Christmas Finger Plays

My mom worked at a preschool for many years and is always full of great ideas and things to do with little ones. She recently passed along a list of Christmas Finger Plays that I wanted to share with you. My kids love them!

 

The Chimney

 

Here is the chimney, (fist)

Here is the top, (other hand over fist)

Open the lid, (remove hand)

Out Santa will pop! (pop up thumb)

 

Santa

 

When Santa comes down the chimney (Downward motions with hands)

I should like to peek (Peek through fingers)

But He'll never come, no never (Shake head)

Until I'm fast asleep. (Palms together beside head)

 

S-A-N-T-A

 

(Tune: Bingo)

 

There is a jolly, jolly man

And Santa is his name-o.

S-A-N-T-A (clap 5 times in rhythm)

S-A-N-T-A (clap 5 times in rhythm)

S-A-N-T-A (clap 5 times in rhythm)

And Santa is his name-o.

25 Books of Christmas (Our List)

We started this tradition last year and couldn't wait to do it again. Our collection has now grown from 25 books to 36 (according to Alivia's last count). There are so many great Christmas stories out there that I am afraid I can't stop. Which may be a good thing since Alivia and Bennett do not like to share. :)

 Here is a list of 25 of the books we have in our box. Do you have any must reads over the holiday season? I must say Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree and The Animals' Christmas Eve are two of my favorites.

1) Berenstain Bears & the Joy of Giving

2) Berenstain Bears' Night Before Christmas

3) Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree

4)A Wish to be a Christmas Tree

5)Bear Stays Up for Christmas

6)God Gave Us Christmas

7)Merry Christmas, Curious George

8)Clifford's Christmas

9)Angelina's Christmas

10) Mortimer's Christmas Manger

11) Alien's Love Panta Claus (The Underpants Book)

12) Llama Llama Holiday Drama

13) Merry Christmas Stinky Face

14) Merry Christmas Mom and Dad (Mercer Meyer)

15) Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

16) How Do Dinosaurs Say Merry Christmas?

17) The Animals' Christmas Eve

18) A Bad Kitty Christmas

19) A Charlie Brown Christmas

20) The Polar Express

21) The Little Christmas Elf

22) The Christmas Story

23) How the Grinch Stole Christmas

24) Yes, Virginia: There is a Santa Claus

25)Pete the Cat Saves Christmas

Happy Reading!!

Popsicle Stick Christmas Tree

Yesterday was a very busy day full of last minute Christmas preparations. Both kids had to make their ornaments to hand out as gifts. We also had a special dessert to make, presents to wrap, and snow to play in. We ended up skipping Liv's nap which we paid for late in the day. But I still think we had a lot of fun! I wanted to share the ornament Bennett made. I really had no idea what he could make. He is not quite 1 1/2 and only somewhat interested in crafts of this scale. However, he did have fun and I think we have a pretty darn cute ornament to hand out to family over the next two days.

What You Need

Popsicle Sticks
Paint
Paint Brush
Embellishments
Modge Podge (If you want to have the glossy look like ours and protect it for years to come)
String to hang your ornament

What To Do

1. I started by squirting a little paint onto a plate and giving Bennett a couple of sticks and a paintbrush. This later turned into me just blobbing the paint right onto his highchair and letting him go to town on all 7 of the ornaments we needed to make. Funny story Alivia was not happy with the "missed" spots. I think they add character :)

2. Once the main layer has dried you can embelish your tree. I used Bennett's finger to mostly decorate his trees. Then I punched out stars for the top and painted some of the "missed" spots brown to represent the tree truck.

3. Once this had all dried I had hubby drill small holes at the top to loop string through.

4. If you are wanting to add a protective coat over the paint this is when you do it! I used Modge Podge for the very first time and was very impressed with the results. The colors seem more vibrant now and somehow the ornament seems more impressive.

5. Once protective coat has dried thread string through hole and wahlah...new ornament :) Bennett was so proud!

The Cardboard Box

Honestly who would have thought the best part of all of these Christmas packages arriving would be the cardboard boxes that they come in?!? Last year we had a lot of fun wrapping up one of those boxes and taking pictures for our Christmas Card.

(The look on her face is a look of pure excitement....not fear...ha ha)

This years boxes have become airplanes, houses, forts, and marker/sticker fun for all. Honestly if I want the kids out of my hair while I fix dinner or try and clean up a bit all it takes is a cardboard box. I am starting to wonder if it is to late to return some of the gifts under the tree!

(Picture turned out horrible but trust me they were not into photos...they just wanted to play!)

