Ornaments

Preschool Activities
The kids have been excited about the Christmas tree since it went up.  They've loved hanging and rearranging ornaments .  Maybe your tree looks like mine with all of the ornaments  together in small clumbs, each as tall as one of my children.

I wanted to give my youngest his own Christmas tree to decorate.  So I cut a triangle out of green felt.  Then I cut a variety of shapes out of whatever felt scraps I could find.  Decorating and undecorating his tree kept little man occupied for quite a while

Family Activities
I love making homemade ornaments with the kids to decorate the family Christmas Tree and creating keepsakes for years to come.  We made simple cardboard ornaments this year.  I cut shapes out of a cardboard box waiting to be recycled.  The kids painted their shapes with red and green washable paint.  Then we decorated ornaments with glitter glue, sequins, and stickers.  I had some gold embroidery floss that we wrapped around the ornaments leaving a loop to hang them on the tree.

Salt dough ornaments are also a lot of fun to make with little ones (here's a link to my recipe for salt dough).

Service Activities
Give ornaments to your neighbors.  Hang a tag on each ornament hook with an invitation to your church's Christmas Eve service.  Be sure to include service dates and times as well as directions to your church.


Snacks
I would have loved to make these adorable apple ornament snacks, but I didn't have time.  So we just had sliced apples with peanut butter.
 
Songs
Deck the Halls
Let's Decorate the Christmas Tree

Books
Fancy Nancy: Splendiferous Christmas, by Jane O'Connor
The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg

Nativity

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

Luke 2:6-7

Preschool Activities
<sup>I love to hear my little man try to say the word nativity.  Generally when he uses the word, he's referring to our nativity scene - the baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, shepherds, Magi, and animals all sitting on our bookcase at little boy eye level.  Our family nativity is fairly precious to me so we also have a Little People nativity that allow hands on time for little ones.  My goal through our play with the nativity today was just to name all the characters of the nativity.  Character play will help with story comprehension as we continue to read the nativity story leading up to Christmas.

Then, as I prepared lunch, little man worked on a coloring page.</sup>

Family Activities

Later that day, we went as a family to visit a live nativity. This particular production was quite impressive. We were led through a marketplace where merchants retold the story of Mary and Joseph's travels to Bethlehem. We were then introduced to some shepherds and their live animals in the fields when an angel appeared, directing our attention to a small stable. There we met the baby, sleeping in the hay. Seeing and even participating in the story really brought it to life for all the kids. Spending time outside, walking through the marketplace, and meeting the nativity animals was a fun addition to our experience.

If you can't visit a live nativity near your home, watch this video from Answers in Genesis with your older children exploring the truth ad the myths in the traditional nativity story.

Service Activities
Make room in your house.  Invite someone who lives alone to have dinner with your family tonight. Send them home with left overs. 
 
Snacks
Haystacks:
Melt one package of chocolate chips with 1/2 cup peanut butter in the microwave or over a double boiler, checking and stirring frequently. Pour over 4 cups broken chow mein noodles. Scoop the noodles onto wax paper into little haystacks. Allow to cool before eating.

Songs
Away in a Manger
No Room at the Inn
  
Books
Room for a Little One: A Christmas Tale, by Martin Waddell
This is the Stable, by Cynthia Cotten

Magi

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

Matthew 2:1-2 (NIV)

Preschool Activities
We started today with a coloring page.  When I asked my little man who the men in the picture might be, he immediately answered Jesus.  I think sometimes that we condition our kids to answer our questions in certain ways.  So I was glad that today we would focus on a very different part of the Christmas story.

We read the chapter in his Storybook Bible about the wise men visiting Jesus.  Then I pointed out to him the three wise men and the camel off to one side of our nativity.  After that, we headed outside for a little scavenger hunt.  

In our backyard I had hidden six presents with shiny red bows on top.  He had to find the three presents fit for a king.  Inside three of the boxes were big red X marks - these were not presents for Jesus.  Inside the other three boxes he found a shiny rock (gold), a small container of oil (myrrh), and a cotton ball soaked in perfume (frankincense).

Family Activities
The story of the Magi is one of those stories that we don't teach as often and every time the boys hear the story, it's a little different.  Did the Magi visit a baby Jesus or a few years later?  Were there three wise men or more?  Were the wise men kings  or magicians or scholars?  I don't know the answers to these questions, so I decided to tackle with my boys instead just the basic details of the story.

What does Magi mean? Most likely, the Magi were astrologers, men who studied the stars.  So wise men is a great way to describe the Magi who came to visit the Jesus.

