We know how to celebrate Christmas at La Maison de l’Enfant! We had so much fun this year!

It all began with the setting up of our Christmas village in the big classroom. There were miniature houses, lots of snow-covered Christmas trees, sleighs, sledges, skiiers and this year, a special surprise from Véronique – a working carrousel! Much to the children’s delight, we turned off the lights to listen to and watch
 the new addition to our village in action!

It isn’t Christmas without a glorious tree adorning the school, so naturally, we got a beautiful one for the children to enjoy. This year it was more of a surprise for the children, as it arrived the night before school! The children love to decorate the tree, there is a simple pleasure to be had in choosing decorations and carefully hanging them up together.

The children were already imagining putting their presents for their parents under the tree…but what would they offer this year?

The PS and TPS made magnificent pieces of ‘land art’ using boxes
and boxes full of things they and Lili had found in nature. They carefully arranged their apples, pine cones, acorns, leaves and
conkers(amongother things!) in giant hula hoops, then removed the hoops to reveal their work of art. Lili and Kasia took pictures of each display and had them printed or the children to give to their parents as Christmas gifts. A wonderful souvenir of your child’s art for Christmas. Great idea, Lili!

The MS and GS had been working with an artist, Laure Costeau, to create original paintings. The children chose which areas they wanted to use, and Véronique and Laure cut them out to mount them on card, to make a stylish ‘tableau’ for the home. The children had worked hard on their presents and were happy to offer them to their parents.

All of the sections made ‘petit sablé’ biscuits for the parents to take away and nibble on on their way to work after their morning concert, too!

And what a concert it was! This year all of the children sang together for the parents of all the sections. They were brave to stand up in front of so many grown-ups to sing, we were so proud of them! This year we sang Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and Tout le Bonheur du Monde.

When the parents left on their merry way, the children were in for a surprise as, little did they know that Santa was getting ready close-by! Santa arrived and the children’s eyes lit up! They were amazed at how feminin he looked…and how much he looked like Lili…where was Lili, come to think of it!? She completely missed Santa’s visit! He was so entertaining, he had us all laughing together! What a magical moment to share with the children!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, everyone!