ho ho hoLY cow, december's almost 1/2 way gone and christmas is almost here! i guess that's what happens when you go on vacation in december - oh yay!
the hubs and i had a MARVELOUS time on our cruise, just the two of us, mono y mono, alone, solo, etc. you get the picture. besides not having to plan for, prepare, or clean-up after food for an entire week (that is heaven to me), our favorite things we did were snorkeling with some mondo-jumbo southern stingrays and spelunking/floating through a secret underground cave filled with drippy-wonderful stalactites and stalagmites.
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but, now we're back and december has taken hold of our booties and is shaking us to get ready for what's to come! before we left, i set up an advent activity calendar like we did last year, but with some different or repeat favorite additions. last year's list can be found HERE. so this year's list is:
so, this month's kiddo kraft is: Christmas Around The World
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all you need is:
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then i show them on the map with sticky notes where the USA is and where the country we're going to is. then we hold out our arms and "fly" there.
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for example. the first country we visited was germany. the craft activity we did there was to make an advent calendar out of construction paper and sticky notes. the girls got to practice writing their numbers, too!
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the hubs and i had a MARVELOUS time on our cruise, just the two of us, mono y mono, alone, solo, etc. you get the picture. besides not having to plan for, prepare, or clean-up after food for an entire week (that is heaven to me), our favorite things we did were snorkeling with some mondo-jumbo southern stingrays and spelunking/floating through a secret underground cave filled with drippy-wonderful stalactites and stalagmites.
but, now we're back and december has taken hold of our booties and is shaking us to get ready for what's to come! before we left, i set up an advent activity calendar like we did last year, but with some different or repeat favorite additions. last year's list can be found HERE. so this year's list is:
(1) Go see Santa
(2) Celebrate Daddy’s birthday
(3) Make cookies
(4) Flashlight tag
(5) Watch a Christmas movie w/popcorn
(6) Make a gingerbread house
(7) MOPS bug sale
(8) Make a birthday card for Jesus. Put it under the tree.
(9) Go pick up Mommy & Daddy from the boat
(10) Make rice crispy treat gifts for ministers at church
(11) Mail Christmas cards
(12) Do a random act of kindness
(13) Handprint nativity animals &
(14) Build a fort from blankets & sheets - Read a Christmas book in the fort!
(15) Go look at Christmas lights
(16) Make popcorn garlands for the birds & wrap presents
(17) Family Christmas
(18) Celebrate Mommy’s birthday
(19) Christmas party with friends
(20) Christmas with nana & pawpaw
(21) Eat dinner by candlelight
(22) Christmas with cousins
(23) Pick someone to call and say, “I Love you.”
(24) Read Christmas story from the Bible
(25) Say thank you & keep “wanter” under control
while we were away on our vacation, my mom continued the activities. she made some scrumptious sugar cookies with the kids, and made me some starwars ones, too. so sweet. ;)
but, we've been doing something else fun since i got back from our trip - going on "Christmas Around The World" trips with the girls. we've been "flying" to different countries every day to learn about the country and how they celebrate christmas.
world map
passports (make your own play copies)
resource - a book or website ("Merry Christmas Everywhere!" by Arlene Erlbach is the one we found at our local library - or try this website with a printable passport link at Mrs. Nelson's Class.)
i start each travel adventure by telling the girls what country we'll be visiting and have them line up at the airport (the hallway) while i check their passports before boarding the plane (two plastic chairs).
then i show them on the map with sticky notes where the USA is and where the country we're going to is. then we hold out our arms and "fly" there. then they deboard the plane to the country (our learning table) and i read them information about the country and how they celebrate christmas and how they say "Merry Christmas" in their language.
then we do a craft associated with that country. after we do the craft, i have them glue a flag of the country into their passports.
then we go back to the "airport" and i stamp their passports (with my return address ink stamp, lol!). and then they board the plane again, and one of them has to go to the map and show us the country where we visited and where our home, USA, is.
then we fly back home, and i check their passports and ask them if they have brought any fruits, veggies, or plants back with them ;), and then they go play with (or eat) whatever they've created. this has been SOOOO much fun!
for example. the first country we visited was germany. the craft activity we did there was to make an advent calendar out of construction paper and sticky notes. the girls got to practice writing their numbers, too!yesterday we visited great britain and made paper crowns (see cute picture below). what was cool about that was that several years ago, my grandmother visited england and brought us back those very crowns to us for christmas - so i had pictures to show the girls of our personal experience.
today we're visiting canada and making jello molds on sticks (i don't remember what that has to do with canada right now, but i'll learn about it today!).
and next week, one of the special countries we're visiting is serbia, where my stepmother is from. she is excited that i'm sharing one of her nation's holiday traditions with my girls.
so, it's not too late to do this - and how fun would this be to do with the family (before OR after christmas lunch/dinner) - the cousins would have so much fun together, no?!
merry CHRISTMAS and feliz navidad!