Why did the Magi visit Jesus? They studied the skies and saw the star of Bethlehem when Jesus was born.  Then they studied the ancient prophesies and realized that the star meant the Messiah had been born.  The Magi wanted to pay homage to the King; that means to bring him gifts and recognize his importance.

What gifts did the Magi bring Jesus?  Gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  We pulled out the presents we had hunted for earlier.  The shiny rock was to look like gold.  Frankincense is the perfume.  And Myrrh is the oil.  So as to not delve too deep into the interpretation of these gifts, I just explained that they were very expensive gifts reserved for someone very important.

I asked the boys if they'd like to receive these types of gifts for Christmas.  My all-to-practical oldest son pointed out that although he wouldn't enjoy these gifts, they were valuable and he could sell them to buy something he'd really like.  I think this got my point across ... the gifts given to Jesus were different because he was different.  He wasn't just a normal kid who would really like an iPod touch and unlimited access to the app store.  He was a King!

Service Activities
Take a tray of cookies to the fire station that services your home.Thank the fire fighters there for all they do to keep us safe. 


Snacks
For snack, we're dressing up some plain crackers with peanut butter and a ribbon of jelly to look just like the presents under our tree.  

Songs
We Three Kings


Books
Three Presents for Baby Jesus, by Joanne Bader
The Legend of Saint Nicholas, by Dandi Daley Mackall

Lights

I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.

John 12:46 (ESV)

Preschool Activities
I mentioned a few days ago (I is for Ice Skating) the outdoor ice rink at the Charlotte Motor Speedway this time of year. The real star of the Speedway Christmas however is the lightshow - 3 million twinkling Christmas lights in the shape of race cars and snowflakes and American flags. You just can't decorate for Christmas without a string of lights or two.

Little man and I were feeling particularly festive and crafty today, so I decided we'd to try to recreate a Christmas lights craft I'd seen on Pinterest (what did we do before Pinterest). I provided some construction paper and the ink pad. At first he didn't want to touch the ink. But I showed him how to leave his fingerprints on the paper and he was excited to go from there. I didn't provide any instruction on where the fingerprints should go, so we ended up with this tangle of lights and that feels pretty authentic to me. 

Family Activities
There are so many times when decorating for Christmas that we exclude the kids. Hanging the lights, placing fragile nativity pieces, climbing up into the attic just to find everything, and when that one light in the strand goes out and the whole middle of the tree is dark, I don't always feel so joyous about letting little hands help.

At the same time, I know how happy I feel sitting in the glow of the Christmas tree. So today, I went out of my way to make the decorations accessible to the kids. We hung lights in their bedroom. I let them play with the nativity window clings and snowman fridge magnets without feeling the need to rearrange everything when they were done. Then after dinner we went for a stroll through our neighborhood to see all our neighbor's Christmas decorations. Beautiful!

Service Activities
Light up someone's whole day.  Smile at everyone you pass today.

Snacks
Popcorn with yellow M&Ms or sprinkles.

Songs
Deck the Halls
Shine on Us
 
Books
The Christmas Candle, by Richard Paul Evans
Lights of Christmas, by Kimberly Souther
Christmas Lights, by Marion Dane Bauer

King

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.

Luke 1:32-33 (NIV)

Preschool Activities
This whole advent season is about waiting for and preparing our hearts for the King of Kings. Yet as Christmas draws closer, all we talk about is this baby in a manger. I want to make sure that my children understand why we celebrate on Christmas morning. I want to help them make the connection between the Baby Jesus in a manger and the Jesus we teach about the rest of the year. 

To that end, out came the family pictures again. This time I wanted to share with my little guy pictures of myself and my husband when we were kids. Then I showed him pictures of us now at work. We were babies and then we grew up. Just like us, Jesus was a baby.  When Jesus grew up he became a carpenter and a teacher.

Jesus was also the King of Kings, which we talked about more when everyone was home.  But I did pull out some paper crowns that I had left-over from a knight-themed birthday party a few years ago.  Paper crowns would also be an easy craft to make with construction paper or even newspapers.  Be sure to decorate them up with sequins, glitter, or stickers!

Family Activities
Jesus is known by  many names, but He is specifically regarded as a king throughout all of scripture.  Click each name for the scripture reference and discuss:

• King of Kings
• the King of Israel
• the King of the Jews
• King over all the Earth
• the King of Righteousness
• the King of Peace
• the King of Glory

Little man had been wearing his crown all day and big brothers were anxious to join in on the fun.  I saw these Glitter Crown ornaments on Pinterest and I was anxious to see if we could replicate them.  In my opinion, glitter crafts are best done outside!  And while moving outside will minimize the mess, I'm still expect to be amazed at where I will find glitter for days to come.

