Saturday, December 24, 2011

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our house to yours.  I hope see to you back next year!


Monday, December 12, 2011

Christmas Ideas and Crafts (Advent Calendar)

Thanks to Sara for putting together this great list of ideas for the holidays. I'm a little late on taking advantage of it in an advent calendar but I will definitely be doing most of these crafts and activities and posting them in the next couple of weeks.  


Guest post- From Sara....
When I grew up my family had an advent tree....ours was felt and had one pocket for each day of the month. I have one of those advent trees and I was trying to decide what to put in each pocket when I stumbled across a great idea on some websites. I will put an activity or craft in each pocket! I created a list of some activities I plan on using this Christmas and wanted to share. The attachment has the slips of paper I will be putting in the pockets and below are the worksheet and directions you will need for some of them. If you have any ideas or traditions that you do with your kids I would love to hear them!
  • 1. Have some popcorn and watch a Christmas movie
  • 2. Bake Christmas cookies
  • 3. Bake a cake and sing Happy birthday to Jesus.
  • 5. Make the Candy Cane book and make Candy Canes out of red and white pipe cleaners.
  • 6. Sing Rudolph song & make Reindeer craft with your hands and feet
  • 7. Make a Christmas tree ornament
  • 8.Read the story about the Angel Gabriel and make an Angel craft 
  • 9. Make Reindeer Food- Take Dry Oatmeal and Sugar and make a mixture, Sprinkle on the lawn 
  • 11. Decorate your bedroom door for Christmas
  • I will be doing the minivan express on the night we make our own pizza but that will be a secret until she finds the ticket in her bed.
  • 12. Read a Christmas Book
  • 13. Dance and sing to Christmas music
  • 17. Act out the birth of Jesus (either with people or by using a nativity scene) The day we role play the nativity story I will incorporate this: Bible Story: Luke 2:1-20 Bible Phrase: “God loved us and sent his Son” (1 John 4:10)
  • 19. As a family complete the What God Wants for Christmas Nativity scavenger hunt
  • 20. Unwrap a special present for you under the Christmas tree.The day we unwrap the special present I will incorporate this (source: ParentLife December 2007)...
Wise Men Worshiped Jesus (Bible Story: MAtthew 2:1-12) and (Bible Phrase: Thank you, God, for Jesus - Luke 2:38)

Instructions: Place a picture of baby Jesus in a wrapped gift box. Show the box to your child and tell him that the box represents a gift from God. When your child opens the box and sees the picture, remark: "God sent Jesus as the best Christmas present ever. The wise men worshiped Jesus by bringing him presents. We can worship Jesus too." Pray, thanking God for Jesus and that you can worship God, too.


Here are the websites where I got a lot of my ideas:



Thanks Sara for sharing all of your wonderful ideas!

Friday, December 2, 2011

Painting with Balls

Oh my kids had so much fun with this one!  

Materials: 
Tray (pan, or foil pan)
paint (we used finger paint)
Paper (I like finger paint paper because it doesn't rip)
balls or marbles

I taped the paper to the tray to ensure that it wouldn't move around when the kids were rolling around the balls.  


My son got the hang of the rolling but my daughter was more comfortable controlling all of her markings.  




Results- Beautiful!!  These totally showed their personalities too!

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