Door Decorating Contest

My son's school is having a Dr. Seuss door decorating contest. As a teacher, these things make me groan. Where do you find the time in our busy day to decorate a door? As a student, I just loved it. I loved walking down the halls looking at everyone's door and the time and energy that was put into it. Of course , the competitive side of me wanted to be the best. I like being creative, although my creative bone is a bit small. This always gave me an opportunity to stretch myself.

So this is the week that the doors are becoming colored, decorations and themes are starting to take form, and children are eagerly inspecting their neighbors door. Today was the day for me to cover T's classroom door in paper. His Kindergarten teacher is doing a creative spin on The Cat in the Hat. The kids will be writing their own mini stories to cover the door with.

"I'm Yertle the Turtle,
Oh Marvelous Me!"

In addition to working in T's classroom, I also work across the hallway with another Kindergarten group. This teacher has opened her classroom to me and gives me a lot of free reign. When I told her how much I loved door decorating as a child, she quickly offered up her door.

Hmm? All the possibilities! I didn't want to do a story that was too common, but wanted the children to recognize the story on the door. Oh! the Places You'll Go?...that would be perfect for Kindergarten but I think that I heard another teacher talking about that. The Lorax?... That's one of my favorites but I saw an intermediate teacher starting that one on her door. Yertle the Turtle?...That's a great story and one that's not too common. Let's try that one.

Each child will make their own turtle and decorate the shell by tearing off colored pieces of paper. It should be cute and won't take too much time in the classroom. I'll take care of Yertle and little Mack. I'll cover the door in black paper and draw "All the things I can see" from the hilltop with chalk. It should be cute. Yertle and Mack are drawn...time to decorate the shells. Should be a busy day!

"Your Majesty, Please!"