As we still haven’t been blessed with any snow yet, we decided we would bake a snowman instead. This is a great cake recipe for kids to try. It’s only got three ingredients, it’s a really easy recipe to make and it tastes scrummy yummy. Here’s how to make crispy cake snowmen.
Today we’re decking the tree with a glorious jumble of kid-created art. This version of kids’ Christmas decorations can combine process art, sensory play and team work. Here are three simple steps to set up a creative Christmas art station.
Step One: select a location. It’s great if you have a space where you can leave out the materials for a few days, so the children can come back again and again to enjoy some creating – a corner of a room, a table, even a shelf full of things they can use. I taped a plastic tablecloth to the floor so the children could glitter and glue happily.
Step two: provide a tree – the focal point and inspiration for all the making! It’s fun to be able to hang your decoration on the tree just as soon as you’ve finished making it.
Step three: add goodies. You can raid your craft shelves for basics and add in some inexpensive festive flourishes. If you mix and match and add a couple of new materials each day it can be a really great way to keep inviting the children back to create some more. You could include…
card :: paper :: felt :: wrapping paper :: strips of glittered paper :: fabric :: cotton wool :: ribbon :: pompoms :: pipe cleaners :: glitter (go on – it is Christmas) :: sequins :: pens :: pencils :: glue :: sticky tape :: buttons :: anything fun and festive you can find
A little tray of chocolate treats is always a bonus – plus you can use the foil wrappers in your crafting!
Then step away and let the children create. Any decoration they like, any colours, any materials, any shapes. As many as they like until the materials run out, or the tree begins to bow under the weight of it all. This is not about perfection, colour-schemes or matching themes. It’s about having fun, exploring the materials, seeing what you can make and creating a glorious child-made Christmas tree fiesta!
Let’s make this winter the year when we delight in the cold and the dark.
Gather your children, get cosy, and make memories and connections together.
I’ll show you how with this guide to a cosy and connected winter:
…. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR GUIDE ….
QUICK RESOURCE >> Download your ready-made Nativity Unit here
It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas! If you’re looking for some fun Christmas activities for kids we have some great ideas for you!
I’ve gathered together our most popular Christmas crafts and activities all in one place, so you can browse our archive and choose some fun ideas for your children.
Download the Play Academy’s ready-made Nativity Unit and you’ll have everything you need to lead a set of activities to introduce your children to the Nativity story.
This Unit includes artist-drawn puppets/colour-in nativity scene characters and printable Bible verse cards, that your children can use year after year.
In this Nativity teaching unit your children can:
:: learn about the Nativity and create their own Nativity book or small world scene using colour-in puppet / nativity scene characters
:: learn about Mary and Joseph’s journey, and explore junk modelling
:: learn about the shepherds role, and explore loose parts
:: learn about Jesus’ birth
:: learn about the three wise men, and complete their book / re-tell the story in their small world
The Play Academy’s thematic units come with practical printables that make the lessons more engaging for your children and easier for you to teach.
No need to go searching for printables to accompany your lessons, they’re all included when you download your chosen unit.
In this Nativity Unit you’ll receive these bonus printables:
:: My Nativity Story book to write, colour and complete to tell the Nativity story
:: a set of artist-drawn My Nativity Puppets to colour, cut out and use to re-cap and act out the Nativity story
:: Nativity Vocabulary Cards to recap and consolidate learning
:: Nativity Bible Verse Cards to read, narrate your own acting out of the story, and perhaps to memorise
You can download this unit along with over 50 more from NurtureStore’s Play Academy.
If you are already of the Play Academy, you can download this unit straight away from our Library here.
If you are not yet a member, find out more and choose your first unit here. Your teaching is about to get a whole lot easier!
What’s the best thing to eat when you want a fun treat on a winter’s day? An ice cream snowman of course!
This article is one of our easy Christmas recipes for children and part of our Christmas activities and crafts for children.
Inspired by a photo on Pinterest that was originally featured on foodcreate, we used a simplified version of an ice cream snowman so the children could all make their own. This was our pudding on Christmas day and the children loved making and eating them. Here’s how to make one:
Two or three scoops of vanilla ice cream make a snowman body – and if you run your ice cream scoop under water first you’ll find it a lot easier to get the ice cream off your spoon in a great snowball shape.
Chocolate Matchsticks are just right for stick arms.
Tiny chocolate chips are perfect for eyes, mouths and buttons and easy for little fingers to pop in place. And an orange jelly bean is just thing for a carrot nose.
And that’s your ice cream snowman finished and ready to eat – cool!
Let’s make this winter the year when we delight in the cold and the dark.
Gather your children, get cosy, and make memories and connections together.
I’ll show you how with this guide to a cosy and connected winter:
…. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR GUIDE ….
What to do with all your left over gift wrap? Here are 12 fabulous ideas for creative projects to re-use your wrapping paper.
Are you ready? Are you wrapped? Are you all baked and cooked and iced? With just a few days left, here’s our Christmas Rescue 101 for those moments when there’s more festive fear than Christmas cheer. [Read more…]