Something To Think About This Easter

 

Have you ever wondered where the Easter bunny came from?

Back in the 1700s, Germans emigrated to America and settled in Pennsylvania. They started telling their neighbors the story of a special bunny that came each spring to lay beautiful colored eggs.

Children began building nests to collect the eggs. They also set out carrots in case the Easter Bunny got tired hopping from nest to nest.

Eventually, the eggs turned to chocolate, the nests became baskets, and people started giving gifts to each other.

How did Bunnies and Eggs Get Associated with Easter?

Spring is when flowers burst forth with color and chase away the brown, barren landscape of winter.

Animals like deer, raccoons, skunks, otter, birds, and yes – bunnies – have babies in the spring.

Eggs are a symbol of new life.  Colored eggs point to the festive colors of spring.

Spring is a new start, a new beginning. Why not celebrate that? 

A Question to Ponder

What if everything you did wrong was forgiven and forgotten?

How would you feel?

What would you do?

How would you live?

Forgiveness is a relief when someone grants it. It’s like having your slate wiped clean and your bad behavior removed from your permanent record.

Ask your students these questions. Maybe they have someone they can forgive. Or maybe they can apologize to someone they’ve offended.

It might be a new beginning for one (or more) of their relationships! What better way to remember Easter?

Give Someone a Basket

Who doesn’t love a gift?

Help your students show someone they care with an Easter basket filled with gifts. It can be as simple as filling a few eggs with candy. Maybe they can make a card to put inside. Whatever they do, it will be beautiful – and appreciated.

Bonus points if you give baskets to people who might not get one otherwise.

Thank you for reading. At Pure Fun, we’re committed to helping you help your preschool students thrive all year long. Happy Easter to you and yours!

Celebrate Global Belly Laugh Day!

 

The laugh heard round the world

What was the funniest thing you ever saw or heard?

Chances are you laughed so hard you couldn’t do anything else. It’s the kind of laugh that paralyzes you, and all you can do is surrender to the moment.

No doubt life is stressful at times. It can be hard to laugh when you feel the weight of the world on your chest. But what if you could laugh on purpose? What if all your tension could disappear so you feel lighter than a feather—even for a moment?

Back in 2006, Elaine Helle noticed that people weren’t laughing enough. Being a Certified Laughter Yoga Teacher, she knew the benefits. So, on January 24 at 1:24 PM, she called people to take a moment and laugh as hard as they could.

Since then, it has become a global celebration!

"You don't stop laughing because you grow older. You grow older because you stop laughing."  - Maurice Chevalier

Laughing is Good for You

Laughing may seem like a silly waste of time. But is it? Those who laugh regularly enjoy these health benefits:

·         Laughter is a natural pain killer. It produces endorphins, the "happy" brain chemical. Endorphins relieve stress, reduce anxiety, ease chronic pain, and make you feel good all over.

·         Laughter strengthens your heart. Like a cardio workout, laughing increases your heart rate.

·         Laughter protects you from disease. A Harvard study found that the more you laugh, the less likely you are to have a chronic medical condition.

·         Laughter tones your midsection. A belly laugh flexes your abdominal muscles by rapidly contracting and relaxing them. So, if you can't make it to the gym, listen to your favorite comedian instead.

·         Laughter boosts immunity. It does this by activating your T-cells (immune system cells) so you can fight off germs and infections.

·         Laughter lowers your blood pressure, according to the University of Maryland School of Medicine. It also reduces your risk of heart attack and stroke.

·         Laughter relieves stress. A good belly laugh reduces your cortisol levels (stress hormones).

·         Laughter helps people suffering from depression. A 2011 Oxford University study found that laughter significantly eased the physical and mental pain of depression, regardless of severity (momentary or chronic).

Want to laugh now? I’ll bet you do!

"Laugher is the sun that drives winter from the human face." - Victor Hugo

How to Participate in Global Belly Laugh Day

Here’s what to do, courtesy of https://www.bellylaughday.com.

On January 24 at 1:24 PM (local time) smile, throw your arms in the air, and laugh out loud.

That’s it! Pretty simple, right?

If you need help laughing, find a funny meme or photo online. Make a funny face in front of your friends. Tell a story about something silly you did.

Make a video of your class laughing. If you want to post it online, add the hashtag #bellylaughday. We’d love to see your videos and hear your stories!

Have a good belly laugh whenever you feel down and need a quick lift. It’ll do your body, mind, and soul good!

"The most wasted of all days is one without laughter." E.E. Cummings

 

21 Amazing Facts About Thanksgiving to Share with Your Family and Friends

Thanksgiving is the second most popular holiday in the United States, according to a Harris poll (2015). People drive 50 miles or more to see family, eat too much, and watch lots of football. Millions also watch the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

What do you and your family do?

If you need something to talk about, these Thanksgiving facts will spark conversation.

Thanksgiving Turkey Trivia

• The Butterball Turkey hotline takes over 100,000 questions about cooking the holiday feast each year.
• Americans eat over 44 million turkeys (averaging 16 pounds apiece) on Thanksgiving. If you put all that meat on a scale, it would weigh 704 million pounds.
• TV dinners got their start after Swanson overbought 260 tons of turkey. A sales rep named Gerry Thomas suggested they package the turkey with peas, dressing, gravy, and sweet potatoes in tin trays like the airlines used. 10 million trays sold the first year and TV dinners won a permanent spot at the grocery store.
• Ben Franklin wanted the turkey to be America’s national mascot.  In a letter to his daughter, he wrote “the Turkey is in Comparison (to the bald eagle) a much more respectable Bird.”
• Studies show it’s not the tryptophan in turkey that makes you sleepy.  It’s the 4500 calories of food you ate on Thanksgiving.
• 8 in 10 people say they prefer Thanksgiving leftovers.

