Christmas! A time of giving and love

CIRCLE TIME

Christmas means "The Mass of Christ". This is the time when we celebrate the nativity of Jesus Christ. When Jesus was born, angels were sent to tell the 3 Wise-men and let them know where to go visit him. They brought with them gifts to present to baby Jesus to welcome him and show his love. This is why we give the people we love presents on Christmas! This is the season of giving. In addition to giving to the people in our lives who we love, we should try to give to those who are less fortunate than us. Donating toys and clothes to homeless shelters and battered women's shelters are great ideas!

BOOKS

http://www.amazon.com/Story-Christmas-Patricia-Pingry/dp/0824918452/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1386695668&sr=1-1&keywords=the+story+of+christmas+by+patricia+a.+pingry

A great book for explaining, simply, why we celebrate Christmas! It is very well written and makes the whole season make sense.

http://www.amazon.com/Night-Before-Christmas-Clement-Clarke/dp/0824955145

This is the classic story beloved by millions for a long time. I read it to my son every Christmas eve!




SCIENCE

Candy Cane Science Experiment

You Need:
Small bowls
Mini Candy Canes
Warm Water

Talk about candy canes. They are made of sugar. What do the kids think will happen if you put the candy canes in warm water?

Unwrap a couple and place them in the water. Cover them completely. Watch what happens. After a few minutes, all the red dye should dissolve into the water. Most of it will sink to the bottom of the bowl. Keep watching! Record how long it takes to completely disappear. Did any of the kids think that was what would happen? Do they think the same thing would happen if they placed the candy canes in oil? What if you add salt?

You can expand on this experiment the more interested the kids are!

MATH

Christmas Tree Shape Worksheet

This is from first-school.com! Follow the link and print in color or black and white. It is always fun to decorate a Christmas tree and with this you can learn about colors and shapes as well!

http://www.first-school.ws/activities/activityc/christmas-tree-colors-shapes.htm

Gingerbread Button Counting

From filefolderfun.com. Download and print the pictures of gingerbread men who need buttons and have the kids help them out. There are even simple addition cards for those who are learning to add. You can cut out the printable buttons or provide real ones. There are lots of fun ways to use these!

http://filefolderfun.com/Pages/PreschoolCounting/GingerbreadManCount

LETTER/READING

Short Vowel Review

Continue to review the short vowel sounds.

http://www.starfall.com/n/level-a/learn-to-read/load.htm?f

You can review the short vowels again. There is also a fun game called "10 little snowmen" you can play. Click on the snowman on the right side of the screen.

http://www.readingbear.org/Presentation.aspx?Review=1-6

Review the short vowels on readingbear.com.

ART/CRAFT

Craft - Easy Pom Pom Decorations

You Need:
Cardboard
White school glue
Many colors and sizes of craft pom poms

This is a simple and fun craft! Cut the cardboard into shapes such as candy canes, wreaths, Christmas trees, stars, etc. Give the kids the shapes and allow them to glue the pom poms to the shapes in whatever pattern they like!

Art - Paper Plate Angels

You Need:
Paper plates
Scissors
Crayons or markers
Any other craft items you want (such as craft poms, stickers, glitter, etc)

Cut the angel pattern from the paper plate. Give each child an angel to decorate in any way they wish!

MOTOR SKILLS

Snowball Toss Game

You need:
6 plastic drinking cups
Bag of pillow stuffing or cotton balls

The idea of this game is like a ring toss. Draw snowman faces on the cups. Tear off small bunches of the stuffing or glue 4 cotton balls together. Mark a line on the floor and have the kids stand at that line. Set up the cups a distance away in a triangle configuration with 1 in the front, 2 behind and 3 behind that. The kids should try to toss the cotton into the cups while standing at the line. Each cup could be worth more points and the child who gets the most points wins!
This is a great hand-eye coordination game and gets kids up and moving!

From we-made-that.com

Fine - Pomander

You Need:
Oranges
Cloves (whole)
Wooden Skewers

This requires some prep. You will need to poke the holes in the oranges first. Use the skewers to make the patterns on the oranges.
Give each child an orange and show them how to stick the cloves into the pre-made holes. When these are complete, they are pretty and smell amazing! You can make these gifts for their parents.

MUSIC

Well Christmas carols are just the best! And there are too many to list. http://www.the-north-pole.com/carols/ Follow the link to find a lengthy list of great Christmas music, both secular and Christian, with lyrics!

COOKING

Candy Cane Fruit Snack

Ingredients:
Strawberries
Bananas

With all the candy, cookies and cakes this time of year, we are going to make something a bit more healthy! Cut up the fruit into small chunks. Show the kids how to put the candy cane together and then let them do their own. A yummy, healthy and very Christmas-y snack.

The Candy Cane

To go along with our yummy snack, click the link to Ministry to children for a printable story about the candy cane!
http://ministry-to-children.com/candy-cane-poem-about-jesus/

Christmas! December 17-21

This week we will celebrate Jesus and also embrace the other symbols of the season. This week will be packed full of fun, learning, and prayer. Merry Christmas!

