrooms, mostly in the United States. Inquisitive and curious, my students were very excited to to know where our partner classrooms were located. It was fun to discuss weather during Christmas time and how a lot of people in the states hope for a "white Christmas." Thus went the week long round of asking Miss Idsardi, "Does it snow in...(fill in the blank with random location in the States)?" I was proud to say that in Florida we enjoyed a temperate winter, but did not spend time by the pool or at the coast as is customary here in Kenya. Talk also drifted to the crazy winter weather experienced in the States at the time and it was fun to hear students talk about their snow experiences or lack thereof.

For the project students in our fourth grade class signed up for a classroom or two, many based on where the school was located and if the student had any connection there. Some kids were able to make a card for a school from the same state they are from. Students designed the cards and wrote their own messages inside telling the partner classroom how they celebrate Christmas and a little about what life is like in Nairobi.

We also filled out cards with some data about our class, like how many boys or girls are in our class and an interesting fact. Many of the students wrote that our class is make up of kids representing 11 nations, that can speak around 17 languages. I can't vouch that they are all proficient in the languages they claimed, but we went with it.

The fun part was finally receiving cards.  With the crazy weather and the Kenyan post, some cards didn't trickle in until after Christmas. One just got here in February and was postmarked before the 25th! The kids oohed and ahhed at the various cards and got excited when their "school" sent us a card.

Our cards were posted on a bulletin board in our classroom for students to admire and read. It was a fun way to celebrate Christmas and to tell others about the joy of the birth of our Savior.