Monday, December 5, 2016

Christmas Ideas

Hi!  Hope you all are having a great month!  Christmas will be here before we know it, so I wanted to pop in today with some ideas of things I've done in the past.

I'll start out with a fabulous and simple craft project I got from Oriental Trading Company this year! My kids made these adorable tissue paper holiday wreaths last week.  They did so well!  I modeled exactly what they needed to do and they got it!  Can we say holy fine motor practice!? These would make a simple parent gift.  You could place a picture of the child on the bow or the wreath to make it personal.   You can check out all the great Christmas products Oriental Trading Company has to offer by clicking HERE.




Speaking of parent gifts, I also snagged these clear ornaments from Oriental Trading Company.  I'm not sure what I am going to do with them yet, but I like the ideas shown below!

Source: Life Made Simple blog

Source: The Happier Homemaker blog




***Looking to get a deal at Oriental Trading?  Visit their coupon page for the latest sales!!!***

Every year, I look forward to doing a few of the same Christmas activities.  I never get tired of them! First up is Santa's Stuck.  I love this book, writing, and craft.  You can get the book below and the free writing paper HERE.  The craft is from Crafty Bee Creations on TpT.  Love the simplicity of her crafts!

                                                                  



Next up is The Grinch.  This craft came from a pack from Deanna Jump many years ago.  Seuss Enterprises forbids anyone to sell or give away patterns of their characters.  I still have the pack but it's not available on TpT.  You can freehand your own Grinch head!  I always give my kids a green treat to go with the craft and writing we do.  One year it was green pudding cups and other years it's been green candy canes {found them at Walgreens this year}.  Get a free poem to card to go with the candy canes HERE and a free writing page to go with the craft HERE.  Click below to get the book and DVD.  I always read the book and then we watch the DVD the next day with our treat.


                                                      




Another favorite thing I do in December as a whole-class reward is this free Santa beard from What the Teacher Wants.  The kids have chances throughout the day to earn a piece of Santa's beard {white pom pom with magnet hot-glued on back}.  Once all pieces are on, we have a class reward of some sort.


I also enjoy teaching my first graders about Holidays Around the World.  To teach these, I use a variety of resources.  My favorite is A Year of Many Firsts' Holidays Around the World with Globe Trot Scott.  I've used this resource and taught my students about a few of the countries' holiday celebrations.





In addition, I use my little pack as a supplement when teaching about Kwanzaa, Las Posados, and Hanukkah.  I really like the mini-books that are included.


The last two weeks of school before winter break, our elf makes an appearance!  He brings with him diaries for us and a treat.  He's always sneaking around the room doing something!!!





For centers in December, we use my Christmas Centers {along with a few from my Elf pack}. There's enough to last us the whole month {with the addition of a computer/Ipad center and a listening center}.  





Hope you got some new ideas!  See you later in the week for a holiday party idea that you won't want to miss!!

xo
Megan


0 comments:

Post a Comment

Thanks for your comments!