My classes have worked so hard preparing for our Grandparent's Day program that we decided to have a silly day in Physical Education. Since today was National Pickle Day, class actually started with a reading of the short picture book Picky Mrs. Pickle by Christine M. Schneider. This is an old and humorous book, but children still enjoy it. I followed this with a discussion of the German tradition of the Christmas Pickle ornament. The Christmas Pickle is hidden on the tree Christmas Eve after children have gone to bed. In the morning, the first child to find the pickle gets an extra small gift. At our house, this small gift was something like a new toothbrush or yo yo - nothing big.
For our activity, students had fun with pickle races. They had to keep a dill pickle on a spoon as they moved through the gym. Teams received points for each completed lap to the cone and back. It was comical and certainly not as easy as one might think. What a fun way to spend National Pickle Day!
The first group heads out with the dill pickles on the spoon.
Picky Mrs. Pickle and the pickle ornament.
