12 Days of Christmas Day 8: Family Time

For me, the biggest joy of the holiday season is spending time with family and friends. It is my self-care. I love hanging out with people I love. There are so many magical and special things to do this season. Here are a few things we love doing as a family this time of year.

1. Decorating cookies and gingerbread houses: OK, so not everyone participates in the baking, but everyone definitely gets in on eating the cookies. This is a super simple tradition that my kids love. This year, my son chose to make some M&M cookies that he took to his classroom party. My daughter made chocolate chip ones for her teacher. We have more baking to do for our family Christmas get-together. 

Every year, we also decorate a gingerbread house. We get one and our two kids decorate it together. I think they eat more candy then ends up on the house itself, but they look forward to this every year.

2. Look at Christmas lights. We love driving around looking at lights. There's another place in our town that we love to go walking along the river while enjoying the lights. Another fun thing is to print out a free light scavenger hunt and turn it into a game. Lights are a fun tradition for our family!

3.  Walk-Thru-Bethlehem: 

We love to celebrate the reason for the season each year at Christmas. One tradition we love is to find a Walk-thru-Bethlehem. These are not just your typical living nativity, but an entire walk-thru program where you get the sights, sounds, and feels of Bethlehem the night Jesus was born. Where we live, these are all over the place and easy to find. We missed this one this year...for some reason the season has just been so busy and they were over and done with before we even thought about them. 

4. Sprinkles of Fun:

There are so many fun activities to participate in this time of year and we usually try to do some of them. One year we took our kids to ICE. Everything in the exhibit is made from ice. There are colored ice displays and crystal clear ice displays....usually surrounding a certain theme. There are even fun ice slides at the very end. If you have never gone, this is super fun.

Another fun activity is going sledding. Whenever we get the chance, we definitely do this as a family. 

Something else we look forward to is taking a carriage ride through some of the lights in our area. It is so magical and fun with Christmas tunes playing and the lights changing colors. 

Whatever your traditions and whatever you do for fun, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season and Christmas!

12 Days of Christmas Day 7: Teacher Gift Ideas

Sometimes it can be hard to find the right gift for your teacher. You only know them inside the classroom and do their likes and dislikes may not be something you are totally familiar with. Here are a few ideas to spread some holiday cheer at Christmas. 

1. A Drink and Snack: Find out what type of hot drink your teacher likes. Bring a cup of peppermint hot chocolate or some other tasty drink from Starbucks along with a treat and card. It is simple, but also something that will put a smile on their face right away. I'm sure it will relieve some of their holiday stress and help them make it through the most crazy time of the year.

2. Handmade gift: Teachers love kids, I mean that is why they teach in the first place. Handmade gifts can be a meaningful option because teachers realize the time that went into it. I have had students paint things for me, make me a keychain with my name on it, and many other things. It is so sweet knowing that my student spent time thinking about me and making me something special. They are always super proud of their gift when they were involved in making it. 

3. Favorites: Have your teacher fill out a sheet that lists out their favorites. You can ask what their favorite drink is, color, snack, restaurant, store, etc. Then you can purchase one or more items from the list that tie into their favorites list. 

4. Gift Card: Some think a gift card is not personal, but personally from my experience, teachers love this option. A gift card allows teachers to use it to purchase something they would like. You can be sure it is a gift that teachers love.

5. Class Gift: Sometimes, a room parent or other parent in the class gets the students to all go in together for a bigger gift. Once a couple parents in my room pulled their resources together and sent me to a spa for a facial....it was my one and only facial and I appreciated getting pampered with something I never would have done for myself. At my old school, one of the other room parents had all the parents send in money or a gift card. The room parent put them all together on a wreath and presented the gift card wreath to the teacher. I thought that was a really fun idea. 

However you choose to treat your child's teacher, they will most definitely appreciate the love and thought behind it. 

Happy gifting! 

12 Days of Christmas Day 6: Classroom Giving

Gift giving can be so fun. It is fun to see the excitement of my students when I give them a gift, no matter how small. This year was no exception. Lately, I have been doing a small gift bag. This year's bag included a candy cane, some candy, a tube of hashtag blocks, and a pack of silly putty. Even though it is super small and simple, the kids were ecstatic over it. They have mentioned before in class that they wished they could keep some hashtag blocks, so I thought this would be just the thing for them this year. 

