
Here were our plans for Christmas week 1:

And here are the details for each activity:
Our first read aloud was There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell by Lucille Colandro. After reading, I taped a picture of the little old lady to a wipe container then gave Madelynn pieces from the story. She fed them to the little old lady while retelling the story in order.
Our next story was Santa Duck by David Milgrim. Before reading, we practiced making predictions.
Our next story was The Polar Bear Who Saved Christmas by Fiona Boon. Before reading we discussed and defined problem. We talked about how every story usually has a problem or something that goes wrong. After reading, Madelynn drew and labeled the problem in the story (Dasher had a broken leg.) Then we talked about and drew how the problem was solved (The polar bear helped fly the sleigh.)
Merry Christmas, Mouse! Numbers:
Next we read the counting book, Merry Christmas Mouse! by Laura Numeroff. To practice counting and number words, I printed number and ornament cards from the story and cut out a large tree from construction paper. Madelynn stuck the numbers and ornaments onto a large tree in order to retell the story and practice counting.
Tracking Print:
Christmas Salt Tray:
Christmas Sound Stamping:
Syllable Christmas Trees:
Madelynn is loving our light pad lately, something about it’s glow just always gets her engaged right away. I placed our clear tray on top of 2 light pads (You could use just one, but I grabbed an extra one since they are pretty cheap. We like the extra glow, and 2 fit perfectly under our large tray.) Then I printed Christmas trees with pictures on the stumps. Madelynn chose a tree, and clapped the syllables in the picture on the stump. I showed her how to count the syllables by putting up one finger for each clap, and she added that many colored bingo chip ornaments to the tree.
Elf Name Craft:
Christmas Journal Writing:
Santa Count and Color:
Christmas Positional Word Cut and Paste Book:
This week we focused on positional words in math. For our first activity, I created this simple printable book with cut out pieces. On each page I used a different positional word (above, below, behind, next to, between, etc.) and Madelynn cut and glued the Christmas themed items in the correct spot on each page.
Where is Santa?
For this positional word game I made printable Christmas items and positional word direction cards. (We also plan to use these cards again with the pieces from our Little People Advent Calendar but we haven’t opened all the doors yet 😉 Madelynn chose a card then put Santa in the correct position, easy peasy.
Christmas Positional Word Drawing Book:
This book is very similar to our cut & paste book, except Madelynn had to draw the missing parts instead of gluing them. On each page Madelynn followed the directions to practice positional words and complete the Christmas themed picture. (Ex: Draw stripes ON the candy canes, draw a reindeer NEAR the sleigh.)
Christmas Number Mats:
Fill Santa’s Sack:
For some science fun I set up this force and motion activity for Madelynn to experiment with. It was really easy to set up. I taped Santa to a paper lunch bag, set up a small ramp with a flat board and a small container, then taped the bag to the edge of the table so the ramp would empty into it. Madelynn gathered a bunch of small toys then tested to see which toys rolled and which toys did not. Finally she sorted them onto the mats.
Red & Green Magnet Play:
In this bin: jingle bells, Magnatiles, magnet wands, mini ornaments, pipe cleaners, pom poms
These paintings were super easy to do. First, I filled a shallow tray (thanks Target dollar spot!) with shaving cream. Then I added a few dots of red/green watercolor paint. Madelynn used a paintbrush to swirl the colors around. Then she gently placed a white cardstock circle on top and patted very lightly. She pulled it off of the shaving cream, then I helped her use a craft stick to push all of the excess cream off and reveal a swirled design. We made a bunch then allowed them to dry. After they dried we glued 2 wrapper pieces to the sides.
Dot Stamp Ornaments:
Madelynn still loves the little felt tree that I made for her when she was a baby, so I figured it was time to add a few new decorations. I printed ornament outlines on cardstock. She covered the outline with a few strips of washi tape then used dot markers to stamp and color the remaining spaces. After peeling the tape, she cut the ornament out and I laminated it (to protect it from sassy little sisters). We added a Velcro dot t each one and stuck them on our felt tree.
Sticky Window Christmas Tree:
Our last activity of the week was Madelynn and baby sister Aubrey approved! I drew a large Christmas tree on the non-sticky side of a sheet of contact paper and stuck color ornaments to the tree so the color side will show through the paper when it is taped sticky side out. After taping it to the window, Madelyn went to town matching mini pom poms to the ornaments and sticking them to the paper. To complete the tree she added green paper shreds to fill in some texture.
Want all of this week’s printables and plans? You can grab them here:
Apples, All About Me, My Body, Healthy Habits
December:
January:
Winter, Penguins, Five Senses, Polar Bears
February:
Fairy Tales 1, Fairy Tales 2, Valentines, Space
March:
Plants, Insects, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter
April:
Frogs, Butterflies, Earth Day, Rainforest
May:
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