2021 is winding down and so are we with school. It is time for a little Christmas break. Before we break, I wanted to share a few fun things we have been up to in our co-ops and at home.
We had a terrific time in co-op making sweet candle crafts using our Experience Curriculum kit this month! We also sand “This Little Light of Mine” more times than I can count! My toddler is still carrying his sweet candle around the house! Teaching three’s is exhausting and oh so rewarding!
The toddler class also had a terrific time “decorating cookies” with cutouts, but we used glue instead of icing! These cookies are not edible but the real sprinkles made them adorable! The little three’s class loved carrying them around and bringing home as a keepsake. Those fine motor skills were put to work when we made our stockings too! We painted, weaved yarn through them and added some special stickers!
There is something magical about the holidays with little ones, but don’t forget about the growing children (and even teens) in your home. These silly, fun traditions are important for them too! That is why we took three weeks to study Christmas Around the World as a family (and with friends). Adults and children had a great time making nativity puppet shows, creating “pooping logs,” playing Dreidel, creating “stained glass” pieces, making ornaments reflecting a variety of cultures, and sharing our own family traditions. Our Gather Round Christmas Around the World mini unit and Experience Curriculum monthly unit drove the projects the past three weeks and it was a season for the memory book.
One of my most favorite activities was definitely the “stained glass” craft.
It was so simple and is now a precious keepsake! I used my Cricut and black cardstock to create outlines of ornaments, manger scenes and reindeer. I then backed them with transparent contact paper. Taking tissue squares, we filled the sticky side of the contact paper. That’s it! You can add a hole and string to hang it on your tree but my children wanted them in our front window.
Now it is time for us to take a break and truly focus on the reason for the season! We will
make memories and messes the next two weeks and hope your family is able to do some of the same. We pray you all have a wonderful holiday season and blessed New Year. Stay tuned for evaluation updates in late January!
Warm wishes!
~Jenna