Service Activities
Treat someone like king for the day!  Share lots of compliments with them.  Find ways to be helpful to them.  Write a letter or draw a picture just for them.


Snacks
Serve applesauce with cinnamon and sugar in a fancy glass.
 
Songs
Birthday of a King
A King is Coming to Town  

Books
The Cobbler, the Princess, and the Newborn King, by Daniel Foote
The Newborn King, by Lori Froeb

Jingle Bells

Preschool Activities
Jingle Bells happens to be one of my little man's favorite Christmas songs.  For today's activity, I set out a few pipe cleaners and lots of little bells.  At first he just wanted to shake the bells along with our Christmas music.  Then I showed him how to thread the bells onto the pipe cleaners to make "jingle sticks".   As he filled a few pipe cleaners with bells, I twisted them into a little wreath shape.  At least one of these wreaths ended up on the tree.  The others, he has proudly carried around, making music all afternoon.  This activity turned out to be great fine motor practice and occupied his attention for quite some time.  

Instead of a coloring page, I printed a few pages from 3 Dinosaurs' Christmas Pack.  We read There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell and then little man did the two piece puzzles.  I also printed the memory cards; maybe we'll talk big brothers into a game of memory later.

Family Activities
My school aged boys simply could not participate in a Jingle Bells activity without singing Jingle Bells, Batman smells...  So I challenged them to write out a few variations to the usual lyrics, and reminded them to keep it appropriate.  Here's what they came up with:

Jingle Bells, I like to yell,
And run outside each day!

Jingle Bells, Ace likes to eat, 
Lets give him a treat!
(Ace is our dog)

Jingle Bells, I play drums,
I'm learning every day.


This video is just fun and gave us a chance to talk about different kinds of service (raising money for charity and making someone smile):

 

Service Activities
Volunteer to be a bell ringer for charity this season.  Or add your spare change to the bucket.

Snacks
Red and green bell peppers with some babybel cheese wheels.

Before preparing today's snack, I held up the green pepper and asked the kids how they thought it got its name.  They guessed it had to do with the shape of the pepper (which is correct) and the seeds inside that were like little ringers (which is incorrect, but I liked their thoughtful idea).
 




Songs
Jingle Bells
Silver Bells
Bells Will be Ringing
Carol of the Bells
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
 
Books
The Bells of Christmas, by Virginia Hamilton
The Christmas Bell, by Rolf Krenzer
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell, by Lucille Colandro

Ice Skating

Preschool Activities
Doesn't snow and ice just make everything feel like Christmas?

Since our move to the South, I wonder sometimes if my youngest will remember the deep Central Pennsylvania snow we enjoyed (yes enjoyed!) every winter.  For him, I'll look forward to recreating those wintry scenes with coffee filter snowflakes and white pom pom snowballs. 

I can imagine the fun he'll have with a laundry basket filled with these fluffy pom poms, when I get to making a few more that is.  In the meantime, I'll let him enjoy a skating video:

ExclaimEntertainment's 
BOZ, Drew, Gracie, Marcus and Bria have fun slipping and sliding in "It's Great To Skate"

Family Activities
With three boys, we watch and participate in a lot of sporting events. I believe that participation in team sports teaches kids discipline and provides a necessary outlet for physical energy in an increasingly sedentary world.

Unfortunately, the world of professional sports is not always filled with excellent role models for impressionable children.  Whenever I can, I try to focus my kids' attention toward the exceptions.  So we headed over to Wikipedia (supervised of course) and I asked my oldest to find one interesting fact about the following hockey players. Here is what we found:

• Jarome Iginla: donates $2,000 to charity for every goal he scores
• Joe Sakic: won 2 Stanley Cups and played in 13 All Star Games
• Mike Fisher: is married to Carrie Underwood
• Shane Doan: has Romans 8:28 written on all his hockey sticks
• Bob Froese, John Blue, Adam Burt: all retired and are now pastors

There are outdoor ice rinks to be enjoyed even here in North Carolina where it was 70* earlier this week.  If you get a chance, go enjoy some ice skating with the whole family tonight near your home or at the Speedway Christmas!

Service Activities
Make a donation of hats and mittens to a homeless shelter.
 
Snacks
Sit in front of the fireplace and enjoy popsicles or snow cones together.
 
Songs
Frosty the Snowman
Let it Snow
Winter Wonderland
 
Books
A is for Axel: An Ice Skating Alphabet, by Kurt Browning
Angelina Ice Skates, by Katharine Holabird
Charles and the Christmas Skates, by Charles Macnamara