Christmas Advent Activities

Tis almost December, the season for many celebrations!

Children like to countdown until special days because it helps with the waiting.

It is better to get the activity ready early!

 

The first one is free and all that is needed are cotton balls! The download comes in color or black and white for coloring.

 

Simply start on December 1 and glue a cotton ball on the number one on Santa's hat.

Glue a ball on each number as the day arrives. After 25 days he makes a beautiful picture!

If cotton balls are not available the child can color in each number.

 

There are math activities that can be done during the month using Santa, counting days that have cotton balls, then how many days left, odd and evens, etc.

 

This also makes a great early present!

Print the picture out and give the child a baggie with 25 cotton balls!

 

Christmas Santa's Beard Countdown Math Activity

 

 Another product is a little larger and has two versions, the 12 day or the 25 day advent tree.

 

 

Christmas The 12 Days or 25 Days of Advent Calendars

 

The 12 Days Tree has a green border around it and is made of 4 SHEETS of 8 ½ by 11 paper. It is 16 inches tall and 21 inches wide.

The 25 Days Tree has a red border around it and is made of 6 SHEETS of 8 ½ by 11 paper.
It is 23 inches tall and 21 inches wide.

 

This includes 42 fun activities that can be done during this advent time!

After printing out the desired tree, trim some edges to allow the pages to fit together like a puzzle. If you want the tree to be one big poster, glue together and then laminate the whole thing. If you prefer to assemble the tree each year, laminate each page, cut the pages out, and lightly tape the tree together.

Print the activities pages out. The thicker the paper, the more durable the pieces will be. Laminate and cut apart the individual pictures. There is an extra blank page for adding other activities of your own.

Decide the activities to be added to the tree. If using the tree one time, the pictures can be glued to the tree. When using the tree over again, it is better to attach Velcro to the squares on the tree and the back of the pictures or use tape lightly to hold them on.

 

 

 The last product is not really an advent calendar activity, but can be used to create an advent book.

 

This is really an ABC Christmas book.

I have two versions, one without tracing words and the other has words to trace.

 

Christmas ABC Class Book With Trace Words

 

They illustrate a page a day can be done until Dec. 24 then the last pages can be finished.

 

For each page I have different words to pick for the letter. For example letter Cc has the words; cookie, candle, candy cane, carols, Christmas, card, candy, coal, camels, Christ Child.

 

 

Christmas ABC Book-You Pick The Pages

 

 When finished you have a keepsake book that can be read and reread over and over!

 

If you have a classroom of students the book can be used as a class made book!  

Each child can illustrate a letter page with the word they pick and the finished pages can be collected into a class book to share.

 

So many fun ways to countdown to that special day!

The Sweaters of Christmas!

Oh, the sweaters of Christmas, they have been given such a bad rap!

I love Christmas sweaters!

 

It was very special to have a decorated sweater for Christmas as I was growing up! It was even better if they had cute pictures, ribbons, bows, bells and sparkly thread.

Christmas-themed sweaters were first produced on a grand scale, when the Christmas holiday was becoming increasingly commercialized. Initially referred to as “Jingle Bell Sweaters,” the first sweaters saw decades of popularity!

 

Then came the word "ugly" when referring to Christmas sweaters. 

 Gaudy, bad taste, tacky, the more stuff on them the better! People hold parties to celebrate the worst sweaters of the year!

So for fun I created a cute craft activity for children to make their own version of the Christmas sweater. It is one that can also be done with parent help as a family project. 

Decorate the Sweater

 

This adorable Christmas activity includes the cover sheet, 4 different blank sweater templates to use and a parent letter.

When finished, it then becomes a prompt for story writing and telling. It is always fun to see the different methods of creating an ugly sweater!

Also see my other activities for:

Christmas

Winter

 

Maybe you will have a wonderfully ugly sweater of Christmas!

I'm pretty sure I will! 

Christmas Free Santa's List and Geometric Shape Activities

Another Christmas Free product to share with you is a very simple letter to Santa activity!

