One for the Kids

String fruit loops to make a garland.

I use yarn and wrap the end in tape so the kids can easily thread it through the fruit loop. This is also a great fine motor skills activity for you toddler. For more detailed instructions check out this blog.

Day 15
Make a Christmas card and send it to a friend.

This could be anything from drawing a picture or writing a letter and sending it or printing off a card to color and send. We like to find printable quarter fold cards to color and envelope templates to make our own envelopes. This year I found some good ones from one of my favorite websites. DLTK.com

Day 16
Make a paper christmas tree and decorate it.

I found lots of great ideas for paper christmas trees, but in the end I just did cone-shaped trees out of construction paper and we decorated them with candy and marshmallows and used karo syrup for glue. It was totally messy but fun.

Learn a Christmas song (yes this one is a repeat) and read a Christmas story.

Some of our favorite story books are,

Bear Stay Up for Christmas, by Karma Wilson

and…

What Is Christmas? by Michelle Medlock Adams

Decorate cookies.

Sugar cookies or gingerbread cookies are fun to decorate. We always do sugar cookies. So get out the frosting, sprinkles, chocolate chips, red hots, etc and let those little ones pile it on. This has always been one of my favorite things to do for just about every holiday. It never gets old.

Felt Snowman

I love felt and my kids really enjoy the felt activities I do for them. So I thought it would be fun to do a “build your own snowman” type activity. So, cut out 3 circles from white felt (each one a little smaller than the previous) or you can just cut the body out as one piece. Cut a hat, and small round pieces for the mouth and buttons from black. A carrot for the nose from orange, etc, etc. For the eyes I drew a couple onto the white with a sharpie and then cut them out. And then do whatever color you want for the scarf. You could also do a few different colored scarves and hats and different eyes. The kids can put it together, take it apart and do it again.

If you need a template or would just rather print something off onto paper and cut it out, try this link. I thought this was very cute. You could do anything with this one really. It would be cute to have them glue the pieces on and then hang it up. Or you could even laminate it and save it to do again later.

Day 10

Make a tree ornament.
These are the ones we do every year. Most toddlers love to string things and the pipe cleaner makes it pretty easy. I like the triangle shaped beads because it makes the candy canes look more candy cane-ish.

There are also a # of cute tree ornaments you can make on familyfun.com. Just click the link to view them.

Day 11

Today was a repeat. We broke out some Christmas music and danced away. I like to do this about an hour before nap time. It gets all their energy out and they are settled down and ready to sleep about a half hour after we finish movin’ and shakin’. I love watching toddlers dance. They have some pretty sweet moves. My youngest has recently decided she likes to hold hands with my oldest as they dance. So, evidently she prefers having a dance partner as opposed to dancing solo.

Popcorn Santa

Print off a picture of Santa and glue popcorn (or pom poms or cotton balls) onto his beard and hat.
This is the picture we will be using. I found it at http://www.free-coloring-pages.com/christmas.html

Drink hot chocolate and eat a candy cane.

My older toddler just recently discovered the joys of hot chocolate. We went to starbucks the other day and bought a large hot chocolate to share. When it was his turn he took a sip and refused to give it back. He kept hugging the cup and saying, “it’s gooooood.”

I have a box of mini candy canes that are different flavores. My kids love them so the combination of the activity was doubly exciting for them.

Day 6
Learn a Christmas song.

My kids love to learn new songs, so this one was a fun one. I found a website that has lyrics and music to a few songs that might be helpful.

Day 7
Salted Pinecones:

Put some craft glue on a paper plate and roll a pinecone around in it to coat the tips. Let your little one shake salt all over it then let it dry. It will give it the look of a snowy christmas tree. You can also use glitter.

Make paper snowflakes and hang them from the window. For instructions on how to make basic snowflakes click here. If you want to try a fancier 3D snowflake, try these.