Some other fun things I have given over the years have been books. I love to find dollar chapter books at Scholastic and gift one to each student. 

One year I have students a large Peanuts Look and Find book with a Peanuts character 10 color pen. 

Also this year, as I have been doing every year, I gave my students a pack of coupons that allows them to have certain privileges within the classroom like a day with no shoes, skip an assignment, be line leader for the day, etc. I know it has become something they look forward to because I was asked if they were going to get a coupon book this year. An added bonus is that it is completely free. 

You do not have to spend a lot of money or even any money at all to show your class how special they are, but they will appreciate your efforts and be excited about it no matter what. 

12 Days of Christmas Day 5: Christmas Art

I love doing special art projects during Christmastime. One of my favorites is to give my students a long sheet of white paper cut in half length-wise. It is tall and skinny and the perfect size to create their very own nutcrackers. Nutcrackers are a staple of Christmas. You literally see them all over the place. They come in so many different styles, so students can be super creative. 

It is fun to see how each individual child in my classroom puts their own spin on it. These two are from my own children when they were in my class. My daughter was in my class when I taught 3rd grade. I taught my son for three years, but he was in second when he drew the one on the left. Both of my kids are now in middle and high school, but these are among their treasured papers from each grade that I keep in a box for them. 

For this art project, we used Art for Kids Hub's video. It is a draw along step-by-step video and I just pause it frequently so the students can have more time. Then each student gets to decorate it in their own way. You can check out the video we use here. 

What art projects do you do each year at Christmastime?

12 Days of Christmas Day 4: Easy Christmas Ornaments

Do you make ornaments with your class? It's something I enjoy doing. I have made ornaments with handprint snowmen, minion bulbs, baby Jesus ornaments (I teach in a Christian school) and this year we made two fun popsicle ornaments. 

This year, we made popsicle stick nutcracker ornaments. These were pretty simple until it came to doing the faces. We didn't have the right type of paintbrushes and those little hands had a bit of a challenging time getting things just right, but I really liked these despite them not being perfect, they still turned out cute. I found the directions at this blog over here. 

Next up was a super simple ornament that cannot be messed up. I got a box of colored popsicle sticks and glued them into stars ahead of time. The students took a colorful piece of yarn and tied it to one stick. Then they wrapped it around the popsicle stick however they chose. Afterwards, they dipped small pompoms into glue and scattered them around the star. The results were really very cute. I could not find the exact star I made, but I found the directions to one that is similar, but without the string. You can find the directions here.  

 

Christmas ornaments are a fun tradition in many classrooms. They end up as priceless treasures for years to come. My mother-in-law still hangs my husband's egg carton bell, he made more than forty years ago, in her tree. I just helped my parents unpack their old ornaments after moving back to the states after 25 years as missionaries. While digging around, I found a plastic canvas ornament I made way back. 

Whatever ornaments you choose to make with your class, be sure to have the child sign the back and write the year. Details about family heirlooms are often forgotten. 

 

12 Days of Christmas Day 3: My Favorite Books for Christmas

Do you have must-share books for the holiday season? Even though I loop with my classes, I still enjoy sharing some of the same books each year. I also try to mix it up with ones that are new to them. Today I want to share 6 books that I love this season. 

1. Up first is the classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Not only is is a long-standing tradition, but this book has so much heart as well. I love the theme behind it all that becomes clear when the Grinch himself declares, "Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more." That is the message I want my students to understand. It isn't about you. It isn't about what you give. Christmas is so much more and that is why this book was my number one pick. 

2. Another favorite of mine is The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey. This is the story of a woodcarver who lost everything (his wife and child) and moved to a new town to have a fresh start with no one to bother him. A widow and her son live in the same town and they have lost their most prized hand-carved nativity set. They seek out the woodcarver and hire him to do the job of recreating it. He's grouchy and makes no guarantee that the set will be done by Christmas. The widow's little boy asks to watch the woodcarver and his mother takes him on several occasions. Through the days the woodcarvers heart begins to soften and he allows himself to really live again. I love this book and the message in it. It is beautifully written and has stunning illustrations.  

3. The Christmas Candle is my next top pick. This book has so many deep meanings that are perfect to dig down into for any older student. It creates great conversation that lies well below the surface.

