| These New Year activities will help to usher | | | | These puzzles and riddles are from |
| in a brand new year. | | | | Instructor's Big Book of Holiday Puzzles by |
| | | | Diane Hellriegel, Scholastic, 1985. |
| January Starts the Year | | | | |
| | | | New Year's Resolutions |
| January, February, March, April, May. | | | | |
| | | | 1. Have children write 20 realistic New |
| The first five months are A-OK. | | | | Year's Resolutions and circle six they think |
| | | | are the best. Place a star by the resolutions |
| June and July, August, September, | | | | they think no one else would have thought of! |
| | | | Let them share. |
| How many summers can you remember? | | | | |
| | | | 2. Divide your class into small groups and |
| October, November, December's the end, | | | | have them write funny New Year's Resolutions |
| | | | they think the principal, teacher, office |
| Any month's a good time to make a new friend. | | | | staff, cafeteria staff, janitorial staff, |
| | | | school bus driver, parents, babysitter, or |
| Fifty-two weeks or twelve months in a year, | | | | anyone else they know should make! |
| | | | |
| As each month ends, a new one is here. | | | | These two ideas are adapted from Springboards |
| | | | to Creative Thinking by Patricia Tyler Muncy, |
| Winter and fall, summer and spring. | | | | The Center for Applied Research in Education, |
| | | | Inc., 1985. |
| These are the seasons that each year brings. | | | | |
| | | | 3. Make New Year's smocks for young children |
| The days in a year come to three hundred | | | | and have the children decorate them, around |
| sixty-five. | | | | the edges, with crayons, markers, or paint. |
| | | | Write one of their favorite resolutions in |
| Isn't it great to be alive? | | | | the middle and let them wear their smocks |
| | | | proudly! |
| This poem was written by Risa Jordan and is | | | | |
| included in "A Poem A Day" by Helen H. Moore, | | | | 4. For a bulletin board, outline a large, |
| Scholastic, 1997. | | | | old-fashioned sleigh on brown butcher paper; |
| | | | write HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM ALL OF US! in the |
| It presents an opportunity to teach or review | | | | middle of it; cut out and staple to the |
| the months in sequential order and for | | | | bulletin board. Using 8"-diameter circles of |
| children to discuss the calendar. Why are | | | | construction paper or the middle of small |
| there twelve months? How did each month get | | | | paper plates, have children draw their faces. |
| its name? Do other cultures use the same | | | | They can use yarn for hair, felt for hats or |
| calendar as our's? What are the names of | | | | earmuffs, and other odds-and-ends. Staple |
| their months? Why are there 365 days in a | | | | finished faces, starting at the rim of the |
| year? What causes Leap Year? A calendar is a | | | | sleigh, to give the impression of a crowd of |
| great tool for Social Studies and Science! | | | | children riding in the sleigh. Along the |
| | | | sides of the sleigh, put up children's |
| New Year Puzzles | | | | resolutions or goals for the new year. |
| | | | |
| January was named after the Roman god, Janus. | | | | These two ideas are from Macmillan Seasonal |
| He was said to have two faces and could look | | | | Activity Packs, Macmillan Educational |
| both forward and backward simultaneously. On | | | | Company, 1986. |
| January 1, we look back on the previous year | | | | |
| and ahead to the new one. Solve this FACE | | | | New Year Recipe |
| puzzle, then, by changing one letter at a | | | | |
| time while keeping the letter order the same. | | | | In Holland and other European countries, many |
| Each change will result in a new word until | | | | people eat something shaped like a ring on |
| all the original letters have been changed | | | | New Year's Day in the belief that if brings |
| and you can LOOK ahead to a wonderful new | | | | good luck. A ring symbolizes completion...in |
| year! | | | | this case, the circle of the entire year, |
| | | | with month following month. Here is a simple |
| FACE | | | | recipe you might want to try. |
| | | | |
| _ _ _ _ | | | | Pineapple New Year Rings - Makes 20 servings |
| | | | |
| _ _ _ _ | | | | 1. Drain the juice, reserving it, from two |
| | | | 12-oz cans of unsweetened pineapple rings. |
| _ _ _ _ | | | | Place one ring on each plate. |
| | | | |
| LOOK | | | | 2. Place 1/4 cup of the 2 1/2 pints of |
| | | | cottage cheese in the center of each ring and |
| It was considered good luck, in Scotland, if | | | | pour 1-2 TB of the reserved juice over it. |
| a dark-haired man was the first person to | | | | |
| enter the door of your house on New Year's | | | | 3. Enjoy while talking about the upcoming |
| Day. Boy, are you GLAD that your dark-haired | | | | year! |
| uncle just put his FOOT in your door! Solve | | | | |
| this puzzle with the same directions as | | | | New Year Game |
| above. | | | | |
| | | | In keeping with the 'ring' concept, play this |
| FOOT | | | | circular game to welcome the New Year. Have |
| | | | fun! |
| _ _ _ _ | | | | |
| | | | Ring on a String - Grades 2-6 |
| _ _ _ _ | | | | |
| | | | Have a string long enough for all players to |
| _ _ _ _ | | | | hold and an inexpensive ring large enough to |
| | | | slide along the string. |
| GLAD | | | | |
| | | | Place the ring on the string and tie the ends |
| Every New Year's Day, in Pasadena, | | | | together. With children sitting or standing |
| California, the Tournament of Roses Parade is | | | | in a circle, they should hold the string with |
| seen by millions of people. The floats are | | | | their palms down; one child, the 'detective,' |
| made entirely of real flowers! Solve the | | | | stands in the middle. The players in the |
| flower riddles below according to this secret | | | | circle pass the ring from one to the other as |
| code: | | | | the detective tries to decide who is holding |
| | | | it. If he is right, the two players exchange |
| 1=H 5=A 9=S 13=Y 17=P | | | | places. If the detective has guessed wrong |
| | | | five times, he sits in the circle and is |
| 2=D 6=W 10=I 14=V | | | | replaced by the last person he thought had |
| | | | it. |
| 3=O 7=E 11=N 15=L | | | | |
| | | | To all of our customers, subscribers, and |
| 4=T 8=B 12=U 16=R | | | | viewers, here's to a Healthy, Happy New |
| | | | Year!! |
| What did the big flower say to the little | | | | |
| flower? 1 10, 8 12 2! | | | | The recipe and game come from Macmillan |
| | | | Seasonal Activity Packs, Macmillan |
| Why are flowers so lazy? 4 1 7 13 5 16 7 5 15 | | | | Educational Company, 1986. |
| 6 5 13 9 10 11 8 7 2. | | | | |
| | | | I hope these ideas are useful and have |
| Why is a spring garden like your mouth? 8 3 4 | | | | inspired your own creative thinking! |
| 1 1 5 14 7 4 12 15 10 17 9. | | | | |
| | | | Answers to Puzzles: FACE, LACE, LACK, LOCK, |
| Create the rest of the code and make up more | | | | LOOK; FOOT, FOOD, GOOD, GOAD, GLAD; Hi, Bud! |
| riddles for your friends and family! | | | | They are always in bed. Both have tulips. |
| | | | |