Fun Friday: Something to Look Forward to

It's Friday. The kids are wired, I'm tired. 8 hours until the weekend, so lots of potential for disaster. I like to enjoy being at work, rather than be counting down the minutes until the final bell and two days of time off begin, so I try to make Fridays fun for me as well as the students.

Instead of just looking forward to the weekend, I have a special Friday treat. 

His name is Tommy Tiger and he's our class mascot.

tommy tiger, tired from a weekend of playing in the park

He's a character from our language book, so the children are familiar with him and his family. They take turns hosting Tommy for a weekend, taking lots of pictures of their activities. Their parents print a collage on card stock and add captions, and on Monday during Circle Time, the host tells us about Tommy's stay. A great two-part routine that does double-duty and helps get us excited about Monday as well.

The parents were introduced to Tommy in our first parent-teacher meeting, so they know the drill, but the children spend the week wondering whose house Tommy will visit next! I like hearing them talk about Tommy among themselves during the week. It's fun to see them wondering where he'll go and what he'll do. And hearing about Tommy's adventures really does help beat the Monday morning blues. It's great to see even very shy hosts get up and talk about their weekend with Tommy.