It comes in color or black and white, with some suggestions for using. It can be used even with the littlest learners because they can dictate what they want to say.

Free! Christmas Santa's List

 

In my last post I shared a another FREE activity for a Christmas Train.

Santa Express Geometric Christmas Train

 

I also have many other fun products that use the same geometric format.

A good activity for doing this is my

 Christmas Geometric Shape Santa. 

It has a very simple beginner geometric Santa included

that has only a few parts to cut and put together! 



 Again all of these activities are in color, black and white or grayscale.

I also have the 

Geometric Gingerbread Man.

 Two favorite characters.

Geometric Christmas Elf

 

Geometric Christmas Green Grouchy Guy

Plus the Christmas Reindeer and Nutcracker!

Geometric Christmas Reindeer

Geometric Nutcracker for Christmas

 

I think this one is my favorite one

Geometric Snowflake for Winter.

 

Geometric activities are not the only products in my store for Christmas or other times of the year!

 

I would love for you to visit and see what I have to make learning fun!

Christine Maxwell Hand to Heart TpT Store!

 

Here A Turkey, There A Turkey, Everywhere Turkeys And Turkeys!

Looking for a different and simple way to create the turkey bird with little people?

 

 This project uses pinecones which can be found anywhere that there are evergreen trees. While there are many different kinds of cones, for this activity I used the rounded ones. They have an evergreen tree shape when sitting on their flat bottoms.

After gathering them, I want to make sure that they are free of any tiny hosts that could be
hiding in them. I place them on a foil lined cookie sheet and 

bake at 250 degrees for about 45 minutes.

It makes the house smell like a pine forest!

To make the turkey body turn the cone on the side and glue it to a circle paper base. Allow it to dry for a day before adding the other parts. 

I used a heart punch to create the pieces, but you do not need a punch to do this activity. 

I will explain with two other ideas, so keep reading!

The head is one half of a heart and add a paper beak and waddle from paper scraps. The eyes are wiggly just for fun, but can simply be paper circles from scraps. Make the head completely flat on the table and let dry for a little while. It goes on the front of the cone with the branch pieces called scales sticking out.

The tail feathers are colored papers, but can be printed ones for a different look. They go near the back side of the pinecone between the scales with a touch of glue to keep them in place. See the picture above of the side turkey.

Little touches like hats, bows and fake leaves are not needed, but fun to add.

No heart paper punch, no problem!

A simple way for little people to create hearts is to have them fold a piece of paper in half. They grasp the paper on the folded side with their thumb on the top and pointer finger behind as shown in the picture. Thank you to my husband for letting me use his thumb in the picture!

They can then trace around the thumb or have another child do it, then cut on the line. When they open it, they have a heart! It is such fun to see all the different shapes and sizes of the hearts.

 Another easier way is to have them fold the paper in half and write the number 2 on the fold. Then they only cut the half heart part of the two on the fold and not the tail.

When they open it again there is a heart!
They are always so proud that they have learned how to make hearts and
will remember forever!

A Thanksgiving activity that is fun to do with making these turkeys is to have the child creative spell what they are thankful for and write it on each tail feather. The littlest learners can dictate what they are happy to have and someone can write them on the feathers for them.

This little turkey is thankful for his friends, family, dog, food, house and toys!
What a cute keepsake for the feast table!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Planning For Next Year.....Already!

Is it too early to start thinking about educating little learners for next year?

No!     Yes!    No!    Yes!    No!    Depends.....

It is never too early to start thinking about getting ready for the next group of littles, 

but I may not be ready to act on it yet. It varies from year to year. 

Sometimes I just need a break. 

Other times I am ready to jump right in creating new activities and products! 

Jumping in now!

I have created a fun product to welcome each student.

Hello and Welcome Animal Rhyme Cards & Posters, Farm, Zoo, Jungle & Wild Animals

 What an exciting and fun way to have the children enter or lineup each day!

