Millersburg Elementary enjoys reindeer games
Allie Armstrong helps a pair of students send their Rudolph balloons soaring down the race strings.
Rudolph and his merry band of reindeer paid a visit to Millersburg Elementary on Thursday, Dec. 19 and Friday, Dec. 20 and helped the staff and students celebrate the arrival of Christmas break.
With each classroom teacher providing his/her own take on anything Christmas reindeer related, the students were treated to an afternoon of games, snacks and fun as they celebrated the holiday season.
The two-day celebration was the brainchild of a committee that poured its heart and soul into creating a couple of days the kids would enjoy.
“Our committee did a tremendous job,” Principal Renee Woods said. “Usually, we do activities that use different crafts and we make ornaments, but this year we decided to do more interactive games, so Reindeer Games was born.”
Thus, students were busy racing balloons down string runways, placing a red nose on Rudolph that was plastered on their own nose, dancing and participating in plenty of challenging games that kept them active throughout each afternoon.
In one room teachers Nate Wade and Debbie Thern were busy guiding kids through a series of Minute-to-Win-It style games where kids were busy stacking cups, rolling balls and collecting M&Ms with a straw.
“I used to be in charge of our youth ministry at church, and we did a lot of games like this,” Wade said. “So that was my inspiration, and kids love to be active and have fun, so we created a lot of games that require teamwork.”
Teachers Allie Armstrong and Lindsy Belden had the balloon raceway, which saw students pair up and create reindeer balloons that had Rudolph’s face drawn on each balloon.
The balloons were blown up but not knotted and were taped to a straw. When let go, the makeshift Rudolphs went careening down the two strings in racing fashion.
“Our reindeer race was loads of fun,” Armstrong said. “The kids are having a blast, and we tried to create games that were fun and active including keeping our balloons in the air with our noses after we’re done racing them.”
While many rooms had a specific reindeer in Santa’s sled as a theme, teacher Lacie Troyer went a different route, instead focusing on reindeer in training.
“Every reindeer wants to be picked to pull Santa’s sled, so we decided to create games that were focused on reindeer in training mode,” Troyer said. “We have a variety of reindeer agility games because we all know that Santa’s reindeer have to be agile and have quick feet.”
Thus, the reindeer games included ones focusing on having quick feet, which included pulling the tail off the reindeer as they jumped around the room.
“As reindeer in training, we have to learn to be at the top of our game when Santa makes the call for us to join his team,” Troyer said.
The two-day event culminated in a whole-school Christmas party that included more games, snacks, presents and a showing of the timeless classic movie, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”