Santa Claus Handprint

I am a fulltime working mom and because I am a tax accountant I am spendng close to 60 hours a week in the office this month. So when I look in my kids bags after a long day I am always excited to find crafts that I would have loved to do with them at home. I thought this was pretty cute considering it is my sons handprint turned in to Santa Claus :)

Handprint Snowman Ornament

Every year we give a handmade ornament to family members for Christmas. This was Liv's gift last year and we had a lot of fun making these. I obviously drew on the snowmen "accessories" with a paint pen. However, if you look closely you will discover that the snow men are actually made up of Liv's handprint! 

What you need

Glass Ornaments

Ribbon to hang the ornament

Acrylic Paint/paint brush

Paintpens

Directions

1. Paint the hand of your child and have them carefully grab the ornament. You will want to be sure that the bottom of the palm is on the bottom of the ornament. You can touch up any gaps with a small brush and paint. However, I like the imperfections and kept mine as is. Also you can cover up some of the imperfections with the paint pen once you draw on the accessories.

2. Once the handprint has dried use paint pens to draw on the snowmen accessories. I did this myself once the kids were sleeping.

3. Tie a piece of ribbon to the ornament for hanging.

4. Wrap it up!

This ornament is going to be difficult to top this year. It was definitely a hit with the family and a favorite keepsake of mine as well.

Salt Dough Ornament

Every year we like to make an ornament to hand out to family members as gifts. Because Bennett was just a baby this past year we decided his ornament would be a salt dough ornament. This ornament is super easy to make and a great keepsake for the Grandparents! You can do either a handprint or footprint. Bennett was a little so squirmy for the handprint and having learned my lesson while doing this with Liv we opted for the easy way out. Have fun!

What You Will

1/2 cup salt
1 cup flour
1/2 cup water
Rolling pin
Cookie Sheet
Toothpick
Round Cookie Cutter (A large glass will do)
Straw (To make the hole for the ribbon)
Acrylic Paints
Ribbon

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
2. Mix together salt, flour, and water until dough is formed.
3. Knead the dough on a floured surface until the mixture is elastic and smooth. If dough is sticky, sprinkle with flour and knead until stickiness is gone. To much flour will dry out the dough so be careful!
4. Roll the dough out to 1/4" think with a rolling pin.
5. Cut out round circles large enough for your handprint or footprint.
6. Use the straw to make a hole towards the top for the ribbon.
7. Press hand or foot into dough for imprint.
8. Place ornaments onto an ungreased cookie sheet and place into the preheated oven.
9. Bake for 2 hours.
10. Paint the ornament however you desire.
11. When dry thread the ribbon through the hole and tie in a knot.
12. Enjoy the ohs and awes on Christmas Day!

25 Books of Christmas

I am a huge advocate for reading to your children. Each night we read at least two books before going to bed. So this summer I decided to start buying Christmas books here and there so that we could do our take on the "advent calendar" this holiday season. I was able to find several books for $3-$4 and splurged on a few of the classics. My hope is that by reading a book each night we will learn about the true meaning of Christmas and have a little fun along the way. I will admit that it will also be nice to get away from reading some of the same books every night :) Just for a little while.

I purchased a 30 qt Sterilite plastic tub from Target. I love how the books fit nicely packaged up and that they will be protected in storage after the holiday season.

 

 

I can't wait to see what book Liv picks out tonight (okay there may be more than 25 books in there...but it was hard to stop once I started). Happy Holidays!

Painted Christmas Ornament

Each year I have Liv create a Christmas ornament to give to her Grandparents. Last year I found some wooden ornaments at Hobby Lobby for her to paint. I applied a basecoat to each ornament and let her do the rest. I must say it did not turn out to bad for only being 1 1/2!

I will post this years ornament once it is complete. December is a very busy month both at home and in the office so hopefully it is not the last minute like usual!

2011 Christmas Card

I always have so much fun when it comes to putting together our Christmas card. This year was especially challenging since I now have two little ones to photograph. May I present (pun intended) our Christmas Blessings:

Since Bennett is not yet sitting up this idea worked out great. He is actually sitting in his Bumbo inside the box. The hubby sat nearby and I took a zillion photographs until I finally captured at least one of them both looking at me. Now I can't wait for next years card!

2009 Christmas Card

This is another Christmas card idea I got from an online message board. This is great for those with little kiddos. Liv had just learned to sit up at this point and we had a Christmas outfit given to us at my baby shower. The card reads:

May the lights of the season bring joy to your home!

I had a lot of fun doing these photos. It was hard weeding out just a few for the card. Again the card template came from Shutterfly.

2010 Christmas Card

Christmas is coming and so my thoughts to turn our annual Christmas card. I thought I would pass on the ideas given to me in years prior. I had a lot of fun staging this photo and Alivia was more than happy to eat the cookies! If you can not read the greeting on the card it says:

Dear Santa,

About the cookies

 I can explain....

Love, Alivia

The template came from Shutterfly. We had so many compliments on this card! This years card is not nearly as exciting but I will post it when it is complete.