There are 3 poster pages, 22 card pages with two animal welcomes on each sheet for 44 sentences, 4 welcome sentences without animals, the title page and a page of directions.

Assembly: Print the pages out on the front side only. The thicker the paper, the more durable they will be. Laminate if desired.

Poster: The poster has three parts, simply line them up together. The page with the top line is at the top and the page with the bottom line goes at the bottom. Notice the middle section does not have a top or bottom line. They can be stapled or taped together. You can also not use the middle section and just put the top and bottom together. 

You will need to trim a little off the posters to have the border match exactly right.

Cards: There are 44 welcoming animal cards with words and pictures. There are two animal card sentences to each sheet. These can be cut apart into two separate cards or simply keep them together.

The name of the animal is on each card with a rhyming word of welcome or movement. I have also used the color words red, yellow, green, blue, purple, orange, black, brown, gray, tan and white in some sentences.

Activity: When introducing the activity at the beginning of the year show the children the cards and explain what each animal is. Read the sentences and discuss the meanings of the different words.

 

You decide or decide together what movement or motion is to go with each card. For example, “You rock, peacock.” could be a fist bump as they come in the door. “High ten, brown wren.” could be two high fives with both hands. Part of the fun is making up and creating an action that goes with each animal!

As the little learners practice the different cards and sayings they will be able to read them, plus they become a learned memory. They will also be able to pick and choose which animal they might decide to be as they enter each day or lineup and doing their own movement or motion! 

What animal do they feel like today! 

See other jungle or zoo activities and products here:
Zoo, Jungle and Wild Animals Calendar Pieces Make Monthly Patterns
Math Zoo, Jungle or Wild Animal Theme Skip Counting Color or Blackline
Zoo or Jungle Picture Attachments For First Day, 100 Day, & Last Day Of School
10 Little Zoo or Jungle Friends Songs, Number Flashcards and 10 Puppets
Back To School Jungle or Zoo Welcome Banner
Zoo or Jungle Position Word Posters Left, Right, Front and Back
Zoo or Jungle Song And Posters For T-I-G-E-R Was His Name-O
Zoo or Jungle Alligator Bite The Bigger Number Greater and Less
Zoo or Jungle Geometric Elephant 2D Shapes

 

Are you ready to jump in?

Free Bingo Game!

Fall my most favorite season of the year!

 

My freebie is called

My First Number Bingo Game for Fall, Halloween and Thanksgiving.

 

This colorful, fun math product will help to introduce students to the concept of playing Bingo, or provide practice for proficient players. It uses the concepts of left/right, top/middle/bottom, corners and even diagonal, if your students are able to understand that concept. Differentiated instruction allows for a variety of levels of abilities to play this activity, making it more difficult as needed.

 

This game includes 3 pumpkin board templates, a nine grid, a twelve grid and a sixteen grid. Also included are little pumpkin calling cards 0-15, plus directions and suggestions for playing. I've added little leaves, jacks and turkey pumpkins cards as an extra surprise to create some excitement. I used candy corn as my counters to mark the numbers and when a picture card is shown each student gets a piece of candy to eat!

You will need to write the numbers on the pumpkin boards. I had a parent volunteer (Gotta love them!) do that, and laminated them.

 

Another way to use this activity is to give each student a pumpkin and have them write the numbers in the various squares. For example, you assign the numbers 0-10 on the 9 space grid pumpkin. They use a pencil to write the numbers first in any spaces, to make sure they have written them correctly, and then trace over them with crayon or marker. Then play the game. Students can trade cards for each game because each board is different.

This product can also be printed in grayscale to save colored ink.

The children look forward to practicing their numbers and you get a good visual evaluation of their progress. Great to play during fall, Halloween and Thanksgiving.

 

Another number pumpkin product is

 Fall Pumpkins and Leaves Number Matching Color or Black & White.

What a great way to practice number matching with a fall theme of pumpkins and leaves! Just laminate and use over and over every year! 

Introduce or review the concepts of number matching. This activity can be used, even if only a few number concepts have been introduced. Then add the other pieces as they are learned.

