Christmas Activities

I've been MIA the last few months and I guess I have somewhat of a good reason. My little girl is going to be a big sister come June! This has left me exhausted, the house in a bit of chaos and little if any time given to blogging.

However, I'm back to share a few fun ideas for your upcoming "week before Christmas." These are just a few of the things we've done and hopefully I can get some ideas from you too!

1. Making cookies. My daughter LOVED making gingerbread cookies and decorating them. We made them "just for us" so I didn't care if she touched the dough, decorated the cookies however she wanted, etc...

2. Advent calendars. I should have shared this at the beginning of the month, but these are just a few of the fun advent calendars (countdown to Christmas) we're doing around here: The nativity (adding an element every day), poems (we rotate days and each day we write a poem--limerick--for that person saying where to find their little treat or gift or whatever it is) and of course, the traditional chocolate advent calendar.

3. Elf on the Shelf. My little girl absolutely LOVES this. She loves finding "Elf" every morning. He keeps watch on her until Christmas.

4. Nativity set. We are loving having a nativity to teach about the Christmas story. It's in use multiple times, daily at our house.

5. Green and Red playdough. I found these recipes for "edible playdough" (even though I really don't recommend eating it). The idea is that it won't hurt your child if they eat it. This was super-easy to make and my daughter absolutely LOVED it. I made the Kool-Aid version. It kept her entertained for a good 30 minutes (my record so far).

We're also planning a trip to visit Santa, going to see Christmas lights and maybe a few more holiday crafts. I'm thinking of making a big paper Christmas tree and decorating it or maybe something with a reindeer.

What are some of your Christmas activity suggestions? What have you done that's successful with toddler-age?

Play

Since we've had such a busy October, I decided to take the first week of November and just focus on play. Playing outside, playing inside, playing, playing, playing.  

Today we spent 2 1/2 hours outside playing at two different parks.  Then we came home, made some kettle corn, watched Barney and relaxed...before playing some more.  

We're hoping to make it to the Children's Museum this week and find some other places to "play."

What are some of your favorite things to "play" with your children?  What do they enjoy doing the most?

October

The month of October really zoomed.  A large part was probably due to the fact that we were on vacation for half of it!  I've felt that I've slacked a bit in keeping this blog up-to-date, but then I remembered that it's not about "the blog."  It's about doing activities with my child...and we sure have had fun!  The point of this post is not to say, "Look what we did!!" It's to show that vacation can be a time of learning too.  In fact I would venture that even more learning takes place because your child is building their schema and incorporating more of the "unknown" into what they know.  So here's a few ways we did that:

Enjoying gorgeous weather in San Francisco and playing with three dogs for 10 days...talk about heaven for the little one.

 Children's Museum in the Bay Area.

Painting Toes...a favorite of her "fancy auntie's."

Red-Wagon-Riding with her Oma in Michigan.

By the time we returned from our travels, we were already out of weekends before Halloween arrived.  We had to cram pumpkin carving, candy-corn eating, Halloween partying and trick-or-treating all into one week (we usually spread it out a bit more).  Her daddy still had time to create this Elmo pumpkin, though.

And our little lady sure enjoyed trick-or-treating.

How was your month of October?  Did it go by fast for you too?  What are some great vacations to take with little ones?

Pumpkins/Fall/Orange/Halloween: A simplified unit

The past few weeks we've been on vacation...actually, we still are.  We get back late tonight and then it's back to the daily grind.  I have had to change plans on my October themes because it's just too much to do!  So, I've decided to simplify these couple of units.  Here are some of the ideas I compiled for Pumpkins/Fall/Orange/Halloween.  Hopefully they can be of some use during this busy Halloween week!

Activities:

1.  Math: Cut out pumpkins and label paper 1-10 (or 1-3 for younger kids).  Glue the pumpkins on the paper

2. Arts/Crafts: Pumpkin Seed Collage: Carve a pumpkin and scoop out all the seeds.  Make a collage with the seeds and count them (I did this with my 1st graders...they loved it, but it was still tricky for them to count up all the seeds, even when we grouped them in rows of ten).

3. Science: Sink/Float with a pumpkin (other fall items)

4. Arts/Crafts: Making trees: On a sheet of manila paper, trace the child's hands and arms (to about elbow). Extend the fingers upwards to create the tree branches. Have the children paint or color the tree's trunk and branches brown. Have the children dip one fingertip at a time in paint (red, orange, yellow, red) and then press it all over the paper, especially on the ground.

5. Exercise: Go for a walk collecting leaves...bring them home, let them dry and do leaf rubbings, jump in the leaves on your walk too--can also make a fall collage (older kids)

6. Arts/Crafts: Make an orange collage...orange stickers, crayons, markers, yarn, fun foam, tissue paper, etc...

7. Math: sorting fall objects: pinecones, seeds, leaves, etc..

8. Arts/Crafts: Decorate a bag to take trick or treating

9. Arts/Crafts: Fill gloves with popcorn or candy corn and tie them off--make a ghost

10. Sensory: Fill cartons with different things and let your baby squish them (give them halloween names--guts, etc..)

11. Math: sort different halloween treats

Extras:  Visit a pumpkin patch, go on a hayride, carve pumpkins as a family, have a Halloween-themed dinner to gear up for trick or treating and just have fun! 

Hopefully these ideas can be of some use to you this week.  Little children absolutely LOVE this time of year when everything seems so magical.  Enjoy the time with your kids and choose a few of these activities to enhance your Halloween plans :)

Pumpkin Preview

Even though we're taking a little break this week, I decided to get my books from the library a little early.  Imagine my surprise when I went to get books and they were all CHECKED OUT!  "No biggie," I thought, "since I'm early I'll just request them."  Sure enough I was emailed within the week about all these books I got to pick up!  So, request theme books early from your library...they go fast!

We also took a family trip to the Pumpkin patch and my little toddler got to pick out the perfect pumpkin which was just her size.

Any good books you've requested to start talking about Pumpkins, Halloween and this fabulous time of year called fall?

Make Writing Fun

My daughter really loves scribbling with crayons (for about 30 seconds).  The goal in this is to start early and help her enjoy writing.  To make writing fun we like to write to our cousins, grandparents and other relatives that live far away (and even those that live close by).

When I was young my mom would always write a "weekly letter" to my grandparents.  It was kind of a journal for herself.  As kids we saw her do this and ended up participating in the same way.  It started with scribbling, then coloring pictures and eventually we all wrote our own "weekly letters."  I didn't realize this at the time, but what a great way to help us work on writing!  It was something we enjoyed doing and we were given great feedback by my parents.

So, find a time every couple of weeks and write a short note to a loved one, friend, family member or pen pal.  Show your child that writing is fun and have fun reconnecting with people by "snail mail."  Who doesn't like getting something in the mail?  Especially from a cute little one :)

Fall Break!

One of the things I love about being a stay-at-home mama is that we don't have to live by a "schedule."  I get to make my own schedule and so we're taking a break :)  We'll be visiting with family over the next couple of weeks and just having a grand old time taking a little break.  

I've still got a few posts lined up to make this blog somewhat interesting and get the juices flowing for things to do with your kiddos, but I won't be posting a unit for this week.  Check back next week for a unit on Pumpkins, Orange and Fall!

Where's your favorite place to go with your kids on a vacation or break?  Any fun suggestions for the week?