ALL ABOUT THE CANDY CANE

Candy Cane Poem Printable

Prep for this by purchasing a candy cane for each child. The mini ones work great for younger children. Print the poem and attach to the candy canes with a ribbon. Read the poem to the children and then allow them to eat! Or they can take them home to their family.

SHAPES/CRAFT - Shape Christmas Trees

Print the template pattern HERE.

MATERIALS:
Brown construction paper
Green Construction Paper
Yellow Construction Paper
Other various colors, for the ornaments (if needed)

Cut out all the pieces. It is a good idea to make one yourself as a guide for the kids. Discuss each of the pieces of the tree. Talk about the sides, color, etc. Then allow the children to construct their trees. Glue the pieces to a piece of red or white paper. Add colorful, small circles as ornaments, if you wish.

RELIGION - True Meaning of Christmas

There is an excellent site, ministry-to-children.com, which put together 3 booklets which are free and printable. Print these booklets out and read them with the children. This will help them to understand what Christmas is really all about, the joyous celebration of our savior, Jesus Christ!

http://ministry-to-children.com/christmas-story-booklet/

Read them with the children and answer any questions they have. Then continue on with the following lesson:

SENSORY/PRETEND PLAY - Manger Scene

Provide a "manger" and a baby doll. You can make the manger out of a box and some baby blankets. You can get as elaborate or simple as you want. Add animals, dress up clothes, a barn, star, etc. Allow the children to pretend play based on the story you just read them. This is a great way to enforce the images they received from the story.


You can also print these FREE printables HERE and use them as part of your lesson. These little puppets are so cute and will really get the kids involved in the lesson!

MUSIC - Go Crazy!
What I mean is, there are so many great Christmas songs that I couldn't possibly tell you which ones to sing with your kids! You can create a Christmas Station on Pandora, there is a Christmas Station on IHeart Radio, etc. SO many options.

 

FINE MOTOR - Ornaments

Materials:

Pipe Cleaners

Beads

Have the children string beads on the pipe cleaners to make ornaments. If you have a class tree, put their creations on the tree. This makes them feel so special!

SCIENCE - Density Experiment

Materials Needed:
4 small water bottles
4 bowls
funnel
water
clear shampoo
clear hair gel
corn syrup
glitter in Christmas colors
paper towels

Begin by putting water in one of the bowls. Allow the children to dip their finger in the water and stir it around. Dry their fingers on the paper towels. Pour the water into one of the bottles using the funnel. Add a pinch or 2 of the glitter and screw on the lid. Ask the children if they think the water will move fast or slow when you shake the bottle. Shake it up and set it on the table so the children can watch what happens.

Repeat this entire process with the shampoo, hair gel and corn syrup, allowing the children to guess at what will happen when they are shaken up.

Once the experiment is complete, tape or hot glue the lids on and keep these in a science center for later exploration.


GROSS MOTOR - Gift Stacking Game

Gift wrap several old boxes in varying sizes. Allow the children to stack them and make "tall towers" with them. Guess how high they will be able to stack them before they fall over. Try to use different configurations in order to make the stack more stable.


COLORING PAGE - Elmo Wreath

http://www.allkidsnetwork.com/coloring-pages/Images/elmo/Small/elmo-christmas.jpg

ART - Christmas Card for a Loved One

This one is super easy and lots of fun! Provide a piece of construction paper folded like a card. Also give them a variety of pictures from magazines or the internet, stickers, glitter, pipe cleaners, etc, glue, crayons. Allow them to freely create a Christmas card for anyone they choose. So fun to see what they come up with!

MATH - Memory Game/Matching Game

DLTK's website has an amazing feature which lets you create custom memory game cards for any subject! It is super easy too! Go HERE to get started. Select the number of cards you want. You should base this on how many children will be participating. Next select your theme. For this week choose Christmas, religious or secular, its up to you! Choose color or black and white. Then just print and cut out. Awesome and a great math game!  **For younger kids, make it into a matching game. Place 1 set of cards in a row and jumble up the other set. Ask the children to match the jumbled set to the other set.




SNACK/ART - Sugar Cone Christmas Trees

This is a much easier way to make gingerbread houses with your young children.

Materials Needed:
Sugar Cones
Frosting with green food coloring

Christmas M&Ms

Coconut

Various Sprinkles

Gumdrops
Red licorice
Whatever else you can think of!

Give a sugar cone to each child and have a bowl of green frosting and a spoon for them to cover their "tree" with. Put the decorations in little bowls in front of them and have them go at it! This is such a fun activity for them and is even more fun if you eat them when you are done.



STORY - Twas The Night Before Christmas

Such a classic! A definate must read this time of year. Available on Amazon!


http://www.amazon.com/Night-Before-Christmas-Little-Golden/dp/0375863591/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0