Kid Made Ornaments: Reindeers

you need 3 clothes pins, one wooden spool, googly eyes and a red ball or bell.

We used hot glue on the cool setting, but you could use tacky glue or wood glue and be totally fine.

First, paint the wooden objects...

 Then glue them together

 Then hang on the tree!

Toddler Santa Advent Calendar

A repost from Dec 1, 2010

This is from my son's school but my daughter insisted on having one of her own.

First we played with the cotton balls. It was fun to feel them on our faces and eyes and throw them and just get our hands on them. I put the left overs in the sensory tub for winter. :)

 Once we were done playing we colored Santa faces.

Then we glued a basic hat on and I explained how the advent calendar works.

Every day (today is the 1st) you add a cotton ball to Santa's beard. Once the beard is filled its Christmas!

Everyone was so excited by this.  If you want the beard chart leave a comment HERE with your email address and I will send you the doc right away!

Easy Toddler Christmas idea... voile!

Winter Break Activity #3 - ART - Torn Candy Canes

We had some friends over and decided to do our art project with them.  Each kid tore red and white paper and then glued them into candy cane shapes. We did this while my husband was making lunch (it was a snow day)

aaaaaand here they are!

Just something simple and fun and stress free to break up the break.  Another option would be to do finger prints in lieu of torn paper. We had 6 kids here so I stayed away from the paint, but you totally could use paint!

Winter Break Activity #2 - SCIENCE - Borax Snowflakes

mason jar

pencil

pipe cleaners 

string/yarn

borax

boiling hot water

Directions

1. Form your pipe cleaners into a snowflake shape or whatever shape you desire, while you boil water.

2. Add water to your mason jars.

3. Mix in borax. Stir it but don't worry if it isn't completely dissolved.

4. Attach your pipe cleaner shape to the string and hang it from the pen/pencil while submerging it in your jar.

5. Let it sit overnight, or do this at breakfast and check on it obsessively all day and right before bed pull them out. (that is what my 5 year old did.) We made a bunch of these - I had about 15 different mason jars lined up they looked like this...

but imagine my whole table lined up!

Here are the finished products....

Hang them on your tree or pick them apart to see how it happened, again my 5 year old did this. :)


PS - If you do it with white pipe cleaners here is the result:

Both are cool. :P

Winter Break Activity #1 - COOKING - Cracked Snowballs

• 
  
• 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 pound cream cheese
• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 3 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Confectioner’s sugar for rolling and dusting

Stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.  
In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese, butter, and sugar together until fluffy.  
Add the eggs and vanilla extract.

Incorporate the flour mixture.  
Chill for at least 30 minutes.  
Scoop roughly 1-ounce balls and toss in the confectioner’s sugar.  
Place on a baking sheet, lined with parchment, a couple of inches apart.  
Bake at 325° F until they spread and puff slightly, about 12-16 minutes.  
They will be really soft in the center.  If they start to brown, they’ve gone too far.  Cool to room temperature.

From this point, we usually refrigerate them on the tray because as the cream cheese and butter get cold, they’re easier to pick up. It is a good tip. (matthew rice suggests this)  Dust with more confectioner’s sugar before serving.  


Our family usually serves these cookies straight from the fridge. They taste different warm. Store these in the fridge and you can serve them cold/cool.

These will keep for up to a week in the fridge. We are sending them out in the morning with Daddy. :)


They are gooey inside almost under baked but so rich and good!

Printable Christmas Tags!

My kids love to color, so the gifts that they exchange for each other gets "original" coloring artwork with the package!  Sure it gets tossed with the wrap, but it is a perfect quiet activity while you are counting down the days till present time! :)

HERE is the TAGS

HERE is a fun Christmas Coloring Book

Have fun!

Holiday Tradtitions - Elf on the Shelf

I am sure you have heard of this book -

This is our 3rd year of doing Elf on the Shelf.  I started when my oldest was 3 and understood the concept.

We usually start this after Thanksgiving.  Zeke is our Elf's name and where the kids need a little boost of encouragement in the behavior department is where Zeke usually shows up the next day.  For instance - if they had a rough night during bathtime...Zeke is there in the morning. Haha.

We do Santa a little differently in my house.  Santa only brings items we need (socks, etc) and one special toy in the stocking. Partly because my husband wants credit for the big under the tree items and partly because we aren't heavy Santa believers.  Sure we partake in the fun but we make sure our kids know the real reason for the season.

Here are some places Zeke has shown up...

Sometimes he is in boring places like on a shelf and sometimes he is a bit of a rascal.

Have fun with it!

Easy Toddler Christmas Idea #8

Printable Felt Nativity Scene!

Found Here

Print and laminate - add felt and you now have an awesome felt nativity set!

Easy Toddler Christmas Idea #7

Have you ever heard this story?  The Christmas Orange? My husband and I for Family Home Evening every Monday of the month of December try to find a different kind of story to share with our kids.  Christmas is more than just Santa right?

