Students at Kilby Shores Elementary School had the chance to participate in some Christmas cheer last Friday during their annual Jingle Hop celebration.

Kilby Shores art teacher Angie Salerno and physical education teacher Austin Kulp transformed the gym into a fun zone filled with games like Christmas tree marble bowling, snowball toss and reindeer ring toss.

Most of the afternoon, the gym was filled with loud screams and laughter, and the students were running from activity to activity.

“It’s a team effort to put this together,” Salerno said. “It’s great to see the kids’ reactions. They have a good time doing this.”

Most of the activities are paired with skills the students are already learning in elementary school, especially during gym class. Students were challenged with their aim during the Christmas tree marble bowling. They had to use a PVC pipe to aim small marbles at tiny Christmas trees.

“It’s a team effort. I think of the ideas and Angie really brings the games to life,” Kulp said. “We have to keep the groups small to keep the students busy.”

The children had about 10 minutes at each station, and they were allowed to have as much fun as they could handle.

Students seemed to have the most fun using plastic cups to build numerous shapes like a forest and a large pyramid.

“This is so fun,” said Kaiden Felton, 5.

Alex Mann, 5, and Zyon Boykins, 6, worked together as a team to build the tallest tower of green plastic cups.

“I’m wearing my red Christmas shirt, and this is so much fun,” said Zyon.

There was no shortage of fun, and the teachers were having just as much fun as the students.

“There is a lot of set-up and effort to keep this together, but watching the kids’ reactions make it all worthwhile,” said Library Media Specialist Allison Greene.