Carpentry

 In January we spend a little time talking about Jesus as a little boy.  We talk about how his father Joseph was a carpenter and Jesus learned from him.  To reinforce the idea we surrounded the children with wooden items.  In the photo above, a Bunny is dying small wood pieces to be used in a class sculpture.

 We had colored pencils that were made of twigs in the office.

 We had wooden trains and tracks and by this point in the year we typically see some really intricate track creations.  This Bunny was just getting started, but eventually he used almost all of the track pieces to cover the rug!

We had wooden games such as this number numeral matching game.

In our modern world where plastic is plentiful, we strive to keep natural items in the children's hands as often as we can.  Wood feels different from from other materials, and working with wood is something people have done since the beginning of time.  It connects us to our past and gives children a glimpse into the life of Jesus in a tangible way.