These Turkey Accents will brighten up your classroom for Thanksgiving.

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade Trivia

• The first Macy’s Thanksgiving parade was in 1924.  It was so popular they got a TV contract with NBC a few years after.
• The first balloon character was Felix the Cat.  They hadn’t planned to deflate it, so it drifted up and popped shortly after the parade ended.
• The first parade featured animals from the Central Park Zoo, puppets on floats, and no        balloons.
• 3.5 million people go to New York City to watch, some arriving as early as 6:30 AM to grab a good spot. Over 50 million watch the parade on TV. 
• Macy’s parade is the largest float parade in the world. 
• Sonic the Hedgehog is the first video game character to get a balloon in the parade.
• Peanuts character Snoopy has the most balloons, with 8 featured in the parade since 1968.

Decorate your bulletin board with this Fall Winter Snoopy Pose Bb Set. 

Holiday Football Facts

• The first football game played on Thanksgiving was in 1876.  Yale took on Princeton.
• The Detroit Lions have played every Thanksgiving since 1934.  The only exception was when the players were called to fight in World War 2.
• The Dallas Cowboys have played all but 2 Thanksgivings since 1966.
• The Jacksonville Jaguars have never played on Thanksgiving Day.

Need a football to toss with family and friends on Thanksgiving?  We’ve got some:

Coated Foam Ball Football (softer for the kids)  Football Official Size

How Thanksgiving Became a National Holiday

• George Washington declared a National Day of Thanks on November 26, 1789. He wanted Americans to thank God for protecting them and helping them achieve independence.
• Thomas Jefferson didn’t want Thanksgiving to be a national holiday. He felt it would violate the First Amendment separation of church and state. 
• Sarah Josepha Hale lobbied to make Thanksgiving a holiday for decades. Finally, in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln granted her wish. She was also known for writing the childhood favorite Mary Had a Little Lamb.
• The first U.S. President to officially pardon a turkey was John F. Kennedy.

Welcome guests with this Thanksgiving Allinone Door Décor Kit.  

Thanksgiving Activities for Preschoolers

Turkey Dinner Collage

All you need is some glue, scissors, food clip art you can print out, and paper plates. Have the children cut out their favorite foods and glue them on the plates. (Thanks to PreKinders for this idea.)

Thankful Cards

One piece of construction paper should do. Have them write what they’re thankful for. Encourage them to add a picture they draw or paste on. Studies show that grateful people are happier, get better grades, and don’t get sick as often as ungrateful people.

Thanksgiving Countdown

Make a paper chain with enough links to count down the days until Thanksgiving. Each day a student tears off one link and everyone counts what’s left. (Thanks to Preschool Plan-it for this one.)

We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration. If you’d like to share your Thanksgiving traditions with us, we’d love to hear about them!

National Popcorn Poppin' Month

Celebrate National Popcorn Poppin’ Month This October!

Americans love popcorn!  Recent reports say we eat 17 billion quarts every year.  If you popped all that, you could fill the Empire State Building 18 times, says Lexi Jacobs, author of The History of Popcorn.

Here are a few fun facts about America’s favorite snack:

•  If you heat popcorn in an open cooker, kernels can fly as far as 3 feet when they burst!
•  Popcorn has more protein per serving than eggs, roast beef, and cereal grains.
• You’ll need 1600 popcorn kernels to fill a 1 cup measuring container.
•  In Colonial America, popcorn was eaten for breakfast with milk, sugar, and cream – a lot like cereal today.

National Popcorn Poppin’ Month was started in 1999 by Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman.  Why October?  Because this is when popcorn is harvested in the Midwest, where most of America’s popcorn is grown.

How did popcorn get into movie theaters?

Before the Depression, young entrepreneurs started selling popcorn and cracker jacks as they walked up and down theater aisles.  Theater owners were hesitant to buy the equipment needed to serve popcorn, so they hired vendors to cook and sell it outside.  

In 1938, Glen Dickson decided to take a chance.  He bought popcorn poppers and installed them inside all his theaters.  It was expensive, but he made his money back quickly.  Sales of popcorn soared!  Now it’s hard to imagine going to a theater without smelling popcorn.

Class Activities with Popcorn

Make some great memories for your students with these fun activities.

The Milk and Popcorn Mixer

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you mixed milk and popcorn?  Let’s find out!

Start with two plastic cups or glasses.  Fill one with milk and the other with popcorn (already popped).  Have your students start dropping popcorn into the milk, one piece after another.

Then watch what happens. 

The milk will swallow the popcorn and never rise above the rim. Pretty cool, huh?

Homemade Popcorn Shakers

Unleash the musician in your young students!

You’ll need:

• Toilet paper roll cores
• Cardboard circles that fit each end of the cores
•  Popcorn
•  Paints
•  Glitter
•  Colorful markers
•  Glue or sticky tape

Take the toilet paper core and seal one side.  Insert the popcorn and seal the other side.  Let the kids decorate the shaker however they like.  Then get ready to make some music!

If you want the shakers to be really loud, use unpopped popcorn.

Popcorn Relay Race

You may want to do this one outside.  It can get messy!

Set a bowl of popcorn and an empty bowl at both ends of the relay track.  Give students a cup they’ll use to transport popcorn from the full bowl to the empty one at the other end of the track.  The first team to complete the transfer wins!

Add Some Decorations to Your Celebration

You don’t have to decorate your room with real popcorn to celebrate.  We’ve got you covered!

Classic Accents Popcorn Variety Pack

Popcorn Accents

Classic Accents Popcorn Mini

Serve some popcorn with these Classic Accents Popcorn Boxes.

Award prizes with these Showtime Popcorn Stinky Stickers.

 

We hope you have fun celebrating National Popcorn Poppin’ Month.  We’d love to hear how it goes for you!