Montessori Community Year End Activities - Family Picnics

It is once again that time of year when we reflect on what we have accomplished as a school community and we start thinking about arranging a few year-end activities for the children and their parents. A few activities that I have implemented in the past include:

• A year-end concert

• A sports day

• A multicultural potluck

• A year-end family picnic

• A special field trip/going out activity

• An end-of-the-year craft project

• Kindergarten graduation

For the past few years, we have organized a field trip in the month of June. This year we are planning to go to the Honeybee Center as a way to enrich our study of Honeybees. Another tradition is our year-end picnic which is always enjoyed by parents and children alike! We have a beautiful park near our Montessori preschool that provides us with the perfect location for a family picnic.

Montessori Community Year End Activities - Family Picnics

We send home a note a few weeks in advance post a sign-up sheet as well so that each family can sign up to contribute a specific item to share with the group (salads, desserts, fruit platter, veggie platter, drinks, etc.). There is always an abundance of yummy food and our Montessori preschool always supplies the hot dogs, buns and condiments.

We all meet at the park at 10:00 a.m. For the first 45 minutes or so, the children are free to play at the playground or in the large grassy field.

When we begin the races and we explain to the children ahead of time that it doesn’t matter who wins or who loses - it is about having fun with our friends!

The races are always a highlight of the picnic and the children especially love the fact that after each race they are given a ribbon to be pinned on to their shirts! The races that have been the most popular over the years are:

• Sack race

• Obstacle race

• Dress-up race

• 3-legged race

• Marshmallow on a spoon race

The children usually work up quite an appetite during the races, so we have our picnic lunch shortly thereafter. Family members join the children and we all enjoy a special picnic together.

After lunch, we play some more and the children enjoy activities such as blowing bubbles, playing soccer, face painting, tattoos and a trip into the forest to find the “magical gummy tree.” Each year we prepare little bags of 3 or 4 gummies and hang them on a bush in the forest. The children love searching for the Magical Tree and are always intrigued with how the gummies get there each year - A Montessori Mystery!

Bree — NAMC Tutor & Graduate

As much as possible, NAMC’s web blog reflects the Montessori curriculum as provided in its teacher training programs. We realize and respect that Montessori schools are unique and may vary their schedules and offerings in accordance with the needs of their individual communities. We hope that our readers will find our articles useful and inspiring as a contribution to the global Montessori community.
© North American Montessori Center - originally posted in its entirety at Montessori Teacher Training on Tuesday, June 14, 2011.