Great center or group activity too! Download Preview to see the complete activity.

 

Plus follow my blog to find out about giveaways, freebies, linkys, educational tips and my newest activities!

Enjoy!

Play Is The Work Of Children!

I love this poster! Thank you Dr. Jean!

 

Father's Day Fun and Spelling Activity!

D-A-D-D-Y Was His Name-O

 What a fun activity for giving Fathers special attention for Father's Day!
It is a great way to learn some letters of the alphabet!

There is a song poster, the Love poster and the letter posters that spell DADDY. Included is a cover sheet and directions. Each poster is 8 1/2 by 11 inches. Sing to the tune "Bingo."

Introduce the song using the song poster. Pass the letter cards out and have the students participate with the singing.

To make the activity harder, sing the song with flipping a letter to Love for each verse and do a motion and/or sound instead. For example, sing D A D D Y for the first verse. Then turn the first letter D over for the second verse and have the children hug themselves and sing Love for the letter D. They would hug, then sing Love A D D Y. The third verse would be Love, Love, and sing D D Y. Do this until all the letters are turned over and the last verse is Love, Love, Love, Love, Love.

Lots of love for Father's Day!

Thank An Educator!

Here is a set of free bookmarks for you or someone that you know, that has made a difference in the life of a child or another person.

The Starfish Story

It is a great product for administrators to give to staff members. It can be run on heavier paper and laminated for a lasting keepsake.

There are three bookmarks on the sheet. The poem listed below is centered on each bookmark. There is a set in color and another set in black and white.

THE STARFISH POEM
by Loren Eiseley
Once upon a time there was a wise man
who used to go to the ocean
to do his writing.
He had a habit of walking on the beach
before he began his work.
One day he was walking along the shore.
As he looked down the beach,
he saw a human
figure moving like a dancer.
He smiled to himself to think
of someone who would dance to the day.
So he began to walk faster to catch up.
As he got closer, he saw
that it was a young man
and the young man wasn't dancing,
but instead he was reaching
down to the shore, picking up something
and very gently throwing it
into the ocean.
As he got closer he called out,
"Good morning! What are you doing?"
The young man paused,
looked up and replied,
"Throwing starfish in the ocean."
"I guess I should have asked,
why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?"
"The sun is up and the tide is going out.
And if I don't throw them in they'll die."
"But, young man, don't you realize that
there are miles and miles of beach
and starfish all along it.
You can't possibly make a difference!"
The young man listened politely.
Then bent down, picked up another starfish
and threw it into the sea,
past the breaking waves and said-
"It made a difference for that one.“

You make a difference!

Mother's Day Is Coming!

Mother's Day in the United States is annually held on the second Sunday of May. It celebrates motherhood and it is a time to appreciate mothers and mother figures.

 

For this special day, I have an activity called

 Mother's Day Song And Posters M-O-M-M-Y Was Her Name-O.

Hopefully you are a Follower on my blog, because many times 

I will have an activity for sale in my

TeacherspayTeachers Store

and I will post it here for free! This one of those times!

 

 There is a song poster, the HUGS poster and the letter posters that spell MOMMY. Included is a cover sheet and directions. Each poster is 8 1/2 by 11 inches.

Sing to the tune "Bingo."

Introduce the song using the song poster.

Pass the letter cards out and have the students participate with the singing.

It also fun to discuss where the Mother is located in each card!

What a fun activity for giving Mothers special attention for Mother's Day!

It is a great way to learn some letters of the alphabet!

To make the activity harder, sing the song with flipping a letter to HUGS for each verse and do a motion or sound instead. For example, sing M O M M Y for the first verse. Then turn the letter M over to HUGS for the second verse and have the children hug their arms around themselves and sing HUGS for the letter M. They would hug, then sing HUGS O M M Y. The third verse would be HUGS, HUGS, and sing M M Y. Do this until all the letters are turned over and the last verse is sung HUGS, HUGS, HUGS, HUGS, HUGS.

Enjoy!

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