Sinterklaas also visits schools. This can be quite exciting for toddlers. Some children really still believe in Sinterklaas and as a teacher you have to play along with that. What can you do with your toddlers in your class?
Sinterklaas at school
Two more weeks and then it’s time. Sinterklaas will make an appearance in most schools. Sinterklaas often makes his appearance in a fun way. Below are some ways you can do as an arrival for Sinterklaas at school. There are also fun crafts and work ideas for toddlers.
The arrival at school If Sinterklaas makes a nice entrance at school, it is a good start to the day. Children look forward to meeting Santa and that can’t be as fun as possible at that moment. There are many spectacular ways possible and the fun part is to make the road to the arrival exciting. Below are some ways to make Sinterklaas’ arrival exciting.
- Entry with a fire truck
- Entry by carriage
- Entry with a bicycle
- Entry on horseback (traditional)
- Entry on a cargo bike
- Entry into an enricher
- Entry on a tractor
- Entry on rollerblades
- Entry on a scooter
- Entry on a go-kart
Sinterklaas party in kindergarten
It’s fun to spend a few weeks working on Sinterklaas. The Sinterklaas period is exciting for children and can sometimes require a lot of energy from the children. I would therefore not work on Sinterklaas for more than two weeks. Below are some ideas of what you can do in your preschool classroom.
The doll corner
You can transform the doll corner into Sinterklaas’s house with the Piets. Add a packing table. Have them pack different boxes and bring them to the children. You can put a large chair there for Sinterklaas with Sinterklaas’ book. It is fun to make a large chimney for the classroom. The children can then really
throw the presents down the chimney or put them in the shoes. Provide nice Piets and Sinterklaas packages. Children can then dress up as Santa Claus and the Piets.
Theme table
It’s nice to have a themed table in the classroom. You can let children collect things about Sinterklaas themselves and take them to school. On the theme table you can place wrapped presents, poems, gingerbread nuts, taai taai dolls, a Sinterklaas doll, or Zwarte Piet doll. Everything that has to do with Sinterklaas is welcome on the theme table.
Sinterklaas and development of preschoolers
It is of course also important that the children learn something during the Sinterklaas theme. You can think of writing/language development or arithmetic development. Below I will give some tips.
The packing table
The wrapping table is good for the toddler’s fine motor skills. A toddler learns to cut and paste paper with adhesive tape. This is often something new because they mainly work with glue. Have children pack different packages and put a name on them, for example.
The writing corner
In the writing corner, the toddlers can make wish lists. They can stamp words. You can then have them cut out pictures of toys and stamp words next to them. For young toddlers, these do not necessarily have to be words, but they may well be nonsense words.
The construction corner
In the construction corner you can let the toddlers recreate Sinterklaas’s house. This is good for a toddler’s spatial insight.
The bead board
You can let the toddlers work on the bead boards. They then have to copy different patterns such as: Zwarte Piet or Sinterklaas or Sinterklaas’ sack.
Pietgym You can do Pietgym with the toddlers. Let them throw presents into the chimneys. Let them climb over roofs. They have to drag large bags of presents. You can do everything that has to do with the Piets. Decorate the gym nicely and you will see that the toddlers will have a great time. You can also give a Piet diploma at the end of gym class or at the end of Sinterklaas day.
There are plenty of ways to make it a successful preschool party about Sinterklaas!