Dragon Week

Last week we celebrated Michaelmas. Panda loves dragons so I worked dragons into all of our plans. This is the book we chose. It did not have the lesson of conquering your fears and letting your light shine as clearly as I would have liked for Michaelmas... But it did have the lesson that not all your plans in life turn out how you expect them to and That seemed to meet us where we are at right now.

I kept the acorns from last week's sensory bin and added horse chestnuts for this week's bin. Panda loves to peel the shells off and hold the glowing chestnuts inside. I used our book this week and the chestnuts to talk about how everyone is different and to find the beauty inside. As a Michaelmas gift I gave him a new Michael angel peg doll. It has been close at hand all week. On Friday we have little puppet shows. I used these peg dolls to perform a simple Michaelmas story. Panda was mesmerized. This is the first puppet show we have done that he has sat completely still for.

This year Panda helped make our Dragon bread. He carefully helped measure out all of the ingredients, pour, and stir..

Then he helped form and decorate the dragon. He was so happy and proud to have helped. While the bread baked he sat in front of the oven (for half an hour) transfixed. He stroked the front of the oven door and kept saying things like;

"Fire hot dragon. I blow on it."
"Don't worry dragon"
"I made you"
"I baked you hot"...
And the best one...
"Don't worry little one. I eat you"

 

We made a fire breathing dragon tube. I found directions on Pinterest. Panda helped cut all the pieces out. He needed a lot of help because the tissue paper kept sliding out of the scissors, but he did make every cut. We practiced our letters on the tablet. It was not coincidence that last week the letter was "D" for dragon.

I presented Panda with this little dragon made out of paper plates and he ran right up and threw his harms around me in a giant bear hug... That is not normal behavior for my boy and it made me cry. He was so excited to paint this dragon. He picked out the paints and how he wanted it painted. He started to make stripes and then asked me to help him. I am so proud of how hard he worked on this little dragon.

One last activity involving chestnuts. While Panda was at therapy I drilled holes through several chestnuts to make beads. Panda loves to bead things. He was so happy when he came home and found this waiting for him. He sat right down and focused for about an hour. He would put beads on and take them off till they were just right. Then we practiced counting them.

When  he was all done, Panda gave the chestnut necklace to his brother. Badger has loved playing with it every day since. I don't know how long the nuts will last, but Badger has been loving practicing putting it on and taking it off and nibbling the smooth beads.

And that was our Michaelmas celebration and home school dragon week.

Does your family have any Michaelmas traditions?

Thanks for visiting and

~Shine On~