Wednesday, December 10, we headed up to the school at 6:30 pm to watch the unveiling of the "Unterstufe" Advent window. In our area of Switzerland, they lump similar aged school children into one group and give them a name. Unterstufe for all the Kindergartners through 3rd graders, Mittelstufe for the 4th through 6th graders, and Oberstufe for the 7th through 10th graders. They will often have activities that are just for all the children in that group. In this case, the Unterstufe group took time during art lessons in school to craft some decorations for the schools Advent window. Only the other kindergarten class participated, as Noah's class was busy doing their dwarf thing. 🙂 Which was okay by me. The teachers and some of the older kids in that group put the display together in front of the large patio window during regular school time . It was blocked off from inside the school by large curtains, and from outside the window by the metal shutters.
Before the big unveiling, we were treated to a little concert.
All four classes, along with the teachers, sang several songs, including the Swiss version of Jingle Bells, which has become one of my favorite winter songs. Basically, it lists all the traditional Swiss Christmas cookies and their respective delicious attributes. Super fun and easy to learn! The whole crowd joined in on that one. Then we walked over to the side patio and waited for them to turn on the lights in the display.
It always amazes me that year after year, given limited resources and a bunch of squirmy kids to work with, these teachers always manage to come up with truly beautiful designs. And the kids are always so excited and proud to show you the parts they made. Sarah and Sophie both made angels this year, and Sophie also got to make a star. This is Sarah's angel,
Sophie's was too far back to get a good picture of through the crowd. After we all sufficiently oohed and aahed, we were treated to some delicious warm Punsch and treats baked by the kindergartners. The Punsch is almost always too hot to drink at first, but this time someone had gotten smart and added a bit of cold water to each glass before serving it. Made it the perfect temperature instantly, and no burned tongues. Hurray!