1-2-3 Come Build Self-Esteem With Me

"Filling buckets" seems to have really caught on in a lot of schools.  I know we have this program in our school as well.  The idea is to encourage positive behavior.  Children catch on fast and see how easy and rewarding it is to express sincere kindness, appreciation, and love on a daily basis. 

With that in mind, I wanted to think up a quick and easy end-of-the-year "bucket filler" so to speak, that would help promote a child's self-esteem.   Thus the Classmate Compliment Cat Craftivity was born. (Try to say that tongue twister three times!)

Here's How:

Run off the lined paper pattern.  Students accordion fold it following the lines.  This provides wonderful fine motor practice.  Students color and glue their cat to the top of the folded paper. 

Pass out a different color marker/pencil to each student.  Children pass their "compliment cat" to another child to write something nice about about them on one of the accordion-folded sections.

They continue passing 'til everyone has signed something on every child's cat, finally ending up with their own. 

So students get a special compliment from their teacher, make sure you are part of the signing,   Add the finishing touch by having students glue a piece of colorful bulletin board boarder to the top.

Give students time to read the nice things their classmates had to say about them, then have children accordion fold their papers back up and fasten with a paperclip to take home.

Skip refolding and let the compliments dangle; display them on a bulletin board, (cover with paw print wrapping paper) or hang in a long row on a hallway wall.  Your caption could be "A purr-fect way to end our day." or "'Paws"ing To Write."

The packet also includes a bookmark that you can pass out to everyone after they have completed their projects. 

Click on the link to view/download the Classmate Compliments Cat Craftivity packet.

Finally, if you're new to the "Fill A Bucket" idea and would like to add this to your teaching bag of tricks, click on the link for a sweet "Fill A Bucket" song by the Learning Station.

 This link has all of the Fill A Bucket books for children, with some free resources, coloring pages, puzzles, and activities. 

My personal favorite is their alphabetical bucket filling checklist.  

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.  If you're looking for more end-of-the-year activities, click on the link to zip on over to that section of my site. 

I always end with some sort of matching quotation.  While looking for one, I found this cute quote-card that fits the idea of giving compliments and filling buckets perfectly. 

Blessing to you and yours, today and always!

"