Halloween Crafts!

I have lots of pictures to share for this post.

Here's the first snowfall:


Here is the school gym. It's the only indoor place where the kids can play when the weather is bad. It could use a little remodeling. It's in the very creepy basement, there are exposed pipes, peeling paint, the floor has fallen through in two places, and it smells distinctly of mold.


Here's the Gyovren library. On Saturday, three girls came to the library and were doing the usual stuff: using the typing game, looking at the English books with me, and finding Bulgarian books. One of the girls decided to re-organize the English books and I was more than happy to let her. It turned into all three of them essentially "playing library." They started cleaning and organizing other books. And then, the one who initiated it made a list of supplies that they needed for further work: tape, string, a hole punch, etc (not sure why they needed those things, but making a list and assigning who will bring what is a great skill!) So, they asked me to "secretly" open the library on Monday so they could work again. I did and all three showed with supplies in hand! And they are doing a pretty good job! They are alphabetizing all the books and if they have torn covers or pages, they are fixing them. Plus a little decorating, labeling, and cleaning. I'm just watching and loving it!


This week I did Halloween crafts with three groups of kids.

The 5th and 6th graders made paper mache masks and then decorated them with natural materials. It was a messy and wild process! I have to thank Ryan for his tip on bringing my hair dryer in case the masks hadn't dried completely before we decorated. We also used it to dry paint and glue! My favorite thing about this art project is that for the paper mache we used up my abundant supply of Peace Corps papers that were cluttering my room! The other adult in the pictures is Eliza, the English teacher who I work with.


These are the 1st graders who made 3D pumpkins. They're a fun group!


And last but not least, the kindergarten class who made spider hats!