Making a Class Coloring Book

This is a suggestion that you can easily make custom coloring books for your students. Simply upload a photo to AI and ask it to make a kid-friendly coloring page with bold lines. 

My students are absolutely gonna freak out when they realize that their pictures from this school year have been turned into a coloring book.

I am gifting them this as part of their Christmas gifts this season....I love low cost ideas. 

Here's another low cost idea if you need something more or something else. I love these envelopes that open out to reveal coupons for privileges in class. 

  

You can find these class coupons over here.

Five Favorite December Read-Alouds and Book Picks

During the month of December, I LOVE to bring out all the winter and Christmas-themed books. It just brings me so much joy and helps make the crazy season more predictable and festive. I'm going to share five of my favorite December books for upper elementary. 

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey

Themes: Generosity, Forgiveness, and Healing Through Friendship

Summary: A young widow and her son move to a new town. They have lost their precious nativity set. The widow finds a widowed woodcarver who begrudging agrees to carve a new one, but does not promise to have it done before Christmas. The woodcarver, harsh from the wounds of the death of his own wife and child, is gruff and hard to deal with. But over the days and weeks as the widow and her her son visit him while he carves, the woodcarver slowly begins to heal and soften. 

The Legend of the Candy Cane

Theme: Hope, Faith, Community

Summary: A stranger arrives in town. The townspeople each have their own ideas of who he is and what his work is. The children hope he works with candy. One brave girl, goes to see him and is allowed to help him open boxes and crates and fill jars with...candy! As they unpack together, she stumbles upon a new candy she has never before seen...it is a curved candy with red and white stripes. The man patiently shows her the secrets behind the candy and the spiritual ties it has. He tells her that they must tell everyone about the message behind the candy. So, together they go to each house in town passing out candy canes and telling the story of Christ.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Themes: Change, Christmas, Redemption

Summary: One of the churches in town has a beautiful Christmas pageant every year that is put on by the children. It's predictable and comfortable. The same lady directs the play each year, but this year, due to an accident, she is unable. When the new leader takes over, things begin to go from bad to worse. The Herdman family shows up on the scene. Every kid in the church is afraid of the Herdmans. They are infamous for their bad behavior. They waltz into the church and take over, stealing the prize roles of Mary, Joseph, and the wisemen. It seems to be an unholy alliance and people in town are up in arms over the whole ordeal. But change comes to the Herdmans, as they practice and perfect their roles. And in the end, everyone says it was truly the best Christmas pageant ever. 

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (with novel or picture book options)

Theme: Triumph of Good Over Evil, Gift Giving, Hospitality, and Redemption

Summary: To escape the effects of the war, a family of four children are sent away to stay with a relative in his big house. While playing one day, one of them stumbles into the wardrobe and into a magical land. Upon returning to the house, no one believes that she went to another world until they too unwittingly discover it for themselves. In this land, Narnia, it is perpetually winter, a curse from the white witch. The children find themselves in all sorts of adventures, including their youngest brother being kidnapped by the witch. They team up with the other creatures to win him back, but that involves sacrifice...the ultimate sacrifice. 

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Theme: Jealousy, Community, Materialism, Transformation

Summary: In a magical land on a tiny snowflake live the Whos. In the town of Whoville, Christmas is a time of gluttony, showing off, and thinking of ones self. The Grinch, who lives on the outskirts of town, was ostracized as a child and now keeps to himself most of the time, only coming out occasionally to terrorize the town. Cindy Lou Who begins asking questions about the Grinch and winds up feeling sorry for him. After the Grinch steals Christmas, the other Whos are upset at Cindy for being to friendly with the him. Cindy sets off to confront the Grinch, helping him and the other Whos realize what is really important isn't things. It is community and friendship.  

What books are on your Christmas reading list this year? 

Christmas Gift-Giving in the Classroom

Favorite Ideas From Student Another Student

One of my all-time favorite gift ideas is for a special gift exchange that doubles as an easy class party. My students love to exchange gifts, but we have all been in classrooms where, (gasp) someone gets the worst gift ever. One year I hosted a totally open gift exchange and one kid brought deodorant. I wasn't sure what I was going to do when another student chose that gift, but thankfully, the kid was super-excited...it was apparently a rite of passage moment. He had graduated into the deodorant-wearing realm and so all ended well....but...it could have ended quite poorly.      

Last year was the year of my favorite gift exchange. I had student bring a new, wrapped board game. It was great for many reasons. 

• It doubled as the perfect classroom party. After presents, we played board games for probably about an hour. Students were laughing and having a great time with friends.
• It gets students off of devices. It is my hope that they will have so much fun with their game that they will play at home with friends and family too.
• It is highly interactive. Board games require interacting with others. It is a great way to foster relationships in and out of the classroom, a skill that devices have greatly hindered.

Favorite Ideas From Teachers to Students

I have done many different gifts over the years for the students in my classroom, but one of the easiest and most budget-friendly is a small gift bag. I purchase an item like a set of Uno cards from Dollar Tree, add a Christmas Pencil, eraser, and some candy. The kids are thrilled with that. 

This year I am doing a spin on this idea, except I am changing out the cards for a can of putty. I was at Target the other day and found these great cans of putty marked down from six dollars to just $2.50. I could not leave them behind. I selected several different kinds, enough for each child in my class. I created a little tag that says, "You're Putty Awesome! Merry Christmas," and I am adding some other small items like pencils and candy. I know my students will be excited about the putty. It was super easy to put together, and it was within the budget that I wanted to spend.

Favorite Ideas From Students to Teachers

My all-time favorite teacher gift was given to two team teachers in my building and put together by their room parents. It was absolutely amazing! I have never personally received this, but it would be perfect. It was a gift card wreath. The room parents asked all the parents to donate gift cards. I am not sure how they did this, but I think it would be even more perfect if they had created a form for the teacher to fill out about favorite stores, restaurants, etc. Then parents could purchase from their list of favorites. 

As a teacher, I love to save my gift cards to do fun outings during summer vacation with my kids. It means a lot that I don't have to spend the money, and it is a gift that keeps on giving.