A Decidedly Christmas Activity Day!

Craft Time: I know we are already into the month of December, but creating an advent calender is a great craft to do with your kids. Below is a picture of the one our kids grandmother made for them. It gives you an idea of what you can do for your own. Use felt to create the calender. The Christmas balls are numbered 1-25 and can be attached using Velcro. On the bottom of the calender are little pockets numbered with the dates. If you have older kids that won't try to eat small things, then you can use tiny ornaments to hang on each day of December. They store nicely in the little pockets until their day is reached.

(our kids are still in the "eat small things" phase, so we are just using the velcro balls for now!) You can put more effort into this project and make something you keep for year after year, or just minimal effort and make one for just this year. Then you can have the fun of making a new creation each year with your kids. You decide what works for your family.

Story Time: Include a Christmas story today in your reading time with your kids. If you don't have Christmas books, then head off to the library and stock up!

Indoor Time: Try a new twist on an old game - play pin the star on the Christmas tree. Either draw a picture of a tree or print one off the Internet. You could even draw a tree on a white board or chalk board. Cut out stars from construction paper and have fun! (do I need to say it? use tape on the stars - not pins!)

Art Time: Break out the crayolas and have a tree decorating contest via a coloring page.

Music Time: Teach your kids Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. Don't know the words? You can find them here...
Rudolph

Outdoor Time: Have a Santa obstacle race. Have them start at the "North Pole," then fly their sleigh onto the "roof top." Next they have to go down the chimney. If you have a swing set with a slide, I recommend the slide be the roof top and going down the slide is going down the chimney. After that, they have to high-tail it back to the North Pole. Cheer them on as they make their way along the route.