In the book, a young man is caught in the cold and dark without a candle. On the way in, he is met by a beggar whom he harshly puts off. He goes to a candle shop and purchases the most simple one possible, ignoring the fancy Christmas ones displayed. As he gets ready to leave, the shop owner warns him that this candle is actually more costly than the man realizes. 

The man responds gruffly and heads out into the cold with his candle in hand. As he tries to find his way home, he sees many different people out in the night and in need of help. He tries to ignore them, but each time his candle light shines on them, he sees their appearance change to that of one of his loved ones. He ends up helping each one. As a third person begins to approach him, he realizes the candle's trick and refuses to shine his light in their direction. Instead, he hurries home penniless, without coat or pack. He had given everything away. 

He steps through the door of his house to be greeted and surrounded by family, food, and warmth. But something inside the young man is unsettled. He cannot shake the feeling of unrest. Walking out the door, he turns his back on the party to find the last beggar that he completely ignored. 

This story reinforces the idea that we are all one family and should care for those who need help. It models the Biblical motto of "If you did it unto one of the least of these, you did it unto me" although it does not come right out and say it. It is the perfect book to use to lead into a service project. I absolutely LOVE it. 

 

4. This book, Humphrey's First Christmas, has gorgeous illustrations that bring the story to life. It is also a great book to talk about point of view. The book retells the story of the very first Christmas through the eyes of the camel who carried the wisemen to Bethlehem. It brings out the theme of giving instead of getting. 

5. While this story is not really a Christmas one, I still really enjoy it this time of year or anytime during the snowy season. Snowflake Bentley is the true story of a man who has a passion for photographing snowflakes. The book also is a perfect book for budding scientists, as it teaches about the science behind a snowflake. It is a great book to build lessons in science, STEM, or even art. 

6. Secrets of Winter is just a super fast and fun read with secret hidden things. You have to use a flashlight to see the hidden pictures on each page. Some things are hidden in lakes, under snow, behind trees, or in tree stumps. When you shine a light behind the page, the hidden image pops through. Even though this book was written with younger kids in mind, my upper elementary students enjoyed it because it is such a fun and unique book. 

I am always on the lookout for some great books, but for now these are a few that are winning top spot this season!

12 Days of Christmas Day 2: Holiday Gift Guide for Teachers

Are you even a teacher if you are not buried under so much end of the year grading, crafting, projects, and programs? This time of the year is definitely crazy and busy. That's why I am putting together a holiday gift guide to help make every teacher's holidays a little easier, brighter, and definitely more fun. 

1. First up, keep student's learning with these print and go articles about Christmas trees and holiday decor from my History Behind the Holidays series. The seven articles can be stapled together and used as a magazine in reading groups for an entire week and beyond. Each article comes with a comprehension worksheet. There are several extension activities included and even a Christmas tree STEM. Everything is super easy to prep and will definitely give teachers an easy and engaging set of lessons to get you through till the holiday break.

You can check this resource out here.

2. Keeping your students going this year gets a little bit challenging....okay, a lot challenging! With thoughts of Christmas dancing in their heads, they have definitely started checking out. If you are trying to get some good work out of them in the last few days before break. Start noticing the good things you see them doing. Mention it, reward it. Send some positive notes their way. They will love to show these off and it will encourage good and focused behavior to the very end of the year. Here are some little Christmas-themed positive notes to send home with them. They will be proud to take them home to their favorite grown-up and the adult in their life will love to hear a positive comment about their child as well. These little notes come in 12 different designs that can be printed in color or blackline. If you use the blackline version, you can add a burst of color by printing on colored paper (red or green for Christmas would be nice), but you could also print on white paper as well. These super cute cards can be found right here. 

3. Extra special and fun activities make the Christmas season even more fun in the classroom. One of my favorites is this simple art challenge. Who doesn't like art? And making it into a game makes it even more fun! Try out this art teambuilding activity. If you have ever watched the food competition show called Chopped, you get the idea. Each group of students gets a bag of art supplies that are identical. They will work together with their group to create an art project that meets a certain challenge or theme using the items in their bag. The groups will have a certain amount of time to complete each challenge. Once the time is up, each group will present their project and be judged on it. There are three rounds with three different challenges before a winning team is named. 

All the supplies inside the bags are easy household/school classroom items. This is low-prep, but high on fun! Find this resource over here. 

