Friendly Winter Creatures (December 2013)

Sending my daughter to preschool, although a huge transition, was made easier by the fact that I..love... her...preschool.  I love the teachers, the classrooms, and the nostalgia, since many years ago, I also attended the same preschool.  It is unassuming, in the basement of a church, and for those who have experienced its charm, understand why it's so special.  One of their traditions is to hold two programs during the year, one in the winter and one in the spring.  The kids sing and dance to the songs they've learned from the music teacher in front of an audience of parents and continuous camera flashes.

Although we didn't really know what to expect performance-wise from our daughter, we were so proud.  She followed all their directions and sang along to every song (at a much more reasonable volume than we're used to at home).  I even remembered a few of their classic songs.

Afterwards, the students and parents were invited to a little party back in the classroom.  Parents could choose to sign up to bring either paper goods or cookies...the choice for me was simple. :)

I wanted to stay away from any specific holiday themes and keep the cookies gender-neutral, since I wanted everyone to be included, so, after some thinking, I thought I'd make some friendly winter creatures.  Specifically, I planned on penguins, polar bears, owls, and foxes along with some snowflakes as a "mini" option. 

I already had penguin and polar bear cookie cutters, and I was pretty sure of their design.  But, after seeing this idea on Pinterest (my new addiction), I decided to add some cute scarves for the bears.  It definitely added more color to the platter.

I used my Eskimo cookie cutter again to make the owls (very similar to the cookies I made at the start of the preschool year, but in different colors to coordinate with this platter).  And, the foxes were inspired from another very talented blogger, The Bearfoot Baker, who had used this design per the request of Sweet Sugar Belle's blog for other cookie-bakers and bloggers to submit their most creative use of a star cookie cutter...so fun!

I thought they were an unexpected cookie platter for the holidays, and one that the preschoolers would appreciate.

And, we have a new little saying in our house that has become a bit of a routine (probably because of the reaction she receives).  My daughter always points out her future elementary school when we drive by it in the car.  She says, "Hey Mom, that's where I'm going to go for Kindergarten, right?"  I say yes, and then she says, "Well...let's just enjoy preschool for now."
I couldn't agree more!