Here is the story we shared this week. It is my most favorite and I try to use it every December if I can.  Here it is:

Jake was nine years old with tousled brown hair with blue eyes as bright as a heavenly angel. For as long as Jake could remember he had lived within the walls of a poor orphanage. He was just one of ten children supported by what meager contributions the orphan home could obtain in a continuous struggle seeking donations from townsfolk.

There was very little to eat, but at Christmas time there always seemed to be a little more than usual to eat, the orphanage seemed a little warmer, and it was time for a little holiday enjoyment. But more than this, there was the Christmas orange!

Christmas was the only time of year that such a rare treat was provided and it was treasured by each child like no other food admiring it, feeling it, prizing it and slowly enjoying each juicy section. Truly, it was the light of each orphan's Christmas and their best gift of the season. How joyful would be the moment when Jake received his orange!

Unknown to him, Jake had somehow managed to track a small amount of mud on his shoes through the front door of the orphanage, muddying the new carpet. He hadn't even noticed. Now it was too late and there was nothing he could do to avoid punishment. The punishment was swift and unrelenting. Jake would not be allowed his Christmas orange! It was the only gift he would receive from the harsh world he lived in, yet after a year of waiting for his Christmas orange, is was to be denied him.

Tearfully, Jake pleaded that he be forgiven and promised never to track mud into the orphanage again, but to no avail. He felt hopeless and totally rejected. Jake cried into his pillow all that night and spent Christmas Day feeling empty and alone. He felt that the other children didn't want to be with a boy who had been punished with such a cruel punishment. Perhaps they feared he would ruin their only day of happiness. Maybe, he reasoned, the gulf between him and his friends existed because they feared he would ask for a little of their oranges. Jake spent the day upstairs, alone, in the unheated dormitory. Huddled under his only blanket, he read about a family marooned on an island. Jake wouldn't mind spending the rest of his life on an isolated island, if he could only have a real family that cared about him.

Bedtime came, and worst of all, Jake couldn't sleep. How could he say his prayers? How could there be a God in Heaven that would allow a little soul such as his, to suffer so much all by himself? Silently, he sobbed for the future of mankind that God might end the suffering in the world, both for himself and all others like him.

As he climbed back into bed from the cold, hard floor, a soft hand touched Jake's shoulder, startling him momentarily and an object was silently placed in his hands. The giver disappeared into the darkness, leaving Jake with what, he did not immediately know!

Looking closely at it in the dim light, he saw that it looked like an orange! Not a regular orange, smooth and shiny, but a special orange, very special. Inside a patched together peal were the segments of nine other oranges, making one whole orange for Jake! The nine other children in the orphanage had each donated one segment of their own precious oranges to make a whole orange as a gift for Jake.

Sharing what we truly value is the true spirit of Christmas. Our Heavenly Father gave us His beloved Son. May we, like the children in the orphanage, find ways to share His love with others less blessed.

Isn't that an awesome story?  L was a little teary eyed about it. S of course was all ears...

 It was fun and for snack we of course had...Oranges! :)  Or Clementongues. aka Clementines.

 Just thought I would share something that we usually do at Christmas time.

Easy Toddler Christmas Idea #6

Get that aggression out and make these super easy, cute and fun Tissue Paper Pointsettias.

You need a green crayon, yellow paper, red tissue paper and glue.

Start by glueing the center yellow on and then add 5 glue lines for the petals.

Let the kids tear up the red into little or big pieces and glue on each line.

 Then color the white spaces where there is no petals with the green crayon.

 More tearing.

 Here they are finished.  The kids didn't want to color the green parts so I did it while they were drying.

 The cool part is that as the glue dries the petals start to shrivel up a bit and they look more and more real.

I didn't take a picture of the dried ones but trust me they look so great with the mix of Christmas cards we have taped to the back of the front door. :)

Quick Christmas ideas for Toddlers...check! 

Easy Toddler Christmas Idea #5

Christmas Snack Idea for Toddlers!

Kiwi Christmas Trees

 K helped me assemble these cute things.

I was going to do Chocolate Bars as the stems but he thought fruit snacks would be better.

He helped with all 8 plates and helped pass them out.

 We also had crackers and water.

Every one ate 3 helpings and K went with me to the kitchen everytime to prepare more trees.

This is fun easy and delish!

Kiwi, Fruit Snacks and there it is!

Christmas Snacks for Toddlers.

Easy Toddler Christmas Idea #4

Christmas Lights Christmas Activity for Toddlers!

Cut some new sponges into shapes like lights.

 Let the kids stamp them in any order. To not make a mes I placed them on the paper, they smashed them and then lifted them into the paint.

 Alternate colors or pattern if you want.

 Then add black for the tops and connect with a marker. I did this part.

SUPER CUTE.

Here is the poem that went at the bottom:

What a tangled web we weave
When first we try to light the eave
A jumbled mess of bulbs and wire
Almost enough to uninspire!
But soon enough the job is done
We've even found the burned out one!
We've trimmed the tree and lit the hedge
And even strung the rooftop edge
And the dancing lights, both bright and clear
Mean Christmastime is finally here!

They look great on the wall. Try it, its super easy and fun for toddlers!
Simple Christmas Projects for Toddlers