4. Channel the chattiness of the class this time of year to do some mid-year teambuilding. Allow students to share their thoughts and ideas about the Christmas season with a simple Dice Conversation activity. In this Christmas Dice Convo teambuilding resource, students will practice listening and speaking skills within groups while building their team skills. It's a fun and easy way to fill in a few minutes here or there or start/end the day. Here's where you can find this activity. 

5. Unfortunately, it is also time to think about after the holiday. How do you celebrate the new year in your classroom? I love to use my History Behind the Holidays resource to ring in the new year by taking a look at New Year traditions. This resource includes seven articles that help students learn about favorite traditions here and around the world. The articles would be great to get your reading or history class started in the new year during the first week or more. Comprehension questions are included for every single article. A goal-setting craftivity is also included for the new year. Students will even create an envelope time capsule that you can put away till next year. Last year I did this and my students are already asking about the time capsule. They are anxious to see it again. Also included is a Tournament of Roses parade activity as well as a New Year themed STEM project. This will definitely make coming back to school after two weeks of glorious vacationing easier. You can check it out here. All activities in this pack has been completely updated to show the date for the new year. 

These are my five top recommendations for busy teachers this holiday season. Be sure to check them out!

12 Days of Christmas Day 1: Chronicles of Narnia

In reading class, we have been working our way through the Chronicles of Narnia's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I absolutely LOVE this book and my class did too. They did not want it to end and are demanding to read other books in the series. Since we finished up last week, I decided to create a classroom transformation to review a bunch of skills and end it all with a big bang. 

For the decorating, I purchased a snowy background to hang across the front of my classroom as well as a dozen foldable 3D snowflakes to hang from the ceiling. I had my dad and husband help me with creating the wardrobe. My dad built a clothes rack that could go just inside my classroom door and my husband rigged it all around with cardboard so that when the students entered my classroom it looked like they were entering a wardrobe. I hung some coats and blankets on the clothes rack and put cotton batting on the floor for snow. I also put a tree just past the clothes and to one side with "snow" covering the branches. In the books, the trees were one of the first things the four children, in the book, noticed as they went through the wardrobe. I created a drawing of a wardrobe to hang on the outside of the door to make it look like the door of the wardrobe. 

Inside, there were a few other details too. We had the lamp and lamppost as you came through the wardrobe. A candle was burning inside (it was battery operated, of course). On a tall table at the front, I had a white lacy tablecloth along with a crown, signifying the queen as well as a fancy platter of Turkish Delight. I also displayed the book there as well. In the back, I created a very simple altar with a table. I used bulletin board paper and created a rock pattern all over it. Then I taped it to a table, hanging down to the floor. I placed an old giant stuffed lion, that was my husband's when he was a kid, on the tabletop to represent Aslan on the stone altar. 

The "Queen's" crown and Turkish Delight

Aslan on the altar

The snow-covered tree at the back of the wardrobe

The burning lamp

The backside of the wardrobe from inside looking back to the door. 

The wardrobe door

To one side, I gathered up some wood to represent the beavers. I placed some marmalade rolls nearby. In the story, the beavers served marmalade rolls to Peter, Susan, and Lucy.

As for the activities, we started with an escape room that reviewed the vocabulary, characters, and plot of the story. As students made their way through the challenges, they had certain points where they could stop to try the Turkish Delight and the marmalade rolls. They were mostly a hit. You can find the recipe for Turkish Delight here.  My principal said it was the best Turkish Delight she has ever had....she is a HUGE Narnia fan. It was the only Turkish Delight I ever had. Also, let me give you a couple of tips to making this. When you see the ingredient corn flour, it is actually corn starch (in England they apparently call it corn flour). Also, if you cannot find rose water, you can use another flavoring. I used orange instead because I went to two different stores and they did not have it. I also did not plan ahead enough to purchase on Amazon, but it is available there. The marmalade rolls recipe I used can be found here. It was super delicious, but also incredibly sweet. A little bit is more than enough for me. 

After we escaped Narnia, we started a comparison of the book and the movie. We watched the movie in 5 different segments, pausing to look for connections while comparing and contrasting. 

All in all, it was a great time! I really enjoyed bringing the book to life in my classroom. I am already thinking about the next book....Charlie and the Chocolate Factory....here we come!